"Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." (Titus 2:12)

2012
  • • An increase in new and more dangerous street drugs.“Ivory Wave,” “Purple Wave,” “Vanilla Sky,” and “Bliss” -- all are among the many street names of a so-called designer drug known as “bath salts,” which has sparked thousands of calls to poison centers across the U.S. over the last year. The presumption is that most bath salts are MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone) although newer pyrovalerone derivatives are being made by illegal street chemists. Agitation, increased pulse, paranoia, hallucinations, chest pain, suicidality are its effects. Some of these effects are said to linger in the body causing uncontrollable waves of the afore mentioned symptoms. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/bath-salts-drug-dangers
2012
  • • The legalization of marijuana is still a controversial topic. In the 2012 Presidential Election three states are voting to fully legalize marijuana. Not medical marijuana or decriminalizing it. Full legislation could be a reality in Colorado, Oregon and Washington State. Some experts say that Colorado stands the best chance of passage.
2011
  • The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in an article on its website that was updated in March 2011, reports that the cost of drug abuse and addiction (with the cost including productivity and health- and crime-related costs) tops $600 billion a year. That includes approximately $181 billion for illicit drugs, $193 billion for tobacco, and $235 billion for alcohol (http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/understand.html).
2010
  • According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2010 “Monitoring the Future” report (www.monitoringthefuture.org), marijuana use continued to rise in 2010 for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Daily marijuana use increased in 2010, with nearly 1 in 16 high school seniors being a current daily or near-daily user.
2010
  • According to the Mexican attorney general’s office, the total number of organized crime-related homicides, which includes drug-related killings, showed a dramatic increase. “While the upward trend in violence dates back to 2005, the major increase in violence came after a dramatic spike in 2008, as organized crime-related homicides jumped to 6,837 killings, a 142 percent increase from 2007. After another increase of more than 40 percent to 9,614 killings in 2009, the number of killings linked to organized crime jumped by 59 percent in 2010, reaching a new record total of 15,273 deaths” (http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/34).
2009
  • Mexico decriminalized small amounts (deemed appropriate for personal use) of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs with the intent of freeing up law enforcement to focus on fighting organized crime. The legal amount of marijuana is 5 grams, or about four joints. The limit for cocaine is a half gram, which is approximately 4 "lines". In addition, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD....Former President Vincente Fox is suggesting that Mexico consider taking the next step of legalizing drug consumption entirely.
2009
  • California Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is spearheading a marijuana legalization bill. Many believe the need to increase state tax revenues will work in the bill's favor. If legalized, marijuana could become California's No. 1 cash crop, bringing in an estimated $1 billion a year in state taxes. Richard Lee, a medical marijuana grower/distributor in California and avid supporter of legalization looks at it this way, "For some people cannabis is like a religion. As passionate as some people are about their religions and freedom to think what they want and to worship as they want."
2008
  • Websites are targeting children with "digital drugs". They sell audio files which consist of binaural beats, which must be used with head phones and play different sounds in each ear. They are not in and of themselves "music" but sound waves designed to induce drug-like effects, and they can be embedded into music. Various "services" are provided, depending on the website, but among them are binaural beats made to mimic the effects of alcohol, marijuana, LSD, crack, heroin, and some are even supposed to simulate sexual desire, heaven and hell. A Duke University study suggests that binaural beats can affect mood and motor performance.
2006
  • Approximately 35.3 million Americans aged 12 and older had tried cocaine at least once in their lifetimes, representing 14.3% of the population aged 12 and older.
  • Approximately 6.1 million (2.5%) had used cocaine in the past year and 2.4 million (1.0%) had used cocaine within the past month
  • An estimated 97.8 million Americans aged 12 or older tried marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, representing 39.8% of the U.S. population in that age group.
  • Among 12-17 year olds surveyed 6.7% reported past month marijuana use.
  • 2.1 million persons aged 12 or older who had used marijuana for the first time within the past 12 months
  • 62 percent of adults age 26 or older who initiated marijuana before they were 15 years old reported that they had used cocaine in their lifetime. More than 9 percent reported they had used heroin and 53.9 percent reported non-medical use of psychotherapeutics
  • In 2006 there were an estimated 731,000 current users of methamphetamine, aged 12 or older Among persons aged 12 or older, there were 259,000 recent, new users of methamphetamine
  • There were 977,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used cocaine for the first time within the past 12 months; this averages to approximately 2,700 initiates per day
  • Drug use among minors and young adults
    • 15.7% of eighth graders, 31.8% of tenth graders, and 42.3% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of marijuana
    • 46.9% of college students and 56.7% of young adults (ages 19-28) surveyed reported lifetime use of marijuana
    • 3.4% of eighth graders, 4.8% of tenth graders, and 8.5% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of cocaine.
    • 2.3% of eighth graders, 2.2% of tenth graders, and 3.5% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of crack cocaine.
    • 2.7% of eighth graders, 3.2% of tenth graders, and 4.4% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of methamphetamine.
