Anti-Drug Abuse Act (Drug-Free America Act)

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-570, 100 Stat. 3207) was signed in October 1986. It further increased the restrictiveness of anti-drug laws in the United States by establishing numerous provisions aimed to eliminate drug use. The law enables the president to increase taxes on goods imported from countries that are deemed to be uncooperative in curbing drug production and trafficking, and created tough laws allowing law enforcement to seize the assets of drug dealers. The law also created anti–money laundering provisions. The most far-reaching and controversial of these decisions re-established federal mandatory minimum guidelines with respect to both drug possession and trafficking.