{"id":3983,"date":"2020-11-07T18:47:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T23:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst1010304f2019\/?p=3983"},"modified":"2020-11-07T18:47:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T23:47:02","slug":"sam-hussey-blog-post-11-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst1010304f2019\/2020\/11\/07\/sam-hussey-blog-post-11-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Hussey Blog Post 11\/9"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prolonged War on Drugs has affected so many Americans over the years. Everyone knows someone who has struggled with addiction, and the stigma behind drugs created by the government has made it difficult for many to get effective treatment. When the war on drugs began, the government was aiming to eliminate all drugs because they were viewed as a vice. They thought they could control the population and their desires but that is an unreasonable thing to do for a free society. People also are more inclined to do things that are illegal or risky because of human nature so the drive of breaking the rules encouraged some to use drugs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After studying the historical progression of this country, it has become clear that America has a tendency to repeat its prior actions when it shouldn\u2019t. America learned from the Prohibition Era that banning vices like alcohol or drugs is not effective. It creates black markets for the goods that cannot be regulated by governmental organizations like the FDA to make sure the products are safe for consumption. The war on drugs leads to the same black markets being formed, leading to more overdose deaths because the drugs are not regulated by the government. Organized crime is also a large factor in prohibiting drugs or alcohol. Today, gangs in urban areas are usually the ones who control the drug market. Gang violence can arise from territorial issues and lead to premature deaths of those involved.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we saw in <\/span>Just Mercy<\/span><\/i>, the justice system in our country has been a large part of the war on drugs. The article also said that about half of the incarcerations in America at any given time are due to drug-related incidents. Possession, distribution, and other charges are heavily criminalized in many states and have put thousands of Americans behind bars due to small drug charges that do nothing to help the problem of addiction that is said to be at the core of the war on drugs. The courts are also not convicting all Americans the same. Minorities like Blacks and Latinos are far more likely to serve time for drug charges than whites. Lawyers like Bryan in <\/span>Just Mercy <\/span><\/i>are trying to fix the unjust court system and advocate for minorities facing unreasonable sentences for drug charges. America needs to reform its court system and end the war on drugs to keep minorities and youths out of prison and allow them to work to overcome addiction, not use drugs to cope with traumatic events due to the War on Drugs like going to prison or seeing violence. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prolonged War on Drugs has affected so many Americans over the years. Everyone knows someone who has struggled with addiction, and the stigma behind…<\/p>\n

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