NCJ Number
72669
Date Published
1976
Length
399 pages
Annotation
This sociological study of narcotics explores the relative weight of moral and economic factors in the control of narcotics; it demonstrates that economic factors joined with the moral and political to create a confluence of interest that was successful in creating a new form of crime and law.
Abstract
The origins of the first Federal antinarcotics law, the Harrison Tax Act, narcotics law, in the United States are examined. The act was an outgrowth of the crusade to cleanse China of drugs with the hope of expanding American trade in China. As an attempt to draw boundaries for human behavior, the act represented the struggle between moral and material interests over what to do about opium. Using opium control as illustrative of the role of law in the maintenance and creation of order, the study examines the problem of order in the works of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx. The study further contends that laws, such as the prohibition of opiates, grew out of conflict to affirm the limits of order. The relationship of social order to social control is examined with emphasis on the theories of Talcott Parsons and Ralf Dahrendorf. While Parsons concentrated his efforts on the forces in society contributing to the maintenance of social order and integration, Dahrendorf, writing as a conflict theorist, attempted to coordinate the conflict and consensus views of the social order. The study concludes that from both perspectives, law is a form of social control that is created by various types of social interests. Also, social control creates both order and deviance. Chapters include bibliographic references and 140 references are appended.