Drugs and Race: Are Our Drug Laws Biased?
R. M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, The Halderman Diaries
Obviously, drugs and race or ethnicity are linked only insofar a particular drug is socially endemic to a particular racial or ethnic group. Different substances play an important religious role in different religions: Christians use alcohol, some American Indian tribes prefer peyote, Hindus often use marijuana derivatives, etc. Similarly, a drug that is marginal or even illegal in one country can have a widespread social use in another.
Because of the cultural association of various substances with different ethnic groups, drug laws often served as proxies for the true intent of those in charge - cracking down upon the unwanted minority. For example, the prohibition of coke in the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 was fueled by the fears of “a cocaine-crazed Negro brain.” The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was seen as the means for law enforcement to “deal with” Mexican communities in the border areas. The opium prohibition was initially directed against the Chinese - for example, in 1887 the Congress enacted a law prohibiting importation of opium by the Chinese, but not by Americans.
Of course, the current drug laws seem to be all about safety, accepted medical use, and potential for abuse (even though the power to schedule substances was taken away from medical authorities and given to the Attorney General in 1969). That’s all nice and good, except that some of our nation’s drug laws seem to have a greater impact on certain ethnic minorities. Okay, I’ll just come out and say it bluntly: our Drug Laws incarcerate a disproportionately large number of blacks. Some studies estimate that “[o]ne in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 years old is under correctional supervision or control.” Source: Mauer, M. & Huling, T., Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System: Five Years Later (Washington DC: The Sentencing Project, 1995).
“According to the federal Household Survey, “most current illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998.” And yet, blacks constitute 36.8% of those arrested for drug violations, over 42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations. African-Americans comprise almost 58% of those in state prisons for drug felonies; Hispanics account for 20.7%.”
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Summary Report 1998 (Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1999), p. 13; Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1998 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, August 1999), p. 343, Table 4.10, p. 435, Table 5.48, and p. 505, Table 6.52; Beck, Allen J., Ph.D. and Mumola, Christopher J., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1998 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, August 1999), p. 10, Table 16; Beck, Allen J., PhD, and Paige M. Harrison, US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, August 2001), p. 11, Table 16.
There are plenty of reasons that account for such a disparity: improperly drafted sentencing regulations, social causes - poverty and drug abuse often go hand-in-hand, and even plain racism - “Among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts, whites were less likely than African-Americans to be sent to prison. Thirty-three percent (33%) of convicted white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of African-American defendants received prison sentences.” Source: Durose, Matthew R., and Langan, Patrick A., Bureau of Justice Statistics, State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1998 Statistical Tables (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, December 2001), Table 25, available on the web at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/scsc98st.htm, last accessed December 21, 2001.. Whatever the reasons are, the stark reality is that our drug laws have a very tangible tinge of racial disparity. Can something be done about that in terms of a legal challenge? Stay tuned for the next post.
admin :: May.29.2007 :: Legal Issues, Social Policy :: No Comments »