# Is the drug war itself racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919 "2010-05-18T18:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/41 "2010-05-19T02:30:46Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > No, it’s really not, especially since the WoD is, by necessity the laws and their enforcement but not their biased and discriminatory enforcement. This doesn’t make sense and it’s a ridiculous attempt at a distinction. If the War on Drugs consists of the laws and their enforcement and they have been enforced in a discriminatory way, then that’s part of the War on Drugs. We’re not talking about what the war on drugs would theoretically be. We’re talking about what it is. We’re discussing its history and its effects. By necessity that includes how the laws have been enforced, and the history is pretty clear. The disparity between sentencing for crack and cocaine possession is also clear. Since you seem to have conceded the point about systemic racism with the “acting as racists” comment, I’ll leave it be. > [@billfish678](#): > > Who said this was personal? You didn’t say it was personal, you just made it personal. > [@](#): > > That was an example of why the “but weeeeee can’t get away with it” position is logically self defeating. This is not a “weeeeee” or a “whitteys” issue. Why do you think it is? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/42 "2010-05-19T02:44:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You didn’t say it was personal, you just made it personal. Because I used the word “I” rather than “some rational people”? Why would any rational person want to hire a group of people who persist in ill advised counterproductive illegal behavior KNOWING that they are more likely to be punished for it? You can certainly make the arguement that it either makes them rather shortsighted or even downright inherently prone to criminal behaviour. Of course, that point is certainly debateable and has thousand different interpretations. But don’t act like this whole thing is all of a sudden personal because I used a pronoun. Please :rolleyes: Or can I say your mod actions are always “personal” because you have the “I” in “I banning your dog”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/43 "2010-05-19T02:50:35Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Because I used the word “I” rather than “some rational people”? Yes! Most people use the word “I” when expressing their own opinions, as a matter of fact. If that’s not your opinion, fine, although it did fit in with your previous comments about the civil rights movement “going down the shitter.” When you express an opinion using the word I and don’t give any indication you’re not expressing your own view, don’t be surprised if people think you’re giving your own opinion. > [@](#): > > Why would any rational person want to hire a group of people who persist in ill advised counterproductive illegal behavior KNOWING that they are more likely to be punished for it? Such a person would appear to be a bigot who was capable of dealing with simplistic stereotypes, but not with individuals. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/44 "2010-05-19T03:30:02Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The civil rights movement when down the shitter IMO when “they” went from “dont even give them an excuse to think they are better than us” to “you whitteys get away with this (immoral/illegal shit) most of the time, why shouldnt we?” For what it’s worth, for better or worse, Bill Cosby seems to agree with the basic premise that billfish678 is putting forward… He said something to the effect of “Why should we protest and scream because crack is more penalized or stigmatized than powder cocaine is? Why the hell are our young people involved with either one of them, when both drugs are a poison to our entire race? THAT’S what we should be protesting—Our own people are selling poison to each other, and we are upset that whites are not getting into as much trouble as we are?!?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/45 "2010-05-19T04:00:57Z")
It’s not an either-or thing, though. I get that crack is a major problem is poor black communities and that needs to be dealt with. But the sentencing laws are clearly unfair. The disparity is not moral and it only makes the problem worse. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/46 "2010-05-19T05:10:09Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Hell, the sentencing guidelines for LSD make crack’s guidelines look rational; the weight of the blotter material is counted as the weight of the LSD itself so you have to pity the idiot who gets caught with a bunch of dosed sugar cubes when the cops show up. Or 500 mcg in a quart of orange juice, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/47 "2010-05-19T15:27:11Z")
> [@kingbighair](#): > > The drug war began as a racist and xenophobic reaction and has only continued in that manner. That statement is total hogwash. There is nothing racist about arresting someone for breaking the law. It doesn’t matter what the color of that person’s skin is. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/48 "2010-05-19T15:40:51Z")
> [@kingbighair](#): > > Anslinger would be proud. Drug use by race among blacks/whites is almost identical. (_.pdf_ [page 25](http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.pdf)) > > [Further](http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00.htm#P54_1086), > > Emphasis mine. It appears this “bad/ill advised behavior” is done by whites at 5 times the rate of blacks, yet blacks are imprisoned at 13 times the rate of whites. What is your explanation? You’re not reporting your own cites correctly. The first cite says: \*Rates were 14.7 percent for persons reporting two or more races, 10.1 percent for blacks, 9.5 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives, 8.2 percent for whites, 7.3 percent of Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, and 6.2 percent for Hispanics. \* The second is very artfully worded. It says: _There are, for example, five times more white drug users than black. Relative to population, black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate that is 13.4 times greater than that of white men._ Notice that “relative to population,” only applies to the second sentence. Of course there are more white drug users than black – there are more whites than blacks. This is the definition of “minority.” Your own first cite reveals the rate of drug use per capita for whites is lower than that for blacks. But you misread your second cite, and offer a complete falsehood: \*It appears this “bad/ill advised behavior” is done by whites at 5 times the rate of blacks, yet blacks are imprisoned at 13 times the rate of whites. What is your explanation? \* My explanation is you don’t know how to read, or more specifically, whatever skepticism you might ordinarily bring to bear on this issue vanishes when your own biases are confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/49 "2010-05-19T17:40:00Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > There is nothing racist about arresting someone for breaking the law. You are right. But if the law was put into place for racist reasons, arresting someone based on that law is racist. ---
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/50 "2010-05-19T17:55:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > My explanation is you don’t know how to read, or more specifically, whatever skepticism you might ordinarily bring to bear on this issue vanishes when your own biases are confirmed. :rolleyes: You must be a lawyer. Are you making a point here? Or are you just trying to ninja interpret instead of addressing the argument? Drug use among blacks and whites is almost identical - 10.1% to 8.2%. A non-racist system would see these numbers represented in prison populations. Instead, blacks are imprisoned for drug crimes at 13 times the rate of whites. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/51 "2010-05-19T18:02:20Z")
I don’t think they really enforce drug laws in colleges to the same degree they enforce them in poor black neighborhoods. If there is some selectivity in enforcement then mightn’t discrimination enter the picture? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/52 "2010-05-19T18:33:05Z")
The better question is not whether enforcement of the drug laws displays ‘systemic racism’ - but rather, whether enforcement of the drug laws displays greater ‘systemic racism’ than one would reasonably expect ordinarily resulting from discrimination against the poor; and further, whether such enforcement displays greater ‘systemic racism’ than that already displayed in other respects by society as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/53 "2010-05-19T22:39:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But you . . . offer a complete falsehood: . . . C’mon. You know the rules about accusing other posters of lying. Knock it off. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919/54 "2010-05-20T06:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I do think the war on drugs does impact African Americans far more than it does whites. Well what about meth? Meth is seen as a “white trash” drug pushed by white gangs. > [@](#): > > Even in the US, a wealthier white person is more likely to have access to lawyers and money to the extent that they can cut a better deal with the state. Not so much with a poor black person. Also, a black with multiple convictions, whatever they may be, would also be subject to harsher sentencing than a white with few or no convictions OMG YES! Matter of fact the biggest area of drug abuse is legal “script” drugs. And yes. One of my friends is an addict. She’s from a rich family…she has gotten into SO much trouble, but it’s been swept under the rug since her family is wealthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919.md?page=2)