system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What did the CIA have to gain by being involved with the crack epidemic in the 80s? And how exactly were they involved?

Always curious about why the CIA got involved in this. I think they distributed crack(?) or were involved in its distribution but I'm not sure.
gpt
According to Gary Webb's reporting on the subject, they needed the money. In particular, they were under orders from Congress not to spend their own money, not to spend tax money, on helping the Nicaraguan contras, and they were under orders from the President to spend money helping the Nicaraguan contras. So accepting cocaine from the contras, flying it to Los Angeles, selling it to a wholesaler, then using the money to buy guns, loading the guns on the same plane, and flying the plane back was their way of obeying the President while pretending to obey Congress.