Racially Destructive Effects of Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970: A Review Summary

Abstract

Tel: 4126241573 Fax: 4126241984 Citation: Yamatani H (2017) Racially Destructive Effects of Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970: A Review Summary. J Drug Abuse. Vol. 3 No. 3:15 Heroin was introduced to America in 1898 and was alleged to achieve the same medicinal effects as morphine and opium (which were unregulated at that time) but without the danger of inducing drug obsession and dependence. As noted by Yamatani et al. [1], social recognition of heroin addiction, however, invited racist pleas to prosecute and protect American society from drug usage. During early 1900s two major drugs were targeted: cocaine, associated with blacks who were said to go on violent rampages under its influence and opium, the smoking of which was associated with the Chinese and their " deviant " behavior. Religious groups that rallied for alcohol temperance also played key roles in lobbying for the ban and exclusion form the market. Since those early days, national debates over the legitimate use and misuse of drugs, the laws controlling sales and distributions of drugs in this country and the question of whether or not certain drugs should be legalized have aggravated various groups and continue to inflect racially discriminatory policies and enforcement practices [2]. Thus, until the enactment of the historical Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (CDAPCA) of 1970, numerous policies and laws were simply designed and redesigned to prohibit and suppress particular types of drug manufacturing, sales and consumption. However, CDAPCA policy stood out as inclusive of uniquely new and humanistic emphases – the declaration of drug-treatment interventions as a means to help afflicted populations as well as to curb the demand of drug distribution. Instead of simply suppressing drug manufacturers and distributors, this new policy was also drawn based on concerns regarding the wellbeing of people who used drugs.