Week 3 Assignment

Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970

Student's Name

Institution

Course

Instructor

Date

Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970

The Federal Controlled Substance Act is a policy that was enacted in 1970 and became effective in 1971. It contains three different titles, with each title tackling different issues. The first title deals with the establishment of various rehabilitation initiatives for drug addicts. The second title deals with the registration and distribution of various controlled substances. The last title handles matters related to the importation and exportation of these controlled substances. The objective of the Controlled Substance Act is to enhance manufacturing importation and exportation, possession, distribution of controlled substances.

Lampe, J. R., & Attorney, L. (2019). The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): a legal overview for the 116th Congress. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-30.

The policy was enacted as an effort of Congress to regulate drug use and trade in the U.S. Lampe and Attorney (2019) researched how the policy came into being and the various components. The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 was approved as a Title II of the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970" during the 91st Congress. Richard Nixon, the then president of the United States at the time, signed it. The authors found that the policy did not just combine the preexisting federal laws but also altered the state of various drug laws and enhanced federal law enforcement regarding controlled drug substances. Ever since 1970, when the policy was enacted, it has undergone amendment several times.

Dowell, D., Haegerich, T. M., & Chou, R. (2016). CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain—United States, 2016. Jama, 315(15), 1624-1645.

Rovner, J. (2020). How the Election Could Affect Health Care and Drug Policy. [Online] Scientific American. Available at: <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-election-could-affect-health-care-and-drug-policy/> [Accessed 29 October 2021].

Rovner (2020) discusses how elections impact drug policy. Elections also greatly affect drug policies such as the Controlled substance act. A newly elected government may have the power to change some of the existing and domestic drug policies. Voters also can change drug policies at local and federal levels. For instance, in Mississippi, voters were choosing whether or not to legalize marijuana (Rovner, 2020). Media also shapes public opinion a lot on the issue of drug abuse in the country. The media define the general public interests as well as indirectly impact their attitudes on drug use. The media also creates awareness in communities regarding drug policy. Similarly, various public policies such as the legalization of some drugs and restrictions on the use of others have greatly affected drug policies such as the CSA.

Youngers, C. (2013). U.S. Elections and the War on Drugs. [Online] NACLA. Available at: <https://nacla.org/article/us-elections-and-war-drugs> [Accessed 29 October 2021].

The drug policy permits various political candidates to freely talk about drug use in public during their campaign rallies. Youngers (2013) discusses the relationship between U.S. and drug wars. The election process also allows both the candidates and voters to change existing drug policies through casting votes (Youngers, 2013). For instance, South Dakota residents were allowed to vote on whether the government should legalize pot or not. Furthermore, elected members of Congress and other leaders have the power to amend and come up with better drug policies, including the Control Substance policy amendments. The research conducted by Youngers offers an elaborate explanation of the role voting and election process plays in the drug policy.