In the 1970s, McDonald’s coffee came with a stirring spoon that was long, thin and topped with the golden arches. Despite its innocent design, the spoon was soon caught in the middle of the War on Drugs, as cocaine dealers began to use it as a tool for measuring and ingesting the white powder. In response, McDonald’s was forced to redesign the spoon, and the Mcspoon has since become an unlikely symbol of the anti-drug movement.
This tale of the Mcspoon was recently recalled by a Scotland narcotics detective, who in 1998 discovered the utensil among a hoard of heroin, cash, weapons and other items. The detective noted that the spoon was a common sight in such raids, and its presence was a reminder of the far-reaching impact of the War on Drugs.
The War on Drug Paraphernalia
On June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs in the White House briefing room. “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse,” he said, “and in order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established as a result, and plans were put in place to tackle the Colombian cocaine trade.
Despite Nixon’s efforts, drug use increased throughout the 1970s. Cocaine, in particular, was dubbed “the champagne of drugs” by The New York Times, and by 1979, 11% of adult Americans were using it. In response, anti-drug campaigners argued that the sale of drug paraphernalia (coke spoons, pipes, rolling papers, etc) was to blame. National Families in Action, formed in 1977, successfully lobbied for laws prohibiting the sale of such items. By 1979, just as cocaine use peaked, the DEA proposed the Model Drug Paraphernalia Act, which set in place an incredibly vague definition of what constituted “paraphernalia:”
“The term ‘drug paraphernalia’ means any equipment, product, or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance…”
The ambiguous language of the law meant it was not adopted at a federal level, yet almost every state government enacted it, with some even using the exact same wording. This meant that mundane items such as sandwich bags and straws could now be seen as drug paraphernalia if found in close proximity to drugs. In this legislative landscape, McDonald’s coffee spoon emerged as an unlikely center of discussion.
A Spoon’s Loss is a Lobbyist’s Victory
Prior to the creation of the Model Drug Paraphernalia Act, then-Senators Joe Biden and Charles Mathias held a hearing in Baltimore, where the Paraphernalia Trade Association (PTA) could voice their concerns. The PTA argued that, under the proposed law, anything could be deemed “paraphernalia”. To illustrate this point, a PTA representative held up a McDonald’s coffee stirring spoon. He argued that it could be used as a cocaine spoon, due to its long, thin handle and tiny stirring head.
Joyce Nalepka, President of the National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth, was not present at the hearing but was determined to counter the PTA’s statement. She contacted McDonald’s corporate office and spoke to its president, Ed Schmidt. She explained the problem and asked him to redesign the spoon and allow her to announce that the company did not want to be associated with drug paraphernalia. Initially, Schmidt refused, but after Nalepka appealed to him on behalf of America’s children, he agreed.