    • 2.9% of college students and 7.3% of young adults (ages 19-28) reported lifetime use of methamphetamine
    • 20.2% of eighth graders, 30.7% of tenth graders, and 42.5% of twelfth graders surveyed reported that powder cocaine was "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain
2002 Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003
The Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act makes it easier for prosecutors to charge, convict, and imprison property owners, business owners, and managers -- who fail to prevent drug-related offenses committed by customers, employees, tenants, or other persons on their property. This legislation also adds a civil liability clause to the existing criminal code
2002 Drug Sentencing Reform Act (2SHB 2338) is passed
This bill revises sentences for non-violent drug offenders with the intention to use the savings created by shorter sentences to increase access to substance abuse treatment for offenders. Research shows that court supervised treatment is more effective in reducing recidivism than imprisonment alone.
No Child Left Behind Act is signed on January 8 by President Bush.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, Public Law 107-110, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) is signed. The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) (Title IV, Part A of the ESEA) authorizes a variety of activities designed to prevent school violence and youth drug use. The purpose of the SDFSCA is to support programs that: (1) prevent violence in and around schools; (2) prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs; (3) involve parents and communities; and, (4) are coordinated with related Federal, State, school, and community efforts and resources to foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that promotes student academic achievement
Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program is created by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assitance.
The IASAP was developed to help tribes plan and implement comprehensive, system-wide strategies to reduce and control crime associated with the distribution and abuse of alcohol and controlled substances. During the program's first year, 25 tribes were eligible to apply under three funding categories, including law enforcement, treatment, or a combined/comprehensive component.
2000 Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training Curriculum (SAPST) is created to train Prevention Specialists
The curriculum is divided into eight separate sections. Each section functions as an independent building block that orients new professionals to the field of prevention. This curriculum is not designed to answer every prevention question or to provide an exhaustive overview of the field. Instead, it offers core knowledge modules that begin the lifelong process of educating the profession about substance abuse prevention. The Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST) was developed to introduce beginning prevention professionals to the fundamentals of prevention. However, prevention professionals that have been in the field for many years have attended the course and have stated that they learned new information and learned about how to apply research
1997 Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act becomes a law
On June 27, 1997, the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 became law. This Act is a catalyst for increased citizen participation in efforts to reduce substance use among youth, and it provides community anti-drug coalitions with much-needed funds to carry out their important missions. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) directs the Drug-Free Communities Support Program in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This anti-drug program provides grants of up to $100,000 to community coalitions that mobilize their communities to prevent youth alcohol, tobacco, illicit drug, and inhalant abuse.
1996 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is formed
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) was established by the President and Congress through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families.
International drug trafficking organizations aggressively marketing heroin in US and Europe
International drug trafficking organizations, including China, Nigeria, Colombia and Mexico are said to be "aggressively marketing heroin in the United States and Europe."
1995 The Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia the leader in opium production
The Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia is now the leader in opium production, yielding 2,500 tons annually. According to U.S. drug experts, there are new drug trafficking routes from Burma through Laos, to southern China, Cambodia and Vietnam.
1994 Efforts to eradicate opium at its source remains unsuccessful
The Clinton Administration orders a shift in policy away from the anti- drug campaigns of previous administrations. Instead the focus includes "institution building" with the hope that by "strengthening democratic governments abroad, [it] will foster law-abiding behavior and promote legitimate economic opportunity."
Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the Seattle-based alternative rock band, Nirvana, dies of heroin-related suicide
1993 Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medallin Cartel is killed
On December 2, 1993, Pablo Escobar as he tried to capture. Using radio triangulation technology provided as part of the United States efforts, a Colombian electronic surveillance team found him hiding in a middle-class barrio in Medellin. The shootout with Escobar ensued after the house was located. How Escobar was killed during the confrontation has been debated but it is known that he was cornered on the rooftops of Medellin and after a prolonged gunfight, suffered gunshots to the leg, torso, and the fatal one in his ear. After Escobar's death, the Medellin Cartel fragmented and the cocaine market soon became dominated by the rival Cali Cartel
Twenty-three-year-old actor River Phoenix dies of a heroin-cocaine overdose
1992 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA is created)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was established by an act of Congress in 1992 under Public Law 102-321. With the stroke of a pen, an agency, separate and distinct from the National Institutes of Health or any other agency within the HHS, was created to focus attention, programs, and funding on improving the lives of people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of SAMHSA was created
CSAT was created in October 1992 with a congressional mandate to expand the availability of effective treatment and recovery services for alcohol and drug problems. Its mission is to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by alcohol and drug abuse by ensuring access to clinically sound, cost effective addiction treatment that reduces the health and social costs to our communities and the nation
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) of SAMHSA is established
The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) was established in 1992 as one of three centers within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CSAP's goal was to improve the accessibility and quality of services of substance abuse prevention services nationwide. CSAP was the successor of the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP) that was created in 1986 through the Drug Abuse Act to provide leadership for prevention.
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) is formed in October
In 1992 the President's Drug Advisory Council (PDAC), encouraged the formation of CADCA to respond to the dramatic growth in the number of substance abuse coalitions and their need to share ideas, problems, and solutions. The organization was officially launched in October 1992. The organization has evolved to become the principal national substance abuse prevention organization working with community-based coalitions and representing their interests at the national level.
First observance of the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in September
Recovery Month, sponsored by the newly created CSAT, provides a platform to celebrate people in recovery and those who serve them. Each September, thousands of treatment programs around the country celebrate their successes and share them with their neighbors, friends, and colleagues in an effort to educate the public about treatment, how it works, for whom, and why.
