- During the 1960's the government conducted extensive research on drugs and how they effected an individual, as a result of teen rebellion and political protest. The government found these drugs extremely harmful and decided to start the "war on drugs" in June of 1971. During the time period of 1973 to 1977, a total of eleven states legitimized marijuana. After that parents were then concerned with their rebellious teens and were against the proposal to decriminalize marijuana.
- Zero tolerance policies were enforced in mid-to-late 1980's.
- Pablo Escobar was one of the leaders of the drug cartel and manufactured, transported and marketed cocaine.
- 1968: the Justice Department's Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was created.
- 1973: the Drug Enforcement Administration was formed which combined several drug administrations into one big group.
- 1981: The Medellin cartel rises to power. The alliance includes the Ochoa family, Pablo Escobar, Carolos Lehder and Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. The drug kingpins work together to manufacture, transport and market cocaine. The United States and Colombia ratify a bilateral extradition treaty.
- 1982: Pablo Escobar is elected to the Colombian congress;
- 1984: Nancy Reagan launches her "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign.
- 1986: Reagan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which appropriates $1.7 billion to fight the drug war. The bill also creates mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses,
- 1987: In February, Carlos Lehder is captured by the Colombian National Police and extradited to the United States, where he's convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 135 years.
- December 1989: the United States invades Panama. Gen. Manuel Noriega surrenders to the DEA on Jan. 3, 1990, in Panama and is sent to Miami the next day. In 1992, Noriega is convicted on eight counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering, and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign, part of the U.S. "War on drugs", prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s, to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying NO. Eventually, this also expanded the realm of "Just Say No" to violence and premarital sex. The slogan was created and championed by First Lady Nancy Reagan during the Reagan's presidency.