The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, , , was the first major law passed by the U.S. Congress of the War on Drugs

War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...

. Among other things, they changed the system of federal supervised release from a rehabilitative system into a punitive system. The 1986 Act also prohibited controlled substance analogs. The bill enacted new mandatory minimum sentences

Mandatory sentencing

A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison...

 for drugs, including marijuana.

External links

• Chart of current U.S. federal mandatory minimum drug sentences. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Some of the drugs and penalties have changed since the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.