Narcotic Drug Import and Export Act

[Page 546]The Narcotic Drug Import and Export Act of 1922 (also commonly referred to as the Jones-Miller Act) had multiple purposes. It prohibited the possession, use, or import of narcotics (primarily cocaine and opium) in any situation other than for medicinal use, established the Federal Narcotics Control Board to enforce the act, and set out mandatory requirements for those foreign countries wishing to import or export narcotics for legitimate purposes from the United States.

In the 1910s and 1920s, it was presumed that a majority of illegal narcotics brought into the United States were in fact manufactured in the United States, exported legally (often to Canada), and then illegally re-imported. Additionally, there was much propaganda about the widespread use and extreme negative effects of narcotics, some ...