Uniform State Narcotics Act

Until supplanted in 1970 by the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, the Uniform State Narcotics Act served to create conformity between federal and state laws and among the laws of the states, mainly concerning the use and sale of psychoactive drugs. The crucial first version of the Uniform Act was developed between 1925 and 1932. Issued by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, its provisions were shaped by the American Medical Association, organizations of retail druggists and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the U.S. Treasury Department (first through its Prohibition Unit and then through the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, established in 1930). All but a handful of states adopted the Uniform Act within a few years. It was revised in 1942, 1952, and 1958. By ...