IS THE DRUG WAR ON CRACK?

The only reason I read the crime briefs section of The Chronicle is to learn
even more synonyms for the word 'stolen.' This summer while I was perusing
The Chronicle Online, one section of the crime briefs stood out from the
pilfered laptops and lifted wallets. A student on West Campus was apparently
duped into handing over all of his money ($3000) and drugs by local men
impersonating police officers. The three men returned later and demanded
"more money, drugs or names of other drug dealers." The crime briefs also
noted that all of them were African-American and in their twenties. The
student was probably about the same age. He no doubt attended a decent high
school, achieved excellent grades and SAT scores and landed at Duke
University. The student was also allegedly a drug dealer. The three men were
presumably drug dealers, as well. The former attends a top-10 private
university with its own police force and rampant drug and alcohol
violations. The latter probably live somewhere in Durham in a 'no-go zone'
for Duke students.

No doubt, the students involved in last semester's "shake-down" on West
Campus were petrified by the intrusion. No doubt, Duke Police became
involved to stop local men from intimidating Duke students. No doubt, the
University was worried about violence against Duke student drug dealers. And
no doubt, Duke drug dealers got a taste of the workings of drug circles
outside of the Ivory Tower.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, if the student-cum-drug dealer
was white, he was four times more likely than his African-American
classmates to be a regular cocaine user in high school. The National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse of 1998 found that "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."

Yet, the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice paints a
different picture. Blacks constitute over 35 percent of those arrested for
drug violations--more than twice the percentage of black drug users of the
total population. This "double representation" is also true of Hispanics. It
does not require much research to find dozens of shocking surveys and
statistics that further corroborate these findings. Racial minorities are
the prime targets of the drug war in this country.

While the statistics on-face indicate race, the primary reason for the
plight of these individuals is socioeconomic status. Minorities constitute a
disproportionate percentage of our nation's poorest people. They face police
discrimination and violence, while often lacking knowledge of their civil
liberties. The reason for drug involvement is irrelevant, whether it be
desperation, self-medication or economic prosperity. What really matters is
that minorities do not have the protections that people in the higher
stations of our society take for granted.

Corporate executives deal cocaine under conference tables; college students
smoke marijuana in secured dorm rooms; doctors prescribe one another pain
killers; suburban moms and dads get high after their kids go to bed. The
table, the dorm room, the prescription,and suburbia represent institutions
and infrastructures that isolate these activities outside the reign of the
law. Police officers cannot simply barge into board meetings to confiscate
speed; they can break down the doors of suspected crack dealers in 'drug
neighborhoods.'

Likewise, Durham police do not infiltrate dorm rooms to arrest the frat boy
cokehead or hippie pothead (or whoever for that matter) when they can drive
a few miles and prey upon poor communities that lack the protection that is
a major, private university. These poor communities in Durham are a hop,
skip and a jump away from the "nice" neighborhoods where some Duke
professors enjoy their weekly joints.

The student dealing drugs on-campus last semester was undoubtedly shocked
when three local men walked onto campus and upset this balance of power and
privilege.

The wall surrounding Duke momentarily crumbled, and at least one
unsuspecting student was smothered by the rubble. Everyone else at Duke can
probably continue to hide behind that wall now and in the future. The racial
inequities in police targeting and prosecutions are just the tip of the
iceberg. The drug war in America is a failed machine. It's time to demolish
the machinery and create a more just and effective system to address drug
use in this country.