(abcnews.com) According to a new Justice Department report, 7 million men and women, or 3 percent of the U.S population, are currently incarcerated, on probation or on parole  a new record that makes the United States the world leader in incarceration.
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The rate of incarceration for minorities is especially high. According to the criminologists, the incarceration rate for African-American males is eight times higher than that of white males. A 2005 Justice Department report found that 60 percent of state and federal inmates were black or Hispanic.
That racial disparity can have a big influence on the U.S. political process. Many states have laws that forbid convicted felons from voting, or mandate a period of years after release from incarceration before reinstating voting rights.
In Kentucky, for example, almost 25 percent of African-American males in the state are barred from voting because of criminal records. According to the Kentucky League of Women Voters, Kentucky, Florida and Virginia permanently bar all individuals with felony convictions from voting. (more…)
The article continues by citing that the emergence of crack cocaine is a main factor behind the imprisonment of so many of our Black men.
This is one of this issues that I continue to think long and hard for an immediate fix. The Libertarian ideology suggests that if we were to legalize drugs, folks would no longer have to use crime to get access to what we consider “street” drugs.
While the logic makes a lot of sense to me, the growing movement in this country for a “free” health care system similar to Canada defuses the legalization route. Legalization may cause a slight decrease in recreational drug sales (because now you can get it anywhere), but for the millions who have been addicted over the years — Lawsuits and Legislation.
Lawsuits over faulty drugs would be at an all-time high. Political activists would play a huge role in this lawsuit culture as campaign after campaign would make a big deal about how drug manufacturers make these drugs addictive (think tobacco companies). Legislation to cover these addicts under universal health care would be birthed as folks would take the “their drug addiction is America’s fault” approach. As a result, billions more would be spent in more government programs that already have a dismal success rate when compared to private charities.
**Updated**
The only solution that I see is not a quick one. The whole drug issue (those that are in prison for selling it) is not just about economics as many would have you to believe. It also speaks to the void that millions of these young men and women are trying to fill in there lives. Trying to convince a young man or woman that the long term value of a minimum wage job goes much further than a hustle that earned them thousands of dollars a week is no small task. Teaching values that appreciate hard work are best fostered in a stable home environment. While the extended family, concerned neighbors, teachers, religious institutions play the strong secondary, it is the home life of these individuals that serves as the bedrock of values reinforcement.
I don’t understand your point here.
I don’t think drug use is about economics at all and I don’t believe people are saying economics is part of the problem.
The problem is primarily the void, as you mentioned. Love, self worth, something is missing. For some, it’s a matter of finding something that fills that addictive personality.
I don’t think drug use is about economics at all and I don’t believe people are saying economics is part of the problem
I was refering to those that are in prison for selling it. Sorry for not making that transition clear.
I do agree with you that we need to focus on rebuilding families and values, but almost everything can be traced back to economics. The reason why people sell drugs is because it is extremely easy and very lucrative. What many people do not know is that almost all the illicit drugs that are sold in prison come from the guards. Visitors very rarely get drugs into prison due to the security measures but guards are not able to be searched. They make money off of the prisoners. What we need to do is to re-evaluate the current “War on Drugs” and all the policies that are tied to it. It is obvious that the drug laws are racist just by looking at the incarceration statistics on minorities.
The reason why the “War on Drugs” continues to grow is because of the benefits it gives to those in charge. This “War” feeds the Prison Industrial Complex that has many politicians and CEOs making money hand over fist due to the amount of people being sent to prison. This major increase in prison rate ever since the creation of the Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines in 1987 was planned. People knew that the incarceration rate would increase because all they were doing was widening the net (creating more laws) in order to catch the “bad guys” that make up the 8 percent rule, where 8 percent commits 70 percent of the crime.
Something that I disagree with you on is that forms of legalization would force us to spend billions more that we already do. We currently spend billions of dollars a year on the “War on Drugs” with continued failure to show for it. Some options would be decriminalization. It would be similar to Amsterdam where drugs are tolerated in small amounts and to have a needle exchange. What this would do is to stop overcrowding the courts and prison system and decrease disease. A second option that I think might work better would be a deprofitization/monitored distribution. The government would be in charge of distribution sites where drugs would be sold with recyclable hypodermic needles and rehab program information. This would be monitored similarly to how medications are sold in drug stores. This would help decrease the possibilities of disease because of the clean needles. This would also take every drug dealer out of business. The drugs would be sold at a much lower price than anywhere else. it would automatically take them all out of business because people would most definitely go for the lower price.
This option would also dramatically help our economy. The government would have specific companies grow/create the drugs (which would take out drug impurities) and the profits would go towards drug education, rehab programs, and many other ares that need enhancement. Legalizing the growing of hemp is another great option for raising the economy. Hemp does not have anywhere close to the amount of THC desired by marijuana users and can be used for many different things. It is currently being used in Europe in door panels of BMWs, clothing, and paper. It takes 100 acres of trees to make the amount of paper 1 acre of hemp makes and hemp grows in a year where trees take decades. This would also create a lot of jobs.
Once again, I do agree with the idea that families and social bonds need to be strengthened but I think that the best way to do this is by decreasing the prison population. Increasing the population (primarily African American males, but recently, many females) is taking fathers away from children, income away from a household. Single female headed households lead to a much higher chance of the children ending up in prison. Attacking the policies and laws that make up the “War on Drugs” is going to be the most effective way of helping our children and communities.