Anti-Drug Operations, 1970s

Context

During the 1970s, the abuse of narcotics and dangerous drugs increased dramatically in response to the era's social climate and culture. Drug dealers exploited the counterculture and free love generation. The drug problem was no longer limited to the slums of the inner city as it had been prior to the 1960s; drug abuse became more widespread in other social classes, and now affected more young middle-and upper-class people. In the initial stages of the increasingly mainstream drug culture, the better-educated middle class experimented with mind-expanding drugs.

They disdained the use of needle-induced opiate drugs. However, returning Vietnam War veterans who had experimented with drugs during the war influenced this population and introduced heroin as an acceptable drug of choice. Their experience created a diffusion/adoption process for heroin usage, and caused a ripple effect in the youthful population. The lead-up gateway drugs set the foundation for snorting heroin, and eventually mainlining with needles to increase the speed of delivery and high associated with this narcotic drug.

In 1971, President Nixon called drug abuse “public enemy number one.” During that year, the president asked entertainment celebrities to assist in getting the anti-drug message out to young people. He emphasized the need for treatment programs, highlighting intervention for heroin addicts. However, those addicted to heroin represented only the tip of the iceberg; larger problems loomed below the surface.

Law enforcement was originally concerned with opium, morphine, heroin, and cocaine. They fulfilled their duties, paying less attention to the psychedelic drug market, which was also growing. This market was diversifying and expanding from marijuana to include hallucinogens, barbiturates, amphetamines, and the so-called organic drugs like mushrooms and mescaline/peyote. Advances in the pharmaceutical industry and the resourcefulness of amateur clandestine chemists at this time also laid the foundation for the later emergence of new designer drugs in the 1990s.

Executive and Legislative Responses

In response to the increase in drug abuse and addiction, the federal government attempted to initiate legislation to solve the escalating dilemma. Nixon's statement and policy declared “an all-out global war on the drug menace.” He noted that “the federal government is fighting the war with a distinct handicap, for its efforts are those of a loosely confederated allegiance facing a resourceful, elusive worldwide enemy.” During the 1970s, legislation became the primary strategic attack for the “War on Drugs.” Nixon and the Congress initiated several reorganization programs and legislative reforms.

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