The war on drugs
Witness History31 Mai 2021

The war on drugs

The first 'war on drugs' was launched by US President Richard Nixon in 1971. He described drug abuse as a 'national emergency' and asked Congress for nearly four hundred million dollars to tackle the problem. Claire Bowes spoke to one of Nixon's policy advisors, Jeffrey Donfeld, about an approach to drugs which he describes as more 'find them and help them' than 'find them and lock them up'. And how he convinced the President to roll out a nationwide programme of methadone treatment for heroin addicts.

This programme is a rebroadcast

Photo: US President Richard Nixon (BBC)

Episoder(2000)

Radio Free Europe

Radio Free Europe

Seventy-five years ago, Radio Free Europe started broadcasting news to audiences behind the Iron Curtain.It initially broadcast to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania and programmes ...

30 Des 20259min

SMS: The invention of text messaging

SMS: The invention of text messaging

In October 1984, as the market for mobile phones was just opening up, one man decided it would be useful if the new technology could be used to send and receive short, electronic messages.But colleagu...

29 Des 202510min

Creating the board game Catan

Creating the board game Catan

In 1995, Klaus Teuber’s board game Catan launched in Germany. The board is made up of hexagonal tiles, and it's a game about strategy and collecting resources.It's since sold over 40 million copies an...

26 Des 202510min

Tamagotchi is born

Tamagotchi is born

The Tamagotchi was first released in Japan in 1996 after it was developed by Akihiro Yokoi and his colleagues at his toy development company.Measuring just a few centimetres long, the egg-shaped digit...

25 Des 20259min

How the hoverboard was created

How the hoverboard was created

It was Back to the Future II that made a generation of children dream of travelling by hoverboard.In the 1989 film, the hero Marty McFly escapes from his arch nemesis Biff by jumping on a flying skate...

24 Des 202510min

Inventing Play-Doh

Inventing Play-Doh

In 1956, one of the world’s most beloved children’s toys went on sale for the first time, but its origins were surprising.The modelling clay had started out as a household cleaning product. In the day...

23 Des 202510min

The invention of Jenga

The invention of Jenga

It's just over 30 years since the brick game was introduced to the world at a department store in London. Made of 54 wooden blocks stacked into a tower in rows of three by three, each player takes a t...

22 Des 202510min

The first television opera

The first television opera

On 24 December 1951, in the United States, television history was made with the live broadcast of Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera ever composed specifically for TV.Written by acclaimed I...

19 Des 202510min

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