The first American anti-drug law was an 1875 San Francisco ordinance, which outlawed the smoking of opium in opium dens. (Brecher, pg. 5) It was passed because of the fear that Chinese men were luring white women to their "ruin" in opium dens. "Ruin" was defined as associating with Chinese men. It was followed by other similar laws, including federal laws in which trafficking in opium was forbidden to anyone of Chinese origin, and restrictions on the importation of smoking opium. The laws did not have anything really to do with the importation of opium as a drug, because the importation and use of opium in other forms- such as for common medication- were not affected. The laws were directed at smoking o

Dr. Hamilton Wright is sometimes referred to as the "Father of American Drug Laws". Dr. Wright was the Opium Commissioner at the time and had previously become famous because he had "scientifically proved" that beriberi was a communicable disease. Beriberi is a vitamin deficiency.

In both cases, newspapers across the country carried lurid stories of the awful things that these drugs did to racial minorities, and of the horrors that the people of racial minorities inflicted on innocent white people while they were under the influence of these drugs. Later research has shown that not a single one of the stories used to promote these laws could be substantiated. (Musto, pg.55-56) There never was any scholarly evidence that the laws were necessary, or even beneficial, to public health and safety and none was presented when the laws were passed.

The trick was that the bureaucrats who were authorized to issue licenses never did so, and there was a heavy penalty for not having a license. This heavy penalty required that the enforcing bureaucrats needed more staff and, therefore, more power, which, in turn required tougher laws. Over the years, through a series of court rulings, they gradually got the courts to change what had been well-established constitutional law. Specifically, they got the courts to accept the notion that it really was a tax violation when people got arrested for drugs, and that the fact that the government would not issue any licenses was not a defense. (Whitebread, Speech, pg.44) They also got the courts to bypass the old issue of whether the Federal Government had the right to control what an individual puts into their bodies by creating the fiction that whatever the person puts into their own bodies must have come as a result of some form of interstate commerce, which is regulated by the Federal Government in the form of taxes and licenses and, therefore, since the Federal Government is allowed to levy a tax it is - by rather indirect logic- allowed to regulate what anyone may put into their own bodies. (Whitebread, Speech, pg 44)

Today, the government has many sources in which are contributing to the prevention of illegal drug use. Currently in the United States the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has been the most visible symbol of the federal government’s commitment to drug prevention. (Press Release, August 26, 2001, ONDCP) The media campaign is a comprehensive communications strategy that reaches American’s with science-based anti-drug messages where they live, work, play, and pray. The campaign uses a variety of media to empower young people and their parents to make healthier decisions about illegal drug use. Advertising on television, radio, print, and the Internet is the cornerstone of the media campaign. (Press Release, 8-26-01, ONDCP)

These are only a few ways in which the government has currently been participating in the fight on the war on drugs. Other ways that I believe that Drug Reform could be enforced is by first, pursuing alte

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