The paper divides controlled substances into three broad categories, narcotics, dangerous drugs, and hallucinogens, and discusses these categories in detail. Research showed: (1) an effort to classify drugs and their penalties in relation to their harmful qualities; (2) an increase in the scope of drugs considered punishable for their abuse under the law; (3) an effort to create a more uniform approach to fighting drug abuse throughout society; and (4) a shift in emphasis from attacking the demand side of the illegal drug industry to curbing the supply, as evidenced by a decrease in severity of penalties for simple possession and an increase in severity of penalties for trafficking and manufacturing. The most dramatic shift concerned marijuana. By 1972, 42 States regarded possession of less than an ounce of marijuana as a misdemeanor, not a felony. Federal laws to combat drug abuse, such as the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, were followed by similar efforts at the State level. Typical of those efforts was the Uniform Controlled Substances Act created by the national Conference of Commissioners.