Anti Drug legislation in the United States: Part Two- major "Acts", and the DEA

In 1914 the first true “anti drug” law was implemented with the passage of the Harrison Act which effectively outlawed opium, cocaine, and derivatives of both. What should be noted is that this “Act” was not passed as a law, but as a tax act. This allowed the person who was in possession of said drugs to be charged with tax evasion. It was the Federal Governments way around the Tenth Amendment, which strictly forbids the passage or enforcement of any law that is not specifically outlined in the Constitution by the Federal Government. Since this historic “Act” or law being passed many Federal “acts” have been passed with the sole intent being to prohibit all drugs that are non-medical in use. In 1937 the “Marihuana Tax Act” was passed, at this time it should be noted that there were in print several dozen books labeling this drug as a “black problem” or as a drug that caused all manner of psychosis and evil. Sadly to this day the only real medical studies done show quite the opposite. “In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded, "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.” (Deglamorising cannabis 1995) Another more modern approach is to claim that marijuana is a “gateway” drug, which causes people to want and try more hard drugs and to become addicts. The only evidence supporting this view is given by another government agency (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) which if one understand the true history behind the reasons marijuana was made illegal will give them pause when presented with these “facts.” According to Morral, McCaffery, Paddock (2002) “Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistic association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence.”...


Anti Drug legislation in the United States: Part Two- major "Acts", and the DEA

Posted using ShareThis

Sphere: Related Content