University:
University of Wyoming
Course:
POLS4445 | Drug War Geopolitics in the Americas
Academic year:

2023
Views:

127

Pages:

1
Author:

Allison B.

Throughout all this week’s readings and course content, the themes of social control and systematic policies role in mass incarceration relating specifically to the “Drug War” as well as these policies’ outcomes on people of color and women in particular. Alexander discussed how the modern criminal justice system has evolved due to the drug war and the incentives for higher rates of incarceration to a new caste system (the “New Jim Crow”), determining via race and economics who falls in what categories and how that will impact their lives. Regardless of the fact that people of all races use and sell drugs at “remarkably” similar rates, “The drug war has been waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color.” (Alexander 13) However, it’s obvious that the prison system doesn’t accurately reflect these similar rates in substance use and sales, with the overwhelming majority of those incarcerated for drug offenses being African Americans or other people of color. Alexander at the end of the reading calls for, ...“the end not just to mass incarceration, but the history and cycle of caste in America.” (26) Malinowska-Sempruch/Rychkova examines the impacts of a higher incarceration rate for women in Latin American countries. With the female prison population increasing, HIV/HCV spread, and policies/rehabilitation not tailored towards women with children, gaps in effectivity are clear with the gender gap in drug policies and laws. The inadequacy of substance rehabilitation was an outcome of the drug war I had not considered, and how this inadequacy only leads to increased social issues with the next generation. The three online articles address different stereotypes individuals have towards “drug dealers” and those who use substances, civil asset forfeiture and the government’s “right” to seize any property, and access to legal medical marijuana in the United States.