Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

Other short titles	Alcohol and Drug Abuse Amendments of 1986 Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act of 1986 Federal Analog Act
Long title	An Act to strengthen Federal efforts to encourage foreign cooperation in eradicating illicit drug crops and in halting international drug traffic, to improve enforcement of Federal drug laws and enhance interdiction of illicit drug shipments, to provide strong Federal leadership in establishing effective drug abuse prevention and education programs, to expand Federal support for drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation efforts, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 99th United States Congress
Effective	October 27, 1986
Citations
Public law	99-570
Statutes at Large	100  Stat.   3207
Codification
Acts amended	Administrative Procedure Act Freedom of Information Act
Titles amended	21 U.S.C.: Food and Drugs
U.S.C. sections amended	21 U.S.C. ch. 13,subch. I § 801 et seq. 21 U.S.C. ch. 13,subch. I § 841 et seq. 21 U.S.C. ch. 13,subch. II § 951 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 5484 by James C. Wright Jr. (D–TX) on September 8, 1986 Committee consideration by House Armed Services, House Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House Education and Labor, House Foreign Affairs, House Government Operations, House Energy and Commerce, House Interior and Insular Affairs, House Judiciary, House Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House Post Office and Civil Service, House Public Works and Transportation, House Ways and Means Passed the House on September 11, 1986 (392-16) Passed the Senate on September 30, 1986 (97-2, in lieu of S. 2878) with amendment House agreed to Senate amendment on October 17, 1986 (unanimous consent) with further amendment Senate agreed to House amendment on October 17, 1986 (voice vote) Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1986
Major amendments
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, also known as the Len Bias Law, was a law pertaining to the War on Drugs passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It changed the system of federal supervised release from a rehabilitative system into a punitive system. [1] The 1986 Act also prohibited controlled substance analogs. The bill enacted new mandatory minimum sentences for drugs, including marijuana. ^{[2] [3]}

History

President Ronald Reagan signs the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 in the East Room. Charlie Rangel (far left) and Nancy Reagan look on.

The appearance of crack cocaine, along with the cocaine-related deaths of Len Bias on June 19, 1986, and Don Rogers on June 27, 1986, ^[4] prompted then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill to mobilize the House Democratic leadership to draft an omnibus anti-drug bill, which became the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. ^[5] Congressional attention and extensive media coverage contributed to a moral panic surrounding cocaine use — which had earlier been regarded as relatively benign ^[6] — and built momentum for the legislation. ^[7] In September and October 1986, the House (with a Democratic majority) and the Senate (with a Republican majority) each advanced proposals for stricter anti-drug legislation ahead of the midterm elections. ^[8] The bill was signed into law by Reagan on October 27. ^{[9] [10]}

Contents

Money Laundering Control Act

The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 was enacted as Title I of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. ^{[11] [12]} This title criminalized money laundering for the first time in the United States. ^[12] It also amended the Bank Secrecy Act, the Change in Bank Control Act, and the Right to Financial Privacy Act. ^[12]

Drug crimes

Along with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the act substantially increased the number of drug offenses with mandatory minimum sentences. ^[13]

This act mandated a minimum sentence of 5 years without parole for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine while it mandated the same for possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. This 100:1 disparity was reduced to 18:1, when crack was increased to 28 grams (1 ounce) by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. ^[14]

The law also banned the operation of venues intended for use of illegal drugs, a provision known as the "Crackhouse Law". It was amended in the RAVE Act of 2003. ^[15]

Spending

The act authorized billions of dollars in spending, although substantially less was actually appropriated. Some of this was used to increase the substance abuse treatment federal block grant program, ^[16] although treatment providers were disappointed at the reduced appropriations following politicians' earlier promises and authorization. ^[8]

Other programs funded by the act included drug counseling and education programs, ^[12] AIDS research, ^[16] and international cooperation to limit drug production. ^[12]

The Act also included the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, which required colleges to establish drug abuse education and prevention programs. ^[17]

Impact

The law led to an increase in average time imprisoned for drug crimes from 22 months to 33 months. ^[18]

Racial effect

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act created a significant disparity in the sentences imposed for crimes involving powder cocaine versus crack cocaine, with the ratio of 100 to 1. For example, a drug crime involving 5 grams of crack cocaine resulted in a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in federal prison, while crimes involving 500 grams of powder cocaine received the same sentence. ^[19] After the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, the number of black people sent to federal prison skyrocketed from approximately 50 in 100,000 adults to approximately 250 in 100,000 adults. ^[20]

The Act also led to an increased disparity in prison sentencing lengths between races. Prior to the enactment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, black people received sentences for drug-related crimes which were 11% longer than sentences received by whites who committed the same offense. In the years that followed, this disparity increased to 49%. This led to racial and class imbalance, with minorities facing harsher punishments for the use and sale of the same drug as their affluent, white counterparts. ^[21]

