Harrison Narcotics Tax Act sets the federal drug prohibition template

Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act on December 17, 1914, requiring producers, importers, manufacturers, dealers, and dispensers of opium and coca products to register with the Treasury Department and pay a tax. President Wilson signed the law, which Treasury agents quickly used to prosecute unauthorized distribution as tax evasion. The Act established the foundational template of using federal taxing power to achieve drug criminalization without an explicit constitutional ban.