Members of the Democratic Party, with their big city constituency, have long had a vested interest in federal drug control policy. They have, at times, played forceful roles in the often bipartisan issue. Many in the Democratic Party have stood firmly behind the need for drug control; splits within the party usually have taken place over the priorities, funding levels, or strategies for controlling drugs. Most moderate and liberal Democrats have favored an approach that emphasizes prevention and treatment over interdiction and enforcement, while the more conservative Southern Democrats have often favored a tougher, law and order approach to the problem.

Yet despite the involvement of many Democrats in drug policy, it was conservative Republican President Ronald Reagan who elevated the issue to the national spotlight with his war on drugs of the early 1980s. Since, the issue has remained of paramount public and political importance, arising during every presidential election since 1980 as members of both parties articulated their approaches for handling the problem. The issue became particularly heated during the 1988 presidential campaigns. Jesse Jackson, a candidate in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries, tried to make drug control into a major foreign policy issue. Jackson called for a drug czar to coordinate the efforts of the agencies fighting the drug war, more money for the Coast Guard, and possible use of the military. Michael Dukakis, the eventual 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, made similar demands.

Elected members of the Democratic Party have often opposed the law and order tactics used by such previous Republican administrations as those of Bush, Reagan, and Richard M. Nixon, who helped encourage the 1970 passage of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which reinforced narcotics penalties. The Democrats instead favor expanding education and other prevention programs along with treatment and rehabilitation facilities.

Bacon, Donald C.; Davidson, Roger H.; Keller, Morton; editors. The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.