War on drugs and its effects on society

Criminal Justice

War on Drugs

In the article Is the War on Drugs Racially Biased? (Mitchell 2009), the explored the idea on how the war on drugs popularized the violent law enforcement tactics and disciplinary sanctions aimed at low level drug offenders. Current laws concerning compulsory minimum sentencing contain recognized biases against minority groups at each phase in the criminal justice course like arrest, prosecution and sentencing (the Effective National Drug Control Strategy 1999, n.d.). Not only are black drug dealers arrested and convicted at elevated rates than whites, but they also get more penalizing sentences than white drug dealers. In particular, black drug offender are more probable to be sentenced to prison than white dealers, but among those sentenced to prison the regular length of imprisonment is roughly the same for blacks and whites (Mitchell, 2009).

Evidence has been offered that shows that observed racial differences in drug arrests and sentencing results cannot be explained by differential participation in drug offending. While black and white drug arrests have deviated sharply throughout the past two decades, drug utilization trends by race have come together. And contrary to accepted beliefs blacks are not more probable to sell drugs than whites. Similarly, racial difference in the probability of being sentences to prison cannot be explained by dissimilarities in wrongdoing significance or criminal history (Mitchell, 2009).

The connection among racial prejudice and the war on drugs exists not simply in the United States but also all over much of the world. In one nation after another racial and ethnic minority are embattled and mistreated in the name of the war on drugs. Imbalanced treatment of minority groups permeates every phase of the criminal justice scheme. Racial profiling, street sweeps, buy and bust processes and other police actions have embattled people in street level retail drug dealings in low-income neighborhoods of color. Blacks and Latinos are wronged by unjust action by police; by racially distorted accusing and plea bargaining results by prosecutors; by biased sentencing practices and by the breakdown of judges, designated bureaucrats and other criminal justice policy makers to restore the injustices that have come to pervade the structure (Race, the War on Drugs and the United States Criminal Justice System, 2011).

United States drug regulations, while seemingly unbiased, are carried out in a way that is particularly and pervasively prejudiced. In a nation with equivalent privileges for everyone, one out of every three Black men in their twenties is currently in prison or jail, on probation, or parole. Blacks make up thirteen percent of all drug users, but thirty five percent of those detained for drug ownership, fifty five percent of those convicted, and seventy four percent of those sentenced to prison. In a number of states the racial difference in arrests and convictions for drug crimes is a great deal worse. In seven states, Blacks make up between seventy five and ninety percent of all drug criminals sentenced to prison. In New York, over ninety four percent of prisoners locked up for drug crimes are Black or Latino. In at least fifteen states, Black men are sentenced to prison for drug crimes at rates that are from twenty to fifty seven times greater than for White men (Small, 2001).

America's enforcement of its corrective drug strategy has resulted in a scheme of apartheid justice. Approximately half the yearly marijuana arrests are of Latinos. This result is no accident; imbalanced handling of minority groups permeates every phase of the criminal justice system. Black and Latino-Americans are wronged by unequal marking and unjust conduct by police and other law enforcement officers; by racially slanted charging and plea-bargaining choices by prosecutors; by prejudiced sentencing performance; and by the failure of judges, elected bureaucrats, and other criminal justice policymakers to restore the unfairness that have come to pervade the structure (Small, 2001).

It appears from reading this article that there is indeed some bias that takes place in the war on drugs. One cannot dispute the fact that the war on drugs is a necessary operation that must be undertaken. The drug crime rate in this country is high and something needs to be done to decrease this problem. I don't feel that the article proved the idea that the laws are necessarily biased, but it did do a good job on showing that the enforcement of the laws can at times be prejudiced.

At the start of the war on drugs it was enacted in order to deal with the drug and crime problems that were taking place in urban, mainly minority neighborhoods. It was generally thought that this campaign was supposed to help black neighborhoods, but there have been several signs that have indicated that there is in fact evidence of racial bias in past drug control efforts. When looking at history it can be seen that U.S. drug control policies have been most punitive when the drug of concern is linked with threatening racial minorities.