NIDA becomes part of the National Institute of Health (NIH)
As an NIH institute, NIDA has built on past research, engaged in collaborative research with other NIH institutes, and has seized the opportunities presented by new research technologies and methodologies in molecular biology, neuroscience, and brain imaging to accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries about drug abuse
Colombia's drug lords are said to be introducing a high-grade form of heroin into the United States
1991 Join Together is founded
Join Together is a program of the Boston University School of Public Health. Since 1991 it has been the nation's leading provider of information, strategic planning assistance, and leadership development for community-based efforts to advance effective alcohol and drug policy, prevention, and treatment. Join Together helps community leaders understand and use the most current scientifically valid prevention and treatment approaches.
1990 Addiction Medicine becomes a specialty
ASAM was admitted to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates as a voting member in June 1988, and in June 1990 the AMA added addiction Medicine (ADM) to its list of designated specialties
U.S. Court indicts Khun Sa, leader of the Shan United Army and reputed drug warlord
A U.S. Court indicts Khun Sa, leader of the Shan United Army and reputed drug warlord, on heroin trafficking charges. The U.S. Attorney General's office charges Khun Sa with importing 3,500 pounds of heroin into New York City over the course of eighteen months, as well as holding him responsible for the source of the heroin seized in Bangkok
1989 The first Drug Court is founded in Miami
The Miami Drug Court which was implemented in 1989 with the assistance of Attorney General Janet Reno, was the first of its kind and introduced the basic philosophy which characterizes all subsequently developed programs
Medellin Cartel declares war on Columbian government
On August 18, 1989, the Cartel declared "total and absolute war" against the Colombian government, seeking to stop potential extradition of its members.[5] The strategy consisted in terrorizing the civilian population and cornering the government. The cartel conducted hundreds of terrorist attacks against civilian and governmental targets
1988 The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 creates the White House Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
The ONDCP, an Executive branch office, was created by this Act and was directed toward preventing the manufacture of scheduled drugs and included increased penalties to further discourage drug use
The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program is established
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the ONDCP Reauthorization Act of 1998 authorized the Director of The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to designate areas within the United States which exhibit serious drug trafficking problems and harmfully impact other areas of the country as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA). The HIDTA Program provides additional federal resources to those areas to help eliminate or reduce drug trafficking and its harmful consequences. Law enforcement organizations within HIDTAs assess drug trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to reduce or eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution and chronic use of illegal drugs and money laundering
Opium production in Burma increases
Opium production in Burma increases under the rule of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the Burmese junta regime. The single largest heroin seizure is made in Bangkok. The U.S. suspects that the 2,400-pound shipment of heroin, en route to New York City, originated from the Golden Triangle region, controlled by drug warlord, Khun Sa.
About 300,000 infants were born addicted to cocaine
1987 The American Medical Association defines all drug dependencies as diseases
The AMA call all drug dependencies diseases whose treatment is a legitimate part of medical practice
The Supreme Court upholds its 1933 ruling that Veterans Administration (VA) can define alcoholism as the result of "willful misconduct" rather than as a disease
The Supreme Court entered the contentious debate over the nature of alcoholism last week when it ruled 4 to 3 that the Veterans Administration (VA) can define alcoholism as the result of "willful misconduct" rather than as a disease in determining veterans' eligibility for education benefits
1986 Federal Omnibus Drug Enforcement, Education, and Control Act of 1986 (a.k.a Anti-Drug Abuse Act)
Signed by President Reagan and passed with a nearly unanimous vote, the Act instituted five and ten year mandatory minimum sentences and also the possibility of the death penalty for certain drug offenses The bill strengthens Federal efforts to encourage foreign cooperation in eradicating illicit drug crops and in halting international drug traffic, improves enforcement of Federal drug laws and enhances interdiction of illicit drug shipments, provides strong Federal leadership in establishing effective drug abuse prevention and education programs, expands Federal support for drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation efforts.
Analogue (Designer Drug) Act
Makes composition and use of substances with similar effects and structure to existing illicit drug illegal
Federal Block Grant's are established
When Congress passed the 1986 Federal Omnibus Drug Act; the act included the Federal Block Grant which dramatically increased the primary prevention resources allocated to the states. Funding was also increased to schools, K-12 and Higher Education, and communities through the development of the Drug Free Schools and Communities Programs
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act is passed
Federal Money to fund statewide Prevention Programs. The purpose of Title IV: Safe and Drug‑Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) of the No Child Left Behind Act is to support programs designed to prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. To accomplish this purpose, federal financial assistance is provided to states for grants to establish, operate, and improve local programs of school drug and violence prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation referral, and education in elementary and secondary schools
Partnership for Drug-Free America is founded
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is a nonprofit coalition of communication, health, medical and educational professionals working to reduce illicit drug use and help people live healthy, drug-free lives. The Partnership’s research-based, educational campaigns are disseminated through all forms of media, including TV, radio and print advertisements and over the Internet. We have utilized the pro-bono work of the country’s best advertising, PR and interactive agencies, and the donated time and space of major media, to create the largest public service campaign in the nation’s history
Victims Panels Institutes are founded by Mother's Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.)
