-
1500 BCE
Opium for Medical Use
Opium was being used medicinally as early as 1500 BCE by the Egyptians. The primary use of opium at this time was for pain relief. From Egypt it spread from country to country including Greece, ancient Rome, and China where it eventually became used as a "cure-all". -
Period: Jan 1, 1558 to
The Coca Plant
The plant from which cocaine is harvested has been used since ancient times. The Andean people used the leaves of the coca plant for rituals. The Incas reserved these leaves for those they considered to be divine. Later on in the nineteenth century the Europeans adopted the coca habit. The coca leaves have been said to provide energy and stamina. Coca products were later used as pharmaceuticals, and ingredients in alcohol such as wine. One of the most famous uses for cocaine is in Coca-Cola. -
Period: to
Drug Policies and Racial Ethnic Groups
Numerous policies on drugs are aimed at the group of people who is perceived to be addicted to them. Many times these groups are minority or ethnic groups. Prohibition laws targeted the Roman Catholics, particularly the Irish. Opium was associated with Chinese immigrants. The depression in California led to anti-Chinese, as well as anti-opium movements. The movement against cocaine was targeted at African Americans to get the South on board. Anti-marijuana legislation was fueled by Mexican use. -
The Movement Towards Prohibition
in 1808 the Union Temperance Society was established, which set the groundwork for a movement towards prohibition. The majority of supporters were white Protestant nativists who used the movement to fuel anti-minority feelings. As it made progress, several states put prohibition laws into action, but it was not attempted to make prohibition a national issue until 1869, when the Prohibition Party came about. The move towards prohibition fueled anti-immigrant and minority feelings nation wide. -
The Push Against Marijuana
Marijuana was mainly used recreationally by Mexicans until the 1900's. Legislation involving marijuana was influenced by anti-immigrant feelings. Along with these feelings came the belief that marijuana made people violent and criminal. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 placed an outrageous tax of $100 per ounce on marijuana instead of making it outright illegal. The penalties for marijuana possession and trafficking, along with several other drugs, were drastically increased in 1951. -
Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"
This novel depicted the grotesque and unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry. Sinclair exposed the rotten and contaminated meat products that were being shipped out to market, the sick workers who spat and went to the bathroom right where they worked, and the meat that would lay on the ground in rat dung before it was sent out.This novel spiked an uproar and led to the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. -
The Pure Food and Drug Act
This act made it illegal to manufacture or sell drugs or food products that were mislabeled, poisonous, or tampered with. The final straw that led to the passing of this act was the release of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Those producing and selling patent medicines resented the movement towards purity because of the money currently being made. The Pure Food and Drug Act resulted in the need for all drugs to be labeled with their ingredients and their specific amounts. -
Patent Medicines
Opium was a key ingredient in many medicines,which were part of a group known as "patent medicines" in the US until 1914. There was no real patent on these medications, and they were being prescribed for every illness under the sun. Even if the medication did not cure the disease a patient was suffering from, the sense of well-being that opium, or some other drug provided made them feel better. This widespread prescription led to many unnecessary addictions and babies born to dependance. -
Harrison Narcotic Tax Act
This act required all those who sold or prescribed opium and coca products, or their derivatives to register yearly and pay a tax of $1. Those who registered had to be medical professionals, and records of all of the drugs they dispensed had to be kept. These drugs could only be sold with a commissioner of revenue signed form. The regulation of narcotics was a huge step in dealing with the innumerable opiate addicts in the US at this time. -
Period: to
Prohibition
Any and all alcoholic beverages were made nationally illegal by the 18th Amendment. This Amendment was then strengthened by the Volstead Act, which more precisely defined alcoholic beverages as anything more than 0.5% alcohol. Prohibition officers got violent with innocent people and committed crimes for which they were not held accountable. Matters worsened when outrage from the prohibition led to an exponential rise in organized crime. The 21st Amendment brought the Prohibition to an end. -
Drug Rehabilitation Programs
The early programs for drug rehab were known as narcotic clinics and were run under medical supervision. These programs encouraged normal living without the use of drugs, but were shut down in 1922. Later came the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act, which gave courts the power to order drug addicts into rehab programs. At this time the number of rehab clinics and amount of money spent by the federal government on treating addicts skyrocketed, with methadone as a key maintenance drug. -
Changing Attitudes Towards Marijuana
Opinions started to change in the 1960's when members of the middle and upper class began to accept marijuana.Once a few years passed people understood that even though marijuana was legally treated as drugs like heroin and cocaine, it did not have the same effects.The harsh punishment for marijuana possession was reduced by the end of the 1960's, but in terms of drug class, marijuana was placed in the same category as heroin, the highest category. 11 states had decriminalized this drug by 1978 -
Crack Cocaine
The increase in crack cocaine not only led to more violence in the drug market because of the high demand and younger user base, but also provoked a drug scare. For this reason officials increased the penalties for this particular type of cocaine, which was smoked instead of snorted as the powder form was. Those who typically used crack were the lower class urban residents. The popularity that crack cocaine gained in 1980 diminished around 1989. -
Period: to
The Time of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan brought drug use back into light as a political issue. During his presidency congress passed the Anti-Drug Use Act of 1988, which not only established the Office of National Drug Control Policy, but also set the goal of "A Drug-Free America by 1995". Under this act the penalties aimed at drug users and sellers was intensified. Casual users could now receive fines or lose federal benefits. One could even get the death penalty if they killed an officer during a drug related arrest. -
Period: to
The 1990's
Prisons were packed to the brim due to the strict laws on drug possession and use. This led to a movement towards probationary periods and mandatory drug rehab programs for drug offenders instead of prison time. The penalty for selling crack cocaine was made much more severe than that of powdered cocaine, because crack was associated with minorities. The use of methamphetamine also spiked around this time. Marijuana and cocaine still present, heroin gained popularity with the urban poor.
