For what it's worth here is an attempt to relate history with current alcohol and drug policy.
 
> Historical Overview of Prevention
>
> Alcoholic beverages have been a part of the Nation's past since the
> landing of the Pilgrims. According to Alcohol and Public Policy:
> Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition, a publication commissioned by NIAAA
> and prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, the colonists
> brought with them from Europe a high regard for alcoholic beverages,
> which were considered an important part of their diet. Drinking was
> pervasive because alcohol was regarded primarily as a healthy
> substance with preventive and curative powers, not as an intoxicant.
> Alcohol was also believed to be conducive to social as well as
> personal health. It played an essential role in rituals of
> conviviality and collective activity, such as barn raisings. While
> drunkenness was condemned and punished, it was viewed only as an abuse
> of a God-given gift.
>
> The first temperance movement began in the early 1800s in response to
> dramatic increases in production and consumption of alcoholic
> beverages, which also coincided with rapid demographic changes.
> Agitation against ardent spirits and the public disorder they spawned
> gradually increased during the 1820s. In addition, inspired by the
> writings of Benjamin Rush, the concept that alcohol was addicting, and
> that this addiction was capable of corrupting the mind and the body,
> took hold. The American Society of Temperance, created in 1826 by
> clergymen, spread the anti-drinking gospel. By 1835, out of a total
> population of 13 million citizens, 1.5 million had taken the pledge to
> refrain from distilled spirits. The first wave of the temperance
> movement (1825 to 1855) resulted in dramatic reductions in the
> consumption of distilled spirits, although beer drinking increased
> sharply after 1850.
>
> The second wave of the temperance movement occurred in the late 1800s
> with the emergence of the Women's Christian Temperance Movement,
> which, unlike the first wave, embraced the concept of prohibition. It
> was marked both by the recruitment of women into the movement and the
> mobilization of crusades to close down saloons. The movement set out
> to remove the destructive substance, and the industries that promoted
> its use, from the country. The movement held that while some drinkers
> may escape problems of alcohol use, even moderate drinkers flirted
> with danger.
>
> The culmination of this second wave was the passage of the 18th
> Amendment and the Volstead Act, which took effect in 1920. While
> Prohibition was successful in reducing per capita consumption and some
> problems related to drinking, its social turmoil resulted in its
> repeal in 1933.
>
> Since the repeal of Prohibition, the dominant view of alcohol problems
> has been that alcoholism is the principal problem. With its focus on
> treatment, the rise of the alcoholism movement depoliticized alcohol
> problems as the object of attention, as the alcoholic was considered a
> deviant from the predominant styles of life of either abstinence or
> "normal" drinking. The alcoholism movement is based on the belief that
> chronic or addictive drinking is limited to a few, highly susceptible
> individuals suffering from the disease of alcoholism. The disease
> concept of alcoholism focuses on individual vulnerability, be it
> genetic, biochemical, psychological, or social/cultural in nature.
> Under this view if the collective problems of each alcoholic are
> solved, it follows that society's alcohol problem will be solved.
>
> Nevertheless, the pre-Prohibition view of alcohol as a special
> commodity has persisted in American society and is an accepted legacy
> of alcohol control policies. Following Repeal, all States restricted
> the sale of alcoholic beverages in one way or another in order to
> prevent or reduce certain alcohol problems. In general, however,
> alcohol control policies disappeared from the public agenda as both
> the alcoholism movement and the alcoholic beverage industry embraced
> the view, "the fault is in the man and not in the bottle."
>
> This view of alcoholism problems has also been the dominant force in
> contemporary alcohol problem prevention. Until recently the principal
> prevention strategies focused on education and early treatment. Within
> this view education is intended to inform society about the disease
> and to teach people about the early warning signs so that they can
> initiate treatment as soon as possible. Efforts focus on "high risk"
> populations and attempt to correct a suspect process or flaw in the
> individual, such as low self esteem or lack of social skills. The
> belief is that the success of education and treatment efforts in
> solving each alcoholic's problem will solve society's alcohol problem
> as well.
>
> Contemporary alcohol problem prevention began in the 1970s as new
> information on the nature, magnitude, and incidence of alcohol
> problems raised public awareness that alcohol can be problematic when
> used by any drinker, depending upon the situation. There was a renewed
> emphasis on the diverse consequences of alcohol use--particularly
> trauma associated with drinking driving, fires, and violence, as well
> as long term health consequences.
