Reply #68: serious drug penalties predated Reagan

[onenote]

I'm guessing you never heard of the Boggs Act. Enacated in 1951. Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. A Democrat was president. Under the Boggs Act, the penalties for possession of pot were as follows:

First offense 2 - 5 years
Second offense 5 - 10 years
Third and subsequent offenses 10 - 20 years

Penalties for drug possession were stiffened further in 1956, pursuant to the Narcotic Control Act of 1956.

It is true that in the 1970s, some of these provisions were repealed only to see a comeback during the Reagan years. But again, the idea that the Democratic party of today is out of step with the Democratic party of the past is a simplification that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. The case could just as easily be made that the party of the early 1970s was the version that broke from the traditional party mold (such as it was) and that it led ultimately to a resurgance for the repubs in the 1980s.