Drug War Sociology

“Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. And I ain't never did a crime I ain’t have to do.” -Tupac. The war on drugs targeted many communities particularly those of color. Throughout America, people of color have always been the target. In the 1980’s and 90’s the drug war increased drastically. The war on drugs was just another reason to fuck with the people of color. The United States constantly targets minorities, and the crisis of the drug war increased the prison population causing even more coas in the country.
Based on the 3 strikes and You're out video, in the early 1990’s before the 3 strikes law was passed. There were two cases that sparked the demand for a stricter law based on criminals
being released. Polly Klaas was kidnapped and murdered, after a 2 month search for America’s child, her kidnapper and murderer already had previous accounts of kidnapping and already served time for his crimes. After this murder, America was devastated by the lost of Klass and decided there needed to be stricter laws against criminals already in the system. The second case of Kimber Reynolds in Fresno, CA also, caused devastation from America. Mike Reynolds, emphasized the fact that repeated felonies are committing more crimes after they are released. This was the birth of the three-strikes law. He felt that you should only be given 3 chances and on the third chance if you have committed a crime no matter what the reason is you shall receive a mandatory sentencing of 25 years to life in regards to your 1st and 2nd offense being serious or violent. By 2000 there were 180 thousand people in state prison. This number increased drastically from the reported 1980- 18 thousand prisoners in state prison.
The three strikes and you're out law, increased the prison rates in California at a massive amount. The Prop 184 voters did not anticipate that those who did not commit a violent crime on their 3rd strike went to prison for a petty theft crime or drug offenses that created a disportionate amount of minorities in the prison system. California holds 2.3 million prisoners in some form of imprisonment in the United States. 5% of the world's population lives in the United States and there is 25% of people in the United States prison system. For California to hold 2.3 million prisoners alone is insane. Although, the Supreme court says that the 3 strikes law is not a cruel and unusual punishment.
Due to the increase in prisoners holding mandatory sentencing of 25 years. Initiated the Proposition 36 which aimed to amend the three strikes law because many voters that formerly passed the law 18 years earlier, did not expect that the 3 strikes law would put a overwhelming amount of people back in prison for petty crimes. CA prop 36 permanently changed the state law to allow certain defendants being convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses to receive probationary sentencing instead of a mandatory 25 to life which seemed to be cruel and unusual.
The drug war was targeted on communities of color, particularly those living in poverty.
This was a global war on the poor who paid the highest price in the drug war. African-Americans were targeted at a disproportionate rate than other racial demographics. In the film, The house I live in, introduces the idea that the war of drugs was a primary factor for most officers. During their hours of work their main focus was busting the drug dealers and users. They were getting paid overtime for booking and doing the paperwork. They were the ones getting the most arrest in a month rather than the officer that spent months on one big case, he was not getting noticed. Thus, those officers that spent their time seeking and in some cases even planting evidence in order to get an arrest were the ones that got a promotion.
The justice system began to be filled with these cops who looked to target minorities expecting them to carry drugs and if not they would than plant it on them. As lower level cops went into the field anticipating for drug bust were only getting paid for statistics. This created more tension because if cops were getting paid more just by getting an arrest for drugs created higher jail rates and the war on drugs increased. More cops were out looking for drug bust rather than spending their time on more serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape, etc. The film, showed how difficult it was to be a person of color during this time, they constantly had a target on their back. With this 3 strikes law in act they would be getting mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years due to a petty drug
bust.
At the time of the drug war, Ronald Reagan was president, during his time as president his main focus targeted drugs. The federal drug sentencing guidelines were more tough during his time as president. As well as his wife, Nancy Reagan, having an ad of “just say No.” However, just saying no was not that easy, drugs were planted in communities to tear them apart. The government targeted these communities of color placing more methamphetamines and other drugs and then going in to bust them for it.
The war on drugs has disproportionately impacted communities color based upon the simple fact that people of color were the main target when it comes to drugs. As a black male, they were the ones getting busted for drugs and a much higher rate than whites. Not because whites weren't involved in the drug war but because as usual they were not a target. Drugs were very popular and the new hype of the century, for drug dealers it was a great way to make some extra cash for their families, as a minority it was already difficult finding a job, so being able to sell drugs and get away with it was a success in their eyes. However, since drugs were the government's primary target, families of drug dealers began to lose money. It was more difficult to sell drugs without getting caught. Of course since drugs are illegal they became more popular. Everyone wanted to be involved in the illegal activity of drugs, heroin, narcotics, crack, etc were increasing in popularity throughout the 80’s and 90’s.
The ones that benefits in the war on drugs are those political runners, low level cops needing statistics, and the federal government. They are the ones that are getting paid for every drug bust. Political runners campaign against the war on drugs promising to bring it to an end. As the federal government also continue to target those communities of color at a disproportionate rate than other races are also benefiting from this 40 year long war on drugs. Most prisoners are held in private prisoners which many investors hold stocks on these private prisons. So for these private prisons to hold an excessive amount of prisoners, investors are making money off the prisoners alone. Private prisons are the fastest small growing sector of all prisons. Focused mainly on the drug crimes and petty theft crimes. The federal prisons on the other hand is mainly focused on higher crimes such as immigration etc. There are 1,359,000 prisoners in state prisons, 211,000 in federal prison, 646,000 in local jails, and 69,000 at juvenile centers.
Over the years the drug addiction has become such a huge problem in America. According to the article, In heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler war on drugs, examines to treat heroin as a disease and not a crime. Furthermore, implementing the fact that heroin is not a criminal problem but instead should be looked at as an illness. It is a major issue for addicts to caught up at criminals in the system and serve their time instead of receiving the correct treatment in order to overcome addiction to heroin. Heroin is seen as the worst drug epidemic in the United States today, and has increasingly spread into the suburbs. Drugs were usually focused in the poorer communities the government did everything in its power to lock them up as criminals, however, once these drugs started hitting the suburbs where the White people lived, the game changed. Heroin was not considered as a criminal charge but instead as an illness. This infact shows how fucked up the system is, previously as stated, these low level cops did everything in their power seeking for black men with drugs but all of a sudden once the white man gets a hold of some heroin it’s not criminal activity.
In conclusion, the war on drugs has always been a problem, today drugs are more easily accessed and the legalization of marijuana is steadily becoming legal throughout the whole country. This way the government is able to tax on drugs. However, all these years of the war of drugs and people serving time for drugs is becoming a waste. As Tupac stated the war on drugs was just a way for the police to bother individuals in the communities of color. They forced them to do these types of crimes due to the living environments and justice system they were already a target.