-
The Opening Salvo
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 targeted toxic drugs, and was expanded to address misleading drug labels in 1912. But the piece of legislation most relevant to the War on Drugs was the Harrison Tax Act of 1914, which restricted the sale of heroin and was quickly used to restrict the sale of cocaine as well. -
Reefer Madness
And into this new national enforcement framework came the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which attempted to tax marijuana into oblivion Marijuana had not been shown to be dangerous, but the perception that it might be a "gateway drug" for heroin users--and its alleged popularity among Mexican-American immigrants--made it an easy target -
Eisenhower's New War
Not that it did so alone. The Boggs Act of 1951 had already established mandatory minimum federal sentences for possession of marijuana, cocaine, and opiates, and a committee led by Senator Price Daniel called that the federal penalties be increased further, as they were with the Narcotic Control Act of 1956. But it was Eisenhower's establishment of the U.S. Interdepartmental Committee on Narcotics, in 1954, in which a sitting president first literally called for a war on drugs. -
A Borederline Case
To hear mid-20th century U.S. lawmakers tell it, marijuana is a Mexican drug. The term "marijuana" was a Mexican slang term (etymology uncertain) for cannabis, and the proposal to enact a ban during the 1930s was wrapped up in racist anti-Mexican rhetoric. -
Public Enemy Number One
With passage of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, the federal government took a more active role in drug enforcement and drug abuse prevention. Nixon, who called drug abuse "public enemy number one" in a 1971 speech, emphasized treatment at first and used his administration's clout to push for the treatment of drug addicts, particularly heroin addicts. -
Building an Army
The addition of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the federal law enforcement apparatus in 1973 was a significant step in the direction of a criminal justice approach to drug enforcement. If the federal reforms of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 represented the formal declaration of the War on Drugs, the Drug Enforcement Administration became its foot soldiers. -
Just Say No
As drug use among children became more of a national issue, Nancy Reagan toured elementary schools warning students about the danger of illegal drug use."Just say no." The slogan, and Nancy Reagan's activism on the issue, became central to the administration's antidrug message. -
Black Cocaine, White Cocaine
Powdered cocaine was the champagne of drugs. It was associated more often with white yuppies than other drugs were in the public imagination--heroin associated more often with African Americans, marijuana with Latinos.
Then along came crack, cocaine processed into little rocks at a price non-yuppies could afford. Newspapers printed breathless accounts of black urban "crack fiends" and the drug of rock stars suddenly grew more sinister to white middle America. -
Death and the Kingpin
So when Senator Joe Biden's 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill included a provision allowing for the federal execution of drug kingpins, it indicated that the War on Drugs had ultimately reached such a level that drug-related offenses were regarded by the federal government as equivalent to, or worse than, murder and treason. -
The Medicine Show
The line between legal and illegal drugs is as narrow as the wording of drug policy legislation. Narcotics are illegal--except when they're not, as when they're processed into prescription drugs. Prescription narcotics can also be illegal if the person in possession of them hasn't been given a prescription. -
Exit Strategy
So what's next for the War on Drugs? For starters, rebranding. National "drug czar" Gil Kerlikowske, Obama's drug policy coordinator, has called for an end to the War on Drugs terminology, and an attempt to rebrand federal antidrug efforts as simple harm-reduction strategies.
