1. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
Judicial System on the War on Drugs
In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared “War on Drugs”, billions of dollars have been
spent to reduce drug use and drug related crimes in the United States. After his declaration on
the war on drugs which resulted in racial injustices and disparities that haunt U.S. society.
Penalizing and intentionally enforcing policies that mainly target minorities transformed the war
on drugs into a war on minorities and immigrants. This led to a staggering number of imprisoned
minorities, unjust federal and state laws and class structure of discrimination which contributed
to a vicious cycle of poverty and crime. After 1970 control substances act, establish
classification for harmful drugs which led to the enforcement of harsher police tactics that gave
license to stop and frisks under the suspicion of illicit use or possession. The war on drugs
addressed increased drug use amongst young Americans, but quickly became a tool used to
perpetuate social and economic control over society through legislation and enforcement. The
new imprisonment figures document the continuing dramatic impact of incarceration on African
American communities. African Americans males are incarcerated at more than six times the rate
of white males and Hispanic males more than double the rate. One of every eight black males in
the age group 25-29 is incarcerated on any given day.
Racial disparities in incarceration vary broadly among the states. In 7 states, African
Americans are incarcerated at more than 10 times the rate of whites. These states are: Iowa –
13.6, Vermont – 12.5, New Jersey – 12.4, Connecticut – 12.0, Wisconsin – 10.7, North Dakota –
10.1, and South Dakota – 10.0. In addition, the lowest black rate of incarceration (851 in Hawaii)
is greater than that of the highest white rate (740 in Oklahoma). The Sentencing Project, "New
Incarceration Figures: Thirty-Three Consecutive Years of Growth," December 2006.
1

2. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
In 1973, as drug use and crime rates were on the rise, New York State passed a set of
narcotics laws that became known by the name of their primary champion, Gov. Nelson
Rockefeller. Federal legislation using New York States Rockefeller drug laws as a model, target
simple drug possession. The laws mandated that a conviction for possessing four ounces or more
of heroin or cocaine be punished by at least 15 years to life in prison. These laws made it easier
for prosecutors to prosecute their cases against drug kingpins and lower-level dealers or users
when faced tough penalties. First-time offenders caught with small amounts of narcotics ended
up with lengthy sentences. Their concentration was to send drug felons to prison for very long
stretches, with sentences made mandatory and leniency rendered unacceptable even for first-time
offenders. The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 further increase federal drug penalties and
instituted mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession of drugs, and anyone who
knowingly involved juveniles in any drug activity. The 1986 act also made it a federal offense to
distribute drugs with 1,000 feet of a school. The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1988 further expanded
federal offenses to include the distribution of drugs within one hundred feet of playground,
parks, youth centers, swimming pools, and video arcades. The Crime Bill of 1994 provided for
capital punishment for some types of drug selling and instituted criminal enterprise statues that
called for mandatory sentences of twenty years to life. The 1998 higher education act
disqualified young people from receiving federal aid for college if they had ever been convicted
of a marijuana possession even though no such disqualifications applies to convictions of
offenses like robbery, rape and manslaughter.
The number of new state sentences to prison in 2004 (644,084) was 23% higher than the
figure in 1995 (521,970), despite the fact that crime rates declined significantly during that
period.
2

3. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
Parole revocations have become an increasingly significant contributor to the rising
prison population, now accounting for one-third of all admissions to prison, a rate double that of
the early 1980s. Revocations may be for a new crime, but may also result from technical
violations of parole, such as testing positive for drugs.
The number of people returning to the community from state and federal prisons rose to
672,202 in 2004, an increase of 11.1% since 2000. These figures pose substantial challenges for
local communities in providing employment and housing opportunities since people entering
prison generally have limited job skills and prison programming is often inadequate for the needs
of the population. At the federal level, sentencing patterns since the Supreme Court’s January
2005 Booker decision granting judges greater discretion in sentencing has not changed
substantially. The War on Drugs has resulted in more human rights protections than any other
occurrence in history. A percentage of people who have been incarcerated in the United States
are legally barred from voting today. When you are labeled a felon the laws judicial system
excludes them from any form of social and civil rights to obtain employment, housing, denial of
educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and prohibiting felons
from jury service. The laws have continued to plague poor communities with unjust treatment
and unfair laws particularly to fill a quota, to imprison as many minorities as possible.
According to Michelle Alexander “Studies do indicate that, although people of all races use and
sell drugs at remarkably similar rates, there are slightly higher rates of crack use among African
Americans and slightly higher rates of meth use among white Americans. The drug of choice
may vary somewhat by race, but in raw numbers there are more white crack users in the United
States than there are black crack users.”
3

4. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
Instead of shielding our children our children are recruited into a lifestyle drug selling and drug
usage by the system. Ernest Drucker states: “He argues that imprisonment originally conceived
as a response to individuals’ crimes has become “mass incarceration”: a destabilizing force that
undermines the families and communities it targets, damaging the very social structures that
prevent crime.
Today a total of 7.3 million individuals are under the control of the U.S. criminal justice
system: 2.3 million prisoners behind bars, 800,000 parolees, and another 4.2 million people on
probation. If this population had their own city, it would be the second largest in the country.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Total Correctional Population," U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States convicts more federal drug offenders for marijuana than for any other
drug, and sends the vast majority to prison. As a Schedule I drug, marijuana cannot legally be
used, even under the care of a physician. Despite evidence to the contrary, the government
claims the drug is unsafe and has a high potential for abuse. Nixon's own Commission on
Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended decriminalization of the drug.
The Institute of Medicine has also refuted many myths that the government perpetuates. It states
that marijuana:
Does not appear to be a "gateway drug" or a significant predictor of serious drug abuse.
Does not increase mortality, and does not cause cancer.
Rarely leads to addiction, when compared to most other drugs.
Can ease nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety.
4

5. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
Public opinion in the United States has shifted as well. In a 2003 poll by Zogby International, 41
percent of Americans agreed that "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same
way it treats alcohol." This represents the highest support for marijuana legalization in over 30
years. Most Americans believe drug use should be treated as a disease rather than a crime, a 2001 survey
revealed. Thousands of people every year seek treatment and cannot get it 100,000 in New York alone,
according to a 1999 estimate. Support for medical marijuana has grown as well. Nine states have
legalized the drug for people with a physician's prescription or recommendation. However, some
scientists have precluded that marijuana is the first gateway drug that moves youth onto more
toxic drugs, as heroin and cocaine which causes addictions.
Work Cited
Drug Treatment Under Correctional Supervision. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics. 24 October 2003. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/dt.htm.
Ernest Drucker, "Mass Incarceration in America," in The State of Black America 2003, ed. Lee
A. Daniels (New York: National Urban League, 2003).
Gray, James (1753). Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed : A Judicial Indictment Of War On
Drugs. Temple University Press. Retrieved March 07, 2012, from Ebook Library.
Todd Clear, Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged
Neighborhoods Worse (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
5

6. March 6, 2012 War on Drugs
6