Hooked: The History of Race and Drug Prohibition in America, 1880-1930

Abstract

Drug prohibition had pathologizing effects on minority groups in America between 1880 and 1930 when prohibition laws were stringently enforced among Chinese and Mexican immigrants as well as Black Americans. From this research, it is clear that anti-narcotic legislation affected Chinese immigrant and Chinese American communities, anti-cocaine legislation affected Black American communities, and anti-marijuana legislation affected Mexican immigrant and Mexican American communities. This is primarily due to the manner in which state and federal governments inequitably enforced these laws in minority communities as opposed to drug law enforcement among predominantly Caucasian communities, where the focus was on liquor. These laws affected Chinese immigrants, Black Americans, and Mexican immigrants by perpetuating harmful stereotypes about these groups, imposing great financial and personal harm to them, and criminalizing their illness and nonviolent behavior