Pubdate: Sun, 22 Dec 2013
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2013 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Bill King

WAR ON DRUGS HAS ADDED TO U.S. INCOME DISPARITY

Bill King says that while substance abuse and addictions have 
negative economic effects, the criminalization of drug use harms the 
job market.

The growing income disparity in America cannot be reduced to a single 
cause that is credible.

The narratives of our two warring demagogic political parties would 
have us believe that either rich corporations are sticking to the 
working people or that too many Americans have become dependent on 
handouts. Other explanations are far too simplistic and politically 
convenient to take seriously. If we really want to understand and 
address income disparity, we are going to have to dig deeper.

I have not been able to find much academic research to support this 
notion, but it seems the war on drugs must be contributing to this 
problem. Prior to the war on drugs, the U.S. incarcerated relatively 
few people. Between 1950 and 1980, the total number of prisoners and 
former prisoners in the U.S. was relatively stable at little below 
1.5 million. But after 1980 the number of prisoners and former 
inmates began to skyrocket.

By 2010, there were about 2.5 million in prison and another 5.2 
million former prisoners.

Of course, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find work as 
an ex-convict. Almost every employment application asks if you have a 
criminal record and many jobs require background checks. It certainly 
makes one wonder how much overlap there is between the 5 million 
ex-convicts back in society and the 11 million unemployed - 
especially the roughly 4 million long-term unemployed.

A closely related issue is how drug use has morphed over the last 50 
years. At an earlier time, alcohol was the only drug used by most 
Americans. And even if someone had a drinking problem, it was 
generally overlooked by employers as long as the person was not 
drinking on the job. But today, employers frequently have a zero 
tolerance policy for any use of illegal drugs, and workers and job 
applicants are routinely screened for illegal drug use.

I hear some of my friends in the oil services industry regularly 
complain that they have a hard time hiring skilled workers because so 
many job applicants fail their drug tests. The fact that someone 
smokes marijuana on the weekends probably does not have much to do 
with how good a welder they are. But their drug use, and the way we 
have elected to deal with that problem, effectively cuts them out of 
those better-paying jobs.

There is no question that substance abuse and addiction inflict very 
real and detrimental effects on our economy generally, and on the 
income-producing potential of those individuals affected in 
particular. Some estimate that more than 20 million Americans, nearly 
10 percent of the adult population, suffer from addiction to some degree.

If we had an effective policy to deal with substance abuse, it would 
undoubtedly be beneficial to the overall economy and improve the 
economic circumstances of those who are a slave to that affliction. 
But many, including even many in law enforcement, have come to 
question whether the criminalization of drug use is an effective 
policy tool to address the problem.

Just the direct law enforcement costs - something like $40 billion 
annually - are a substantial drag on the economy. Just imagine what 
$40 billion could do if we applied it to rebuilding some of our 
tattered infrastructure and preschool education, or, perish the 
thought, lowering taxes by that amount.

In addition to the direct law enforcement costs, there are many other 
indirect costs. For example, there are many dependents, mostly 
children, who would ordinarily rely on some of those 2.5 million 
behind bars for support. A 2007 study estimated that half of those in 
prison were parents, and that 1.7 million children had a parent in 
prison. The number of children with a parent in prison nearly doubled 
between 1991 and 2007.

A particularly chilling statistic from that report was that there 
were 65,000 mothers in prison, almost all for nonviolent drug 
offenses. Of course, many of these children end up in foster care or 
otherwise supported by taxpayer-funded programs.

Unfortunately, we have a tendency to see economic and social issues 
in silos and are all too eager to grasp for simple explanations. But 
the reality is that these issues are wickedly complex and 
interrelated. Unless and until we are willing to roll up our 
intellectual sleeves and get serious about trying to understand the 
effects of our drug policies and stop falling for the politically 
convenient narratives delivered by politicians and talk show hosts, 
we will continue to struggle.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom