Office of National Narcotics Intelligence

President Richard M. Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” upon his election in 1969 in response to growing public concern regarding drug use in the United States. As part of this movement, the president had the goal of reorganizing the system of agencies responsible for the enforcement of drug laws. The Office of National Narcotics Intelligence was established by Executive Order Number 11676 in July 1972, ostensibly with the intent of thwarting what was thought to be a growing problem of illegal drug use in the United States.

Headed by William C. Sullivan, the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence was dissolved in 1973 and subsequently merged with the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement and other similar agencies to form the Drug Enforcement Administration. Due to the covert nature of its operations and its development under the administration of President Nixon, the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence carries with it some degree of controversy.

President Nixon established the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence on July 27, 1972, in Executive Order Number 11676. The Office of National Narcotics Intelligence was established under the umbrella of the Department of Justice as part of a larger attempt to circumvent a growing illegal drug problem in the United States. Specifically, [Page 609]the directors and members of the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence were given the duty of surreptitiously obtaining information regarding the use and trade of illegal substances within the United States. The hope was that this would then lead to arrests of those individuals involved in the illegal drug trade and, subsequently, to a decrease in the growing national problem of illegal drug use, abuse, and trafficking.

The establishment of the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence was part of a larger effort to combat what has been termed the “war on heroin,” as heroin is viewed as having been of particular concern to President Nixon and his administration. The Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement, which was created by Executive Order Number 11641 and established January 28, 1972, was among other related offices created with this in mind. William C. Sullivan, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence chief, was appointed as the director of the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence in July 1972. He was named director by then Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and served until the office's dissolution in 1973.