The History of Drugs in America

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the history of anti-drug legislation in the U.S., beginning with the Civil War. The author opens with a discussion of the shifts in official and grassroots attitudes toward drug use -- from the Great Awakening period with its Anti-Salon League to the 1970s, when even the Surgeon General appeared 'soft' on cocaine. Then the author examines how education, healthcare and politics have all played a role in drug policy and public opinion on the issue.

From the Paper:

"The "Great Awakening" also swept the United States during this period. This movement was a fundamentalist Christian movement that preached drugs and alcohol keep people away from God. This movement was largely confined to rural states and territories led to the creation of the "Anti-Salon League" and the Women's Christian Temperance Movement. Indeed, the push for the abolition of alcohol and drugs was a parallel movement with giving women the right to vote. The Suffrage Movement was started by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These women thought that most violence against women and children was directly linked to alcohol. Racism also had a hand in the advancement of the Temperance movement. The suspicion and prejudice against the growing immigrant population of the United States fueled fears that the use of Alcoholic beverages by ethnic groups, like Irish-Catholics, Italians, and Germans, was a threat to American society. All of these forces, Suffrage, a population that was addicted to pain medication, and prejudice found a common cause, that was, to remove alcohol and drugs from the United States. Dr. McCauley describes how the "Pure Food and Drug Act," the first anti-drug and alcohol legislation, was pushed through Congress."

More papers on The History of Drugs in America:

• Research Paper # 91977 : "The History of Marijuana"
• Research Paper # 106002 : "The War on Drugs"
• Research Paper # 3000 : "The War on Drugs: Fighting a Losing Battle"

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