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- Online Exhibits
Explore the history of drug use, misuse, and law enforcement...
- Online Exhibits
Cocaine usage peaked in the United States 1982 with 10.4 million users. The 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that cocaine was used by 3.8 million Americans. As of 1999 ...
Drug Use in US History. This history of drug use includes the United States, where past is again prologue. During the colonial era, tobacco was a major crop in Virginia and other colonies thanks to slave labor. After being processed, it was commonly used by colonists and also exported to Europe in great quantities (Gately, 2001).
- Early Opium Trade in The United States
- Mafia Drug Smuggling
- The Vietnam War and Drug Trafficking
- Pablo Escobar and The Medellin Cartel
- Manuel Noriega and The Panamanian Drug Trade
- The Cali Cartel
- El Chapo, Los Zetas and Mexican Drug Cartels
- Los Zetas and The Gulf Cartel
- Cia and Drug Trafficking
- Drug Trafficking in Recent Years
During the mid-1800s, Chinese immigrants arriving in Californiaintroduced Americans to opium smoking. The trading, selling, and distribution of opium spread throughout the region. Opium dens, which were designated places to buy and sell the drug, began to crop up in cities throughout California and soon spread to New Yorkand other urban areas. Befo...
American Mafiafamilies were caught smuggling and selling illicit drugs as early as the 1950s, in addition to gambling and other illegal activities. These organized groups paved the way for future drug cartels that focused on drugs for their revenue. The Mafia’s participation in drug trade was sometimes known as the “French Connection” because smugg...
The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam Warled to a boost in heroin being smuggled into the United States between the years 1965-1970. Drug use among Vietnam soldiers was widespread. In 1971, reports showed 15 percent of active soldiers were heroin addicts, and many more smoked marijuana or used other drugs. The number of people dependent on heroin in ...
In the late 1970s, the illegal cocaine trade became a major moneymaking opportunity throughout the world. The Medellin Cartel, an organized group of drug suppliers and smugglers based in the city of Medellin, Colombia, began operating during this time. In 1975, Colombian police seized 600 kilos of cocaine from a plane. Drug traffickers retaliated b...
In 1982, Panamanian General Manuel Noriegaallowed Medellin drug lord Pablo Escobar to ship cocaine through Panama. Around this time, Vice President George H.W. Bush created the South FloridaDrug Task Force to combat cocaine trade through Miami, where violence involving traffickers was steadily increasing. After learning of the Medellin cartel’s und...
When the Medellin cartel was brought down, the Cali Cartel stepped up. This organized operation emerged in the early 90s and was based in southern Colombia. Its founding leaders included brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela; Jose Santacruz Londoño (also known as “Chepe”); and Hélmer Herrera (also known as “Pacho”). At the peak of the Cal...
By the mid-1980s, the U.S.-Mexican border became the main transport route for cocaine, marijuana and other drugs into the United States. By the late 1990s, Mexican traffickers dominated drug distribution and introduced methamphetamine. The SinaloaFederation, which is still operating today, is perhaps the largest and most well-known Mexican drug car...
Another Mexican cartel, known as Gulf, started in the 1920s but didn’t gain ground in the area of drug trafficking until the 1980s. Gulf became one of Sinaloa’s main rivals in the 2000s. The Gulf Cartel worked with Los Zetas, a group made up of former elite members of the Mexican military. Representatives of Los Zetas essentially worked as hitmen f...
Over the years, journalists and writers have made claims that the CIA has been involved in various drug trafficking operations. One of the most notorious accusations involved the CIA’s connection to the Nicaraguan Contra War during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. In 1986, the administration acknowledged that the Contras may have engaged in activit...
Drug trafficking in the United States remains a significant concern. Organizations in the Middle East, including the Taliban and al-Qaida, have become major players in the production and shipment of illegal drugs. Mexican and Columbian cartels remain problematic for the U.S. government, in particular the DEA. In 2013, six substances accounted for n...
Aug 8, 2024 · For as long as drugs have been used, there have been those who have abused them. As the physical and mental health implications of addiction became clearer, rehabilitation efforts began to appear. The history of rehabilitation in the United States dates back hundreds of years. One of the Founding Fathers of America, Benjamin Rush, was one of ...
Jan 19, 2019 · Opium. Along with cannabis, of the earliest drugs to rise in popularity in America is opium. Opiates used in tonics and elixirs were sold at local drugstores and commonly used among women to soothe their nerves. In the mid-1800s Chinese who had come over to help build our railroads also brought with them the practice of smoking opium.
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Opium and Cocaine Use and Control: Late 1880s and early 1900s. Most accounts of the history of drug use and social control begin with opiates and cocaine, two of the first drugs to be legally controlled in the United States. The present chapter, therefore, begins with the origins of opiate and cocaine use in our society and others, followed by
