jan 1, 1875 - First American Anti-Drug Law passed

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The first American anti-drug law was an 1875 San Francisco ordinance which outlawed the smoking of opium in opium dens. It was passed because of the fears that Chinese men were luring white women to their "ruin" in opium dens. Cultural studies of the time showed that opium dens occupied a place in Chinese culture roughly comparable to the position that saloons occupied in white culture. That is, most patrons went to them on the weekends, partook of the intoxicants and went back to their work the following Monday, with no apparent interference in their work. There were opium addicts, of course, but, on balance, the addiction problem didn't seem to be any worse than addiction problems with alcohol. The usage patterns in general seemed to be comparable to the usage patterns of alcohol.

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