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Drug War Facts
Compiled and Maintained byCommon Sense for Drug Policy© Copyright 2007ISBN 978-0-615-16429-8Printed in Canada November 2007
Publishing of excerpts is permitted and encouraged.However, publishing or posting on the Internet of more than four hundred words withoutwritten permission is prohibited.
 
Drug Prohibition Timeline
1875: First anti-drug law in US enacted: San Francisco Opium Den Ordinance passed Nov. 15.1906: Congress passes Pure Food and Drug Act.1914: Harrison Narcotics Act enacted; federal control of narcotics established;nonmedical use of heroin and cocaine made illegal.1919: Congress passes Eighteenth Amendment to US Constitution, establishingnationalalcoholprohibition.Ninemonthslater,onOct.28,Congresspassesthe Volstead Act providing for the law’s enforcement.1933: Congress repeals national alcohol prohibition.1937: Marihuana (sic) Tax Act enacted. Objections were raised during hearingsfrom the American Medical Association as well as from hemp producers.1970: Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act passed into law,containing Controlled Substances Act (which lists marijuana in Schedule 1, prohibiting any legitimate medical uses).1970:The National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)is founded.1971: President Richard M. Nixon declares “war on drugs” at press conference onJune 17; announces creation of Special Action Office for Drug AbusePrevention to be headed by Dr. Jerome Jaffe.1978: Federal forfeiture introduced via amendment to Comprehensive DrugAbuse Prevention and Control Act.1984: Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 enacted: broadened criminal andcivil asset forfeiture laws, increased federal penalties for drug offenses.1986: Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 enacted; creates mandatory minimumsentences, establishes disparity in sentences involving equivalent weightsof crack vs. powder cocaine.1988: Anti-Drug Abuse AmendmentAct of 1988 enacted, increasing penalties for drug offenses and creating new federal offenses.1988: First needle exchange in United States established in Tacoma, WA.1989: US Office of National Drug Control Policyestablished. WilliamS. Bennett,former Education Secretary, is named first “Drug Czar.”1995: US Sentencing Commission recommends revising mandatory minimumsentencingguidelinestoresolvecrack/powdercocainesentencingdisparity.Congress overrides their recommendation.1996: CaliforniapassesProposition 215, legalizingsaleand possession of medicalmarijuana by patients in need. Over the following decade, 10 more stateslegalize possession and cultivation of medical marijuana.2000: California voters pass Proposition 36, allowing people convicted of first or second time, no-violent drug possession to receive drug treatment insteadof prison.2004: Oakland, CA voters approve Measure Z, makingadult socialmarijuanause,cultivation, and sales the lowest law enforcement priority in the city.
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