The War on Minorities
American flag on a cannabis leaf Image by Gordon Johnson Today I listened to the audio story, " Decriminalizing The War On Drugs, " on Latino USA, hosted by Maria Hinojosa, which aired on January 29, 2021. The guest speaker of the segment is Maritza Perez, Director of The Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, D.C. The segment talks about systemic racism in America acting as a catalyst in creating anti-drug policies that specifically target people of color. Let's not forget the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, where a vast disparity existed between federal penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine ( United States, Congress). It was a racially driven law because crack cocaine was mainly found and used in urbanized areas where people of color lived. I did learn several things from this segment. I learned from Perez that in November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, which decriminalizes the personal possession of illegal drugs. In the s...