Assistant Secretaries of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

On Oct 1, 1978, Congress, in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for fiscal Year 1979 (P.L. 95-426; 92 Stat. 969), authorized the position of Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, to be responsible for the overall coordination of the role of the Department of State in the international aspects of narcotics problems. This title had been given in full in each appointee’s commission. The new Assistant Secretary, who headed the Bureau for International Narcotics Matters, replaced a Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on Narcotics, who had served with a rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State since 1971. The Department of State first supported the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Narcotics in 1909. The title of this position was changed from International Narcotics Matters to International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Feb 10, 1995.