Heroin Introduced 1898 Considered nonaddictive Free samples by mail as “step down” cure for morphine addiction Non-medical use banned 1924 Medical use banned 1970
Sigmund Freud Discovers Miracle Cure for Opioid Addiction
An Effective Ophthalmologic Anesthetic and Vasoconstrictor Cocaine
Freud Praises Cocaine "...you are simply normal, and it is soon hard to believe you are under the influence of any drug.... Absolutely no craving for the further use of cocaine appears after the first, or even after repeated taking of the drug..."
Freud later ruefully admitted using cocaine to cure morphine addiction was "like trying to cast out the Devil with Beelzebub."
Drug War History: A Snapshot CJ/PS 4535 The War on Drugs a Dr. Matt presentation
Significant Dates: 1930: Bureau of Narcotics formed (Treasury Dept.) Harry Anslinger, director Close links to William Randolph Hearst (newspaper giant / timber guy), E.I. DuPont (paper giant), and Andrew Mellon (Sec. of Treasury and owner of Mellon Bank) Launched campaign against the “killer weed” and “assassin of youth” marijuana
Marijuana!!!
Marijuana!!!
Significant Dates: 1937: Marijuana Tax Act Required tax stamp to sell ($1) Required laborious procedures to prescribe Very tough sentences (“life” for selling to minor) Bureau also wrote sample bill banning pot (adopted by 40 states) Partly inspired by racist sentiment
Consider:
Significant Dates: 1970: Narcotics Treatment Administration formed (President Nixon) In part due to military addiction to heroin from Vietnam Treatment received majority of funds 1970: Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act “Federalization” or “nationalization” of drug control Created 5 drug schedules through Controlled Substances Act
Significant Dates: 1971: Nixon declares war on drugs Most money for treatment 1971: Operation Golden Flow Required returning soldiers to take urine test
Significant Dates: 1972: Office of Drug Abuse & Law Enforcement (ODALE) formed (President Nixon) Coordinated task forces to reduce drugs and crime Shifted focus to law enforcement approach 1973: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Primary federal agency involved in drug seizures and busts 1978: Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act amended Allowed for asset forfeiture
Significant Dates: 1981: US-Colombia treaty Allowed extradition of traffickers to US 1983: DARE founded in LA, California Totally ineffective 1984: Comprehensive Crime Control Act Longer sentences and increased bail amounts for drug offenders 1985: “Just Say No” (Nancy Reagan)
Estimated 1.2 Million Opioid Addicts in U.S. Increasing since 1991 Lucas GM. Buprenorphine in primary HIV care clinics: a big pill to swallow. The Hopkins HIV Report. 2004;16:5-7.
Estimated 5.5 Million People Used Cocaine in the U.S. in 2005
Meth Treatment Admission Per 100,000 20
Meth Treatment Admission Per 100,000
Meth Treatment Admission Per 100,000
Impact of the War on Drugs on Incarceration in the United States
President Nixon Declares The “War On Drugs”
Congress Dramatically Increases Penalties For Drug Offenses
A Nation of Prisoners The United States incarcerates more than six times as many people as does the entire European Union, which has 100,000,000 more people.
Weekly Growth in Prison Population
Costs of Drug Crime Continued to Climb The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States 1992 – 2002, Office of Drug Control Policy
In Reality, Drugs Make Us Do Horrible Things
“Meth Mouth”