For more information on drug laws in your state or territory, visit the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League. Implementation efforts are shared between the Federation and the Länder. Joint federal-state task forces investigate illicit drug sales for two main reasons. First, States have expressed interest in eliminating the illicit sale and use of controlled substances through the adoption of strict drug laws, but they lack the necessary resources. Second, in exchange for their participation, state law enforcement agencies are entitled to federal funds critical to their operations. In addition to helping authorities cover administrative costs, local undercover police use these funds to buy drugs so they can arrest traffickers. To control the use of dangerous drugs, federal and most state laws use a classification system established in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, based on the Federal Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. This system includes both illegal drugs and dangerous legal drugs. It uses five groups, called schedules, to organize drugs according to their potential for medical use, harm or abuse, and it imposes a series of controls and penalties for each schedule. The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars on a fight to reduce drug use in the United States, citing frightening figures on the number of drug users.
According to a 2000 survey by the Department of Justice, more than half of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 34 have used illicit drugs in their lifetime. In addition, 28% of children aged 12 to 17 have used illicit drugs. Although much of the attention has focused on the use of drugs such as marijuana and cocaine, new „club“ or „synthematic“ drugs have become popular among some youth. About six million children and young adults over the age of 12 reported using methylene-nmethylamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic drug, also known as „ecstasy,“ sparking a national debate about improving drug education in elementary and secondary schools in the United States. States launched a broad movement to control legal and illegal drugs at the turn of the century. The federal government joined this process to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 (34 Stat. 768, 1906, Ch. 3915, §§ 1-13, repealed by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938), which was primarily intended to protect users from „mislabeled or toxic“ drugs, medications, and alcohol. It established federal jurisdiction over domestic drug production and sale and also regulated drug imports. If you`ve ever been sick and had to take medication, you already know a type of medication. Drugs are legal drugs, which means doctors can prescribe them to patients, stores can sell them, and people can buy them.
But it is neither legal nor safe for people to use these drugs as they wish, or to buy them from people who sell them illegally. Between the mid-1980s and early 1990s, the legislature enacted the toughest drug laws in U.S. history. The impetus for these laws came from the so-called War on Drugs, a broad policy push at the federal and state levels that was launched under President Ronald Reagan and received broad public support. Among the many initiatives was the establishment of the Office of the Office of the National Director of Drug Control Policy, known as the Drug Czar, to coordinate national and international efforts to combat drugs. Over-the-counter and prescription medications are strictly regulated by the FFDC. This legislation and the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments of 1962 (Pub. L.
No. 87-781, 76 Stat. 781) gave the FDA a broad mandate. The agency protects users from the potential dangers of dangerous drugs, misleading labels and fraud. The FDA sets safety and quality standards, and its enforcement responsibilities include researching, inspecting, and approving drugs for manufacture and sale. Because the law requires that drugs not be adulterated, the FDA ensures that they meet legal standards for strength, quality, and purity. It also classifies drugs that must be dispensed only by prescription. After all, new drugs can only be brought to market after approval by the FDA. Traditionally a slow process, FDA approval for certain drugs was significantly accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily in response to the AIDS epidemic.
Legal medications can be purchased over-the-counter or with a doctor`s prescription. Illicit drugs cannot be legally manufactured, bought, or sold in the United States. And other drugs are legal in some situations, but illegal when abused. The courts have played an important role in the war on drugs. Overall, under the Fourth Amendment, they expanded police powers to conduct searches and seizures. In a series of decisions in the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers had the power to search bus passengers, car interiors, recreational vehicles, fenced private property and barns, luggage and garbage cans without a warrant. In Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 113 pp. Ct.
2130, 124 L. Ed. 2d 334 (1993), the court held that no warrant was required to seize narcotics identifiable by a „mere feeling“ while an officer searched a suspect for concealed weapons. Some drugs – such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and various prescription and over-the-counter medications – are legal. However, their use may be restricted due to the age, location, driving and regulations of the outlets. The war on drugs has also created a patchwork of anti-drug laws. These include the Drug Abuse Control Act of 1986 (Pub. L. No.
99-570, 100 Stat. 3207), which increased penalties for drug-related offences involving cocaine, particularly its smokable crack derivative. The legislation provided for mandatory minimum sentences, including for first-time offenders. For sentencing, he established a ratio that considers one gram of crack cocaine to be equivalent to 100 grams of cocaine powder. Although the law significantly increases the number of drug-related offenders in prisons, it has sparked considerable controversy over its impact on minorities. The Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Pub. L. No.
100-690, 102 Stat. 4181) further strengthened federal jurisdiction over drug-related crime. For the first time, possession of even a small amount of a controlled substance became a federal crime. Penalties have been added for crimes involving minors, pregnant women and selling drugs within 100 feet of public and private schools. States have also tightened their laws. Michigan, for example, imposed life imprisonment without parole for cocaine trafficking (Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 333.7403[2][a][i]).
On February 12, 2002, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the National Drug Enforcement Strategy. Basic principles include (1) stopping drug use before it starts; (2) Curing Drug Users in America; and (3) disruption of the drug market. One of the goals of the initiative is to reduce drug use by ten per cent in the first two years and by 25 per cent in the first five years.