No, the war on drugs didn't end

The Drug Enforcement Administration is looking for a home in San Diego. On November 24 the General Services Administration released a pre-solicitation notice to building owners, making them aware of the plans.

According to the notice, Drug Enforcement Administration officials hope to find an office building less than 91,855 square feet north of Mission Valley, somewhere in between Interstates 5 and 15.

But before a long-term lease is signed, the agency has a few requirements, including proper setbacks and secure parking. The building also cannot be within 1000 feet of schools, churches, parks, hotels, shopping centers, or near any area where "drug activities are prevalent."

Open-government advocates have criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration for adopting many of the same tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency. In an August 2013 report by Reuters, Drug-enforcement officials were criticized over its use of wiretaps, anonymous informants, and telephone records to investigate American citizens.

From Reuters: "A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans....[D]ocuments show that federal agents are trained to 'recreate' the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence — information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses."

In addition, the building must be nondescript, out of plain view from neighbors and anyone who may be wanting to conduct surveillance.

If all goes according to plan, officials hope to move into the building by June 2016. The lease agreement would be good for 15 years.