MADD establishes Victim Assistance Institutes to train volunteers in supporting victims of drunk driving and serving as their advocates in the criminal justice system
1984 Federal legislation creates age 21 as national minimum drinking age
The first law to direct Federal funds specifically to assist state efforts in preventing child abuse and neglect. Amendments to the law in 1992 and 1994 broadened the earlier legislation to include the provision of community-based child abuse prevention activities and family resource
Drug Offenders Act
Sets up special programs for offenders and organizes treatment
Wholesale Price of Cocaine
The wholesale cost of 1 kilogram of cocaine is $25,000, down from $55,000 in 1981
Crop substitution programs insufficient
U.S. State Department officials conclude, after more than a decade of crop substitution programs for Third World growers of marijuana, coca or opium poppies, that the tactic cannot work without eradication of the plants and criminal enforcement. Poor results are reported from eradication programs in Burma, Pakistan, Mexico and Peru
1983 Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program founded
D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives
American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) adopts Public Policy of alcoholism as a primary disease
Project ALERT curriculum is created by the RAND Corporation
Project ALERT is a drug prevention curriculum for middle-school students (11 to 14 years old), which dramatically reduces both the onset and regular use of substances. The 2-year, 14-lesson program focuses on the substances that adolescents are most likely to use: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants. Project ALERT use participatory activities and videos to help: Motivate adolescents against drug use, teach adolescents the skills and strategies needed to resist pro-drug pressures, and establish non-drug-using norms
1982 Betty Ford Center founded
Mrs. Ford and Leonard Firestone were co-chairmen and founders of the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower, located in Rancho Mirage, California, opening in October 1982. The Center's treatment program assists women, men and their families in starting the process of recovery from alcoholism and other drug dependency
Comedian John Belushi of Animal House fame, dies of a heroin-cocaine- "speedball" overdose
1980 Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendments
Extends prevention education and treatment programs
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is founded
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) is established in California in May. The first two chapters of MADD are created in California and Maryland. MADD holds its first national press conference in Washington, D.C., with members of Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in October, putting the drunk driving issue and the organization on the nation's radar screen
1978 Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendments
Extends prevention education and treatment programs
1975 U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services codifies regulations on Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records
Congress recognized that the stigma associated with substance abuse and fear of prosecution deterred people from entering treatment and enacted legislation that gave patients a right to confidentiality
1974 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is established
NIDA is established as the Federal focal point for research, treatment, prevention and training services, and data collection on the nature and extent of drug abuse
The Association of Labor and Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism, or ALMACA is created
LMACA provided another major boost to the Employee Assistance Program movement. ALMACA contributed to the dissemination and enhancement of EAP knowledge
1973 Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Established
In 1973, President Richard Nixon's Reorganization Plan Number Two proposed the creation of a single federal agency to enforce federal drug laws and Congress accepted the proposal, as they were concerned with the growing availability of drugs. On July 1, 1973, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) merged together to create the DEA
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA)
Consolidates the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) under a single umbrella organization
Heroin Traffkicking Act
Increases penalities for the distribution of heroin
Methadone Control Act
Regulates methadone licensing.
1972 Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act
increasing concern about drug abuse and its causes and impacts resulted in the act that requires the development of long-term federal strategy encompassing both effective law enforcement against illegal drug traffic and effective health programs to rehabilitate victims of drug abuse. The act requires any private or public general hospital receiving federal support to not discriminate against drug abusers with medical conditions because of their drug abuse or drug dependence.
Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) is created
TASC is created by the Drug Abuse and Treatment Act to screen addicts in the criminal justice system and then to link and manage their involvement in treatment services
The National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) is founded
NAADAC (now known as the Association for Addiction Professionals), is the largest membership organization serving addiction counselors, educators and other addiction-focused health care professionals, who specialize in addiction prevention, treatment and education. Founded in 1972, NAADAC was created to represent the interests and concerns of substance abuse counselors
1970 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (Uniform Controlled Substances Act)
Congress found that the illegal importation, manufacture, distribution, and possession and improper sale of controlled substances have a substantial and detrimental effect on the health and general welfare of the American people. Almost every state has enacted the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, intended to provide a foundation for a coordinated, federal-state system of drug control
The Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970
Referred to as the “Hughes Act” for the pivotal role played by Senator Harold E. Hughes (IA) in its passage, this law recognized alcohol abuse and alcoholism as major public health problems and created the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to combat them.
1969 Dangerous Substance Act
Classified all drugs, except nicotine and alcohol, by their medical use and addictive potential
1968 DACA Amendments
Provides that sentence may be suspended and record expunged if no further violations within 1 year
1967 The American Medical Association adopts the disease concept of alcoholism.
The AMA passes a resolution identifying alcoholism as a "complex disease," and a "disease that merits the serious concern of all members of the health professions."
1966 Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act (NARA)
This legislation was designed to allow the use of the federal courts and criminal-justice system to compel drug addicts to participate in treatment. Several developments provided the context for this legislation. In the early 1960s, the problem of narcotic drug use and addiction were perceived to be increasing. There was also a perception that treatment was not particularly effective and that the relapse rate was high.
President Lyndon Johnson proclaims alcoholism as a disease President Johnson appoints the first National Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and becomes the first President to address the country about alcoholism, “The alcoholic suffers from a disease which will yield eventually to scientific research and adequate treatment.
