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Period: 2500 BCE to 1800 BCE
The Earliest Coca Leaves are Discovered
The earliest coca leaves were discovered in the Huaca Prieta settlement in the northern coast of Peru, positive proof that the natives of South America were using coca for a series of purposes for more than our thousand, five hundred years. -
First US Patent for Medicine Granted
Samuel Lee, Jr. of Connecticut was given a patent for a “Composition of bilious pills” which was renewed several times by him and his son. The pills were used for the treatment of a variety of stomach ills including seasickness. An 1803 advertisement claimed them to be “Interesting to all sea-faring People” and said they could cure “foul stomachs, where pukes are indicated.” -
Cocaine is Isolated from the Coca Leaf
Albert Niemann at the University of Gottingen had succeeded, in isolating this substance contained in the leaves brought in from the mountains of the Andes, the coca leaves. Its active component was cocaine, the famous compound which was a major player in American history of the twentieth century and its famous war against drugs. -
Coca-Cola is Introduced
In the late 1800s cocaine was used as a primary ingredient for flavor in Coca Cola. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, carried his mixture with coca leaves to Jacob's Pharmacy and mixed it with carbonated water to be sold for 5 cents a glass. In the early 1900s cocaine in its crude form was removed. Today the extract of the coca leaves, a de-cocainized version, is manufactured in the United States and used in the flavoring for Coca Cola. -
Sinclair's "The Jungle"
Written by Upton Sinclair, this novel was originally written to portray the harsh conditions of the lives of immigrants living in the United States. The public concern was more with the unsanitary health practices that were taking place in his description of the meat industry in Chicago. As Sinclair stated, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." -
The Pure Food and Drug Act
This introduced a bill in Congress to accomplish a national food and drug regulation. It passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 240 to 17. -
International Opium Convention
The first international drug control treaty signed at The Hague. The primary objective of the convention was to introduce restrictions on exports as opposed to imposing prohibition or criminalizing the use and cultivation of opium, coca, and cannabis. -
Harrison Narcotics Tax Act
Proposed by Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was a U.S. federal law that regulated and taxed the importation, distribution, and production of opiates and coca. It was also known as the Opium and Coca Leaves Trade Restrictions Act and was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 17, 1914. -
Prohibition Begins
The illegal sale, manufacturing and transportation of intoxicating liquor, which went into effect on January 16, 1920 by way of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Initially assigned to the IRS for enforcement, it was later handed over the the Justice Department, although enforcing the laws of prohibition proved difficult. -
The End of Prohibition
It was repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which made alcohol legal again on December 5, 1933. -
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
This act made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses, in which an expensive excise tax was required -
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Public Attitudes Towards Marijuana Change
Rebellious hippies experiment more with sex and drugs, particularly marijuana. Drug use is no longer tied to one specific minority or subcultural group-marijuana found it's way through the middle and upper class. -
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California Civil Addict Program
The program provided both inpatient and outpatient treatment phases. During the initial eight years of CAP (1961-1969), this outpatient program was very stringent adhering to the requirement, "You use, you lose." Participants exhibited sustained reductions in drug use, fewer multiple relapses and relapses that were of shorter duration and separated by longer periods of non addiction. As of 1990, the length of the commitment has been reduced from 7 years to an average of 3 years. -
US Supreme Court Strikes Down Ruling in Robinson v. California
Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660, is the first decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was interpreted to prohibit criminalization of particular acts or conduct, as contrasted with prohibiting the use of a particular form of punishment for a crime. In Robinson, the Court struck down a California law that criminalized being addicted to narcotics. -
Controlled Substances Act is Enacted by US Congress
In 1969, President Richard Nixon announced that the Attorney General, John N. Mitchell, was preparing a comprehensive new measure to more effectively meet the narcotic and dangerous drug problems at the federal level by combining all existing federal laws into a single new statute. The CSA combined existing federal drug laws and expanded their scope and it also changed the nature of federal drug law policies, and expanded Federal law enforcement pertaining to controlled substances. -
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Crack Cocaine
While cocaine was a drug for the privileged elite, a new form came along in 1980 called crack. It is a freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked, and offers a short, but intense high. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 increased penalties for crack cocaine usage and possession. In the mid 1980s, it hit its peak usage in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami, but began to lose its popularity by 1989. -
President Ronald Reagan Declares 'War on Drugs'
President Ronald Reagan declared illicit drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security. During his presidency, some of the most prohibitive drug control laws ever were passed. First Lady Nancy Reagan coins the phrase "Just Say No" while speaking at an elementary school in Oakland, CA. -
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
This major law on the so-called "War on Drugs" passed by the U.S. Congress which did two significant things:
1. Created the policy goal of a drug-free America;
2. Established the Office of National Drug Control Policy
The media campaign mentioned in the act later became the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. -
Political Interest in Drugs Begins to Wane
Officials began to recognize that prison overcrowding due to strict drug laws was becoming out of control. Their solution was to place the drug offenders into diversion or drug treatment programs, or on probation. -
Washington Becomes the First U.S. State to Legalize Marijuana
Under the Washington Initiative 502, Washington State became the first U.S. state to legalize cannabis
