The War on Drugs.

Essays | Nithya Kunta | Jan 13th, 2022.

Every 25 seconds, someone in America is arrested for drug possession. This is the war on drugs. 

The war on drugs began in 1971 when President Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy number one” and increased government funding for drug control and treatment. His own domestic policy advisor later revealed that the administration’s true motives were to ensure the subordinate status of Black Americans. To do so, Nixon implemented harsh punishment for drugs like Heroin and Crack Cocaine, which crippled the Black community and created stereotypes and harsh jail sentences for Black people. 

Since 1971, the population of American prisons has dramatically increased. In fact, Lauren Carroll of Politifact explains that the war on drugs led to a 500% increase in incarceration in America, disproportionately affecting minorities. This is because Black Americans are more criminalized for small offenses than white Americans. The racial disparities rooted in the 1980s campaign against drugs continue today, as shown in arrest rates. Even though white and Black Americans use drugs at almost exactly the same rate, ACLU author Graham Boyd reports that Black Americans are admitted to state prisons at a rate that is 13 times greater than white Americans because of the racial targeting of drug laws. 

Mass incarceration under the war on drugs has devastating impacts for the Black community. It not only prevents returning citizens from being able to build generational wealth, but it also directly pushes formerly incarcerated individuals into poverty. This is because at the federal level, people with drug offenses are barred from receiving public assistance and housing benefits and systemic barriers make it hard for them to find jobs. Overall, in her article for The Center of American Progress, Danyelle Solomon concludes that mass incarceration creates a cycle of Black poverty because millions are entrapped in the criminal justice system. In fact, poverty would be 20% lower if incarceration rates had not quintupled over the last 40 years.