The problem of distorted incentives, especially when it comes to funding and drug criminalization, goes back to the Treasure Department in the early 1900s. Because the Harrison Act required federal taxes on narcotics, the Treasure Department had a Federal Bureau of Narcotics to enforce it. The enforcement was strict and harsh, and it is believed that the bureaucrats played a role in getting the Marijuana Tax Act passed in 1937. The Bureau was facing a strict competition for funding, as both Congress and the public wanted enforcement of narcotics laws to be handled by the FBI.