Anti-Drug Operations, 1980s

After several years of moderating attitudes toward drugs, the 1980s ushered in a resurgence of strong anti-drug sentiment and the implementation of increasingly harsh penalties for drug offenders.

Following the Nixon administration's “War on Drugs,” the Ford and Carter administrations de-emphasized law and order approaches to drug use. During the Ford administration the Domestic Council Drug Abuse Task Force issued the White Paper on Drug Abuse, which stated that although government could contain problems associated with drug use, complete elimination of use was unlikely. This document also noted that not all illegal drugs were equally dangerous and advocated a prioritization of enforcement efforts. The Carter administration pushed for federal decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. Carter also appointed Dr. Peter G. Bourne, a proponent of marijuana and cocaine decriminalization, as Special Assistant for Health Issues to the President. Overall drug use rose throughout the 1970s while perceptions of the harmfulness of drugs, particularly marijuana, dropped. This period also saw 11 states make efforts to decriminalize marijuana. Yet, as of the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, most Americans appeared unconcerned with drug use and polling data showed it rated low on the list of the nation's problems.

However, by the end of the 1970s, anti-drug sentiment had begun to return. In 1978, an Atlanta community college professor named Marsh (Keith) Shuchard sparked what became known as the Parents Movement. Schuchard was alarmed at her daughter's marijuana use and what she perceived to be an expanding drug culture. She organized other concerned parents and began to agitate for stricter drug control policies and less official tolerance for drug use. Schuchard gained the attention and support of then NIDA director Robert DuPont who encouraged her activities and arranged for her to meet with prominent drug treatment professionals, including Dr. Bourne.

Schuchard came away from these meetings convinced that those directing the nation's drug policy did not take the marijuana threat seriously. Throughout the late 1970s, the Parent's Movement coalesced as groups of motivated parents across the country formed advocacy organizations such as Parent Resources Institute on Drug Education (PRIDE) and the National Federation of Parents for Drug-free Youth (NFP).

Also in 1978, Dr. Bourne came under scrutiny for writing an illegal prescription for a staff member. While Bourne was on a leave of absence pending investigation of this issue, Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML), revealed to the press that Bourne had used cocaine at NORML's annual Christmas party. Bourne resigned amid the mounting controversy. Stroup had been a vocal critic of the Carter administration's attempts to destroy Mexican marijuana fields through chemical spraying, and Bourne's ouster helped end that policy. Removing Bourne proved to be a pyrrhic victory as the Carter administration lost a strong advocate for decriminalization who had the ability to [Page 48]coordinate the policies of the various federal drug enforcement, research, and treatment agencies. Bourne's successor, Leo Dogoloff, proved more sympathetic to the concerns of the Parent's Movement. Along with Dupont's successor, Dr. William Pollin Dogoloff initiated an independent review of NIDA's material on marijuana and ordered NIDA to publish a handbook on the dangers of marijuana written by Schuchard. With Dogoloff's support, the anti-marijuana ideology of the Parent's Movement became a dominant voice in drug policy. Further, the Bourne controversy had made the Carter administration vulnerable to charges that it was soft on crime and it began to harden its stance on drug use. Marijuana decriminalization was no longer on the administration's agenda. Thus, by the time Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 anti-drug sentiment was already on the rise.

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