Policy-making in the Federal System

[Course Number]

[Date of Submission]

Policy-making in the Federal System

Introduction

In United States, a complicate patch work has been demonstrated in the context of the drug laws and the enforcement practices associated with them. A number of policies have been developed at the federal and state government level that sometimes face an overlap giving rise to a number of conflicts among the different governmental levels. This essay has been written with an objective to demonstrate the federal drug policy that is being designed by the Federal Government of United States, and the issues of federalism that are raised by the policy.

Summary of Drug Policy

The current drug control policy of United States has major concern for the public health and particularly in the drug abuse context a great deal of apprehension is being shown for the youngsters. The overall drug prevention in the current drug policy has been incorporated in the form of three elements and is under the control of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) (Gaines & Miller, 2010, pp.383). The three priorities of the policy includes

Firstly, the termination of the drug use before its initiation that has a focus on the preventive research based programs of primary nature.

Second priority is the providing heals and treatment to the America's drug users with the help of the programs that are of drug abuse and intervention nature. The programs aim on the sustainable recovery of the patient by having some mandatory tests and providing effective aftercare.

The third focus is on the unsettlement of the drug market by attacking the supply side of the drug trade. (Biglan, 2003, pp.433-441)

Brief History

The drug use was considered legal in United States between the time frame of the U.S. Civil War and the late 19th century. The next century brought a change in the policies. In the year 1898, heroin was inaccessible for the first time. The first two drugs that were targeted for the purpose of ban were cocaine and alcohol. In the year 1906, U.S Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act so as to stop the use of such drugs, requiring the OTC Medicines to make a list of the drug amount used in their preparation. The next established act was Opium Act of 1909 that marked the ban of the drugs for the purposes other than the medicinal purpose. The Harrison Narcotic Act was enacted ...