For years, the topic of drug legalization was the nearly exclusive province of a handful of prominent but controversial figures; psychedelics enthusiasts like Timothy Leary, physician Andrew Weil, or novelist Aldous Huxley; libertarians like William F. Buckley, economist Milton Friedman, and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz; or Rastafarian reggae stars like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh – the latter perhaps best known for his political anthem “Legalize It.” But during the past decade, the issue has gradually entered the mainstream of policy discourse. The list of prominent advocates for major drug law reform includes advice columnist Ann Landers, former Reagan Secretary of State George Schultz (though only briefly vocal on the issue), Wall Street wizard George Soros, former television talk show host Hugh Downs, Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara, neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga, a growing list of state and federal judges, and the editorial boards of the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, The Economist, National Review, and New Scientist.

The debate over prohibition of psychoactive substances is hardly anything new in the United States. The topic itself is as old as the nation (Musto, 1987) – only the substances have changed. Although the “Noble Experiment” of alcohol prohibition between 1919 and 1932 comes most readily to mind, the legal status of many other psychoactive substances has been questioned. Indeed, the first half of the twentieth century saw much change in the legal status of psychoactive drugs.