The Johnson Institute is founded in Minnesota
The Johnson Institute was formed and dedicated to designing treatment programs as well as educating individuals, families, professionals, and entire communities about addiction disease. The Johnson Institute is named after Rev. Vernon Johnson, an Episcopal priest who convened a Minnesota church study group to figure out how to convince alcoholics to accept help before incurring tragic consequences of their drinking. The result was the first application of the intervention concept that would become the standard approach for getting alcoholics into treatment. From that first historic new insight came “Minnesota Model” programs that have helped hundreds of thousands of recovering alcoholics around the world
1965 Drug Abuse Control Act (DACA) amendments
The DACA amendments modified the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act and allowed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to designate certain "stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic" drugs as controlled, requiring licensing for sales and distribution. Possession for personal consumption or administration to animals was specifically allowed under this law. The amendments also established The Bureau of Drug Abuse Control within the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the Drug Abuse Control Act.
1960 E.M. Jellinek publishes "The Disease Concept of Alcoholism."
Jellinek coined the expression "the disease concept of alcoholism", and significantly accelerated the movement towards the medicalization of drunkenness and alcohol habituation. In his 1960 book he identified five different types of alcoholism, and defined them in terms of their abnormal physiological processes.
1956 The Narcotic Control Act (a.k.a Daniel Act)
The act increased the minimum and maximum penalties for all drug offenses to two-to-ten years, five-to-twenty years, and ten-to-forty years for succeeding convictions; increased the fine in an categories to $20,000; and imposed five-to-twenty years upon first conviction for any smuggling or sale violation, and ten-to-forty years thereafter, with a separate penalty of ten-to-forty years or any sale or distribution by a person over eighteen to a minor, and from ten years to life, or death when a jury so recommended, if the drug was heroin. All discretion to suspend sentences or grant probation, and all parole eligibility were prohibited except for first offenders convicted of possession only. Narcotic agents and customs officers were given authority to carry guns, to serve warrants, and to arrest without warrant. A new compounding offense was added to allow an extra charge and added sentence in prosecuting federal drug cases-making use of any interstate communication facility in connection with a drug violation, carrying a separate two-to-five-year term and $5,000 fine. No addict, drug user, or drug offender was to be allowed to enter or leave the United States without registering at the border. Conviction on the failure to comply was subject to a minimum imprisonment of one year and as much as three years, plus a discretionary fine of $1,000. The 1956 Act simultaneously amended the immigration laws to make narcotic offenses grounds for the exclusion or deportation of aliens, and to preclude courts from recommending against deportation in proceedings involving convicted narcotic offenders
The American Medical Association recognizes alcoholics as treatable patients
The AMA stopped short of declaring alcoholism as a disease, but does recognize alcoholics as legitimate patients, "Hospitals should be urged to consider admission of such patients with a diagnosis of alcoholism based upon the condition of the individual patient, rather than a general objection to all such patients."
1954 American Medical Society on Alcoholism (AMSA later to become ASAM) is established
ASAM has its roots in research and clinical traditions that pre-date its founding in the early 1950's, when Ruth Fox, M.D. began regular meetings with other physicians interested in alcoholism and its treatment at the New York Academy of Medicine. In 1954 these physicians established the New York City Medical Society on Alcoholism with Dr. Fox as its first President. As the organization grew, it was subsequently named the American Medical Society on alcoholism (AMSA)
1951 The Boggs Act creates mandatory minimum sentencing for drug related convictions
In the years immediately following the World War II levels of illicit drug use began to rise steadily again. This caused concern in the Bureau of Narcotics and resulted in modification in the penalties associated with the Harrison Act violations The Boggs Act nearly quadrupled the penalties for narcotics offenses and categorized marijuana together with narcotic drugs
Durham-Humphrey Amendment
The Durham-Humphrey Amendment, also known as the Prescription Drug Amendment, resolved the issues left open by the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It established two classes of drugs: prescription and Over the Counter (OTC). Prior to the passage of this amendment, drug manufacturers were generally free to determine in which category their drug belonged. A subsection of this amendment granted the FDA the authority to categorize prescription drugs as those that are habit-forming, unsafe for use except under the supervision of a health care practitioner, and/or subject to the new drug application approval process. The bill also requires any drug that is habit-forming or potentially harmful to be dispensed under the supervision of a health practitioner as a prescription drug and must carry the statement, "Caution: Federal law prohibits dispensing without prescription
1949 Hazelden is founded in Minnesota
The idea for Hazelden was born in 1947 when Austin Ripley, a recovering alcoholic, set out to create a treatment center in Minnesota specifically for alcoholic priests. After Lynn Carroll and other key supporters got involved, the priest-only concept was rejected for a broader patient base. Hazelden was incorporated on January 10, 1949, as "a sanatorium for curable alcoholics of the professional class." The property on which Hazelden's Center City, Minnesota, campus now stands was called "Hazelden," named for Hazel Thompson of the Thompson family that acquired the property in 1925
1944 Marty Mann founds the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism, (NCA)
Not long after Marty Mann became the first woman to stay sober in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), she resolved to let America know that alcoholism is a disease and that the alcoholic is a sick person. She knew it would be an enormous undertaking that would need the support of an established academic institution so she turned to Yale University where E.M. Jellinek - father of the modern disease concept - had been working to transform alcoholism from a moral problem into a public health issue. NCA was later changed to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). The Committee was founded around the following propositions: 1. Alcoholism is a disease; 2. The alcoholic, therefore, is a sick person; 3. The alcoholic can be helped; 4. The alcoholic is worth helping; 5. The alcoholic is our No. 4 health problem, and our public responsibility
1943 Summer School of Alcohol Studies is founded at Yale
Yale Center of Alcohol Studies initiates a significant research program, the Summer School of Alcohol Studies, the Yale plan Outpatient Clinics, and the Yale Plan for Business and Industry. The Center will move to Rutgers in 1962
1942 Opium Poppy Control Act
Opium poppies were widely grown as an ornamental plant and for seeds in the United States. The Opium Poppy Control Act prohibited the possession or growing of the opium poppy without a license.
