# What elements keep the war on drugs going? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006 "2016-03-14T20:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/21 "2016-03-23T12:49:51Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I read this piece a few minutes ago. Color ME surprised! > > [Nixon Aide Reportedly Admitted Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nixon-drug-war-racist_us_56f16a0ae4b03a640a6bbda1) > > Fuckin’ Nixon. Every time I decide Reagan or Bush II was the worst asshole president in US history, Tricky Dick rears out of his moldering grave to remind me of what a nightmare he was. In the US, whether drug possession is charged as a (vote-taking) felony rather than a misdemeanor is partly based on the type of drug, right? Do drugs which are more popular with whites tend to be charged as misdemeanors while drugs more popular with blacks as felonies? How about pot possession by blacks vs whites? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/22 "2016-03-23T13:48:46Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I think the bottom line is that essentially 0% of the population thinks we should do absolutely nothing to control substances. Speak for yourself. I maintain the [admittedly unpopular] opinion that what other adults put into their bodies is absolutely none of my business. ISTR from watching Ken Burns _Prohibition_ documentary that Prohibition was, by some measures, something of a success. For example, the problem of men blowing the family’s food money on alcohol and abusing the wife and/or kids was much less widespread following Prohibition. Similarly, the number of people - adolescent boys in particular - who guzzled alcohol as part of their daily lives similarly dropped after Prohibition. Prohibition _did_ shine a light on the problems brought by alcohol, and in some ways it forced to society to take a look at those problems and try to address them. Unfortunately, it tried to address them in the worst way possible. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/23 "2016-03-23T16:31:56Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > In the US, whether drug possession is charged as a (vote-taking) felony rather than a misdemeanor is partly based on the type of drug, right? Do drugs which are more popular with whites tend to be charged as misdemeanors while drugs more popular with blacks as felonies? How about pot possession by blacks vs whites? [As far as cocaine goes, yes.](http://www.drugpolicy.org/race-and-drug-war) > [@](#): > > Crack cocaine sentencing presents a particularly egregious case. Since the 1980s, federal penalties for crack were 100 times harsher than those for powder cocaine, with African Americans disproportionately sentenced to much lengthier terms. But, in 2010, DPA played a key role in reducing the crack/powder sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1, and we are committed to passing legislation that would eliminate the disparity entirely. The page above also states that blacks and latinos make up 37% of the population that is incarcerated for drugs, but make up only 14% of the illegal-drug-taking population as a whole. People with prior drug convictions are not able to be a part of the new legal weed market, so [the new legal weed market is a white guy’s game.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/amandachicagolewis/americas-white-only-weed-boom) ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/24 "2016-03-23T16:44:43Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Speak for yourself. I maintain the [admittedly unpopular] opinion that what other adults put into their bodies is absolutely none of my business. > > ISTR from watching Ken Burns _Prohibition_ documentary that Prohibition was, by some measures, something of a success. For example, the problem of men blowing the family’s food money on alcohol and abusing the wife and/or kids was much less widespread following Prohibition. Similarly, the number of people - adolescent boys in particular - who guzzled alcohol as part of their daily lives similarly dropped after Prohibition. > > Prohibition _did_ shine a light on the problems brought by alcohol, and in some ways it forced to society to take a look at those problems and try to address them. Unfortunately, it tried to address them in the worst way possible. I do see that you qualified this with “adults” though. So you would still have a “war on drugs” for minors, yes? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/25 "2016-03-23T18:30:08Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I do see that you qualified this with “adults” though. So you would still have a “war on drugs” for minors, yes? I suppose that would depend largely on how you define “War on Drugs for minors.” I want to see pot, Ecstasy, Special K and other recreational drugs available to adults over 18, with proper ID, at dedicated dispensaries - just like with pot in Colorado. If a minor is caught with such a drug, I’d rather the cops confiscate it and send them on their way rather than locking them in the clink and pushing the offender into the juvenile “justice” system - something that would undoubtedly ruin their lives. As for crack, meth, and harder shit like that: I’m oft misunderstood when I say that I want such drugs legalized. I certainly don’t want that shit available at every corner pharmacy for anyone who wants it. Rather, I’d like to see a system of clinics where addicts can go to get their fix in a safe, controlled environment. Whether or not such clinics will dispense to minors would have to be up to each clinic. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006/26 "2016-03-23T21:05:25Z")
All of the above, plus the mob. As for the black v. white question, my sister was addicted to cocaine for ten years and the last thing she thought about was the possibility of a white, middle class woman getting arrested for it. She did eventually spend a month in a dryout center and break the addiction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-elements-keep-the-war-on-drugs-going/749006.md?page=1)