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Racist mythology helps shape emergent narcotics policies and anti-drug legislation in the U.S.

1910s

The Story of Opium
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In the 1910s, media stories linking cocaine with violence by African-Americans begin to proliferate, many including the belief that cocaine use leads to more accurate gun shooting and causes an increase in "dangerous behavior" among Black people.

This use of racism to inflame white fear will be used to push for the Harrison Narcotics Act, a law created to tax and regulate the production of opium and cocaine.