This essay will focus on The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. I will highlight the events in history leading up to the passage of this act, and the attitudes and motivations of the politicians who passed it and the ramifications to those it affected the most.
Beginning in the late 1700’s the new Federal Government began levying internal taxes on distilled spirits as a way generate much needed revenue to manage the country. Taxes on carriages, liquor, sugar, snuff and property soon followed and provided returns to the New Government. Through the end of the century, taxes provided access to revenue for the government, bankrolled several wars and simultaneously established a level of power and a means for regulation over its commerce, …show more content…
During the Civil War, morphine was found to have pain-killing properties and soon became the main ingredient in several patent medicines. In the late 19th century, marijuana and cocaine were put to various medicinal uses -- marijuana to treat migraines, rheumatism and insomnia, and cocaine to treat sinusitis, hay fever and chronic fatigue. All of these drugs were also used recreationally, and cocaine, in particular, was a common ingredient in wines and soda pop -- including Coca Cola.2
Prior to 1890, laws concerning opiates were strictly imposed on a local city or state-by-state basis. One of the first was in San Francisco in 1875 where it became illegal to smoke opium only in opium dens, which mainly effected the Chinese population. It did not ban the sale, import or use otherwise, and surreptitiously did not apply to white upper-class users, who preferred to use morphine intravenously. Unsurprisingly, the number of people addicted increased, and the government began efforts to regulate the sale and use of cocaine and narcotic …show more content…
Alcohol prohibition quickly followed the Harrison Act, and by 1918 the U.S. was officially a "dry" nation. That did not mean, however, an end to drug use. It meant that, suddenly, people were arrested and jailed for doing what they had previously done without government interference. Prohibition also meant the emergence of a black market, operated by criminals and marked by violence. The overall effect of the Harrison Act was seemed prohibit most medical use of opiates, as agents responsible for enforcement of the Act were quick to investigate and to prosecute opiate-prescribing physicians. In fact, between 1915 and 1938, over 25,000 doctors were reported to the authorities for violating the Harrison Act. It is not surprising that the medical community began to shun the use of the opiates not only for treating the addicted but also for treating the organically ill. This attitude by medical practitioners was particularly apparent in their attitude toward heroin. Although heroin was the most powerful of the opiates, it had been popularized in the early 1900s as a drug of choice among the criminal classes. By World War I, heroin had become a full-blown national
Beginning in the late 1700’s the new Federal Government began levying internal taxes on distilled spirits as a way generate much needed revenue to manage the country. Taxes on carriages, liquor, sugar, snuff and property soon followed and provided returns to the New Government. Through the end of the century, taxes provided access to revenue for the government, bankrolled several wars and simultaneously established a level of power and a means for regulation over its commerce, …show more content…
During the Civil War, morphine was found to have pain-killing properties and soon became the main ingredient in several patent medicines. In the late 19th century, marijuana and cocaine were put to various medicinal uses -- marijuana to treat migraines, rheumatism and insomnia, and cocaine to treat sinusitis, hay fever and chronic fatigue. All of these drugs were also used recreationally, and cocaine, in particular, was a common ingredient in wines and soda pop -- including Coca Cola.2
Prior to 1890, laws concerning opiates were strictly imposed on a local city or state-by-state basis. One of the first was in San Francisco in 1875 where it became illegal to smoke opium only in opium dens, which mainly effected the Chinese population. It did not ban the sale, import or use otherwise, and surreptitiously did not apply to white upper-class users, who preferred to use morphine intravenously. Unsurprisingly, the number of people addicted increased, and the government began efforts to regulate the sale and use of cocaine and narcotic …show more content…
Alcohol prohibition quickly followed the Harrison Act, and by 1918 the U.S. was officially a "dry" nation. That did not mean, however, an end to drug use. It meant that, suddenly, people were arrested and jailed for doing what they had previously done without government interference. Prohibition also meant the emergence of a black market, operated by criminals and marked by violence. The overall effect of the Harrison Act was seemed prohibit most medical use of opiates, as agents responsible for enforcement of the Act were quick to investigate and to prosecute opiate-prescribing physicians. In fact, between 1915 and 1938, over 25,000 doctors were reported to the authorities for violating the Harrison Act. It is not surprising that the medical community began to shun the use of the opiates not only for treating the addicted but also for treating the organically ill. This attitude by medical practitioners was particularly apparent in their attitude toward heroin. Although heroin was the most powerful of the opiates, it had been popularized in the early 1900s as a drug of choice among the criminal classes. By World War I, heroin had become a full-blown national