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Current drug policy in the United States
Current drug policy in the United States
Essay on current us drug policy
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The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 [the Act] was enacted for several reasons. One of the provisions of the act was to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for individuals who are convicted of possessing a particular amount of crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Individuals convicted with possession of 5 grams of crack would receive a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison. Individuals convicted with possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine would receive the same 5 year mandatory minimum sentence. This ultimately means that an individual would need to be in possession of 100 times the amount of powder cocaine than that of crack cocaine to receive the same sentence. Congress justified this 100-to-1 sentencing disparity by stressing the serious social harms with which crack use was associated. Although crack and powder cocaine are the same chemical substance, crack sells more cheaply on the street and can be smoked, this induces a briefer, more intense intoxicating effect (Brown, 2004).
In 1986 when the Act was enacted, there were twenty-one African-American members of Congress. Of those twenty-one, eleven voted in favor of the Act. Although, as Kennedy mentions, we cannot understand the reasoning behind the votes because “a representative might be against certain portions of a bill but favor others sufficiently to support the legislation overall” (Kennedy, 1997, pg 370). As Kennedy states, we cannot come to understand the reasoning for voting for the Act, but is clear that prior to voting not one of the African-American Congressmen claimed that the bill was racial biased. However, before the Act was even introduced to Congress, the idea behind the crack epidemic was brought before them.
Charles Rangel, an African-America...
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...ill made much of the Congress bypassing routine procedure in its haste to legislate. But…there is nothing that compels Congress to follow any set course” (Kennedy, 1997, pg 374). Congress could pass an Act as rapidly as it sees fit. It does not need to fully listen to each side’s arguments before determining whether or not to vote on the act. I feel that the ratio may be significantly large and perhaps it could be lowered, but Congress did not act in a racist manner in passing the Act. On the contrary, Congress was looking out for the well-being of the African-American communities who were being devastated by crack.
Works Cited
Kennedy, R. (1997). Race, crime, and the law. New York: Vintage Books.
Brown, D.K. (2004). Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3407400021.html
“Just Say No!” A statement that takes us deep into yet another decade in the history of the United States which was excited by controversies, social issues, and drug abuse. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. Cocaine took its told on American society by in the 1980s; it ravaged with every social group, race, class, etc. It reigned over the United States without any prejudices. Crack cocaine was the way into urban society, because of its affordability in contrast to the powdered form. In society the minorities were the ones most affected by the growing excess of crime and drug abuse, especially African Americans; so the question was “Why was nearly everybody convicted in California federal court of crack cocaine trafficking black?” (Webb: Day 3). The growing hysteria brought forth many questions which might seem to have concrete answers, but the fact of the matter is they are all but conspiracy in the end, even though it does not take away the ambiguity and doubt. I will take on only a few topics from the vast array of events and effects this period in time had tended to. Where and who this epidemic seemed to affect more notably, and perhaps how the drugs came about such territories and people. What actions this countries authority took to restore moral sanity, and how it affected people gender wise.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered groundbreaking legislation for a number of reasons. Prior to this bill, there was no legislation that made segregation, or discrimination against African-Americans illegal. Taking a closer look at the law will reveal the various facets through which the Civil Rights Act denounces segregation. While this legislation is composed of eleven titles, it is really the first seven which caused the most noticeable change in the American landscape. Title I of the act “[was] designed to close loopholes that the Southern States [had] discovered” (Summary of Provisions) in previous Civil Rights bills, primarily in the topi...
If you get caught with narcotics, your sentencing depends on the amount you are caught with, for example, crack cocaine is five years, for five grams. Powder cocaine is five years for five hundred grams, heroin is five years for one hundred grams, methamphetamine is five years for ten grams, PCP is five years for ten grams, this is not what high level drug traffickers are involved in. most drug cases involve low level offenders. It all depends on the amount you have on you, while you get caught with the controlled substance. There was a mandatory minimum sentences were criticized by the U.S. sentencing commission as early as 1991. In the report they found that all defense lawyers, and nearly half of the prosecutors, they all seemed to have a problem with mandatory minimum sentences. They would try there hardest to get away from the mandatory minimum
Brent Staples (1999) stated in the article that we only see drug busts in the ghetto and never in the suburbs. This leads to more suspicions on African-Americans, which then leads to more arrests. The author found only 5 arrests are made for every 100 white addicts, but 20 arrests for every 100 black addicts, while the utmost conservative estimates suggest that white intravenous drug users outnumber black users by at least 5 to 1. Cracking down on the ghettos and arresting African-Americans will only reinforce the stereotype that blacks are drug addicts. This will then lead to more arrests every time they are caught with any type of drugs, while a white person could be given a warning for the same charges. This will only make African-Americans more vigilant and scared to go out in public with peace of mind without having to look over their shoulders and for them to operate out without having to worry about getting arras for any stop and search. I only know this as I’ve seen this before. I was at Venice beach with a couple of my friends one afternoon, and an officer stopped two black males on the sidewalk. They happened to have weed on them; the officer arrested them and took them in. A few minutes later, a white male was walking and holding hands with his girlfriend, another officer stopped them and they happen to have weed on them too, I watched as the officer only gave them a ticket. This proves that African-Americans have a higher chance of getting arrested for the same drug charges compare to white. This will only put African-Americans at much higher risk of getting arrested and put in jail. Only the negative information is being shared on the media never the
Due to the unfair sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine, despite the fact that the two are the same drug, just in different forms, the government endorsed a law to reduce the sentencing of those who were convicted of crack related offenses. Repealing past wrong doings seemed to be a hurdle initially for lawmakers, but ultimately inmates finally received some of the justice that they deserved. The disparity in sentencing was seen by many as to be a racial war, considering the fact that blacks typically used crack, and whites used powder cocaine. Even though they are in essence the same drug, just broken down into different forms.
