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Heroin Trafficking Act

The Heroin Trafficking Act was introduced in 1973 in response to the dramatic rise in heroin use in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was aimed at increasing the sentences for morphine and heroin trafficking and possession offenses. The proposed penalties included mandatory minimum sentences for first offenses in trafficking, denial of parole and probation in most cases, and mandatory life sentences for repeated trafficking offenses of over four ounces. Ultimately, however, the proposed Heroin Trafficking Act was not passed and was never implemented.

Background

During the 1960s research concluded that mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses had not been effective in reducing the nation's drug problem. In 1970 the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act eliminated most of the minimum sentences imposed by earlier legislation and provided support for drug treatment and research. Despite this shift toward decreasing penalties and focusing on treatment, the United States experienced a heroin epidemic during the late 1960s that reached its peak in the early 1970s. This may be due in part to the liberal attitudes about drug use among the nation's youth in the late 1960s and the high rates of heroin use among returning Vietnam veterans in the early 1970s.

In 1971 President Richard M. Nixon waged the “War on Drugs” to combat this rise in drug use. In his 1973 State of the Union Address, President Nixon called for legislation that would allow drug enforcement officials to remove heroin traffickers from the streets of the United States and minimize the chances that they would be returned to the streets via parole or probation.

President Nixon acknowledged that provisions of the proposed Heroin Trafficking Act were harsh and rigid; however, he argued that the current circumstances warranted such aggressive legislation. Some historians have noted that the aggressive legislation may have been proposed in an attempt to direct the nation's focus toward the heroin epidemic and away from media coverage of the Watergate scandal.

Provisions

The proposed Heroin Trafficking Act was aimed at increasing the sentences for those convicted of morphine and heroin trafficking offenses. For first offenses, trafficking of less than four ounces called for a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 15 years in a correctional facility. Trafficking of more than four ounces for first time offenders would result in a sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison. For repeat offenders, trafficking of less than four ounces resulted in a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life, and trafficking of more than four ounces resulted in a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The act also introduced a series of lesser penalties for those convicted of possession of heroin or morphine.

To ensure that those convicted would remain incarcerated, the act required that the mandatory minimum sentences could not be suspended nor could probation be granted. It also denied pre-trial release of those suspected of trafficking offenses, those awaiting sentencing, and during the appeals process in most cases. President Nixon imposed these judicial guidelines in order to address his perception that those convicted of possessing or trafficking were falling through the cracks of the legal system and returning to the streets, thereby contributing to the nation's rise in illicit substance use.

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