See also

• Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
• War on Drugs

Citations

1. "Expedient Imprisonment: How Federal Supervised Release Sentences Violate the Constitution - Virginia Law Review". 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
2. Snitch: Drug Laws and Snitching – a Primer Archived 2015-10-23 at the Wayback Machine . Frontline (U.S. TV series). Public Broadcasting Service. The article also has a chart of mandatory minimum sentences for first time drug offenders.
3. Thirty Years of America's Drug War Archived 2011-02-24 at the Wayback Machine . Frontline (U.S. TV series).
4. Easley 2011.
5. "Pro/Con - Eric e. Sterling | Snitch | FRONTLINE". PBS. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
6. Musto 2005, p. 11.
7. Reinarman and Levine, "Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice", Univ. of Cal. Press, 1997
8. Musto 2005, p. 12.
9. "REAGAN SIGNS ANTI-DRUG MEASURE; HOPES FOR 'DRUG-FREE GENERATION'". The New York Times. October 28, 1986. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
10. "Reagan Signs Antidrug Bill". The Washington Post. October 28, 1986. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
11. Richards 1998, p. 136.
12. Pollard & Daly 2014, p. 16.19.
13. Reamer 2005, p. 134.
14. "Obama signs bill reducing cocaine sentencing gap - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
15. Erin Treacy, The Rave Act: A Specious Solution to the Serious Problem of Increased Ecstasy Distribution: Is It Unconstitutionally Overbroad, 28 Hastings COMM. & ENT. L.J. 229 (2005).
16. Landsberg 2004, p. 213.
17. Dowdall 2013, p. 128.
18. Shewan 2013, p. 89f.
19. "Oct. 27, 1986: Anti-Drug Abuse Act Creates Racially Biased 100 to 1 Crack/Powder Disparity". Equal Justice Incentive. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
20. "Oct. 27, 1986: Anti-Drug Abuse Act Creates Racially Biased 100 to 1 Crack/Powder Disparity". Equal Justice Incentive. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
21. "Reagan's National Drug Strategy". Omeka Beta Service. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.

References

• Dowdall, G.W. (2013). College Drinking: Reframing a Social Problem / Changing the Culture. Stylus Publishing. ISBN   978-1-57922-815-6. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
• Easley, Jonathan (19 June 2011). "The day the drug war really started". Salon.
• Landsberg, B.K. (2004). Major Acts of Congress: A-E. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN   978-0-02-865750-9. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Murakawa, N. (2014). The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America. Studies in Postwar American Political Development. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-938072-5. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Musto, David F. (2005). "Historical perspectives". In Lowinson, J.H. (ed.). Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook. Spiral Manual Series. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN   978-0-7817-3474-5. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Pollard, A.M.; Daly, J.P. (2014). Banking Law in the United States – Fourth Edition. Juris Pub. ISBN   978-1-57823-361-8. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
• Reamer, F.G. (2005). Heinous Crime: Cases, Causes, and Consequences . Columbia University Press. p.  134. ISBN   978-0-231-50688-5.
• Richards, J.R. (1998). Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering: A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators. CRC Press. ISBN   978-1-4200-4872-8. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Shewan (2013). Drug Use in Prisons. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-134-43234-9. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.

Further reading

• Abadinsky, H. (2013). Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction. Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-1-305-16164-1. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Belgrave, F.Z.; Allison, K.W. (2009). African American Psychology: From Africa to America. SAGE Publications. p. 95,391. ISBN   978-1-4129-6555-2. Archived from the original on 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
• Hinton, E. (2016). From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime. Harvard University Press. p. 317. ISBN   978-0-674-73723-5. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Isralowitz, R. (2004). Drug Use: A Reference Handbook . ABC-CLIO's contemporary world issues. ABC-CLIO. p.  168-179. ISBN   978-1-57607-708-5.
• King, D.S.; Smith, R.M. (2011). Still a House Divided: Race and Politics in Obama's America. Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives. Princeton University Press. p. 217f,229. ISBN   978-1-4008-3976-6. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Leapley, Steven (February 9, 2014). "Analysis Of The Anti-Drug Abuse Act Of 1986". Palomar College. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
• Marcy, W.L. (2010). The Politics of Cocaine: How U. S. Foreign Policy Has Created a Thriving Drug Industry in Central and South America. Chicago Review Press, Incorporated. pp. 83–90, 134. ISBN   978-1-56976-561-6. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Marion, N.E.; Oliver, W.M. (2014). Drugs in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-1-61069-596-1. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Pirog, M.A.; Good, E.M. (2012). Public Policy and Mental Health: Avenues for Prevention. Prevention Practice Kit. SAGE Publications. p. 25. ISBN   978-1-4833-0767-1. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Sandoval, L. (2013). "The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986: A Policy Analysis". California State University, Long Beach. Archived from the original on 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
• Stohr, M.; Walsh, A.; Hemmens, C. (2012). Corrections: A Text/Reader. SAGE Text/Reader Series in Criminology and Criminal Justice. SAGE Publications. p. 128,139. ISBN   978-1-4522-8992-2. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
• Weld, William F. (1987). Handbook on the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice / GPO. oai:quod.lib.umich.edu:MIU01-011327818. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2018-01-23.

External links

• Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection