"The drug war basically destroyed policing,"

[tulipsandroses]

I don't think it was better for minorities before the war on drugs, but there is definitely a point to be made in this statement

"The drug war basically destroyed policing," says Simon. "They look upon the neighborhoods not as places they're supposed to protect and serve, but as places where they hunt prey and their avarice is rewarded."
[link:https://www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1004476457/war-on-drugs-the-wire-miami-vice-orange-is-the-new-black-dragnet-law-and-order|

[GulfCoast66]

1. Maybe in some places, but not the south. I'm 55.

Even when in middle and high school there were lots of cops, who when the started their job were responsible for enforcing legal segregation. That culture lasts. It hardest, of course, on people of color. By a huge level of magnitude.

But they still feel their role is to enforce cultural norms, not just the law. Anyone who is not white, straight and middle class can expect different treatment. And increasingly you can add conservative to the list. The main reason I don’t have bumper stickers on my truck touting my views is not trump supporters. They are not going to fuck with me. It’s cops.

Not so much in Orlando and it’s bedroom communities. But I’m often in rural parts of Florida.

[fishwax]

2. he had Bunny Colvin lay it down in one of my favorite scenes from The Wire

"This drug thing, this ain't police work":

[tulipsandroses]

3. Whole lotta truth there

We have police officers that actually think they are at war with the citizenry. They roll out armored vehicles and military style weapons to deal with protesters. One can only imagine how they behave in these communities they are at war with.

[stopdiggin]

4. can I both agree - and disagree?

drug war allowed in a lot of corruption (but there was a lot of corruption already in place). drug war also allowed and sanctioned a lot of 'targeting' of demographics that were out of favor (but, ditto - this has always been the MO of LE, to some degree or other)

So - it's pretty hard to argue that the drug war has been anything except a negative influence, but ....

[tulipsandroses]

6. Of course you can disagree

Our democracy, as fragile as it may be, still stands. Disagreement is more than welcome

[JI7]

5. That's just an excuse. Look at the difference in treatment of White Opioid using Communists

and how they treat blacks regardless of the drug issue.

The issue comes down to racism . THAT is the issue.

White opioid users are not be treated the way black people are.

[tulipsandroses]

7. I don't think you can talk about the war on drugs without race being at the center.

I remember reading about raids of meth labs in suburban neighborhoods and stories about suburban white moms hooked on meth in the early 2000s. There certainly was not heavy police presence in those neighborhoods. The govt banned Sudafed from being sold in large quantities and you had to show ID and get it from behind the counter at the pharmacy, and that was supposed to fix the problem. They were not sending in police to fight the war on meth in the suburbs. I can't recall people being killed in their beds due to suburban meth raids. I mean the problem had become so bad that Sudafed was on the brink of being a scheduled drug because it was being used to make meth. Yet suburbs and rural areas were not being over policed with searches for meth.

Tom Arnolds' sister was known as the Queen of Meth. Making 200K a week at one point. See white drug dealers get nice nick names instead of names like super predators and scourge.

[JI7]

8. That's my point. The drug war is an issue in itself. But this is about racism and black people

being targeted regardless of the war on drugs.