resource guide on mass incarceration session #4 america’s war on drugs and its many casualties

Resource Guide on Mass Incarceration

Session #4America’s War on Drugs and its Many Casualties

What is called the “War on Drugs” was the result of policies shaped by systemic racism against persons of color. Let’s look first at its history.

Some History of The War on Drugs

Some History of The War on Drugs

During the 19th century, the most widespread use of opioid drugs (that is, those derived from poppies) was among middle-class and upper-class white women.

Some History of The War on Drugs

To relieve stress and anxiety, they gratefully and legally used•laudanum (opium-infused alcohol)•paregoric (alcohol, opium, and camphor),•codeine•and even morphine.

…No prescriptions needed!

Some History of The War on Drugs

However, when large numbers of Chinese workers were imported as low-cost laborers, their opium smoking created panic. Lurid tales of “opium dens” filled the tabloid press.

Some History of The War on Drugs

In the 1870s, cities and towns began to ban the use of opium/opioids. In 1914, the federal Harrison Act regulated and taxed the sale, use, and distribution of opium-derived “narcotics.”

Some History of The War on Drugs

Americans’ views of cocaine also have a racial/ethnic back story. Derived from the leaves of the coca plant, the stimulant had been used at low doses for thousands of years by indigenous peoples…

Some History of The War on Drugs

… before Europeans figured out how to isolate coca’s active component. This allowed production of a much more powerful drug.

Some History of The War on Drugs

By 1885, Parke-Davis was legally selling cocaine in various forms:•Cigarettes•Powder•An injectable mixture, sold with a needle included.

Some History of The War on Drugs

The manufacturer promised that its cocaine products would “supply the place of food, make the coward brave, the silent eloquent and render the sufferer insensitive to pain.”

Some History of The War on Drugs

At the same time, white employers began making cocaine available to African American laborers, convinced that cocaine made these workers stronger, more alert, and more productive.

Some History of The War on Drugs

Between 1890 and 1903, cocaine consumption went up 600%—almost entirely outside the white middle-class. Cocaine use became associated with laborers, youth, Black persons, and urban criminals.

Some History of The War on Drugs

A predictable panic set in. By 1914, cocaine, like opium and other opioids, came under legal control through passage of the federal Harrison Act.

Some History of The War on Drugs

Views on marijuana (a.k.a. cannabis) also have a strong ethnic subtext. Casual use of marijuana and cannabis-derived products (such as hashish) was legal in the late 19th century.

Some History of The War on Drugs

Fashionable white people, including women, visited legal “hashish parlors” in major U.S. cities. But wide use of marijuana by Mexican agricultural workers caused revulsion and fear.

Some History of The War on Drugs

In 1932, the Uniform State Narcotic Act was passed in response to fears about marijuana and hashish. Though many doctors wished to continue prescribing marijuana, a 1937 tax law banned medical uses.

Some History of The War on Drugs

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana as a “Schedule 1” drug, meaning:•One with high potential for abuse;•No medical use;•Unsafe without M.D. supervision.

Some History of The War on Drugs

The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 is still in effect. It regards marijuana as more dangerous than heroin or cocaine.

Some History of The War on Drugs

The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was the foundational legislation for President Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs.”

History of Americans’ Drug UseOur opening statement was that the “War on Drugs” resulted from policies shaped by systemic racism toward persons of color. How do you feel about this assertion?

Break for Discussion and Q & A

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

As of 2015, about half of the states in the USA have either legalized or decriminalized the personal use of marijuana. But…

… decriminalizing personal use of marijuana does not mean that the roundup, arrest, and conviction of persons of color will end.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

In 2012, almost 800,000 marijuana-related arrests were made nationwide. Of those, 87% were for simple possession, not for sale or manufacture.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

These arrests for simple possession of marijuana totaled more than the number of arrests in 2012 for ALL violent crimes combined.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

White Americans consume and sell marijuana at the same or higher rates than Black and Latino persons… yet a Black person is four times more likely than a white person to be arrested for marijuana possession.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