>
> The history of nonmedical drug use, and the development of policies in
> response to drug use, also extends back to the early settlement of the
> country. Like alcohol, the classification of certain drugs as legal,
> or illegal, has changed over time. These changes sometimes had racial
> and class overtones. According to Mosher and Yanagisako, for example,
> Prohibition was in part a response to the drinking practices of
> European immigrants, who became the new lower class. Cocaine and opium
> were legal during the 19th century, and were favored drugs among the
> middle and upper classes. Cocaine became illegal after it became
> associated with African Americans following Reconstruction. Opium was
> first restricted in California in 1875 when it became associated with
> Chinese immigrant workers. Marijuana was legal until the 1930s when it
> became associated with Mexicans. LSD, legal in the 1950s, became
> illegal in 1967 when it became associated with the counterculture.
>
> By the end of the 19th century concern had grown over the
> indiscriminate use of these drugs, especially the addicting patent
> medicines. Cocaine, opium, and morphine were common ingredients in
> various potions sold over the counter. Until 1903, cocaine was an
> ingredient of Coca-Cola(R). Heroin, which was isolated in 1868, was
> hailed as a nonaddicting treatment for morphine addiction and
> alcoholism. States began to enact control and prescription laws and,
> in 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. It was designed
> to control opiate addiction by requiring labels on the amount of drugs
> contained in products, including opium, morphine, and heroin. It also
> required accurate labeling of products containing alcohol, marijuana,
> and cocaine.
>
> The Harrison Act (1914) imposed a system of taxes on opium and coca
> products with registration and record-keeping requirements in an
> effort to control their sale or distribution. However, it did not
> prohibit the legal supply of certain drugs, especially opiates.
>
> Current drug laws are rooted in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.
> Under this measure drugs are classified according to their medical
> use, their potential for abuse, and their likelihood of producing
> dependence. The Act contains provisions for adding drugs to the
> schedule, and rescheduling drugs. It also establishes maximum
> penalties for the criminal manufacture or distribution of scheduled
> drugs.
>
> Increases in per capita alcohol consumption as well as increased use
> of illegal drugs during the 1960s raised public concern regarding
> alcohol and other drug problems. Prevention issues gained prominence
> on the national level with the creation of the National Institute on
> Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in 1971 and the National
> Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 1974. In addition to mandates for
> research and the management of national programs for treatment, both
> Institutes included prevention components.
>
> To further prevention initiatives at the Federal level, the Anti-Drug
> Abuse Act of 1986 created the U.S. Office for Substance Abuse
> Prevention (OSAP), which consolidated alcohol and other drug
> prevention activities under the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health
> Administration (ADAMHA). The ADAMHA block grant mandate called for
> States to set aside 21 percent of the alcohol and drug funds for
> prevention. In a 1992 reorganization, OSAP was changed to the Center
> for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), part of the new SAMHSA,
> retaining its major program areas, while the research institutes of
> NIAAA and NIDA transferred to NIH.
>
> The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established by
> the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. Its primary objective was to develop
> a drug control policy that included roles for the public and private
> sector to "restore order and security to American neighborhoods, to
> dismantle drug trafficking organizations, to help people break the
> habit of drug use, and to prevent those who have never used illegal
> drugs from starting." In early 1992 underage alcohol use was included
> among the drugs to be addressed by ONDCP.
>
> While Federal, State, and local governments play a substantial role in
> promoting prevention agendas, much of the activity takes place at
> grass roots community levels. In addition to funding from CSAP's
> "Community Partnerships" grant program, groups receive support from
> private sources, such as The Robert Wood Johnson "Fighting Back"
> program.
>
> While alcohol and other drug problems continue to plague the Nation at
> intolerably high levels, progress is being made. National surveys
> document a decline in illicit drug use and a leveling off of alcohol
> consumption. And indicators of problem levels, such as
> alcohol-involved traffic crashes, show significant declines.
>
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]
>
> References
>
> A Promising Future: Alcohol and Other Drug Problem Prevention Services
> Improvement. CSAP Prevention Monograph 10 (1992) BK191
>
> National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1990 (1991)
> BKD67
>
> Mosher, J.F. and Yanagisako, K.L. "Public Health, Not Social Warfare:
> A Public Health Approach to Illegal Drug Policy," Journal of Public
> Health Policy 12(3):278-322, 1991
>
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>
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