Dynamics of Intervention in the War on Drugs: The Build-Up to the Harrison Act of 1914

The economics literature cites the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 as the start of the War on Drugs. With few exceptions, the literature fails to explain the dynamic nature of interventionism. This paper uses a dynamic model of interventionism to show that state and federal legislation passed in the late 19th century produced unintended consequences that ultimately led to the passage of the Harrison Act.