History Of The American Drug War

History of the American Drug War

The first act of America's anti-drug laws was in 1875. It
outlawed the smoking of opium in opium dens. This was a San Francisco
ordinance. The basis on passing this law was that Chinese men had a
way of luring white women to their dens and causing their "ruin",
which was the association with Chinese men. Later, other Federal laws
such as trafficking in opium was illegal for anyone of Chinese origin.
The opium laws were directed at the smoking of opium. The law didn't
effect importation of the drug because opium was a common medical
drug. This law was specifically targeted at the Chinese, for the
smoking of opium was a Chinese custom.

Cocaine was outlawed for fears that black men would go on a
sexual rampage and rape white women. In the early 1900's, newspapers
referred to them as "Negro Cocaine Fiends" or "Cocainized Niggers".
There is little evidence that this actually happened.

The Harrison Act had started as a licensing law which required
sellers to obtain a license if they were going to handle opiates or
cocaine. The law contains a provision that nothing in the law would
prohibit doctors from prescribing these drugs in the legitimate
practice of medicine. The people who wrote the Harrison Act and
Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, agreed that a prohibition on what people
could put into their bodies was an unconstitutional infringement on
personal liberties.

Marijuana was outlawed in 1937. The ...

History Of The American Drug War

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