To any outside perspective, the War on Drugs seems like a logical, obvious, and fair thing – to keep drugs and crime off the streets. Now, who would have a problem with that? Drugs are generally a negative thing and definitely hinder the success of a society as a whole. But, we need to ask ourselves why: why do some communities resort to making and selling drugs as a way of life? Why do some demographics use drugs at such a large disparity compared to others? Are drugs the primary problem? The primary answer is no. People turn to drugs to escape the poverty that they are often forced into by capitalism. It is our instinct to want to provide – for our families, and for ourselves – and people will go to great lengths to be able to do just that.
Is it truly a coincidence that one must have 100 times the amount of powdered cocaine as crack cocaine to have the same consequence? Powdered cocaine is expensive, and used primarily by white, wealthy socialites. Crack cocaine is inexpensive and is more often used by homeless people and people of color.
In a 1994 interview, Nixon’s domestic policy advisor John Ehrlichman revealed that the point of the War was to “associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin” so that they could villainize them both heavily and treat them as criminals. The war on drugs was a calculated ploy against anti-war and black communities. They wanted to legally disrupt these communities – so, they made the public think that they were dangerous and needed to be stopped.
There are so many instances of overcriminalization that are geared to seemingly put black men in jail. There is mass incarceration of black men – at a rate disproportionate to that of actual crime. We must keep breaking this system down. (306)
Your point about how drugs and the economy are intertwined is really interesting. We often think about drugs as a relatively simple issue; they are bad. However the reasons people use drugs are much more complicated. As you noticed, the Nixon campaign tried to villainize certain groups that used these drugs and simplify their uses.
I think it is interesting that you brought up that some people rely on drugs as a source of income and a way to provide. Do you think the discrepancies of who uses what drugs would be as prevalent if this wasn’t the case?