Medford, MA- Two reports were released today stating that the War on Drugs “disproportionately targets racial minorities in urban neighborhoods”.

Human Rights Watch released their report, “Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States”, based on statistics showing that black men are, on average, 11.8 times more likely to serve prison time for drug offenses than white men, and black women are 4.8 times more likely to serve time than white women. The research was compiled in 34 U.S. states.

The second report, “Disparity by Geography: The War on Drugs in America’s Cities”, was released by The Sentencing Project, a judicial equality advocacy group. Their study found that the rates of detention for black Americans have increased by 225 percent on average, as compared to 70 percent for white Americans.

Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project both encouraged policy makers to eradicate mandatory minimum sentencing and boost funding for substance abuse treatment programs as well as healthcare funding for treatment of the ramifications of drug abuse.

Studies show that while 72% of American drug users are white and 13.5% are black, 37% of those arrested for drug violations are black, 42% of federal prison inmates serving time for drug violations are black, and 60% of drug offenders in state prisons are black. The discrepancy between the percentage of drug users that are black and the percentage of drug offense arrestees and prisoners that are black is staggering.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition firmly believes that the War on Drugs is a racist policy, and the consequences of this failed war are tragic. Until we put an end to drug prohibition, racial minorities will continue to suffer innumerable casualties at the hands of the Drug War.

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Mike Smithson

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