Essay on the Legalization of Drugs in America
Uploaded by spootyhead on Apr 18, 2007
Essay on the Legalization of Drugs in America
Drug laws help to ensure that all drugs used in Canada are safe, effective and wisely administered. The Food and drugs Act and the Narcotic Control Act govern the manufacture, distribution advertising and sale of drugs in Canada. These two acts evolved from earlier pieces of legislation known respectively as the Inland Revenue Act and the Opium Act.
The Inland Revenue Act of 1876, which dealt primarily with the use of alcohol, did not define drugs. This legislation was the forerunner of the more effective Adulteration Act of 1884, which defined the terms drug and adulteration, and the conditions under which adulteration of a drug might take place. This act was repealed and replaced by the Food and Drugs Act of 1920 in which drugs are defined as any substance used in diagnosis, treatment, mitigation, or prevention of a disease, disorder, or abnormal physical state and in restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions in humans or animals. In 1953 this act was amended to control the manufacture, distribution and sale of all drugs except narcotics.
The Opium Act of 1908 prohibited the unauthorized importation and possession of gum or smoking opium. In 1911 the act was expanded and became the Opium and Dug Act, which included other problem drugs such as cocaine and morphine. Amendments were made in 1919 to accommodate import and export licenses. As illicit trade in narcotics increased and more control became necessary, the act was changed again in 1920, becoming the Opium and Narcotic Control Act.
Controlled drugs and restricted drugs are included under the Food and Drugs Act and narcotic drugs are listed in respect to the Narcotic Control Act. These drugs have habit-forming properties (addictions) and are subject to abuse for various reasons.
It is an offence to possess controlled, restricted and narcotic drugs for the purpose of trafficking. Simply possessing these drugs for reasons other than those permitted in the two acts is an offence chargeable by fines, community service and even imprisonment.
In addition to controls placed on drugs there are a number of additional controls for manufacturing, distributing and selling controlled, restricted and narcotic drugs. This is to prevent their flow from legal to illegal sources.
First the Health protection branch must license dealers and each month the dealers must report the sale of specific narcotic and controlled drugs. A licensed dealer may...