DRUG LAWS ROOTED IN RACISM

The other day, one of my friends asked me the commonly pondered
question, "Wait, so why is marijuana illegal?" Let's not joke around -
the majority of today's population has come to realizethat marijuana
is at least not as bad as the Reefer Madness era tried to convince us
it is. I think many of us would agree that police resources should be
focused on serious crime. So what exactly is the real reason for
prohibition? The answer is disconcerting.

Marijuana prohibition in the United States was attributed purely to
racism, in particular against Mexican immigrants and the black jazz
culture. Newspapers printed headlines spreading racist ideas such as,
"Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step
on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." Claims that
marijuana incited violence among minorities played a central role in
building support for harsh drug laws within white communities.

With marijuana prohibition eventually came prohibition of other
popular drugs, and institutionalized racism flourished within the
criminal justice system. Cleverly hidden under the false agenda of
protecting citizens from scary drugs, politicians were able to enforce
what can be considered the new Jim Crow laws, the "war on drugs."
Today, although black people comprise about 13 percent of the
population, they make up about 59 percent of those convicted of drug
offenses. Either police are failing to report an overwhelming majority
of white drug convictions, or there is a serious problem of racial
profiling.

Not only are black people unfairly targeted, but their treatment
within the criminal justice system is shockingly unjust. The policy of
mandatory minimums for crack cocaine, but not powder cocaine, is
absurd. Mandatory sentencing for possession of five grams of crack
cocaine, which has the same active ingredient as powder cocaine but is
primarily more popular in lower income communities of color, is five
years. On the other hand, it would take possession of 500 grams of
powder cocaine for such a sentence.

The blatant racism underlying the war on drugs cannot remain hidden
any longer. It's up to us to uncover the realities, spread the message
and reform the laws. Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an
organization with more than 140 chapters across the world, will be
hosting its 10th anniversary international conference at the
university from Nov. 21 to 23. Do your part to make a change and
register today (www.ssdp.org/conference) to connect with hundreds of
students who understand the realities and believe in sensible drug
policies focused on health and reasoning, not racism and hysteria.

Irina Alexander is the vice president of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy.