... purchase quantities of morphine or heroin from the local druggist. The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 illegalised the importation, sale, or possession of opiates, reflecting an emerging moral crusade against intoxication. Several possible explanations may be employed for this new restrictive legislation. The first is that the widespread consumption of patent medicines throughout the late nineteenth century posed a threat to the medical profession: Patent medicines were a major competitor of professional medical treatment. . . As a result, the American Medical Association campaigned vigorously for the prohibition of opiates outside medical channels. The second reason used to explain the Harrison Act is also not correlated to any concerns about the harmful nature of narcotic consumption in the United States; the domestic policies in America were largely influenced by international conventions such as the Shanghai Conference of 1908 and the Hague Convention of 1912, which banned international non medical opium traffic. Secretary ...

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