Are Americans addicted to addiction?

Drug abuse and addiction in America

1775 - Marijuana crops flourished on plantations in Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, California and Nebraska. Still, alcohol and tobacco remained the main drugs of choice until the Civil War.

1850s-1900 – Popular medical and nonmedical products promised to cure everything from diarrhea to female “nervousness.” The opiates those products contained resulted in women becoming the largest group of abusers. (Their claims were unsubstantiated.)

1862 – In an attempt to curb abuse, the Internal Revenue began taxing alcohol. It didn’t work, but the money raised was significant enough to raise half of the nation’s revenue during the Civil War.

1906 – The Pure Food and Drug Act required that all ingredients in a food or drug be listed. Medical drugs also were required to be “safe and effective.”

1914 – The Harrison Act, or Controlled Substance Act, required anyone producing, distributing or purchasing cocaine and opiates to register with the federal government.

1919 – Thanks to temperance advocate Carrie Nation’s anti-saloon campaign, which began in 1899, individual states started outlawing the sale and consumption of alcohol. The 1919 Volstad Act took prohibition nationwide, only to be repealed in 1933. Alcohol use reached its lowest-point in history: .97 gallons of ethanol per person age 15 and older - in 1934.

1937 – The U.S. Surgeon General issued the first scientific study linking cigarette smoking to disease and addiction.

1939 – Bill W. started Alcoholics Anonymous, a mutual support program designed to help people maintain sobriety through a 12-step system and accountability.

1954 – Alcoholism was declared a disease by the American Medical Association.

1960 – Harvard University instructors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert began experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms and LSD, launching the popular drug subculture that dominated the decade. Still, in 1962, illicit drug use was very uncommon. Less than 2 percent of the entire population and less than 1 percent of teens used drugs.

1963 – The Second Surgeon General’s Report on tobacco and disease was issued. It said Americans 18 and older were smoking more than ever -- almost half a pack of cigarettes a day for all persons 18 and older. Smoking rates have declined ever since.

1970 – The Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act repealed previous laws and established groups of drugs by their medical usefulness and abuse potential.

1970 – The drinking age was lowered to 18, and teen abuse and drunk-driving deaths reached their highest levels in history. Alcohol consumption reached its peak in 1980 at 2.8 gallons of ethanol per person 14 and older.

1978 – Former First Lady Betty Ford went public with a decades-long addiction to alcohol and prescription drug use. She opened a popular California treatment center in her name and became synonymous with drug rehabilitation.

1982 – A state-by-state push to increase the drinking age to 21 began. All states complied by 1987.

1996- The first medical marijuana bill passed. Today, 15 states and the District of Columbia allow its distribution by prescription.

2000 – Annual drug deaths from illicit drugs numbered 37,000; alcohol, 85,000; and tobacco, 450,000. Authorities started seeing prescription drug abuse and considered it a crisis issue.

2008 – Vh1’s Celebrity Rehab premiered. The show and others, such as A&E’s “Intervention” are among a group of reality shows that highlight the underbelly of addiction.

2009 -- In 16 states, the number of deaths from drug overdoses eclipsed deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes.

2010 - Five states considered ballot initiatives for recreational marijuana.

Sources: National Drug Abuse Center for Training Resource and Development, Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Addiction Studies Program at Wake Forest University, National First Ladies Library, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention