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Federal Bureau of Narcotics
The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act is the 1914 law that first effectively banned cocaine and opiates (including heroin) in the U.S.
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Harrison Act Term Timeline in Chasing the Scream
The timeline below shows where the term Harrison Act appears in Chasing the Scream. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Black Hand
...the government addressed Americans’ collective anxieties about drugs by outlawing and destroying them through the Harrison Act . In 1939, Billie Holiday famously began singing “Strange Fruit,” a haunting song about lynching...
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This pattern started much earlier. For instance, the Harrison Act was partially a response to a series of sensationalistic articles about “negro cocaine ‘fiends’” who...
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Chapter 2: Sunshine and Weaklings
...stigma, and of the small minority who became addicted, most kept steady jobs. But the Harrison Act and Anslinger changed this. Addicts were still desperate to get drugs, which were now part...
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The Harrison Act exempted doctors and prescriptions from the ban on heroin and cocaine, so Edward Williams started...
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