Starting with Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, successive administrations would deal differently with the challenges presented by growing drug use.
Under Johnson, the Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965 were passed and the Food and Cosmetic Act of 1938 was amended, effectively prohibiting all depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens, including marijuana. In his 1967 State of the Union Address, President Johnson singled out LSD as the culprit in America’s growing drug problem. In 1968, Johnson created the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) to accelerate cooperation among the disparate agencies in charge of drug control. The U.N. also took action in order to control for the increasing popularity of psychedelics like LSD and other psychoactive drugs including benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drugs like today’s Xanax), amphetamines (speed), and barbiturates (depressants), by passing the Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1971.
