Editing Drug prohibition (section)

{{short description|Prohibition of drugs through law}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{redirect2|Drug law|drug laws|other laws pertaining to drugs|Regulation of therapeutic goods}}
{{hatnote|Schedule and class definitions vary by jurisdiction; see [[#List of principal drug prohibition laws by jurisdiction (non-exhaustive)|§ List of principal drug prohibition laws by jurisdiction (non-exhaustive)]]}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
[[File:DEA-Agents.jpeg|thumb|U.S. [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] agents in a training exercise]]

The '''prohibition of drugs''' through [[sumptuary law|sumptuary legislation]] or [[religious law]] is a common means of attempting to prevent the [[Recreational drug use|recreational use]] of certain intoxicating substances.

An area has a prohibition of drugs when its government uses the force of law to punish the use or possession of drugs which have been classified as controlled. A government may simultaneously have systems in place to regulate both controlled and non controlled drugs. Regulation controls the manufacture, distribution, marketing, sale, and use of certain drugs, for instance through a [[medical prescription|prescription]] system. For example, in some states, the possession or sale of [[amphetamine]]s is a crime unless a patient has a physician's prescription for the drug; having a prescription authorizes a pharmacy to sell and a patient to use a drug that would otherwise be prohibited. Although prohibition mostly concerns [[psychoactive drug]]s (which affect mental processes such as perception, cognition, and mood), prohibition can also apply to non-psychoactive drugs, such as [[anabolic steroid]]s. Many governments do not criminalize the possession of a limited quantity of certain drugs for personal use, while still prohibiting their sale or manufacture, or possession in large quantities. Some laws (or judicial practice) set a specific volume of a particular drug, above which is considered ''[[ipso jure]]'' to be evidence of trafficking or sale of the drug.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Some Islamic countries prohibit the use of [[alcohol in Islam|alcohol]] (see [[list of countries with alcohol prohibition]]). Many governments levy a tax on [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] and [[tobacco]] products, and restrict alcohol and tobacco from being sold or gifted to a [[minor (law)|minor]]. Other common restrictions include bans on [[Alcohol law#Prohibition of drinking alcohol in public places|outdoor drinking]] and [[smoking ban|indoor smoking]]. In the early 20th century, many countries had [[prohibition|alcohol prohibition]]. These include the [[Prohibition in the United States|United States (1920–1933)]], [[1931 Finnish prohibition referendum|Finland (1919–1932)]], [[1926 Norwegian continued prohibition referendum|Norway (1916–1927)]], [[Prohibition in Canada|Canada (1901–1948)]], [[Prohibition in Iceland|Iceland (1915–1922)]] and the [[Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union|Russian Empire/USSR (1914–1925)]]. In fact, the first [[Treaty|international treaty]] to control a [[Psychoactive drug|psychoactive substance]] adopted in [[1890]] actually concerned [[Alcoholic drink|alcoholic beverages]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pan |first=L |url=http://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:599789/FULLTEXT01.pdf |title=Alcohol in Colonial Africa |publisher=[[Scandinavian Institute of African Studies]] |year=1975 |location=Forssa}}</ref> ([[Brussels Conference Act of 1890|Brussels Conference]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seddon |first=Toby |date=2016 |title=Inventing Drugs: A Genealogy of a Regulatory Concept |journal=Journal of Law and Society |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=393–415 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6478.2016.00760.x |issn=1467-6478 |s2cid=151655016|doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[International Opium Convention|first treaty on opium]] only arrived two decades later, in 1912.