Who’s Afraid of the DEA?
Cathy A. Gallagher, BS, associate section chief of the Liaison and Policy Section of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA’s) Office of Diversion Control offered the DEA’s perspective on the handling of controlled substances at the Monday morning General Session.
Gallagher began her presentation by stating the mission of the Office of Diversion Control, which is “To prevent, detect, and investigate diversion of controlled substances from legitimate sources while ensuring an adequate and uninterrupted supply for legitimate medical and scientific purposes.” She stressed the importance of the second part of the mission, “What people don’t really know is that we have the other component where we need to ensure that there’s adequate supply for legitimate practice and scientific purposes,” and explained that the DEA stresses balancing the control of diversion with the provision of adequate supply.