Laws and Legal Issues

It is illegal to manufacture, distribute, possess, or use hallucinogens in the United States—with rare exceptions. A few of the substances are approved for medical prescription and, in a few U.S. states, for ceremonial use by Native Americans. Violations of drug laws can result in heavy fines and jail or prison sentences.

Nationally, drug laws and government policies attack the substance abuse problem from different angles. They seek to educate young people about drug use and abuse. They fund studies examining the use and effects of substance abuse. They support drug law enforcement efforts, which attempt to intercept drug trafficking at the borders and within the country. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a Department of Justice division created in 1973, is the chief enforcer of U.S. drug laws.

For years, some people have argued that there is no good reason to ban certain hallucinogens. They reason that alcohol consumption, which is legal (subject to age laws and consumption limitations), is more dangerous to individuals and to society.

Federal and State Laws

While Canada and many U.S. states have legalized marijuana use for adults under certain circumstances, hallucinogens remain largely illegal. Most drug charges in the United States, both misdemeanors and felonies, are prosecuted under state rather than federal law. Federal agencies are concerned mainly with large trafficking operations, not with local distribution and consumption. Most state sentencing guidelines are not as severe as federal guidelines. On average, a federal drug possession conviction carries a sentence of about eighty months; a state sentence is about twenty months. Usually, people convicted actually serve only a third to a half of the federal or state sentence time, though. About a third of drug convictions result in probation, rather than jail or prison sentences.

The harshness of a sentence is determined largely by two factors: 1) the potential of the substance to cause addiction, injury, or death, and 2) the amount of the substance confiscated in the case. Judges also take into account whether the accused is a repeat offender. These circumstances may determine whether the crime is considered a misdemeanor or felony in the eyes of the court.

Misdemeanors are lesser offenses. Simple first-time possession or sale of a small quantity of marijuana or another low-risk substance might result in a fine similar to that for a traffic violation. Felons, on the other hand, may be sentenced to months or years in prison and fined thousands of dollars. Drug trafficking convictions bring greater sentences—imprisonment for five to ten years or longer, and fines that can range into the hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

Drug laws in general are becoming harsher. Some states require a minimum sentence of three or four years for certain cases of drug distribution. The sale of a handful of ecstasy pills could land a seller in prison for several years. But some observers believe harsher drug laws have little positive effect; they simply force dealers to be more careful and users to be more secretive.

The underlying legislation in the federal government’s war against substance abuse is the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Amended and strengthened in later years, it regulates the manufacture and distribution of many types of substances known to be used illicitly. Other drug laws have been enacted. Especially notable, in regard to hallucinogen abuse, is the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003. It authorizes funds for parent and child education on the dangers of MDMA and other substances. It also holds people legally accountable if they own or operate a place where controlled substances are made, distributed, or used.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 labels substances in different categories. LSD, peyote, mescaline, psilocybin, MDMA, and marijuana are among Schedule I drugs. This classification means they carry a high potential for abuse and they are not accepted for medical treatment in the United States.

PCP is a Schedule II substance. Items in this class, too, are at the high-risk level in terms of abuse. They are accepted as treatment for certain medical conditions, but even as medications they can cause physical and psychological dependence.

Ketamine is classified under Schedule III. Schedule III drugs may be prescribed by doctors for certain medical conditions. They are not considered as likely to lead to abuse or addiction as Schedule I and Schedule II substances.

Peyote: Legal and Sacred

The Native American Church, founded in 1918 in Oklahoma, practices a religion known as Peyotism. Its members believe peyote is sacred, intended by God to give them wisdom.

Some Native American tribes in the southwestern United States adopted the use of peyote in religious ceremonies from Mexican tribes during the early 1800s. State governments, federal agencies, and missionary societies opposed the custom, but Peyotists refused to give it up. In a series of court cases during the 1960s and 1970s, they won the legalization of peyote use for religious purposes in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington.

Some 250,000 Native Americans, including approximately half of the Navajo tribe, are Peyotists. Interestingly, the Native American Church forbids the use of alcoholic beverages, considering them evil.

Legal or Illegal?

During the 1980s, illegal drug makers began to slightly alter the chemical composition of certain hallucinogens and other substances. The motive behind making these new designer drugs was to skirt legal definitions of the original substances. Because the new product had a different chemical makeup, the drug maker could claim that it was legal. During the late 1990s, many illicit manufacturers began advertising designer drugs as “research chemicals” on the Internet. They argued that legally, they were selling their wares for research purposes, not for illegal use as narcotics.

Criticism of the Drug War

Federal and state substance abuse policies, laws, and law enforcement efforts have been faulted for many reasons. A leading criticism is that most drug-related cases involve “non-predatory” offenses. That is, the person breaking the law is usually not injuring others. (Illegal substances produce harmful effects, but in most cases, users take them voluntarily.) The time and effort spent on non-predatory drug cases, critics contend, is time and effort taken away from pursuing more dangerous criminals—killers, robbers, rapists, and terrorists.

At the same time, they claim, drug cases overwhelm court schedules and overcrowd jails and prisons with non-predatory offenders who are thrown together with hardened criminals.

Besides the question of harsh punishment, drug law enforcement unquestionably costs federal, state, and local governments billions of dollars each year. Where does the money come from? Taxpayers. Are taxpayers getting their money’s worth with current drug policies? Critics say no.

Some officials, however, believe progress has been made in controlling substance misuse and abuse. They point to such trends as the apparent decline in the use of certain hallucinogens, especially during the past decade. Regardless of trends and statistics, they say, the situation would be much worse today without the programs we have.

And many people take issue with critics’ claim that drug trafficking and use is non-predatory, especially since it is highly profitable. Drug rings amass fortunes, they point out, leaving millions of ruined lives and homes—even whole communities.