Was there ever a president who "stood out" more than the others in having a more effective policy in combatting drug use/trafficking?

Hmm...well, this is the first question I've actually asked here, so I apologize if it seems a little vague or long-winded, but here goes...

I've been reading Mary Lui's excellent work, The Chinatown Trunk Mystery and came across this passage on page 32:

"Opium, seen as a drug facilitating racial and sexual transgressions, posed a tremendous social threat. Rather than suppress the fact that whites and Chinese mixed freely in these opium parlors, guidebooks and news stories created a social hierarchy to sustain the bourgeois moral order; white female addicts were condemned, but if solely practices by the Chinese opium smoking could be condoned as both safe and exotic."

I personally haven't studied the history of opium or drugs in general as deeply as I might have liked, and certainly not as deeply as Professor Lui did, so I hope you wouldn't mind me seeking out your expertise. If I may ask, are there any parallels (at least in your opinion) between the racialized fears about opium during the late 19th/early 20th century and other drugs at other points in America's history? Did Americans fear, say, marijuana or meth leading to miscegenation or a blurring of lines between racial groups? And are there any other examples of a drug being perceived as benign or "quaint" when used by one racial minority but becoming perceived as more threatening if it filtered into the wider society beyond that group? If the answers to either question are yes, might you recommend any books on the subject of drugs and race to enlighten an interested layman? :o And thanks for taking the time for an AMA as well :D

(p.s: like I said, I'm a little new here, so just to cover my bases, the full citation for the book I mentioned above would be Mary Ting Yi Lui, The Chinatown Trunk Mystery: Murder, Miscegenation, and Other Dangerous Encounters in Turn-of-the-Century New York City (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2007), p. 32

As an expert in documenting US drug and addiction history, how would you suggest we explore the influence of the drug trade in public arenas of American life? Like when drug money flowed into legitimate businesses and indirectly financed many SoFla high-rises in the 1970s and 1980s, or restrictive Prohibition policies contributed to the growth of the modern American Mafia, it seems like there are a lot of access points historians can use to talk about the impact of political decisions on drug culture and, as a result, larger shared experiences in American history. Do you often focus on those trends, like cash flow and community growth, when you teach a class or publish your research? Just wondering where to get started thinking on this topic - thanks!

I see this talked about all the time - is there any evidence to ANY president regularly consuming marijuana for recreation or medicinal reasons? I know George Washington wrote in his diary about separating his male and female cannabis plants which (as a cannabis connoisseur) only makes sense to me if he was tryna poke some smot - but obviously there's no evidence of the reason and I also don't farm hemp. But anyway, any evidence/sources of a president regularly using marijuana - either hash, hashish, straight up bud, or the tinctures that were very popular in the 19th century - for recreation or medicinally?

EDIT: just to add, I know growing hemp was VERY encouraged in the colonies, and Britain completed the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in 1894, and by 1944 the La Guardia Committee was doubting the dangers and the motivation behind its prohibition. Seems like there would be some president who, at some point in their life, was open about using some form of marijuana.

So... What, if any truth, is there to the CIA's connection to cocaine smuggling in the 1980s?

What were crime rates like in cities before and after prohibition of early drugs such as opium and cocaine? The current theory is that legalization of drugs, either in full or in part, will curb violent crimes related to trafficking. Did the opposite effect happen when reversed?

What was the first substance controlled by legislation in the USA? Were other substances controlled by legislation in other countries prior to the first substance legislation in the USA?

How common was laudunum use in the U.S.? ( reading Patrick Obrian right now and a main character is addicted to it) Did it have the same kind of prevalence here in the 1900s that it did in Britain? Was it easy to acquire?

Do you see any movement away from the pseudoscience and religiosity of the 12 step approach and movement toward evidence based approaches being available to those seeking treatment?

Were there any presidents who were more lax (compared to their peers) in their approach to drugs?

Is there truth to the argument that marijuana was banned for racist reasons?

Cheers. Hope I'm not too late.

Why was Schedule I made so restrictive? What input did the medical and research communities have? What have been the arguments for disallowing research of drugs that haven't been thoroughly researched (e.g., LSD and MDMA)? Before cannaboids, have there been arguments in favor of allowing medical use of Schedule I drugs?

Hi Kyle it's really a shame that you decided to stop this, I think it's really insightful. I write about drugs and alcohol addiction and I'm currently working on a piece entitled 'License to Kill; the Troubling Truth about Teen Driving', which exposes the sad reality of alcohol use by teens in our country. I'd love to contribute a piece to your blog, let me know your thoughts!

Why is Absinthe regulated any differently than alcohol?

Not sure if you're still answering questions but I suppose I'll give this a try.

Is there any veracity to the common claim that marijuana prohibition in the United States was introduced at the urging of several prominent lobbies? I've heard the claim that a strong lumber lobby (sometimes traded out for a paper lobby) resulted in prohibition to decrease the competition from hemp-based alternatives. The claim has also been made that the tobacco lobby had a hand in marijuana prohibition, though this seems less likely because the infrastructure to provide smokable marijuana products would be in place for tobacco companies. Is there any veracity to these claims?

Aside from Timothy Leary, were there any other psychologists/theorists/researchers who were big proponents of LSD?

I don't know if this under your purview, per se, but was there a "crack epidemic" of the 80's and early 90's or was it overblown?

Were there ever any serious considerations to merge the fda and dea?

Is there anything you would personally amend to current US or global drug enforcement policy after studying this topic? Personally, I am fairly lenient on drug use, but I am readily welcome to hear new opinions and evidence from someone more educated on the subject. Thanks in advance!

First of all, I'd like to apologise as this is a question that breaks the 20-year rule so I don't expect a full answer. However I was hoping you could provide some pointers (or literature references if any) about the subject as it may relate to US drug policy.

On 2006 the Mexican Congress passed an act that made possession of some drugs legal (NYT article. President Fox eventually backed down from signing the act into law, allegedly under US pressure. I was wondering if anybody did any research on the impact this act would have had on US drug policy had it actually been signed.

Many thanks!