The background of heroin’s drug policies is complex, from how it got its start to how it is used as an opioid drug. Bayer Pharmaceutical Company started making it in 1898 as a painkiller and cough suppressant. In the early 1900s, heroin became a significant threat to public health and society, especially in the US. Heroin was widely recommended in the late 1800s and early 1900s (Faisal et al., 2024). However, stories of addiction and abuse made people worry about how bad it could be. As a result, countries around the world made it harder to make, sell, and use heroin.
The goal of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 was to control the making and selling of heroin. These rules charged and controlled the making, importing, and selling of opium and cocaine. The law was supposed to cut down on drug use for fun, but it made drug trade and sales happen more (Faisal et al., 2024). The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which was passed in the middle of the 20th century, changed US drug policy so that people who used drugs would be punished. By making heroin a Schedule I drug, this act made the fight against drug abuse and trade stronger. As a result, President Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs” made it harder to sell drugs and have them on your person.
Mirroring Socio-Political Values
The way heroin policies have changed over the years shows how popular views on drug abuse, addiction, and health have changed in general. Heroin’s reclassification as a limited substance and the strict drug laws that came with it show how society’s views on drug abuse and addiction are changing. Heroin was once seen as an actual medicine with healing benefits (Marolla, 2023). People started the War on Drugs in the 1970s because they were worried about crime, public safety, and falling morals. Racist prejudices and assumptions formed both harsh sentencing systems and aggressive police tactics, which hurt communities of color more than other groups.
The Policy’s Impact Today
The current management of heroin has a significant effect on social welfare, criminal justice, and public health. This is a susceptible topic. First, proponents of unchanged drug laws argue that the only effective means of curbing drug trafficking and ensuring public safety is through stringent law enforcement (Seddon, 2023). They cite the decline in drug-related crimes and the closure of illegal drug marketplaces as evidence that the method is effective. Drug courts and rehab centers are two examples of institutions that offer treatment and assistance instead of jail time.
Opponents of the current heroin policy, however, argue that draconian tactics worsen social inequality and reinforce the cycles of poverty and incarceration. The illegality of drug use and possession has resulted in a high jail population and the exhaustion of the criminal justice system’s meager resources (Seddon, 2023). Groups that were previously weakest have suffered the most from this. Vulnerable populations have been even less included as a result of the stigma associated with drug use, which has made it more difficult for them to get critical medical treatment and harm reduction resources.
The need for a more comprehensive and fact-based drug policy is becoming increasingly apparent to individuals. More compassionate and effective regulations have taken the form of several kinds. Harm reduction is one instance of prioritizing public health and safety over punishment (Seddon, 2023). It has been demonstrated that initiatives like medication-assisted treatment, safe injection locations, and needle exchanges reduce drug-related issues and enhance outcomes for those battling addiction.
In conclusion, the history of drug policy shows how big social and political ideas have affected it. These ideas include public health, criminal justice, and social welfare. There is some disagreement about how well current drug laws work to stop drug use and trade, even though these issues shaped the laws. Any new drug strategy that wants to deal with the problem in a complete and caring way must put public health, harm reduction, and social justice at the top of the list. We can deal with drug problems more fairly and reasonably if we stop using harsh punishments and start using programs that are based on science.
References
Faisal, Yanto, A., Rahayu, D. P., Haryadi, D., Darmawan, A., & Manik, J. D. N. (2024). Genuine paradigm of criminal justice: rethinking penal reform within Indonesia New Criminal Code. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1), 2301634.
Marolla, C. (2023). The dynamics of global risks: Sociopolitical risks in strategic management and policy decisions. Socio-Political Risk Management: Assessing and Managing Global Insecurity, p. 4.
Seddon, T. (2023). Rethinking Drug Laws: Theory, History, Politics. Oxford University Press.
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