| In response to racism and the war on drugs, 70% of drug users are white but only 30% of people in jail for drug use are white. Most states have much harsher penalties for crack cocaine than for ordinary cocaine, even though they're made from the same basic drug and have nearly identical effects; the most prevalent explanation for this being that crack is mainly used by lower class minorities while ordinary cocaine is mainly used by middle and upper class whites. That, and, as the documentary Grass pointed out, most early marijuana laws were used mainly as an excuse to arrest Mexican immigrants. It's much easier to demonize something done by a minority group than it is to demonize something done by a better funded majority. |