Pubdate: Wed, 16 May 2012
Source: New Pittsburgh Courier (PA)
Copyright: 2012 New Pittsburgh Courier
Contact: http://newpittsburghcourier.com/index.php?funct=contact
Website: http://newpittsburghcourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3658
Author: Rebecca Nuttal

ACTIVISTS: END WAR ON DRUGS!

According to a study of traffic stops along a portion of I-95 in 
Maryland, African-Americans made up 70 percent of those who were 
stopped and searched even though they only made up 17 percent of 
drivers on the road. A similar study of the New Jersey Turnpike found 
that although African-Americans accounted for only 15 percent of 
speeding violations, they made up 46 percent of those pulled over.

These were only some of the many startling statistics revealed at the 
"Declaring War on the War on Drugs" Town Hall Meeting on May 11. The 
event sponsored by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century 
examined the disparate role of the criminal justice system in the 
"War on Drugs."

"I don't think we can talk about the 'War on Drugs' without talking 
about the criminal justice system. When you talk about arrests for 
drugs, you should talk about how people view other people," said 
George Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers 
Association News Service. "You have to talk about a system that's 
riddled with racism. The deeper you go into the system, the deeper 
the disparity."

As the event's keynote speaker, Curry listed a slew of statistics 
demonstrating racial disparities in the criminal justice system as 
related to the investigation and prosecution of drug offenses. He 
also highlighted disparities in sentencing and incarceration rates 
and how the "War on Drugs" has led to these disparities.

"The War on Drugs" is a campaign of drug prohibition launched by 
President Richard Nixon in 1971, which has resulted in the 
incarceration of an estimated one million Americans each year for 
drug offenses. African-American activists say it has had a 
devastating impact on the Black community.

"It doesn't take a brain scientist to figure out what's happening 
here. The jobs have gone out and the drugs are coming in," said IBW 
President Ron Daniels. "This is serious stuff. Our lives are at 
stake. We are in a state of emergency."

African-Americans make up 12 to 13 percent of the United States 
population and 15 percent of all drug users. However, Blacks make up 
37 percent of those arrested on drug charges, 59 percent of those 
convicted for drug offenses, and 74 percent of all drug offenders 
sentenced to prison.

"I used to be one of the worst prohibitionists in the state of 
Maryland. For me it was violence that got me to this point. Most of 
the homicides and shootings and violence that occur in our cities 
revolve around the drug culture," said Neill Franklin, executive 
director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "The harder we push 
the more violence we generate. As we take down different groups, 
there's going to be a quick move to fill that void. There are many 
police chiefs and leaders who don't understand that."

Despite the meeting's overwhelming opposition to the "War on Drugs," 
one person raised the issue of why people in the Black community are 
addicted to drugs to begin with. Another said he does not feel 
sympathy for a drug dealer facing a harsh sentence because they are 
selling drugs to their own community.

"It's not an accident that our government likes to use the words War 
on Drugs, instead of drug prohibition. The kinds of killings that 
occur in our communities are considered casualties of war. We still 
live under this misconception that drug laws are there to protect 
us," said Deborah Small, executive director, Break the Chains: 
Communities of Color and the War on Drugs. "It's not an accident that 
the War on Drugs came on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement. What 
is it about us that lets us tolerate it. Legalizing drugs would not 
be the worst thing that could happen in America and it would be the 
best thing that could happen to the Black community."

The Pittsburgh town hall meeting was part of the IBW's nationwide 
initiative to examine the legalization of drugs and the impact it 
would have on reducing violence in the Black community. Similar 
meetings are being held in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

"In each of these cities we're going to have a criminal justice 
collaboration," said Rick Adams, IBW chairman. "Pittsburgh has always 
played a role in the struggle of our people."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom