The first international drug-control initiative, the 1909 SHANGHAI OPIUM COMMISSION, brought the international community together in efforts to curb the illicit traffic and consumption of OPIUM, a NARCOTIC drug. The Shanghai Commission encouraged participants to enact national legislation that would address the problem of narcotics in their own countries. Representatives of several countries met at the Hague at conferences in 1911 and 1913.
During this period, the U.S. Congress became aware of public opinion favoring PROHIBITION of all "moral evils," especially alcohol and drugs. New York Representative Francis B. Harrison, encouraged by both the Shanghai Commission's directive to enact national legislation to curb narcotics and the reformists in the Progressive movement in the United States who wanted to eradicate drug use completely, introduced two measuresne to prohibit the importation and nonmedical use of opium and one to regulate the production of opium in the United States. Congress enacted the Harrison Act in December 1914 with minimal debate because public opinion considered its passage necessary to combat the "evils" of drugs.
PROVISIONS OF THE HARRISON ACT
Congress regulated drugs by imposing licensing requirements on manufacturers, distributors, sellers, importers, producers, compounders, and dispensers. The Harrison Act required these parties to register with the director of Internal Revenue, within the Treasury Department, and to pay a gradually increasing occupational tax. Congress wanted to monitor the flow of opium and COCA leaves so that government authorities would have records of any transaction involving these drugs. They would be allowed only for limited medical and scientific purposes. Those individuals found in violation of the act faced a maximum penalty of five years in jail, a 2,000 dollar fine, or both.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS
Congress intended the Harrison Act to generate revenue by imposing taxes on parties involved in the trade, sale, and distribution of drugs. As a result, Congress entrusted enforcement responsibility to the Treasury Department, in particular the Internal Revenue Service and subsequently the Narcotics Unit of the Bureau of Prohibition. The Treasury Department attempted to limit narcotics to medical and scientific use and prevent their illegal diversion by physicians and druggists. The Harrison Act required pharmacists to review prescriptions to determine whether the quantity was unusually largehat is, a suspicious or coerced prescription.
Sales and transfers of narcotics could only be made pursuant to official order forms obtained from the director of Internal Revenue. District offices of the Internal Revenue Service maintained these records for two years. The act permitted a few notable exceptions to form filings. For example, qualified practitioners (physicians, dentists, and veterinarians) could prescribe or dispense narcotics to patients without completing the order forms but were required to maintain records of all the substances distributed. Druggists could also fill lawful prescriptions without completing order forms.
The Treasury Department interpreted the Harrison Act to prohibit drug addicts from obtaining narcotics. Addicts were prohibited from registering and could receive narcotics only through a licensed physician, dentist, or veterinarian. The Treasury Department regulations also prohibited physicians from maintaining a patient-addict on narcotics, a practice frequently used to help addicts avoid severe WITHDRAWAL pain while they were gradually weaned from narcotic DEPENDENCE. The Treasury Department interpreted possession of narcotics as prima facie evidence of a Harrison Act violation, and the burden of proof shifted to the suspect, who had to document that the narcotics were obtained legally.
The Treasury Department enforced the Harrison Act primarily through warnings. At times, however, the department charged physicians and druggists with conspiracy when authorities arrested an individual who possessed narcotics without a prescription made in good faith, and a connection could be made that the physician or the druggist provided the narcotics.
THE HARRISON ACT AND U.S. DRUG POLICY
Many critics of the Harrison Act argue that the legislation created more problems than it solved. In particular, they charge that the measure failed to eradicate the narcotics problem, primarily because it failed to prohibit the sale and distribution of MARIJUANA. In addition, detractors argue that the act did not resolve the issue of whether drug addicts should be treated as criminals or as patients requiring medical treatment. They also contend that the courts hampered the Treasury Department's enforcement authority. Specifically, courts prohibited the Treasury Department from seizing narcotics, interpreting the Harrison Act to serve as a revenue, rather than as a penal, measure. After passage of the Harrison Act, illicit use of narcotics increased initially as a result of these omissions or ambiguities.
Despite these criticisms, the Harrison Act is significant because it led to a national focus on the dangers of narcotics and drug abuse. Most important, the Harrison Act served as the impetus for further legislation, such as the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, all of which attempt to combat the illegal sale, distribution, and consumption of narcotics and other abusable substances in the United States, while ensuring their availability for medical purposes.
(SEE ALSO: Anslinger, Harry J., and U.S. Drug Policy; Britain, Drug Use in; Legal Regulation of Drugs and Alcohol; Opioids and Opioid Control: History; ; Rolleston Report; Treatment: History of)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANSLINGER, H. J., & TOMPKINS, W. F. (1953). The traffic in narcotics. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
MC WILLIAMS, J. C. (1990). The history of drug control policies in the United States. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Handbook of drug control in the United States. New York: Greenwood Press.
MUSTO, D. F. (1973). The American disease: Origins of narcotic control. New Haven: Yale University Press.
ROBERT T. ANGAROLA
ALAN MINSK
Source: Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior, ©2001 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
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