title: Curbing drug abuse in Iowa: one response to a growing problem.
abstract: The State of Iowa in the United States of America faced a growing drug-related problem, with cocaine abuse increasing in the cities and cannabis availability spreading to rural areas. The State also experienced a concomitant rise in crime, particularly by juveniles, which was demonstrably linked to the prevalence of illicit drugs. To counter these problems, Governor Robert Ray convened a State-wide Crime Prevention Conference, provided help to communities in organizing drug abuse prevention programmes, proposed legislation to seize illegally gained assets and allocated additional funds to law-enforcement agencies for narcotics operations. The Governor's programme included, inter alia: (a) The establishment of a "crime stoppers" hot-line, providing a toll-free telephone number for citizens to report crime anonymously; (b) The outlawing of "look-alike" drugs, i.e. pills designed to look like controlled substances (usually amphetamines) but actually containing licit substances such as caffeine; (c) The outlawing of "turkey" substances, such as baking flour and detergent, which were not themselves illegal but which dealers sold as illegal substances to test whether a purchaser might be an undercover police officer; (d) The proposal for a criminal justice improvement fund to provide money to enhance State-wide law enforcement efforts.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003042:Cocaine; D003415:Crime; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D007484:Iowa; D002189:Marijuana Abuse; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D012424:Rural Population; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D003042:Cocaine