Bensinger, Peter

Peter Bensinger (1936–) was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Yale University. In 1976, following John Bartels's resignation, Bensinger became the second administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He was nominated by former President Gerald Ford in December 9, 1975, [Page 95]confirmed by the Senate, and sworn in to office on February 23, 1976.

Prior to Bensinger's appointment, the DEA had emphasized statistical analysis of arrest and drug seizure totals. Bensinger shifted the focus to arresting major drug traffickers who had a large impact on the drug trade. During his tenure, heroin smuggling into the United States decreased from 7 tons to less than 4 tons a year, while heroin overdose deaths decreased by 60 percent from 1976 to 1980; however, there is no evidence that Bensinger's efforts contributed to these declines. Bensinger is credited with the creation of the DEA's investigative approach to targeting drug kingpins and their domestic networks. Under his administration, in 1978, federal legislation was enacted that provided that assets derived from illegal drug trafficking could be subject to forfeiture by the government. He was replaced by Attorney General William French Smith in July 1981 because, according to the Attorney General, the government was losing battle against narcotics.

Before his work as the administrator of the DEA, Bensinger served as the first director of the Illinois Department of Corrections. He oversaw all state penitentiaries, reformatories, training schools, parole supervision, and jail inspections. Previously, he had served as Chairman of the Illinois Youth Commission, Chief of the Crime Victims Division of the Illinois Attorney General's Office and executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission.

After leaving the DEA, Bensinger went on to cofound Bensinger, DuPont & Associates with Robert L. Dupont in 1982. As president and chief executive officer he continues to work on drug issues, helping businesses promote drug-free workplaces. The company provides a wide array of employee assistance programs and work life services, such as training and education, drug testing and compulsive gambling services, and specialized clinical help lines and services.

Bensinger has received numerous accolades for his services to drug law enforcement and drug abuse prevention education, including the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents (AFFNA) DEA Museum Foundation, the Distinguished Service Medal from the Government of Peru, and honorary doctor of law degrees from San Marcos University in Lima, Peru, and Dankook University in Seoul, Korea, for his leadership in International Drug Control. However, Bensinger has his critics. For example, he was known to have strained relations with the agents who worked under him, whom he famously characterized as “two thousand drunks chasing 20 million hypes.” In addition, he has been accused of using his political influence to create demand for his firm's workplace drug-abuse programs, and that these programs are not effective.