Drug Legislation

Drug Legislation

Significant drug legislations include the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973, and the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988. President Nixon enacted the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (CSA) to fight the war on drugs. The legislation provided regulations on drug (legal and illegal) manufacturing, distribution, possession, export, import, and use (Ortiz & Preuss, 2021). Additionally, the legislation also provided a rating system, which scheduled drugs according to their potential to be abused. There were five scheduling rankings, with the first schedule being the drugs with the highest potential of abuse and the fifth schedule being the drug with the least potential (Ortiz & Preuss, 2021). The most significant element in the development of this Act was the lack of federal jurisdiction over drugs. Also, the Act established regulations on the dispensation and prescription of hallucinogens and psychoactive drugs.

Subsequently, three years after the CSA was implemented, President Nixon enacted another crucial legislation that authorized the formation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) (Sacco, 2014)—the late 20^th century experienced a rapid increase in drug abuse. To help fight this pandemic, Nixon consolidated the Bureau of Narcotics and the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control to form one DEA agency. These agencies were in charge of enforcing drug control separately; however, when combined, the resources, funds, and efforts toward drug abuse control were centralized. Also, the DEA was expected to collaborate with the FBI to counterdrug operations locally and internationally, which the agencies had previously failed to do due to rivalry (Sacco, 2014).

The Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988 was enacted after several reports on cocaine production increases were submitted to Congress by the CIA and DEA (Sacco, 2014). The information showed that America was to blame for cocaine production because most of the chemicals used in the cocaine production process came from America. Consequently, the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act was implemented to regulate importing and export of certain chemicals used to produce illegal drugs (Sacco, 2014).

 References

Ortiz, N. R., & Preuss, C. V. (2021). Controlled Substance Act.

Sacco, L. N. (2014). Drug enforcement in the United States: History, policy, and trends (Vol. 7). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.

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Drug Legislation

Identify and describe three major drug legislations enacted between 1970 and 2000. Examine critical issues related to the development of these legislations, including the contributing factors and intended goals.