1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
Languishing in Congress for five years, the bill was ultimately enhanced and passed in the wake of a therapeutic disaster in 1937. A Tennessee drug company marketed a form of the new sulfa wonder drug that would appeal to pediatric patients, Elixir Sulfanilamide. However, the solvent in this untested product was a highly toxic chemical analogue of antifreeze; over 100 people died, many of whom were children. The public outcry not only reshaped the drug provisions of the new law to prevent such an event from happening again, it propelled the bill itself through Congress. This act brought cosmetics and medical devices under control, and it required that drugs be labeled with adequate directions for safe use. Moreover, it mandated pre-market approval of all new drugs, such that a manufacturer would have to prove to FDA that a drug were safe before it could be sold. It irrefutably prohibited false therapeutic claims for drugs, although a separate law granted the Federal Trade Commission jurisdiction over drug advertising. The act also corrected abuses in food packaging and quality, and it mandated legally enforceable food standards. Tolerances for certain poisonous substances were addressed. The law formally authorized factory inspections, and it added injunctions to the enforcement tools at the agency's disposal.
1937 Marihuana Tax Act
This act was introduced to U.S. Congress by "Drug Czar" Harry Anslinger, then Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of cannabis, but levied a tax equaling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. It did, however, include penalty provisions and a complex Regulation 1 codifying the elaborate rules of enforcement marijuana handlers were subject to. Violation of these procedures could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years' imprisonment. The net effect was to make it too risky for anyone to deal in the substance. The anti-marijuana law of 1937 was largely the federal government's response to political pressure from enforcement agencies and other alarmed groups who feared the use and spread of marihuana by "Mexicans".
Amphetamine available by prescription in tablet form
1935 Alcoholics Anonymous is founded
A.A. had its beginnings in 1935 at Akron, Ohio, as the outcome of a meeting between Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Akron surgeon. Both had been hopeless alcoholics. Prior to that time, Bill and Dr. Bob had each been in contact with the Oxford Group, a mostly nonalcoholic fellowship that emphasized universal spiritual values in daily living. In that period, the Oxford Groups in America were headed by the noted Episcopal clergyman, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. Under this spiritual influence, and with the help of an old-time friend, Ebby T., Bill had gotten sober and had then maintained his recovery by working with other alcoholics, though none of these had actually recovered. Meanwhile, Dr. Bob’s Oxford Group membership at Akron had not helped him enough to achieve sobriety. When Dr. Bob and Bill finally met, the effect on the doctor was immediate. This time, he found himself face to face with a fellow sufferer who had made good. Bill emphasized that alcoholism was a malady of mind, emotions and body. This all-important fact he had learned from Dr. William D. Silkworth of Towns Hospital in New York, where Bill had often been a patient. Though a physician, Dr. Bob had not known alcoholism to be a disease. Responding to Bill’s convincing ideas, he soon got sober, never to drink again. The founding spark of A.A. had been struck
U.S. Public Health Service pioneers program for drug abuse research
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) traces its beginnings to a small research unit at a U.S. Public Health Service hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. The unit was created in 1935 to study and treat heroin addiction among Federal prisoners and others who voluntarily admitted themselves to the facility. That research unit, which conducted pioneering studies into the nature of the addictive process, essentially spawned the science of drug abuse research. The unit eventually became known as the Addiction Research Center and became NIDA’s Intramural Research Program (IRP) when the Institute was created in 1974
1933 Prohibition ends by passage of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had ushered in a period of time known as "Prohibition", during which the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages was made illegal. Passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, in 1919, was the crowning achievement of the temperance movement, but it soon proved highly unpopular. As more and more Americans came to the conclusion that the Eighteenth Amendment had been an error, movement grew for a repeal. The framers of the 21st Amendment hoped to provide some measure of satisfaction to temperance advocates, by explicitly making provisions for local control of alcohol sales. The amendment allows for states, and, where legal under state law, municipalities with the power to prohibit alcohol sales within their boundaries. The Twenty-first Amendment was fully ratified on December 5, 1933. It is the only Amendment thus far ratified by state conventions, specially selected for the purpose; whereas all other amendments have been ratified by state legislatures. It is also the only amendment that was passed for the explicit and nearly sole purpose of repealing an earlier amendment to the Constitution
The Supreme Court upheld the Veteran's Administration policy which defined alcoholism as a form of "willful misconduct"
1930 Harry J. Anslinger is appointed the first "Drug Czar" as head of the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN)
Harry J. Anslinger is widely considered to be the first United States "drug czar". He held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN)
Porter Act establishes the Bureau of Narcotics
The Act established the Bureau of Narcotics to be housed in the Treasury Department. The agency was created to take up enforcement of the Harrison Act, to streamline the bureaucracy and to represent the United States in foreign conferences
1925 Linder V. United States decriminilizes doctors prescribing drugs for addicts
In 1924 Dr. Charles O. Linder, completing a lifetime of honorable practice in Spokane, WA, was induced by a plant from the Treasury Dept. to write a prescription for 4 tablets of cocaine and morphine. Several Treasury agents thereupon descended on his office on a Saturday afternoon, stamped through his waiting room crowded with patients, and broke in on him in the midst of a consultation. He was indicted in the Berhman formula, convicted, sentenced, and lost his intermediate appeal to the Circuit Court. But Dr. Linder persisted. The Supreme Court's unanimous decision came on April 13, 1925, in which his conviction was reversed and he was completely vindicated
Thriving Opium blackmarket
In the wake of the first federal ban on opium, a thriving black market opens up in New York's Chinatown.
