DRUG WAR WAGED IN RACIST MANNER THROUGHOUT U.S.

In regard to Kristin Wieben's March 4 column on Madison's seemingly racist
anti-loitering ordinance: U.S. government statistics reveal the drug war is
being waged in a racist manner throughout the nation. Blacks and whites use
drugs at roughly the same rates.

Although only 15 percent of the nation's drug users are black, blacks
account for 37 percent of those arrested for drug violations, over 42
percent of those in federal prisons for drug violations, and almost 60
percent of those in state prisons for drug felonies. Support for the drug
war would end overnight if whites were incarcerated for drugs at the same
rate as minorities.

It's worth noting America's drug laws were once intended as a means of
disenfranchising minorities. The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 was
preceded by a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. Opium was identified with
Chinese laborers, marijuana with Mexicans and cocaine with African Americans.

Jim Crow was very much alive in the early 20th century. Racial profiling
was expected. Granted, modern-day drug warriors are (hopefully) not out to
incarcerate as many minorities as possible.

Nonetheless, the racist intent on the part of early drug warriors is very
relevant to today's racist outcomes. With the passage of time, the drug war
has evolved into an intergenerational culture war. With members of the '60s
counterculture grown up, youth rave culture is the latest target.

Ironically, the two deadliest recreational drugs are both legal.

Alcohol poisoning kills thousands annually, more than all illegal drugs
combined.

Tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs available and by far the
deadliest. It's not health outcomes that determine America's drug laws, but
rather cultural norms.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.