Alcohol and Other Drugs -- Toward a More Rational and Consistent Policy

Abstract

Mind-altering drugs of one type or another have been with us for thousands of years, and in every society some people become dependent on these drugs, perhaps because they find life without them too harsh or are otherwise susceptible. Societies have dealt with such drugs in different ways, but very few have tried to ban them altogether. In the United States, cocaine and heroin were banned in 1914, alcohol in 1920, and marijuana in 1937¹. The ban on alcohol was lifted in 1933, although alcohol has since been regulated. Caffeine and cigarettes, which have relatively mild short-term psychoactive effects . . .