The “War on Drugs” remains a war on persons of color. In 7 states, African Americans make up 80-90% of all persons imprisoned for drug-related offenses.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

In 2012, Black males aged 39 or younger were six times more likely to be imprisoned for drug-related offenses than white males in the same age group.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

In California, African Americans— compared to all other groups—are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana in general, and twelve times more likely to be imprisoned after a marijuana felony arrest.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

When a Black person is arrested for drug possession, he or she is far more likely to serve jail time than an equivalent person who is not Black.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

The mass incarceration of persons of color—mostly due to drug law violations—devastates Black families and uproots substantial numbers of men and women from their communities.

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

The impact on children is severe. Ratio of children who have a parent in prison or jail:•1 in 15 African American children•1 in 42 Latino children

Compared to:•1 in 111 white children

The War on DrugsTargets Persons of

Color

The War on Drugs Targets Persons of ColorWhat are you feeling or thinking at this point? What part of this material is hitting you the hardest? Why do you think that is?

Break for Discussion and Q & A

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

To be stigmatized =•To be held in contempt, shunned, and made to be socially invisible because of one’s socially-disapproved status.

Significant research shows that no other physical or psychiatric condition carries a greater burden of stigma than does drug use.

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

Those who are stigmatized as drug users face huge obstacles in finding jobs or decent housing. They are much less likely to be offered help than are people with mental or physical challenges.

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

Language is important. We reduce human beings to their substance-use issues when we use terms like…

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

Our language should focus on persons, not on their behaviors.Example:•“Person struggling with addiction,”•NOT “Addict”

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

• Sobriety is never a fixed state.• Recovery is always a process.• Drug use does not automatically mean drug

abuse.

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

The majority of people who use drugs do not develop a physical dependence. The best estimate is that 20% of regular users become dependent enough to be ID’ed as having a substance abuse disorder.

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

Some drug-policy reformers believe that knowing the facts is enough for us to overcome the power of stigma and the tendency to stigmatize drug users. But…

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

… we in faith communities know differently. We know it will take a kind of conversion experience to truly arrive at a new perspective on an issue as difficult and loaded with stigma as is drug use.

Stigma & How We Talk About Drugs & Drug Users

There are four challenges to conversion around the issue of drug use that many Christians experience.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Our first Conversion Challenge:For us to see and embrace human beings who use drugs as beloved of God as we ourselves are.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Many of us were raised to believe that drug (and often alcohol) users are morally weak people whose behavior degrades the “temple of the holy spirit.” We judge them.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Our second Conversion Challenge:To embrace even the problematic drug (or alcohol) user as being a beloved child of God who can use our support and our help.

…But never our condemnation!

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

We often assume that all drug (and alcohol) use eventually leads to addiction. Again: We judge others. But as God’s children, they do not deserve our condemnation.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Let us avoid playing the role of the self-righteous, resentful older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). Jesus calls us to behave like the generous, accepting father in that story.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

If we do not extend a radical welcome, the problematic drug (or alcohol) user we know may never be able to reach for, or accept, the help that he or she needs.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Our third Conversion Challenge:To recognize that, despite our own deep flaws, God has accepted and welcomed us…

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

… and thus we are invited, even commanded, to freely accept and welcome others whose lives may exhibit deep flaws.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Our final Conversion Challenge:To understand at a deep level how wrong it is to spend so much public money…

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

… criminalizing personal drug use, only to toss those who take drugs into cages with long sentences.

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Where does this wish come from: to isolate, punish, and dehumanize those who break the laws or social standards about drug use? We will look at this question next time!

Christians’ Four Conversion Challenges

Christians’ Conversion ChallengesHow do you feel about the claim that many Christians stigmatize drug users, and that they/we experience challenges to belief as outlined here? Is conversion possible?

Break for Discussion and Q & A

Resource Guide on Mass Incarceration

Session #4America’s War on Drugs and its Many Casualties

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