History of the American Drug War-
The first act of America's anti-drug laws was in 1875. It outlawed the smoking of opium in opium dens. This was a San Francisco ordinance. The basis on passing this law was that Chinese men had a way of luring white women to their dens and causing their "ruin", which was the association with Chinese men. Later, other Federal laws such as trafficking in opium was illegal for anyone of Chinese origin. The opium laws were directed at the smoking of opium. The law didn't effect importation of the drug because opium was a common medical drug. This law was specifically targeted at the Chinese, for the smoking of opium was a Chinese custom. Cocaine was outlawed for fears that black men would go on a sexual rampage and rape white women. In the early 1900's, newspapers referred to them as "Negro Cocaine Fiends" or "Cocainized Niggers". There is little evidence that this actually happened. The Harrison Act had started as a licensing law which required sellers to obtain a license if they were going to handle opiates or cocaine. The law contains a provision that nothing in the law would prohibit doctors from prescribing these drugs in the legitimate
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Federal Government, Drug Abuse, Arizona Mexico, Johnson Federal, Barry McCaffrey, Chinese Federal, Medical Association, South America, Harrison Act, United Stopping, drug production, people illegal drug, illegal drug past, people illegal, drug dealers, illegal drug, drug past, bob dole, drugs border, smoking opium, law passed, war drugs, 127 people illegal, safe drug-free schools, household survey drug,
Approximate Word count = 1525
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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