Paper 6 A policy issue that I am interested in is the issue of narcotics/drug policies. The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), headed by Assistant Secretary William R. Brownfield, advises the President, Secretary of State, other bureaus in the Department of State, and other departments and agencies within the U.S. Government on the development of policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime. INL programs support two of the Department's strategic goals: (1) to reduce the entry of illegal drugs into the United States; and (2) to minimize the impact of international crime on the United States and its citizens. Drug use has increased in all categories since the beginning of prohibition on January 17th 1920, with the exception of opium; its use is at a fraction of its peak level. Use of heroin peaked between 1969 and 1971, cocaine, between 1987 and 1989 and marijuana between 1978 and 1979. Between 1972 and 1988, the use of cocaine increased more than fivefold. The usage patterns of the current two most culturally popular drugs: amphetamines and ecstasy have shown similar gains. The issue is serious, and definitely prevalent and executed by each level of government. The Harrison Narcotics Act, passed in 1914, was the United States’ first federal drug policy. The act restricted the manufacture and sale of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. The act was aggressively enforced, and is still enforced in most of the nation’s states. Federal policies like the Harrison Act are the root of many other policies in our current society. As there are federal policies, there are also state regulations that a state’s judicial system may enforce. For