When did you really start noticing the difference?
I started noticing it in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when I got involved with marijuana legalization. But I think it really got going when Nixon declared his War on Drugs back in 1971. That's when a lot of drugs like pot got reclassified as "controlled dangerous substances:" basically, pot ended up being equated to heroin. Hence the gateway theory, the increase in no-knock warrants, warrantless wiretaps, drug tests, and asset forfeiture cases. Reagan, Bush I , Clinton and Bush II built on the police apparatus constructed to fight the War on Some Drugs for the War on Some Terrorists, leading (inevitably) to the violation of Posse Comitatus and the Third Amendment when Johnny comes marching home again. Again, I quote Burroughs: "Drug laws are a pretext to extend police powers." Another favorite quote from WSB: "When the cops start asking questions, there's no stopping them."