Reading Room Document

Scope of the Attorney General's Authority to Assign Duties Under 21 U.S.C. § 878(a)(5)

Under 21 U.S.C. § 878(a)(5), the Attorney General may authorize the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate possible violations of federal law, even if those violations do not concern the narcotics laws. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/18936/download.

March 24, 2003