1924 Heroin Act
Prohibited manufacture, importation and possession of heroin illegal - even for medicinal use
1922 Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act (Jones-Miller Act)
By 1920, an illicit drug economy had emerged in the United States that profited principally from cocaine and heroin distribution. In 1922 the Federal response was the Jones-Miller Act. This act provided fines of up to $5,000 and prison sentences for up to 10 years for any individual found guilty of being party to the unlawful importation of narcotics. The Act also set strict quotas on the quantity of drugs that could be imported into the United States. The measure allowed possession of narcotics without a prescription to become presumptive evidence of having illegally imported drugs In fact, the legislation had little influence upon the illicit drug marketplace except to increase the price of heroin and cocaine
1919 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. It was ratified on January 16, 1919 and repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. In the over 200 years of the U.S. Constitution, the 18th Amendment remains the only Amendment to ever have been repealed. Here is the complete text of the 18th Amendment. The following is the text of the 18th Amendment:
  • Section 1: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
  • Section 2: The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
  • Section 3: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)
The Volstead Act enabled Federal enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which had banned the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States. The Volstead Act also provided enabling legislation for the amendment, treating such matters as the definition of "intoxicating liquors", medicinal use, and criminal penalties
1915 Utah passes the first state anti-marijuana law
Mormons who had gone to Mexico in 1910 returned smoking marijuana. It was outlawed at a result of the Utah legislature enacting all Mormon religion prohibitions as criminal laws.
1914 Harrison Narcotics Act
The Harrison Act regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates. The act was proposed by Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York and was approved on December 17, 1914. The Act was to provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes. The courts interpreted this to mean that physicians could prescribe narcotics to patients in the course of normal treatment, but not for the treatment of addiction.
1912 International Opium Convention
The International Opium Convention, signed at The Hague on January 23, 1912, was the first international drug control treaty. The United States convened a 13-nation conference of the International Opium Commission in 1909 in Shanghai, China in response to increasing criticism of the opium trade. The treaty was signed by Germany, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, and Siam. The Convention provided that "The contracting Powers shall use their best endeavours to control, or to cause to be controlled, all persons manufacturing, importing, selling, distributing, and exporting morphine, cocaine, and their respective salts, as well as the buildings in which these persons carry such an industry or trade."
1910 Cocaine Manufactures Syndicate founded
Founded in 1910, the Cocaine Manufacturers Syndicate included pharmaceutical giants Merck, Sandoz and Hoffman-LaRoche.
1909 first federal drug prohibitio
The first federal drug prohibition passes in the U.S. outlawing the imporation of opium. It was passed in preparation for the Shanghai Conference, at which the US presses for legislation aimed at suppressing the sale of opium to China
1907 Smith Act
New York bans the non-medicinal use of cocaine
1906 Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act provided for federal inspection of meat products, and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products or poisonous patent medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposées from authors such as Upton Sinclair and Samuel Hopkins Adams, and President Theodore Roosevelt. Though the Pure Food and Drug Act was initially concerned with making sure products were labeled correctly (habit forming cocaine-based drugs were not illegal so long as they were labeled correctly), the labeling requirement gave way to efforts to outlaw certain products that were not safe, followed by efforts to outlaw products which were safe but not efficacious. Ironically, Coca-Cola Company's earlier advertising behind the Act was rewarded by an attempt to outlaw Coca-Cola in 1909 because of its excessive caffeine content as well as its cocaine content, albeit minuscule. The 1906 Act paved the way for the eventual creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Anti-alcohol Teaching in Public Schools Laws are enacted to make anti-alcohol teaching compulsory in public schools in New York State. The following year similar laws are passed in Pennsylvania, with other states soon following suit.
1905 Congress bans Opium
1903 Cocaine removed from Coca-Cola
As the American majority became more and more aware of the dangers of cocaine, and the severity of this problem became more and more apparent, concern mounted to an eventual public outcry to ban the social use of cocaine. This public pressure forced John Pemberton to remove cocaine from Coca Cola in 1903
Heroin addiction rises to alarming rates
1898 The Bayer company introduces heroin as a substitute for morphine
1895 Heroin produced by Bayer
Heinrich Dreser working for The Bayer Company of Elberfeld, Germany, finds that diluting morphine with acetyls produces a drug without the common morphine side effects.Bayer begins production of diacetylmorphine and coins the name "heroin."
