Drugs: A Popular Drug In American Drug Culture

Heroin, a white powder, was created in 1874, and was sold as a safe substitute for morphine. However, it was discovered that heroin produced a quick dependency in people. Heroin and other opiates were made illegal in 1920 as part of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Still today, however, Heroin is illegally manufactured and imported, largely from the Indian sub-continent.

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat

A mixture of opium and alcohol was designed back in 1680. However this formula would not surface and be marketed until the 1900's by the Bayer company in Germany as a method to combat the cough associated along with Tuberculosis. It was also used as a method to treat morphine addictions, that is until it was discovered that heroin itself was extremely

Later, in the early to mid 1900's, cocaine would be linked to blacks and marijuana would be linked to Mexicans. Many people believe that many of the drug laws put into place were done so because of racism. When the United States banned opium importation, many other nations began to have concerns about the growing drug abuse problem throughout the world, specifically the abuse of opium in many of the nations of Asia. This concern led to meetings of several nations whose mission was to restrict narcotics to medical use [2].

Moreover, another dangerous substance that is consumer is opium. Opium is an addictive drug that is taken from a poppy plant. At first, this drug is used as a narcotic in medicine as an anesthetic as the dangers associated with it are outweighed from the medicinal properties. The prohibition of opium originated from foreign disputes. Professor David F. Musto wrote that “Americans had quickly associated smoking opium with Chinese immigrants who arrive after the Civil War to work on railroad construction. This association was of the earliest examples of a powerful theme in American perception of

2008). “Scientists had been looking for some time for a non-addictive substitute for morphine. Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in the Bayer laboratory in Wuppertal, Germany in 1897- by Felix Hoffman…. Yet the white, odorless, crystalline powder deriving from morphine, had been invented in 1874 by an English chemist, C. R. Wright. Bayer had a registered trademark on heroin in August of 1898, in the U.S.”(Askwith 1998). “In a

Until the early 20th century, Americans were legally able to obtain drugs such as cocaine, cannabis, and heroin. In fact, these types of drugs were found in medicines and drinks such as Coca-Cola. By the early 1900s, between 250,000-500,000 Americans were addicted to drugs. This rise of addiction in the United States created a growing public concern that addiction would become a more widespread issue, and they felt this problem needed a government solution. For example, in 1875, the first restrictive legislation concerning drugs began in San Francisco when a law was passed to limit the use of opium dens in public indoor establishments. Almost 100 years later, the Controlled Substance Act was passed in 1970. Shortly after, Richard Nixon declared

The history of drug use dates back for thousands of years with diverse purposes throughout humanity. According to Levinthal (2012), the drug-taking behavior gained federal awareness in the early 1900s, due to the lack of drug control regulations. Moreover, Levinthal (2012) mentions four major drug control laws which were established, including: (1) The Harrison Narcotic Act 1914, (2) The Marijuana Tax Act 1937, (3) The Boggs Act 1951, and (4) The Controlled Substance Act 1970. The drug control laws formed help regulate importation, manufacture, selling, or distribution of drugs within the United States (Levinthal, 2012).

When President Nixon took office in 1969 he saw it as a god given opportunity for him to take charge of the country. A rise in drug trafficking and abuse in the 60’s led Nixon to administer the Controlled Substance Act. An act that set to label the addictiveness and medical purpose of drugs by 5 Schedules. Schedule one being the most addictive with no medical purpose and schedule five being less addictive with medicinal purposes. In 1973 He created the Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA, agents who enforced drug related laws and executed the punishments. The DEA also works to stop the trafficking of and distribution of drugs.

Drug use has been around for many years and has been an issue that the government has tried to combat and take control over. Before drug use was made illegal, many people could legally purchase them and not be criminalized. The government realized that many of the drugs were addictive and caused a negative impact on society and this is when federal antidrug legislations were imposed. When the government made drugs and alcohol illegal is when the rebellion came and this made the want for the illegal products more enticing.

It is necessary to provide a little background on the primary drug being discussed, heroin. Opium is not a new drug; it has been used in eastern cultures as far back as the Neolithic age. It was used then similarly as other opium based drugs today are used to control pain. Opium could be taken orally or by smoking it, both produce similar effects.

While laws prohibiting the use of drugs, in one form or another, can be traced back to the 1870s, it was not until 1968, when Richard M. Nixon was elected President, that our current drug war was conceived. In 1970 Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act.(2) With an

In the year 1920, the U.S. enforced the Prohibition Act that banned the manufacturing, transportation and sale of all alcohol. The Prohibition lasted a total of 13 years before being abolished in 1933 since the government could not stop the entire country from buying and/or selling alcohol illegally. It seemed that the more they tried to get rid of alcohol, the more people would want it so instead of having continuous law breakers, they’d rather the people drink freely hence Prohibition ending. Drugs, on the other hand, were legal all the way up until 1914, where the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act took place. The Harrison Act basically put a tax on drugs and made it only so that people with sincere medical issues could use certain drugs,

In the 1850s, Chinese immigrants introduced opium smoking when they came to California. By the 1890s, opium dens were common in American society. Opium was then followed by morphine, laudanum, paregoric and codeine. The use of these drugs became even more local with the adoption of the hypodermic syringe. Morphine use actually became popular for pain relief during the American Civil War, resulting in much unwitting addiction.

Heroin is not new. In fact, the first growth and cultivation of opium dates back to around 3400 B.C. during the ancient Mesopotamian age. Tom Carnwath briefly discusses the origin of this now over-powering substance in his book “Heroin Century”. Carnwarth mentions that at one point in history even the Romans used it for tinctures, tablets, poultices, and lozenges. It wasn’t consistently being used until the sixteenth-century when physician Paracelsus began to prescribe it to his patients as he