A sad, growing truth… And it is not because “Black people are more prone to crime” as so many racist, moronic people seem to think. It is largely due to targeting (proof in Hoover’s FBI) as well as the “war on drugs” (war on the people) and finally, both federal and state insane laws… These are the reason that over 50% of the American prison population is of people who have drug offenses. The crack cocaine vs powder cocaine legal status and sentencing alone give evidence to this (write up on that in one of my *soon to be* posts, if interested…). Personally, though, I do not believe drug offenses should be treated as a crime. I’ll explain why. First of all, drugs are not the biggest threat to society. Less than 5% of our prison population is made of murderers or rapists and when caught, pedophiles get a slap on the wrist and then get to walk around freely. If there is anyone who can’t see that something is wrong with the way the American system works, I suggest they look harder. Anyhow, back on topic…
Secondly, drug offenses, are offenses that we should give help towards, not punishment. Not only does modern society reflect this, but prison and punishment, along with these horrible federal and state laws (explored in upcoming articles) none of these things gets us anywhere. I mean this for both the neighbor dealers as well as drug users, by the way. We need to be helping them both; not punishing. There are reasons, but mainly in the dealers that would make a difference being locked up, NEVER are. (See below). It is only the neighborhood or local dealer they get. Why is that?
The only drug dealers who are a true threat to the world are not dealers on your block- it’s those in power. When you lock a dealer away, another person comes in. Drug dealing, to too many seems to sadly be the only real way out of poverty, for those who’ve been in prison, no one is going to hire someone who has a felony on board. Dealers do harm others, I’ve seen what drugs do to people…BUT I’ve also seen what life is like when you are in desperate need of money and have no where to turn. When jobs, food, pampers for your child, etc are all on the line… I can understand both sides but believe help is needed to both user & dealer. I also understand some people deal because it’s all they’ve really known or seen. But all this can be changed if we put in a lot of effort, care and WORK together.
Evidence is in the proof found in statistics and research, as well as speaking to the people themselves. Programs that are designed to help offenders and the community with these issues have a much higher success rate than prisons…not to mention if the REAL dealers, aka, the government dealers, were treated as the small time dealers, a lot would change. This would mean the government losing money, though. They don’t want that. But that is a post for later, my point now is,
What I am saying as well as my views on drug issues (dealer & user) are summed up in this less than 2 min. brilliant & truthful scene from New Jack City. I am a fan of most movies, but this speaks “real world” truth. :
Exactly. The real threat is the government. Corporations. Where do you think the drugs come from? Where in the ghettos is cocaine & poppy’s grown? (Weed is not a drug in my opinion so no need to mention)- money is needed to smuggle, the big drug dealers are the ones who have power & money with the government. If they really wanted the “war on drugs” to work, they’d go after those who are the real dealers (& policy makers)- not a small time dealer on the corner of a poor neighborhood.
Very much worth noting, the FBI stated they were going to infiltrate drugs and guns into the Black community in an attempt to “divide and conquer” when Hoover was in. There is much proof of this. Besides, it’s obvious, regardless of race, the poor (white included) as well as the Black & Brown communities are indeed targets. Research the FBI information if in disbelief, or check back on this page, as I intend to do a write up on it, with copies of the original documents.
And now I am off for a bit I believe… Am working on a decent sized prison essay, along with others, to post up soon… So… stay tuned! 🙂
Truth- A Right to Fight For... 