Many currently illegal drugs, such as marijuana, opium, coca, and psychedelics have been used for thousands of years for both medical and spiritual purposes. In the 19th century, drugs were popular for both recreational and medical use, and they became an integral part of young people's parties. But the federal government did not restrict or regulate the purchase or use of drugs. By the end of the 19th century, drug abuse had become a serious social problem. The federal government began to regulate the drug market in the United States, which caused opposition from drug companies. In the 20th century, drug use began to be brought under control in the

United States, as Congress continued to pass drug control legislation that further criminalized drug abuse and increased penalties

for drug offenses.

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• 1909: The Smoking Opium Exclusion Act in 1909 banned the possession, importation, and use of opium for smoking. However, opium could still be used as a medication. This was the first federal law to ban the non-medical use of a substance. “The first anti-opium laws in the 1870s were directed at Chinese immigrants. The first anti-cocaine laws in the early 1900s were directed at black men in the South.”

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• 1914: Congress passed the Harrison Act, which regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and cocaine.

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• 1919: Congress passes the 18th amendment, banning the manufacture, transportation, or sale of intoxicating liquors, ushering in the Prohibition Era. The same year, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act (also known as the Volstead Act), which provided guidelines on how to federally enforce Prohibition. Prohibition lasted until December 1933, when the 21st Amendment was ratified, overturning the 18th.

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• 1937: Congress passes the “Marihuana Tax Act”, taxing the sale of cannabis, hemp, or marijuana. “This law, however, was something of a "Catch-22", as obtaining a tax stamp required individuals to first present their goods, which was an action tantamount to a confession. This act was passed by Congress on the basis of testimony and public perception that marijuana caused insanity, criminality, and death.” “The first anti-marijuana laws, in the Midwest and the Southwest in the 1910s and 20s, were directed at Mexican migrants and Mexican Americans”

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• 1960s: Drugs become symbols of youthful rebellion, social upheaval, and political dissent, the government halted scientific research to evaluate their medical safety and efficacy.

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• 1970: Nixon signs the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) into law. This statute calls for the regulation of certain drugs and substances. The CSA outlines five “schedules” used to classify drugs based on their medical application and potential for abuse

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• 1971: Nixon officially declared a “War on Drugs,” stating that drug abuse was “public enemy number one.” A top Nixon aide, John Ehrlichman, later admitted: “You want to know what this was really all about. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.”

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• 1973: Creation of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a special police force committed to targeting illegal drug use and smuggling in the United States.

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• 1980-1981: Ronald Reagan is elected and sworn in as President.  “The presidency of Ronald Reagan marked the start of a long period of skyrocketing rates of incarceration, largely thanks to his unprecedented expansion of the drug war. The number of people behind bars for nonviolent drug law offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997.”

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• 1984: Nancy Reagan launches ‘Just Say No’ campaign, intended to highlight the dangers of drug use.

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• 1986: Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act establishing mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain drug offenses. This law was later heavily criticized as having racist ramifications because it allocated longer prison sentences for offenses involving the same amount of crack cocaine (used more often by black Americans) as powder cocaine (used more often by white Americans). Five grams of crack triggered an automatic five-year sentence, while it took 500 grams of powder cocaine to merit the same sentence.

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• 1990: Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates tells a Senate Hearing that drug users "ought to be taken out and shot."​

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All information gathered from:

- War on Drugs by History.com 

- A Brief History of the Drug War by Drug Policy Alliance

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