Bureaucracy and Morality: An Organizational Perspective on a Moral Crusade

Abstract

Utilizing an organizational perspective, the impact of the Narcotics Bureau upon the enactment and expansion of narcotics legislation is examined as part of a larger discussion of the importance of bureaucratic and environmental factors in determining the course of moral crusades and social movements. While there is no attempt to refute Becker's “moral entrepreneur” explanation of the Marihuana Tax Act, certain inconsistencies and apparent misinterpretations are pointed out, and an alternative explanation is explored. It is argued that similar to the earlier expansion of narcotics legislation, the Marihuana Tax Act was the result of a bureaucratic response to environmental pressure—that the Narcotics Bureau, faced with a non-supportive environment and a decreasing budgetary appropriation that threatened its survival, generated a crusade against marihuana use which resulted in the passage of the act and the alteration of a societal value.