DRUG WAR (ON THE POOR)

As the U.S. government scrambles for the next military target after
its fruitless search for Osama Bin Laden, I suggest that the Bush
Administration and the rest of the American public turn its attention
to the war going on on its own shores; the war against the poor.

On March 26, 2002, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, upheld a
provision of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 that states that, "Any
drug-related criminal activity on or off [federally assisted
low-income housing] premises, engaged in by a public housing tenant or
any guest or other person under the tenant's control, shall be cause
for termination of tenancy." In effect, this act authorizes the
housing project authority to evict tenants for drug abuses in their
household, regardless of whether or not they had knowledge of drug
activity.

The argument behind this 1988 drug law is that a tenant who "cannot
control drug crime" in his or her home is a threat to other residents.
The law goes on to state that drugs lead to "murders, muggings and
other forms of violence against tenants" and that Congress must
"provide public and other federally assisted low-income housing that
is decent, safe, and free from illegal drugs."

It goes without saying that no one wants drugs and crime in their
neighborhoods. Whether you're a wealthy homeowner in Howard Beach, an
upper-class Jewish-Italian neighborhood in Queens, or a poor tenant in
the Pink Houses, a low-income Black/Latino housing project in
Brooklyn, you're working hard every day and you obviously don't want
to see your home deteriorate. But is locking up drug offenders and
putting their families out on the street the right solution?

The broader issue of the United States' misguided drug policy was
addressed in Dana Grayson's "Rockefeller Drug Laws equal lousy
justice" opinions article in the March 28 issue of Washington Square
News. Legislators and the Supreme Court Justices are missing the
point: drug use is a health problem, not a criminal problem. If you
want to curb drug use, at the very least, target the dealers and
traffickers, not the low-end users.

Congress' reasoning for passing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 was
the result of a belief that drug dealers were "increasingly imposing a
reign of terror on public and other federally assisted low-income
housing tenants." Under this law, the U.S. government is imposing its
own reign of terror against the poor by breaking up low-income
families. (Shall we extend the War on Terror to the U.S. government
then?)

This is an assault on the most vulnerable members of our society. One
must be weary when the government cloaks its policies in such benign
terms such as safety and concern for the poor.

How can locking drug addicts away with murderers, rapists, and thieves
be a solution? Are they going to come out any better? (Ironically,
because of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, they'll probably do more time
than the murderers, rapists, and thieves.) Hell, if I had to spend a
few months with such people, I'd smoke up too! In defending the law,
the Supreme Court argued that drugs lead to the "deterioration of the
physical environment that requires substantial government
expenditures." Hmm, are they saying that the dollar interest is more
important than the health and well-being of U.S. citizens?

We must realize that the effects of slavery and oppression in this
country have never been formally addressed. Yes, we had the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s, but that was the government's response
to massive public pressure. The government has never issued a formal
apology or offered reparations to the descendants of U.S. slaves, who
to this very day continue to suffer the effects of slavery via
misguided policies such as the Anti-Drug Act of 1988. It is this kind
of policy that has resulted in an African-American prison population
that far surpasses that of the general U.S. population; although
African-Americans comprise 12 percent of the general population, they
make up nearly 70 percent of the prison population.

It is the responsibility of our generation, the future of America, to
turn the tides of history and right the wrongs of our predecessors. We
needn't take insurmountable steps. A simple action like writing to
your legislator and asking for a repeal of this provision of the
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 or writing to the editor of your local
newspaper would suffice. If you're interested in getting involved,
e-mail me at jam411@nyu.edu.