President Woodrow Wilson signed the Harrison Narcotics Act on December 17, 1914, committing the U.S. federal government to combating the domestic drug trade. The act required registration and taxation of those who dispensed opiates and cocaine, effectively banning their nonmedical use and marking the beginning of the modern U.S. 'war on drugs,' which federalized drug enforcement.

The Harrison Act is a cornerstone of American drug policy and is often referenced in literature that critiques the criminalization of addiction. Writers like William S. Burroughs, himself a heroin addict, would later chronicle the underground world of drug users and dealers created by such laws, while poets of the Beat Generation would rebel against the prohibitionist ethos, advocating for personal freedom and experimentation.