American concern with narcotics is more than a medical or legal problem; it is in the fullest sense a political problem. The energy that has given impetus to drug control and prohibition came from profound tensions among socioeconomic groups, ethnic minorities, and generations, as well as the psychological attraction of certain drugs. The form of this control has been shaped by the gradual evolution of constitutional law and the lessening limitation of Federal police powers. The bad results of drug use and the number of drug users have often been exaggerated for partisan advantage. Public demand for action against drug abuse has led to regulative decisions that lack a true regard for the reality of drug use. Relations with foreign nations, often the sources of the drugs, has been a theme in the domestic scene from the beginning of the American antinarcotic movement. Narcotics addiction has proven to be one of the most intractable medical inquiries ever faced by American clinicians and scientists. The most passionate support for legal prohibition of narcotics has been associated with fear of a given drug's effect on a specific minority. Customary use of a certain drug has come to symbolize the difference between that group and the rest of society, giving rise to the thought that eliminating the drug might alleviate social disharmony. Narcotics are assumed to cause a large percentage of crime, but the political convenience of this allegation and the surrounding imagery suggest the fear of certain minorities, and make one suspicious of this popular assumption. Although social and cultural influences are essential elements in the creation of the American drug problem, it is quite possible to provide a viable political response to public outcry and at the same time avoid an objective examination of critical issues: (1) the nature of American society; (2) the psychological vulnerability of addicts; (3) the physiological effects of drugs; and (4) the social impact of drug use. Society's blindness to alcohol's destructive effects is an example of how denial of reality is compatible with a politically comfortable resolution of a controversial drug problem.