"The CIA dropped crack into the inner cities in the 80s under the direction of Reagan," what do you know about this theory?

OK, so I’m far from a conspiracy theorist…most conspiracy theories are so ridiculous they can’t even be taken seriously, and many others when you look into them, you see quickly where the crazy leap of faith came about. For example, take 5 conspiracy theories about George W. Bush, a man who I despise and would be the first to think the worst about.

1) Bush had a hand in 9/11.
2) Bush “stole” the 2000 election.
3) Bush “stole” the 2004 election.
4) Bush lied to get us involved in Iraq.
5) Bush’s grandfather was a Nazi financier.

Theory one has no grounding in reality. At most, I can say that Bush did seemingly ignore information which could have helped him prevent 9/11 (such as the August 6, 2001 memo entitled “Bin Laden determined to strike inside US), but to suggest that he actively planned 9/11…as much as I despise the guy and as much as I saw him use 9/11 for political gain after the fact, I see no real evidence to suggest he or anyone in his administration was involved.

Theory two, seems ridiculous on the surface, but it was front page news everywhere but in the US, the investigative journalist who uncovered the story provided smoking gun evidence that Bush did indeed steal the 2000 election by invalidating the voter registrations of 154,000 net Democrats in Florida, which was decided by just over 200 votes.

Theory three seems plausible on the surface knowing what one knows about 2000, but it seems to me that from the evidence I’ve seen, Bush got more votes and more electoral votes in 2004, regardless of whether he “stole” any votes, I believe he was duly elected in 2004.

Theory 4 is unthinkable, that a President would lead us into a war for his own personal purposes, but the evidence is staggering, from the Plame affair, to the Downing Street memo, to the accounts of Bush saying “Fuck Saddam, we’re taking him out,” to the accounts of Cheney telling Congress that Saddam actually HAD a suitcase nuke, to the PNAC charter…these things seem to be very persuasive to me.

As for theory five, Prescott Bush worked for investment banks which did what they were bound by law to do, he however was actually a pretty good guy…fought in WWI, one of the biggest supporters of Planned Parenthood, voted to censure McCarthy, he simply was not a Nazi or a Nazi sympathizer.

Now, however, I express my beliefs about these things, I would not say any of them was “factual” without a fair trial, but when I look at all the evidence, one, three and five seem like BS and two and four are both supported by a great deal of persuasive evidence, so even I, a person who would LOVE to think the worst about Bush, think more of the conspiracy theories about him than not are complete bull when you look at the facts.

So, going back to Reagan, not a person I care much for…I think his policies were very damaging to the have nots in this country, I think he is responsible for a lot of human suffering and intolerance in our culture, but my criticisms of him are based in policy, based in facts…based on things he did and said which are a matter of the public record. And I was not even out of high school when he left office so I was not quite as interested in politics when he was President (I knew why I didn’t like him, but I didn’t have the kind of understanding of politics that I have today), nor did I have the amazing tool known as the internet to sort through facts vs theories at the time.

So, I’ve heard since the late 1980s that Reagan ordered the CIA to drop crack into inner city neighborhoods, and I’ve always thought that seemed like an absolutely ridiculous claim. As much as I believe Reagan’s policies contributed to the decay of the inner cities, for me this seems on the surface a lot like Bush’s so called 9/11 involvement…may not have caused the problem first hand, but his actions contributed to it.

The crux of my question is this….I’ve heard this theory, and I know that in some circles it is written off as too ridiculous to discuss on the very face, while in other circles it’s believed as gospel. I’m wondering what the real facts are behind where crack came from and how it was introduced to the streets and if there is any legitimate evidence supporting a connection to Reagan and/or the CIA. What is the “whole” theory in other words and what is the supporting “evidence”. And what if anything out there seeks to “debunk” this, seriously by questioning the sources and assumptions rather than just dismissing it out of hat. Is this a crazy conspiracy theory which seems plausible if you fault Reagan for the economic destruction of the inner city, or are there really some questionable relationships which led to the advancement of this theory. What do you know, and please feel free to provide links.