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 Originally Posted by wufwugy
Most drugs, particularly marijuana, were criminalized primarily for the purpose of profitization of the justice system by everything from privatized prisons to payrolls for cops on the beat. Secondary purpose was as a political weapon based in the Southern Strategy and its ethnic oppression as well as general fearmongering and propaganda...
Nice post. In the beginning of the War on Drugs, most police departments weren't interested in making drugs a priority because they had plenty of more serious problems with violent crime to deal with. In order to convince the police to participate they had to bribe people at all levels of law enforcement. For example,
-The Pentagon provides the military equipment that SWAT teams use to local police departments under the condition that it be used against drug criminals. The original purpose of SWAT teams was to deal with emergencies like Columbine-type situations but now they're totally standard in executing drug warrants. This youtube clip got a lot of bad press but the only thing unusual about it is that it was filmed.
YouTube - Columbia Mo SWAT Raid 2/11/2010. Cops Shoot Pets With Children Present
-Police departments are allowed to keep any cash and property they seize when investigating drug crimes, even if the owner of the property is never charged, and the burden of proof is on him to prove that he is innocent of any crime (which means poor people who can't afford a lawyer are SOL). For example, if you let me use your car, and I get caught using it for a drug run, they can seize your car.
As for the part about racial oppression and the Southern Strategy, I don't know if I buy that racial oppression was the intent of the drug war. I think what happens is that police departments have their arrest quotas that they like to show off to show how tough on crime they are, and the easiest way to meet those quotas is to arrest a ton of people in poor, minority areas. If they used the same tactics frequently against more well-off Americans they'd find themselves subject to lawsuits, protests, and politicians would get elected that would end the War on Drugs. But the effect is definitely racial oppression, if not the intent.
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