, and other illegal narcotic substances, however, had long been associated in the public mind in the United States with some sort of foreign culture, or with groups in society who either would not or could not accommodate themselves to public norms. Thus, the types of effective regulation developed for alcohol had never even been seriously considered by the federal drug establishment in the United States in relation to illegal narcotic substances.
One result of this approach to dealing with the nation's drug problem had been the development of all but incoherent substance abuse policies, the inconsistencies of which invited flouting by those individuals who saw their drugs condemned while use of the societal drugs of preference remained legal. A second outcome of this approach to dealing with the nation's drug problem was a willingness on the part of the criminal justice and judicial establishments in the United States to compromise constitutional protections in the pursuit of drug control ob
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