why were drugs initially prohibited

[Hagakure]

had a bit of a look around but its still not clear.

were psychedelics etc illegalised becuase people were worried about physical damage in terms of health issues or was it more of a social damage thing.

any opinions or ideas on the issue would be great. i am writing a piece in promotion of the decriminaisation of most drugs. e's to herion with different methods of managing all of them. (im thinking give heroin to addicts with no strings attached like that trial in germany to stop crime etc)

so any other opinions on any part of the decrim debate would cool as well.

[occidentalis]

Psychedelics were legal before the 60's/early '70's. Someone else will know the exact timeline better than me, but here's what I can tell you:

LSD was illegalised in the US in 1969. This was a reaction to it's increasing popularity and the perceived threat to the power structure that it entailed. It was primary a social thing but no doubt psychological health was trotted out as a reason.

'Analogue laws' were introduced, making any drug that's chemically like an illegal drug automatically illegal.

The UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances was adopted in 1971. Australia and lots of other countries jump on board.

The end.

[Torsten]

The single convention on narcotic drugs was promoted by South Africa, England and the USA. South Africa and the US had very strong racist reasons as they saw drugs as the devil's tool for black men to seduce white women. This is where the original hysteria came from that gave the drug prohibition movement enough momentum to accomplish what it did. Most other countries simply didn't object because the laws themselves (in their natural interpretation) were not severely restricting. Over the years the american influence has made the interpretation of the single convention much stronger than it was originally. This trend is now being challenged by things like Hemp farming, ayahuasca for Santo Daime, and harm minimisation movements.

The origin of drug prohibition is a mix of racism and the christian puritanical movement. Everything else was invented to cover this up.

[occidentalis]

The single convention on narcotics doesn't cover psychedelics (except cannabis if you count that). It covers opiates, cocaine & friends, and MJ.

If we want to get into philosophy, I would argue (from an ecofeminist perspective) that psychedlics represent an alternative 'way of knowing' to (patriarchal, white, reductionist) science, and are therefore a huge threat to the power structures that keep our bizarre society afloat.

[Hagakure]

that sounds really interesting torsten but i cant find much info online about it.

my google-fu doesnt seem to be very strong today.

creach - im wondering if australian politicians today see psychedelics as a threat to power. most seem like they would see it as a health issue like my dad does.

[Hagakure]

"Cocaine was prohibited in the first part of the 20th century. Newspapers used terms like "Negro Cocaine Fiends" and "Cocainized Niggers" to drive up sales, causing a nationwide panic about the rape of white women by black men, high on cocaine. Many police forces changed from a .32 caliber to a .38 caliber pistol because the smaller gun was supposedly unable to kill black men when they were high on cocaine."

http://www.answers.com/topic/prohibition-drugs

google-fu is getting stronger

found that lot. is that what you are referring to torsten or does it go deeper?

[Torsten]

much deeper. The process and protagonsts of the single convention are documented in the original UN documentation and commentary. From here it is clear that South Africa was one of the main players. Even in their own documentation you can find hints of how most other countries were pretty disinterested in the whole thing and did not see drugs as much of a problem that required UN intervention. But under economic and political rpessure from the US most ended up signing.

The you need to look at the reasons for the drug hysteria in each country and that's where your quote comes into it. Along with 'reefer madness' and lots of other media promo material.

The whole prohition thing was also very much in the interest of industry who wanted to extinguish the hemp fibre market. Between the industry's money and the media hysteria based on racism it was easy getting the population behind the anti drug cause.

In South Africa the process was even clearer. Seggregation was law here and pot was undermining it. It was also providing non-whites with an income that freed them from their slave-like 'wages'. There were serious tears in the fabric of society at the time caused by cannabis. As we know from the current media hystery it doesn't take much to galvanise a population if the spin is right, and there was no better spin than 'innocent white girls' being plyed with pot for the pleasure of 'dirty black slaves'. I don't even know if South Africa ever tried to hide the racist roots of their drug prohibition.

Creach - while psychedelics are not covered by the single onvention, the mindset and interpretation was there already. Hence you will find that until about 10 years ago EVERY illegal drug was called a narcotic - even amphetamine! The extra drugs and extra duties were simply tacked onto an existing machinery and no one ever bothered to ask why....

[macro]

Hagakure:

that sounds really interesting torsten but i cant find much info online about it.

my google-fu doesnt seem to be very strong today.

creach - im wondering if australian politicians today see psychedelics as a threat to power. most seem like they would see it as a health issue like my dad does.

Perhaps as a threat to staying in power perhaps? Imagine how many votes from "majority Australia" Howard would lose if he legalised all psychedelics tomorrow?

I don't know if they really think that usage will lead to revolution, though a lot of believers do, and as Creach pointed out already, is an oft cited reason for their initial prohibition.

[nabraxas]

the film reviewedhere gives a good history as does the book on-line here

they concentrate on grass but that was the main victim