Public Policy, Drugs

International Drug Policies

Psychoactive drug use has been an important part of many civilizations, often done is conjunction with religious and spiritual ceremonies. Many cultures have sanctioned psychoactive substance use, and some of those societies continue to be at the forefront of public policy efforts as exporters of psychoactive substances. In addition, many societies, including the United States, have historically sanctioned public gathering places for the explicit use of psychoactive substances (e.g., opium dens). Although several governments have taken action to reduce or eliminate such establishments, other nations have allowed some types of substance use in public establishments (e.g., the Netherlands).

Laws governing substance use differ greatly around the world. In some societies, substance use or drug trafficking can be punishable by death. Other nations view substance misuse as a public health problem and tend to use legal resources to leverage people into treatment services. Societies can have widely varied responses to different substances that reflect cultural views about the usefulness and risks associated with the substance in question. Furthermore, as societal norms concerning substance use change, policies change as well. The United States is an excellent example of how policies change as attitudes change.

History of Drug Use Policy in the United States

Until the 20th century, drugs were mostly unregulated in the United States. Many consumer products, such as medicines sold over the counter and beverages, included psychoactive substances. Concerns about the purity and safety of food and medicines led to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the first national effort to make drugs safer. In 1909, because of concerns about the morality of behavior in opium dens, the U.S. federal government banned smoking opium, representing the first national prohibition against any substance. The Harrison Act of 1914 was the first attempt to regulate other opioids and cocaine by requiring distributors to report their activities and pay taxes on their goods. Subsequent regulations and court rulings strengthened the restrictions on these substances during the next couple of decades. Heroin became the third substance banned by the government in 1924 (alcohol was the second).

During the period that resulted in alcohol prohibition, public campaigns initiated by citizens groups concerned about the morality of drug use appealed to the dangers of certain substances, such as marijuana and peyote. Marijuana (or hemp) plants had been used for many years in the United States to create rope; therefore, the plant was widely available. During the 1920s, marijuana use increased, presumably as an alternative to alcohol (which had been banned). The Uniform State Narcotic Act, passed in 1932 to encourage adoption of federal drug legislation by states, also granted (and encouraged) states to ban cannabis use. Public prohibition campaigns used fear messages to dissuade use of marijuana by the public. One by-product of this effort was a motion picture titled Tell Your Children (more commonly known by its rerelease name of Reefer Madness), produced by a religious group in the mid-1930s, which linked marijuana use with loss of control and morally inappropriate behavior. The movie was credited with spawning new legislation in 1937 that required marijuana producers and sellers to purchase federal tax stamps, although no tax stamps were ever produced, effectively banning marijuana use in the United States. Peyote (mescaline), on the other hand, was used primarily by American Indians in religious ceremonies. As part of governmental efforts to outlaw traditional Native practices (for fear of insurrection), peyote was banned by many states around the same time. However, in recent years, freedom of religion legislation has restored the rights of Native Americans to use the psychoactive substance in religious practices.

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