1886 Cocaine included in Coca-Cola
John Pemberton included cocaine as the main ingredient in his new soft drink, Coca-Cola. It was cocaine's euphoric and energizing effects on the consumer that was mostly responsible for skyrocketing Coca-Cola into its place as the most popular soft drink in history.
1884 Sigmund Freud treats his depression with cocaine
Sigmund Freud treats his depression with cocaine, and reports feeling "exhilaration and lasting euphoria, which is in no way differs from the normal euphoria of the healthy person. . . You perceive an increase in self-control and possess more vitality and capacity for work. . . . In other words, you are simply more normal, and it is soon hard to believe that you are under the influence of a drug". Freud later died of effects of tobacco-induced cancer. He was able to break his addiction to cocaine, but could not break his addiction to cigar smoking even though most of the lower part of his face had been removed by cancer surgery.
1882 "Temperance education" made a part of a required course in public schools
The law in the United States, and the world, making "temperance education" a part of the required course in public schools is enacted. In 1886, Congress makes such education mandatory in the District of Columbia, and in territorial, military, and naval schools. By 1900, all the states have similar laws.
Personal Liberty League of the United States is founded
The Personal Liberty League of the United States is founded to oppose the increasing momentum of movements for compulsory abstinence from alcohol
1874 Heroin synthesized
English researcher, C.R. Wright first synthesizes heroin, or diacetylmorphine, by boiling morphine over a stove.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union is founded
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union is founded in Cleveland. In 1883, Frances Willard a leader of the W.C.T.U. forms the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union
1870s The first laws against opium smoking were passed in San Francisco and Virginia City
Opium itself was not outlawed and remained available in any number of over-the-counter products. Only the smoking of opium was outlawed, because that was a peculiarly Chinese habit and the laws were specifically directed at the Chinese. The white people in the communities feared that Chinese men were luring white women to have sex in opium dens.
Rise of Patent Medicine Industry
The patent medicine industry started its rise. Because there were no restrictions on advertising, labeling, or contents of any products the patent medicine industry made up all sorts of concoctions including the opiates, cocaine, and other drugs, and sold them with the most extravagant advertising claims. This led to a rise in addiction.
Addiction poorly understood
Morphine and heroin were recommended as remedies for alcohol addiction
French Wine of Coca: Invigorating Tonic
French Wine of Coca: Invigorating Tonic became a popular soft drink because it contained cocaine. It went on to become Coca-Cola and, together with other similar drinks like Pepsi-Cola, made the soda fountain a common part of the neighborhood pharmacy.
Amphetamine first synthesized
First synthesized in 1887 Germany, amphetamine was for a long time, a drug in search of a disease. Nothing was done with the drug, from its discovery (synthesis) until the late 1920's, when it was seriously investigated as a cure or treatement against nearly everything from depression to decongestion
1869 Prohibitionist Party is formed
Gerrit Smith, twice Abolitionist candidate for President, an associate of John Brown, and a crusading prohibitionist, declares: "Our involuntary slaves are set free, but our millions of voluntary slaves still clang their chains. The lot of the literal slave, of him whom others have enslaved, is indeed a hard one; nevertheless, it is a paradise compared with the lot of him who has enslaved himself to alcohol."
1860s Cocaine Syntesized
The active ingredient (an alkaloid) from the coca plant (erythroxylum) was first isolated by a chemist named Albert Niemann. In 1860 he gave the compound the name cocaine. The drug induces a sense of exhilaration in the user primarily by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the midbrain.
Opiates see widespread use as a pain killer for injured soldiers during the Civil War
Opiates were the first real miracle drugs because they allowed the patient to be anesthetized while the doctor performed surgery. Before the advent of opiates, the most common surgery was a simple amputation. That is, the doctor got several big strong people to hold the patient down and then literally sawed off an arm or a leg while the patient screamed in pain. For this reason, a good doctor was a fast doctor. Battlefield hospitals during the Civil War commonly had large piles of severed arms and legs. The use of opiates as anesthesia gave doctors time to work on the patient and actually made modern surgery possible.
1853 The hypodermic needle is invented
1847 Thme American Medical Association (AMA) founded
On May 7, 1847, the delegates to the national medical convention approved a resolution to establish the AMA and had elected Dr. Nathaniel Chapman as its first president. At the founding meeting the delegates adopted the first code of medical ethics, and adopted the first national standards for preliminary medical education and for the degree of MD. Those attending the founding meeting of the AMA launched what has become the largest medical association in America whose work for over a century and a half has remained focused on the founding principles. The AMA represents the best of American medicine and today continues to serve as an advocate for the profession, physician and patient.
1827 E. Merck & Company of Darmstadt, Germany, begins commercial manufacturing of morphine
1803 Active ingredient of Opium discovered
Friedrich Sertuerner of Paderborn, Germany discovers the active ingredient of opium by dissolving it in acid then neutralizing it with ammonia. The result: alkaloids - principium somniferum or morphine. This may have been the first plant alkaloid ever isolated and set off a firestorm of research into plant alkaloids. Within half a century, dozens of alkaloids, such as atropine, caffeine, cocaine, and quinine, had been isolated from other plants and were being used in precisely measured dosages for the first time. Physicians believe that opium had finally been perfected and tamed. Morphine is lauded as "God's own medicine" for its reliability, long-lasting effects and safety