 Drug Use: A U.S. Concern for Over a Century Federal drug control efforts have been a public policy concern since the late 19th century when the use of opiates and cocaine spread to the United States from Europe. Today the use of illicit drugs is still a major concern following recent surveys that show a sharp increase in teenage use of marijuana and hashish, and a National Drug Control Strategy that gives top priority to the prevention of drug use by young people. Following are excerpts of a May 1997 report on "Drug Supply Control" prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress.
Illicit Drugs in the United States The use of illicit drugs has been a public policy concern in the United States since the late 19th century. Policymakers by law and custom usually define the word narcotics as products of the poppy plant or opiates (heroin, morphine), as well as products derived from the coca leaf (cocaine, crack) and the cannabis plant (marijuana). Illicit drug use patterns tend to change over time; some suggest that there are cycles in popular drug use. The history of opium use for medicinal purposes dates back to ancient times. Morphine, the chief active ingredient of opium, was isolated in 1803 and began to be used as a painkiller and calming agent by U.S. physicians about 1832. Opiate use increased in the mid-19th century with the rise in the opium trade with China, the advent of the hypodermic needle, and the liberal use of opiates by physicians during the Civil War. Heroin, a semi-synthetic narcotic derived from morphine, was first synthesized in 1874 and was offered as a medical remedy for coughs and chest pains around 1900. The history of the use of coca leaf for medicinal purposes dates back at least to the mid-19th century, when European chemists derived cocaine from it in the late 1850s. From 1870 to 1920, use and abuse of opiates and cocaine spread in the United States, due in part to a lack of knowledge about the negative effects of these drugs. Statistics on the number of U.S. narcotics addicts in 1920, though generally unreliable, ranged from 300,000 to 1.5 million. From the mid-1800s until the 1930s, cannabis, from which marijuana is derived, served as an ingredient in paint products, oils, birdseeds, and household medications such as corn plasters, mild tranquilizers, and veterinary medicines. Policymakers expressed growing concern over a perceived rise in marijuana use during the 1930s and acted to restrict it. Reported statistics vary widely and are unreliable. One press account estimated in 1937 that there were 100,000 marijuana addicts, mainly adolescents and college students. Commissioner Harry Anslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics estimated that the states had made 800 arrests of marijuana users in 1936. Despite stiffer federal penalties for drug offenses enacted during the 1950s, popular use of psychedelic substances, such as LSD, in addition to heroin, marijuana, and cocaine saw a resurgence in the 1960s and early 1970s. The estimated number of heroin users rose from approximately 50,000 in 1960 to about 500,000 by 1970. Methadone, a synthetic drug created by German scientists during the Second World War due to a shortage in morphine, was introduced in the United States in 1947 and was widely used in the 1960s to treat heroin addicts. In 1971, an estimated 24 million Americans reported use of marijuana at least once, and others reported experimental use of cocaine. At the same time, press accounts noted a growing use of marijuana and heroin by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. The use of most illicit drugs has generally declined since the late 1970s, with marijuana remaining the most commonly used illegal drug. In the 1980s, popular use of cocaine, and later the smokeable cocaine base called crack, grew. The National Household Survey's revised estimates of the percentage of those age 12 and older reporting current or past month use of cocaine declined from 3 percent in 1985 (the first year any data on crack were included) to 1 percent in 1990, and has remained at 0.7 percent for each year, 1992-1995. Other drugs came into greater use during the mid-1970s to late 1980s, including hallucinogens such as PCP (phencyclidine) and MDMA (Ecstasy), designer drugs (analogues chemically and pharmacologically similar to substances regulated under the Controlled Substances Act), and methamphetamines such as Speed and Ice. In the early 1990s, authorities noted the growing use of Cat, an analogue of methamphetamine, in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Various indicators show that drug use is on the increase. On December 19, 1996, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna E. Shalala released the Monitoring the Future Survey, which surveys the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by 8th, 10th, and 12th graders nationwide. (The survey was administered in the spring of 1996.) According to the HHS press release: The survey showed increases in lifetime, annual, current (use within the past 30 days) and daily use of marijuana by 8th and 10th graders, continuing a trend that began in the early 1990s. Among 12th graders, rates of marijuana use remained high and increased for lifetime use, but for the first time since 1993 showed no significant change in annual, current or daily use. Surveyors stated that the increase in marijuana use among younger high school students may be contrasted with "mixed or overall unchanged measures for other drugs." Barry McCaffrey (retired army general), director of the White House office on drug policy, who joined Secretary Shalala in releasing the survey results, stated, "Increased use among students in 8th and 10th grades is a wake-up call for America. Because marijuana use by youth is highly correlated with future use of addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin, we must step up our efforts to prevent drug abuse among children of all ages." Drug use data from the 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, released August 1996, show that current illicit drug use (in the past month) among those age 12 and older reached an estimated 12.8 million in 1995, an increase over the low of an estimated 12 million in 1992, but lower than the estimated total of 23.3 million in 1985. This estimated total for current drug use nationwide in 1995 includes:
