Drug Enforcement Administration

For nearly three decades, methadone hydrochloride has been the primary means of treating opiate addiction. Today, about 115,000 people receive such treatment, and thousands more have benefited from it in the past. Even though methadone's effectiveness has been well established, its use remains controversial, a fact reflected by the extensive regulation of its manufacturing, labeling, distribution, and use. The Food and Drug Administration regulates the safety and effectiveness of methadone, as it does for all drugs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration regulates it as a controlled substance. However, methadone is also subjected to a unique additional tier of regulation that prescribes how and under what circumstances it may be used to treat opiate addiction. Federal Regulation of Methadone Treatment examines current Department of Health and Human Services standards for narcotic addiction treatment and the regulation of methadone treatment programs pursuant to those standards. The book includes an evaluation of the effect of federal regulations on the provision of methadone treatment services and an exploration of options for modifying the regulations to allow optimal clinical practice. The volume also includes an assessment of alternatives to the existing regulations.

The "spine" of the Andes Mountain, which runs through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, is the source of almost all of the world's cocaine-based products, both legal and otherwise. In 1986, in the midst of the American "cocaine epidemic," the Reagan administration decided that the drug problem needed to be attacked at its source. The result was an eight-year clandestine drug war known as Operation Snowcap. From 1987 through 1994, groups of twelve to fifteen DEA agents were dispatched to South American countries on ninety-day temporary duty tours. These DEA agents met with counterparts from their host nation and together rained destruction down on the infrastructure and transportation networks that supported the illegal cocaine trade. Author Bob Hartman was deployed ten times during the course of Operation Snowcap. Inside DEA is his gripping, firsthand account of America's secretive drug war. In this true story, Hartman chronicles both his triumphs and tragedies and recounts his frustration with his superiors and the biased media portrayals of the operation. Prepare to be transported to the jungles of South America for an inside look at an often misunderstood chapter of history.