Jim Crow laws were laws created to strengthen racism and segregation. It was a white person’s desperate attempt to maintain a sort of superiority over black people. Nowadays it might seem impossible for laws promoting racism and segregation to exist, but they do. Concealed by inconspicuous phrasing there are still laws to this day that allow blacks and other minorities to be taken advantage of solely based on their race. The book written by Michelle Alexander titled The New Jim Crow outlines the major problems associated with the American judicial system, mainly the War on Drugs. Alexander brings to light many issues that primarily affect blacks and other minorities from this she derives that America has a new set of Jim Crow Laws. Given the
Cohen supports this argument when he writes that “At the root of the drug-prohibition movement in the United States is race, the driving force behind the first laws criminalizing drug use” (p 56). Cohen explains how Southern Progressives’ used image and narration to target African Americans as criminal public menaces. White employers in 1880’s New Orleans provided cocaine as a stimulant to African American dock laborers in order to help them endure the extreme exertion and long hours of loading and unloading ships (p. 70). Cocaine spread through the South to the agricultural working class, and the use of the drug grew steadily as African Americans discovered that they could work longer hours and make more money (Cohen, p. 70). Ultimately, African Americans began using cocaine recreationally, which fueled Reformers and white supremacists’ manufacture of “pornographic nightmares of black men raping white women …medical journals reported on the ‘Negro cocaine menace’…newspapers ran exposés on the use of cocaine ‘by the lowest, most criminal and depraved portion of any city’s population’”…medical doctor Edward Huntington Williams’ warned that cocaine “renders the user immune to shock”…policemen stated, “the cocaine nigger is sure hard to kill,” to perpetuate “the myth that the primary function of the system is to keep our streets safe and our homes secure by rooting out dangerous criminals and punishing them” (Cohen, pp. 72-3;
Crack cocaine has been popular since the 1970s and mid 1980s. Crack cocaine is not a new drug; this drug is obtained from coca plant which grows mainly in South America. For many years, the native South American Indians chewed its leaves to develop strength and increased energy. By the 1800s, the cocaine was secluded from its leaves and used as a medicinal drug. By the late 1800s, it was used as an anesthetic and to avert surgical hemorrhage. The next century, people recognized crack cocaine an addictive narcotic and its non-medical use of the drug was ended by the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914 (“How crack cocaine works?”).
In the documentary 13th they shed some light on the history of racism in recent years. They say that the prison system is used to oppress the African American population, and they present the statistic that 1 in 3 African American males are expected to go to prison during their lifetime. One example they use is president Reagan’s War on Drugs. They say that it was actually a way to disguise putting massive amounts of African Americans in jail. How the Reagan administration did was by enforcing the law against the use of Crack, a drug popular in poor urban communities. These communities were where a large number of African Americans lived so the strict law tore apart a lot of colored families. Another example of the criminalization of black people came right after the civil war. With the lack of civil rights for African Americans it was easy for others to throw them in jails and use them as a type of slave labor while they were in
The minimum sentencing regarding drug crimes should be reduced because it negatively impacts everyone involved and is an unjust punishment across the board. I will discuss how the War on Drugs came about, how the current system for these crimes is racist and classist, the negative impacts that come from it across the board, the prison overcrowding issues, and how the minimum sentencing policy is ineffective. No matter how you look at it this issue, one wins in this situation and it’s time for a change.
...versus powder cocaine were aimed at creating even more racially disparate outcomes. The sentencing difference between the two was 100:1; the harsher punishment being placed upon the users of crack cocaine. The possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine held the very same 5 year prison sentence as the possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. (Investigating Differences, pp.107). The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 has been the most recent attempt and addressing and leveling this sentencing disparity. The Fair Sentencing Act included provisions to the drug statutes such as the leveling of the sentencing disparity from the 100:1 ratio to 18:1. Though some headway has been made, the sentencing still disproportionately favors the powder cocaine…..or white….drug users.
Bobo and Thompson stated that blacks are almost 34% involved in drug-related arrests, though only 14% of those are among regular illegal drug users. Among drug-related convictions, African Americans make up half of the cases, whereas only 26% of the white population is convicted. As Bobo and Thompson stated, “Illegal drug consumption seems to be a race. Incarceration for drug-related charges, however, is something visited in a heavily biased manner on African Americans.” The war on drugs is greatly concentrated on cocaine and even more so on crack cocaine.
Jones, C. (2009). Ineffective, Unjust and Inhumane: Mandatory Prison Sentences for Drug Offences. The John Howard Society of Canada.
The current situation of drug control in the United States is imperfect and inadequate. Millions of men and women, both young and old, are affected by illicit drug use. It costs the United States about $6,123 every second because of drug use and its consequences (Office). Moreover, 90 percent of all adults with a substance use disorder started using under the age of 18 and half under the age of 15. Children who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are five times more likely to abuse drugs as adults than those who first use marijuana at age 18. Finally, the children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol (Prevent). Current legislation that has to do with the United States’ drug control policy is the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances (Shannon). In 1966, Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act also known as the NARA. This legislati...
Another reason why law was an important factor in causing discrimination is because gangs and laws were made to prevent freepeople to use the free rights that they had. The 14 amendment gave rights from free people to vote however In the South there was this test called the literacy test. The literacy test was a test created by the South given to all people to vote to prove that they can read. It was method to prevent freepeople from voting because freepeople couldn't read. The literacy test was a way to prevent freepeople to vote but this test had different answers for one question so if a black person put “A” as an answer they could have gotten it wrong because there were many answer to one question. This supports my claim that there