In the instance of marijuana I agree, but alcohol prohibition was primarily influenced by political morals (Progressives at the time) and the Protestant church [1]:

> Led by pietistic Protestants, prohibitionists first attempted to end the trade in alcoholic drinks during the 19th century. They aimed to heal what they saw as an ill society beset by alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism, family violence, and saloon-based political corruption. Many communities introduced alcohol bans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and enforcement of these new prohibition laws became a topic of debate. Prohibition supporters, called "drys", presented it as a battle for public morals and health. The movement was taken up by progressives in the Prohibition, Democratic and Republican parties, and gained a national grassroots base through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. After 1900, it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League. Opposition from the beer industry mobilized "wet" supporters from the wealthy Roman Catholic and German Lutheran communities, but the influence of these groups receded from 1917 following the entry of the U.S. into the First World War against Germany.

Direct evidence is that we still call tax on alcohol and tobacco "sin tax".

Other psychedelics were more popular in white communities. For instance, American Counterculture started in the 1960s and by 1966 Congress passed the Drug Abuse and Control Amendment. This was directly to address magic mushroom and LSD use. By 1970 we had the Controlled Substances Act which placed all psychedelics under Schedule I. The only exception being for Native Americans. [2]

Cocaine is a bit more interesting because it actually was commercially viable for a long time. It was in everything from Coca-Cola to wine and cigarettes. It was banned in 1914 with the Harrison Act. [3] Cocaine is highly chemically addictive and was creating a lot of societal issues due to its ease of access. It continued to be prescribed regularly though.

All that to say, Nixon did aim Marijuana enforcement at the Black community, but the rest were either religiously or politically motivated; sometimes it was both. Other times, the regulation and/or bans were totally legit.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_Stat... [2]: https://psychable.com/history/history-of-psychedelics-in-ame... [3]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8473543/

There’s a lot of truth in this. Cocaine was legal into the 20th century and prior to prohibition blacks weren’t allowed to drink in certain places. For recreation cocaine became something they could use and at rising murder and violence in black communities was blamed on “cocaine crazed negros”.

https://www.nytimes.com/1914/02/08/archives/negro-cocaine-fi...