Race, Sentencing, and the War on Drugs in America

Introduction: Targeting the Wrong Level of the Drug Trade

America has been engaged in a war on drugs for quite some time. The problem did not happen overnight and is not expected to be completely eradicated any time soon. As with any type of war, the core of the problem is what needs to be attacked. Once this is done, the conditions that sustain the conflict should no longer exist. The mistake this country has made in its effort to reduce and eliminate drug use and abuse is to go after those who are merely pawns in the whole scheme of things. Officials may view getting drug dealers off the street as a solution, but it is merely a temporary fix, since these individuals are not the people responsible for bringing drugs into the country. Once one group of dealers is removed from a neighborhood, a whole new set of pushers is waiting to take their place. The focus should be on preventing drugs from entering this country in the first place. This is the heart of the drug problem, and it should be the focus of enforcement efforts.

Law Enforcement Priorities and Their Limitations

Law enforcement officials have a duty to protect this country from illegal acts such as the sale and use of illegal drugs. Although they may not be able to completely eliminate drug use or sales, they can make a meaningful difference in curtailing it. What seems to be foremost in their minds is imposing stiff penalties on drug pushers and users in order to discourage this type of deviant behavior. While removing these individuals from the streets is worthwhile, they continue to multiply. What truly needs to be cut off is their source of supply.

Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests and Convictions

The majority of those behind bars for selling drugs are African-American and Hispanic males, or white lower-class males. Selling illegal drugs is not considered acceptable behavior in our society, and there are laws against it. These laws are written both to punish those convicted and to deter others. The punishment handed down usually depends on the severity of the crime, but felony suspects now frequently plead guilty because doing so results in a less severe sentence (Hemmens and Walsh, 2010). With penalties for drug possession and sale as stiff as they currently are, the logic for many suspected felons is that they will serve time regardless — but the less time served, the better. Hence the prevalence of plea bargains.

Given the increase in arrests and convictions for drug-related crimes, statistics have shown that minorities make up the bulk of those found guilty. The criminal justice system, many claim, is unfair to minorities. By 2004, the percentage of African-American males in the prison population had reached almost 45%, a figure partly attributable to the increase in harsh penalties for relatively minor crimes (Bobo and Thompson, 2006). In other words, the punishment does not always fit the crime when it comes to the war on drugs.

This has become a social problem not only for minorities — and especially for African-American males — but for society as a whole. Many minorities already see themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to access to opportunities. They do not feel that opportunities to succeed are as readily available for them as they are for their white counterparts. Once they have served time and are returned to society, they are expected to become productive citizens even though most employers and institutions are unwilling to give them a second chance. Society's answer is often to send them back behind bars for even the smallest infraction of the law. This is why drug crime policies need to be carefully reexamined. There is no one-size-fits-all approach in these situations, and each case needs to be judged separately.

Conclusion: Reforming the War on Drugs

The war on drugs shows no signs of being eradicated anytime soon. Those who sell illegal drugs and use them know that it is against the law, yet they do it anyway. Many people use drugs to escape reality, and many sell illegal drugs because of the fast money that can be made. No one is excusing their behavior — they should face appropriate punishment. The question is whether the punishment always fits the crime. The legal system has a long history of treating minorities unfairly, and the way they are sentenced for drug crimes is evidence of this. The major focus of the war on drugs should be placed on those responsible for bringing illegal drugs into the country. The problem needs to be addressed at its source.

Common sense tells us that people living in impoverished neighborhoods do not have the means or money to import drugs into the country, yet they are the ones targeted most aggressively by enforcement. If drug traffickers and suppliers were stopped at the source, drug pushers would have nothing to sell or use. The problem is not as intractable as we make it out to be — it simply requires strategic enforcement aimed at the right targets, combined with meaningful investment in rehabilitation and economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities.

References

Bobo, L., and Thompson, V. (2006). Unfair by design: The war on drugs, race and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Social Research, 73(2), 445–472.

Hemmens, C., and Walsh, A. (2010). The law and social control. In Law, justice, and society: A sociolegal introduction (2nd ed., pp. 211–240). New York: Oxford University Press.

Pettit, B., and Western, B. (2004). Mass imprisonment and the life course: Race and class inequality in U.S. incarceration. American Sociological Review, 69(2), 151–169.

Thompson, S. P. (1998). Which policies are working in the war on drugs? In The war on drugs: Opposing viewpoints (pp. 102–141). San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.