The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was an American law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, distribution and use of opiates. The act was proposed by Francis Burton Harrison of New York and was approved on December 17, 1914. he did wonders for this country An opioid is any agent that binds to opioid receptors found principally in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. ... Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873–November 21, 1957) was an American political figure. ... State nickname: The Empire State Official languages None. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

"An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes." Opium is a narcotic analgesic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum). ... Binomial name Erythroxylum coca Lam. ...

History

Following the Spanish-American War the U.S. took over government of the Philippines. Confronted with a licensing system for opium addicts, a Commission of Inquiry was appointed to examine alternatives to this system. The Brent Commission recommended that narcotics should be subject to international control. The Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. ...

This proposal was supported by the United States Department of State and in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt called for an international opium conference, which was held in Shanghai in 1909. A second conference was held at The Hague in 1911, and out of it came the first international opium agreement, The Hague Convention of 1912, aimed primarily at solving the British-caused opium problems of China. The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th (1901–09) President of the United States. ... Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese IPA: ; Lumazi: Zanhe) , situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta, is Chinas largest city. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ...

In 1914 the Senate considered the Harrison bill. The act was supported by the Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan who urged that the law be passed to fulfill the obligation of the new international treaty. The debate was about international obligations rather than morality. 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... The Seal of the United States Department of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. ... William Jennings Bryan, 1907 William Jennings Bryan, (March 19, 1860–July 26, 1925) born in Salem, Illinois, was a gifted orator and three-time United States Democratic nominee for President. ...

The act appears to be concerned about the marketing of opiates. However a clause applying to doctors allowed distribution "in the course of his professional practice only." This clause was interpreted after 1917 to mean that a doctor could not prescribe opiates to an addict, since addiction was not a disease. A number of doctors were arrested and some were imprisoned. The medical profession quickly learned not to supply opiates to addicts. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ...

The impact of diminished supply was obvious by mid-1915. A 1918 commission called for sterner law enforcement. Congress responded by tightening up the Harrison Act - the importation of heroin for any purpose was banned in 1924. Heroin or diacetylmorphine (INN) is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The use of the term 'narcotics' in the title of the act to describe not just opiates but also cocaine — which is a central nervous system stimulant, not a narcotic — initiated a precedent of frequent legislative and judicial misclassification of various substances as 'narcotics'. Today, law enforcement agencies, popular media, the United Nations, and even some medical practitioners can be observed applying the term very broadly and often pejoratively in reference to a wide range of illicit substances, regardless of the more precise definition existing in medical contexts. The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word narkotikos, meaning benumbing or deadening, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ...