Source: Centre Daily Times Author: From CDT staff reports Pubdate: Sunday, January 18, 1998 Contact: Note: Please indicate whether your comments may be considered for publication. Website: http://www.centredaily.com/ 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