War on Drugs
Research Paper <1> for GOVT 2302.001 Spring 2013
The policies that constitute “War on Drugs” are primarily based on racism due to biased policies, Jim Crow laws, and racial bias. Since America has been knowledgeable of the problems drugs bring upon the public the government has attempted to fight against drugs, however every fight is not fair. War is defined as a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation, however can war be based upon race? Or can war even exist if there is not a clear enemy. When you take the word war and glue it to the relations with drugs, racism becomes a factor. The so-called “war on drugs” is just a pretty way of saying war against the Africa Americans families. During the 1980s drugs infested the public and became a major issue. The public began to get concern with the consequences that began to increase higher than ever. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse states that cocaine was mostly commonly used in 1985. It was clear that there had to be something done in order to reduce the consequences. That was when the so-called “War on Drugs” began, yet the war came with baggage. The war on drugs delivered the police system to be racially bias.
Racial bias also plays a role in factoring that the policies of the war on drugs are constituted by racism. Law enforcement is given legal discretion in regards of who to stop, search, arrest and charge for drug offenses. This can be proven because there is a high statistic of African American incarcerated than there are white people. Many police would always suspect African American males and usually bias towards them. The only possible reasoning for this action is that targeting by race can predict the type of drug. Searching African Americans cars has resulted in more productive in terms of quantities of drugs. On the other hand, on an average police has been successful in detecting drugs through searches on twenty-five percent
The policies that constitute “War on Drugs” are primarily based on racism due to biased policies, Jim Crow laws, and racial bias. Since America has been knowledgeable of the problems drugs bring upon the public the government has attempted to fight against drugs, however every fight is not fair. War is defined as a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation, however can war be based upon race? Or can war even exist if there is not a clear enemy. When you take the word war and glue it to the relations with drugs, racism becomes a factor. The so-called “war on drugs” is just a pretty way of saying war against the Africa Americans families. During the 1980s drugs infested the public and became a major issue. The public began to get concern with the consequences that began to increase higher than ever. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse states that cocaine was mostly commonly used in 1985. It was clear that there had to be something done in order to reduce the consequences. That was when the so-called “War on Drugs” began, yet the war came with baggage. The war on drugs delivered the police system to be racially bias.
Racial bias also plays a role in factoring that the policies of the war on drugs are constituted by racism. Law enforcement is given legal discretion in regards of who to stop, search, arrest and charge for drug offenses. This can be proven because there is a high statistic of African American incarcerated than there are white people. Many police would always suspect African American males and usually bias towards them. The only possible reasoning for this action is that targeting by race can predict the type of drug. Searching African Americans cars has resulted in more productive in terms of quantities of drugs. On the other hand, on an average police has been successful in detecting drugs through searches on twenty-five percent
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