Factors on War on Drugs

Almost every time I turn to watch the news I hear a new story about people of color who committed a crime. The media portrays people of color in such a way that’s it’s not surprising anymore when you hear breaking news on a wanted felon who is either Hispanic or Black.  I find it odd how the media rarely points the finger at the white criminals who commit a crime. In situations like this the story focuses on the actual incident, but not on the person who caused it, yet when it’s a person of color all you hear about is the persons background and all of a sudden it becomes race based.

Recent statistics were presented to me in class that made me question why our country makes certain things available to us for example, alcohol, only to use it against us. The information I saw says “For more than 4 in 10 convicted murderers being held either in jail or in state prison, alcohol use is reported to have been a factor in the crime. Nearly half of those convicted of assault and sentenced to probation had been drinking when the offense occurred” (Alcohol and Crime: An Analysis of National Data). It is important to understand this because alcohol is legal and drugs are illegal, but according to this, statistics show alcohol is a main factor in 4 out of 10 murders. So why alcohol is legal to us if it is a factor in murders makes no sense to me when drugs are illegal to us and according to this isn’t a factor in murders. This makes me believe that drugs remain illegal in order to be used against us and give the government a reason to incarcerate our people.

Another statistic I found interesting was one that said, “Approximately 32,000 hospitalized patients (and possibly as many as 106,000) in the USA die each year because of adverse reactions to their prescribed medications” (Adverse Drug Reactions in Hospitalized Patients, JAMA). This was interesting to me because more than twice the deaths that occur each year occur in hospitals because of drugs we trust to get us better. How funny is that? Not so funny actually when the media uses drugs to target people of color and show them in a different light, yet more than half of us are dying depending on drugs from hospitals to make us better.

Last, but not least, the last statistic that I read which also supported my claim on how the media portrays people of color shows how “Most illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72% of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15%), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10%) who were illicit drug users in 1998” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). This goes back to what I said first on how the media rarely focuses on white people who commit crimes. People of color are always displayed in the media when drugs, alcohol, and crime are involved, but not white people. This statistic shows how 72% of people who use drugs are white. How come the media doesn’t point this out? More than half of the people who use drugs aren’t even people of color, but when would you ever hear the media race base drugs with white people? The chances of going to prison are highest among Blacks with 32.2% and Hispanics with 17.2% leaving Whites with 5.9 % (Prevalence of Imprisonment in the US Population, 1974-2001).This of course makes no sense when 72% of people who use drugs are white yet our government uses drugs against people of color. The thought of bringing a child of color into this world is scary knowing everything that is being used against us to keep us down.