A War on Black People That Do Drugs by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

The War on Drugs is really a War on  People That Do Drugs.  You really can't

have a war on an inert object, or even a chemically active compound called a drug.   

Definition of drug (n)

1. medicinal substance: a natural or artificial substance given to treat or prevent disease or to lessen pain
2. illegal substance: an often illegal and sometimes addictive substance that causes changes in behavior and perception and is taken for the effects
3. medical substance: a substance given to treat or prevent illness as defined in the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

Of course, our biggest drug in America is alcohol.  I am drinking a second Landshark as I write this and it is already altering my perceptions and I am drinking it in part for its effect, well, to be honest, mostly for its effect.  

About 100% of us use drugs if one includes prescription drugs, caffeine, nicotine, sugar, over the counter-drugs, alcohol, etc.  Big brother has decided some drugs are too harmful for mere citizens to make the choice on what is okay to use and what is not okay.  The government had already failed in outlawing alcohol in the prohibition so it was left off the current master list of harmful drugs, besides there was probably a good alcohol lobby.

Now it is not such a bad idea to identify which drugs are harmful including alcohol, heroin, crack cocaine, etc.  Credibility is lost when something like Pot is put on this list and alcohol is left off the list. As inconsistent as the list is, I am surprised peanuts and shellfish are not on the list of harmful drugs since they do kill some people each year.

But, another question is, once Big Brother has put something on the Bad Drug List, what should they do about it.  To maintain credibility, when someone gets addicted to a drug, whatever it is, we need to be consistent how we handle it.  It is not a crime to be an alcohol, sugar or a nicotine addict, despite the huge costs to society, but a casual cocaine user is a criminal per our inconsistent Big Brother.  So, to put it mildly, Big Brother is not consistent at all -- and he wonders why the kids and adults don’t listen.  When a policy is so ill conceived, why are we surprised that U.S. has no credibility?

So, at least one would think Big Brother could consistently and fairly administer their inconsistent policies.  Lets take two groups: white college kids and black kids in the projects.  Both use lots of drugs, especially pot.  It might surprise you to know that white college kids who do drugs are causing our prisons to bulge at the seams.  Or did I get that backward?  

Of course, Big Brother didn’t get it right.  Why we would expect an inconsistent and illogical policy to be administered consistently and fairly is well like joining them in being idiots.  In fact, the Drug Policy has been used to wage war on black people that use drugs (not white college kids that use drugs).

Why is it that we have a War on Black/Minority People That Do Drugs.  Well, because it is easier to  indiscriminately arrest and prosecute someone that does drugs than it is to investigate crimes like gang violence, murders, armed robbery, etc.  Get in, get out of the Projects and arrest someone doing drugs to show the White Man Press that you care. The result, prisons that are full of black people that do drugs, some of which have done some other really bad shit, some that have done nothing more than be a father that did some pot to relax.  Its a crap shoot that has amounted to nothing less than a War on Black People (who happen to do drugs just like the white man).  

Are there any American values that could be used in helping improve our drug problem in this country?

So, to start overhauling the way we handle drugs in this country, let’s start with removing the word “WAR” from our vocabulary when we are talking about ordinary American citizens that break our inconsistent, unfair, and ridiculous drug policies.  Maybe we should pick something like “take a drug user to church”, or “show an addicted person you care”, or “support the families of addicted Americans” or “lets find a healthy way to live”.  Okay, I need some help on picking a new banner for our drug policy in this country.  What do you suggest?