Drug War Sociology
“Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. And I ain't never did a crime I ain’t have to do.” -Tupac. The war on drugs targeted many communities particularly those of color. Throughout America, people of color have always been the target. In the 1980’s and 90’s the drug war increased drastically. The war on drugs was just another reason to fuck with the people of color. The United States constantly targets minorities, and the crisis of the drug war increased the prison population causing even more coas in the country.
Based on the 3 strikes and You're out video, in the early 1990’s before the 3 strikes law was passed. There were two cases that sparked the demand for a stricter law based on criminals …show more content…
This was a global war on the poor who paid the highest price in the drug war. African-Americans were targeted at a disproportionate rate than other racial demographics. In the film, The house I live in, introduces the idea that the war of drugs was a primary factor for most officers. During their hours of work their main focus was busting the drug dealers and users. They were getting paid overtime for booking and doing the paperwork. They were the ones getting the most arrest in a month rather than the officer that spent months on one big case, he was not getting noticed. Thus, those officers that spent their time seeking and in some cases even planting evidence in order to get an arrest were the ones that got a promotion.
The justice system began to be filled with these cops who looked to target minorities expecting them to carry drugs and if not they would than plant it on them. As lower level cops went into the field anticipating for drug bust were only getting paid for statistics. This created more tension because if cops were getting paid more just by getting an arrest for drugs created higher jail rates and the war on drugs increased. More cops were out looking for drug bust rather than spending their time on more serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape, etc. The film, showed how difficult it was to be a person of color during this time, they constantly had a target on their back. With this 3 strikes law in act they would be getting mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years due to a petty drug
Based on the 3 strikes and You're out video, in the early 1990’s before the 3 strikes law was passed. There were two cases that sparked the demand for a stricter law based on criminals …show more content…
This was a global war on the poor who paid the highest price in the drug war. African-Americans were targeted at a disproportionate rate than other racial demographics. In the film, The house I live in, introduces the idea that the war of drugs was a primary factor for most officers. During their hours of work their main focus was busting the drug dealers and users. They were getting paid overtime for booking and doing the paperwork. They were the ones getting the most arrest in a month rather than the officer that spent months on one big case, he was not getting noticed. Thus, those officers that spent their time seeking and in some cases even planting evidence in order to get an arrest were the ones that got a promotion.
The justice system began to be filled with these cops who looked to target minorities expecting them to carry drugs and if not they would than plant it on them. As lower level cops went into the field anticipating for drug bust were only getting paid for statistics. This created more tension because if cops were getting paid more just by getting an arrest for drugs created higher jail rates and the war on drugs increased. More cops were out looking for drug bust rather than spending their time on more serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape, etc. The film, showed how difficult it was to be a person of color during this time, they constantly had a target on their back. With this 3 strikes law in act they would be getting mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years due to a petty drug