Should the U.S. Continue its War on Drugs?

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Although African Americans comprise only 12.2 percent of the population and 13 percent of drug users, they make up 38 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses, leading critics to call the war on drugs the "New Jim Crow." The higher arrest rates for African Americans do not reflect a higher abuse rate in these communities but rather a law enforcement emphasis on inner city areas where drug use and sales are more likely to take place in open-air drug markets where treatment resources are scarce.

In general, African Americans serve almost as much time in federal prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). In 2002, about 2.4% of all marijuana users were arrested for marijuana possession, but the arrest rate of African Americans for possession was 94% higher than the rate for all users. 2.1% of all marijuana sellers were arrested in 2002, with the rate of arrest for African Americans being twice the rate of whites. A study that examined arrest statistics for smoking or possessing marijuana in public in New York City from 1980 through 2006 found that of more than 395,000 defendants, nearly 85% were either African American or Hispanic. Both groups combined make up only half the city’s population.

Once released from prison, felony disenfranchisement laws often perpetuate the disparate effects impacting citizens of color. 1.4 million African American men have permanently lost their right to vote because of a felony conviction even though their sentences have been served. This rate of disenfranchisement is seven times the national average. In the states of the Deep South, 30 percent of black men are barred from voting because of felony convictions. They are, however, counted as citizens for the purpose of determining congressional representation and electoral college votes.  The last time something like this happened was during slavery, when three-fifths of slaves were counted in determining congressional representation.