Outline – Why do we have drug laws?
I. Introduction
A. Explain the question I’m asking and the issues I’m exploring
B. Summarize the current drug policy of the US and the rest of the world
II. Early History
A. historical use of drugs and psychoactive plants
B. earliest known prohibitions on drugs
i. Islamic law (Sharia)
C. ancient times to modern age
III. Drug use in America and the world
A. opium and morphine
i. patent medicine and elixirs
ii. lack of knowledge of potential for addiction
B. cocaine
IV. Modern drug laws and prohibition
A. Harrison Narcotics Act
B. Prohibition - 18th Amendment
C. International Opium Convention
D. Marihuana Tax Act
E. penalties/treatments (possibly inclusive in above subtopics)
V. Racial basis for early modern drug laws
A. opium and Chinese
B. cocaine and blacks
C. marijuana and Mexicans
VI. War on Drugs
A. Nixon’s policies
i. declares drugs “public enemy number one,” declares “war”
B. Legislation
i. Controlled Substances Act
ii. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
iii. Drug Enforcement Agency
iv. Office of National Drug Control Policy
C. Cost of the “war”
VII. Effects of drug legislation and the war on drugs
A. Drug use, abuse, and addiction largely unchanged
B. complete loss of regulation on illegal drugs used
C. prisons full of non-violent drug offenders
i. mandatory minimum sentences
ii. “three strikes” laws and effects
D. rise of drug cartels in South America
E. comparison to 1920s prohibition
i. example of complete policy failure
ii. caused huge rise in American gangsterism
VIII. Legalization and Decriminalization
A. argument for end of war on drugs
i. huge cost and minimal effectivness
ii. questions of its constitutionality
iii. people who want to will use drugs whether they are legal or not
B. movements to legalize/decriminalize drugs
C. argument against legalization and decriminalization
i. legalization will cause drug epidemic
ii. if we keep fighting, we’ll eventually win
D. the middle ground: decriminalization
i. decriminalize and regulate sale of “soft drugs”
ii. give treatment, not prison time, for harmful “hard” drug addiction
iii. go after kingpins and manufacturers, not small-time users
E. The Netherlands as an example that smart drug policy works
i. legalized marijuana led to drop in use and addiction of hard drugs
IX. Conclusion
A. my views on the issues discussed
B. the future of drug legislation and the war on drugs