A CENTURY OF DRUG USE AND DRUG POLICY

1900: U.S. public health officials estimate that 300,000 Americans are
opiate addicts. Opium, cocaine and morphine are commonly used in health
remedies and legally sold even in grocery stores.

1914: The nation's first anti-drug law, the Harrison Act, requires doctors
and pharmacists to register prescriptions for cocaine and opiates. Other
use of narcotics becomes illegal.

1922: Congress enacts the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act to monitor
illicit traffic in narcotics.

1923: Congress outlaws heroin.

1930: Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the forerunner to the Drug Enforcement
Administration, is created.

1937: Congress outlaws marijuana.

1951: Congress passes the Boggs Law, which establishes uniform penalties
for violations of drug laws. A first conviction results in a mandatory
minimum sentence of two years; a second conviction, five to 10 years; a
third conviction, 10 to 20 years.

1973: President Richard Nixon declares an "all-out global war" on drugs.

1974: Cocaine makes a comeback as a popular euphoric. A New York Times
Magazine piece, "Cocaine: The Champagne of Drugs," states: "For its
devotees, cocaine epitomizes the best of the drug culture -- which is to
say, a good high achieved without the forbiddingly dangerous needle and
addiction of heroin."

1975: A presidential task force recommends shifting the emphasis of federal
drug policy from law enforcement to treatment and prevention, noting that
"total elimination of drug abuse is unlikely."

1977: Testifying before Congress, officials from four government agencies
recommend eliminating criminal penalties for the use of marijuana. The
federal government takes no action, but 10 states decriminalize the
possession of small amounts of marijuana.

1978: President Jimmy Carter asks Congress to abolish all federal criminal
penalties for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.

1980: President Ronald Reagan increases funding for the war on drugs, and
first lady Nancy Reagan launches a "Just Say No" campaign.

1981: U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., now speaker of the House, proposes
legislation to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. And, the military
begins random drug testing of enlisted personnel.

1986: Congress allows the use of the military for intelligence-gathering in
the war on drugs, imposes mandatory life sentences on adults who sell drugs
to a juvenile for the second time, and permits the introduction of
illegally seized evidence in drug offense trials.

1988: Congress creates a "drug czar" to coordinate drug-control strategies
as head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and
makes drug offenders ineligible for college loans and public housing.

1996: Voters in California and Arizona approve ballot initiatives that
legalize medical use of marijuana.

Source: Public Agenda

© 1998 Centre Daily Times