Drug Control Legislation Modern federal drug control legislation may be said to have begun with an 1887 act to keep aspects of the Chinese opium traffic from the United States and prohibit the involvement of U.S. citizens in that traffic. In 1914, Congress enacted the Harrison Narcotics Act to regulate traffic in narcotics and other drugs, require doctors and pharmacists to keep detailed records of drug distribution, and mandate the purchase of tax stamps to ensure oversight of drug sales. Although the Act was not specifically designed to eliminate drug use except for medicinal purposes, it did provide information on the sale of these drugs and it served as the principal drug control statute until 1970. Marijuana was not covered under the Harrison Act, though various state and local statutes required a prescription for distribution. Federal efforts to regulate the use of the drug developed during the 1920s and 1930s, culminating in the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. The Act required a sizeable transfer tax for all marijuana sales. Congress enacted the Controlled Substances Act in 1970; its provisions consolidated existing statutory regulations, changed the system of penalties for drug law violations, and increased regulation of pharmaceuticals. The Act provided five schedules for drugs: Schedule 1 includes drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use (including heroin and marijuana, though experimental use of the latter has been permitted in certain cases); Schedule 2 includes drugs with a high potential for abuse and an accepted medical use (including cocaine and morphine); and Schedules 3-5 are applied to drugs with a progressively lower potential for abuse. Meanwhile, the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973 combined the drug control efforts of five federal agencies into one.... Congress has enacted five major anti-crime bills including drug-related provisions since 1984: the Crime Control Act of 1984, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, the Crime Control Act of 1990, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Collectively, these Acts enhanced drug-related penalties, provided new funding for drug control initiatives, and sought to improve coordination of federal drug control activities.
National Drug Control Strategy The Clinton Administration released its FY1998 budget request on February 6 (1997) and the 1997 National Drug Strategy on February 25. Overall, the Strategy proposes $16,000 million in National Drug Control Funding, a 5.4 percent increase ($818 million) over the estimated $15,200 million in budget authority for FY1997. The National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988, a component of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, created the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The ONDCP director, sometimes known as the "Drug Czar," was charged with coordinating national drug control policy.... For a brief discussion of the ONDCP's purpose, organizational structure, and major drug control priorities, see the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Home Page at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/ondcp/html/ondcp.html. The ONDCP Director is also charged with producing a strategy linked to quantifiable goals set annually.... The 1997 Strategy maintains that the metaphor of a "war on drugs" is misleading and that the United States does not wage war on its citizens, among whom are many victims of drug abuse. Instead, it proposes a more appropriate analogy by comparing the drug problem to cancer.... Specifically, the Strategy works to reverse rising drug use among youth nationwide and continuing drug use among older, chronic drug users. ONDCP highlights of the new Strategy include:
Broad Policy Questions Policymakers are faced with a number of questions regarding drug control: Should the government attempt to control drug use? If so, is it pursuing the best strategy to achieve this end? The first question arises from the debate on the pros and cons of drug legalization. Proponents of legalization have had no significant success in influencing Congress on drug control issues. The present Administration opposes drug legalization, as does a majority of the American public. A 1990 Gallup Poll found that 80 percent of respondents felt that legalizing drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin is a bad idea. Only 14 percent favored legalization, 2 percent said some drugs should be legalized but not others, and 4 percent had no opinion. Most of those opposed to drug legalization felt that removing restrictions would result in an increase in drug use in the public schools, higher numbers of drug addicts and drug overdoses, and more drug-related crime.... The case argued by proponents of legalization is that the massive war on drugs has largely failed, resulting in enriching dealers and cartels, and increasing violent crime by gangs fighting turf wars and by users unable to support their habits otherwise. They argue that legalization would reduce drug prices and profits, lower police costs, and lessen corruption of institutions by drug money. The second question, concerning the best strategy to achieve drug control objectives, focuses on the relative emphasis that should be placed on supply and demand approaches. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 requires that the national drug control strategy describe the balance of resources devoted to the two approaches.... Some argue that recent policy places too much emphasis on supply reduction. Although total funding for demand reduction efforts has continued to rise annually at least since 1981, (those arguing for) concentrating greater effort and more money to increase education and other prevention efforts and to provide more and better treatment of those already dependent on drugs urge a 50/50 proportional split. In keeping with the Administration's goals to motivate America's youth to reject illegal drugs and substance abuse; to increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence; and to reduce health, welfare, and crime costs resulting from illegal drug use, the 1997 strategy calls for a split between supply and demand funding of 66/34 (requested) in FY1998.... __________ The CRS Issue Brief, "Drug Supply Control: Current Legislation," was prepared by David Teasley, an analyst with CRS's Government Division.
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