Substance control laws may not predate laws against murder, theft or treason, but their antiquity is hard to question. The Code of Hammurabi regulated alcohol sales. The Corpus Juris Civilis imposed deadly sanctions for misuse of purple dye in garments. While you can peer into any historical laws and learn about the challenges, fears, and prejudices that gripped lawmakers from an era, contraband laws are particularly revealing. While organically criminal laws (murder, rape, theft) show some stability over the millennia, laws controlling substances are famously synthetic and flexible. When crafted well, laws controlling substances can save ecosystems from toxic exposure, respond to empirically proven public health and safety threats, and protect economic integrity. When done poorly they can fill prisons with sick people.

Whether you’re researching food and drug legislation, sentencing ranges for drug offences, or hazardous waste regulations, always feel free to reach out to Courthouse Libraries BC’s librarians to ask for help. We answer via email, toll-free (1-800-665-2570), or in-person at of our 30 branches. We are particularly helpful with historical legislation research, and we now host free access to CSO E-search on our branch computers!