Why the Drug War Isn't an Election Issue -- But Should Be

It has been more than 33 years since President Richard Nixon declared war on illegal drugs and called drug abuse "public enemy number one in the United States." Hundreds of billions of dollars later, with hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars, we are no closer to Nixon's dream of a drug-free nation than we were in 1971. As with alcohol Prohibition in the 1930s, drug prohibition has brought us far more problems than it has solved. Unfortunately, drug users have provided an easy target for politicians (of both parties) who want to appear "tough on crime." The drug war unfairly targets people of color. Of those in prison on drug charges in New York State, 93 percent are African American or Latino. A person convicted of selling five grams of "crack," which is stereotypically associated with low-income minority communities, receives a five-year federal mandatory minimum. [more]