Belittle a person because of the color of his skin, maybe! It does not really appear that you have done much research on the issue. The drug war is full of racism! (Anslinger started it) More whites use drugs than blacks. But, more blacks are in jail for it. I tend to believe the statement from the diary. The racists just figure out another way to come down on the blacks. The poor whites are right behind them! I am a WASP! So don't try to say I am just another black person screaming racism, when it does not exist. The numbers are out there that verfy its existance! And as long as we continue to fight a "drug war" in the hands of the DEA and their opposing criminals, there won't be any change! Addiction affects around 1.3% of the population, and has since the turn of the last century! Those people need help, not prison! And where does that put the other 12% or so, in addition, that say they use illicit drugs? NOT ADDICTED? And there is a thing called harm reduction, that, if put in place, might actually prevent hundreds of deaths. But we would rather continue, to fight, another failing war!

Everyone should support ending the drug war. Black communities aren't only communities with drug problems. There are plenty of drug dealers in mostly white suburban high schools as anywhere else. But if you are a mother with children living in economically deprived community where drug dealers are selling drugs on the street corner and shooting each other up and killing innocent bystanders, you will be the first one in line telling police to round them all up just as a practical matter. BTW, ever wonder why black people don't get behind ending the drug war in large numbers. Have you ever seen their communities with the large numbers of liquor stores, rampant alcoholism and the associated violence? And they're saying "What will legalizing drugs look like?" Go ahead and cry racism but I tell you black community leaders are some of the most ardent supporters of the drug war.

Yes, there are many people out there who want to support the war on drugs. Sort of like cutting off your noses to spite your face, if one looks at the damage it is causing. Most drug warriors want to continue the present stragtegy, no matter whether it works or not! And it is the dealers who are at war with each other and killing everybody. Take the drugs out of their hands and the same thing that happened with alcohol prohibition is most likely to happen. No profit means no dealers! And, no Al Copone type racket!

When you find away to stop people from drinking alcohol, I would like to know about that, too! Many addicts (alcoholics included) probably have untreated mental disease, as found in some studies.

Racism, practiced in any form, is still an abomination to this country. Keep finding ways to imprison the poor and take their lives away from them, and it will just keep them (and their children) poor. All, at the taxpayers expense, anyway!

The drug war affects everybody and saying this is only an poor inner-city minority issue just belittles all the victims of the drug war who do not fit in that demographic. Half the high school students in this country have tried illicit drugs. That's of great concern to parents of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Why should a white middle-class "soccer mom" be concerned with ending the drug war if we keep saying it only impacts poor people and minorities? We need to clean up our rhetoric and reach out to everyone. To me, I think, the white soccer mom has the most at stake in ending the drug, because their kids are most likely to use drugs, especially marijuana.

Ask any high school student! Most likely, you will find, that since the "drug war" is leaving the sales in the hands of criminals called dealers, the kids have easier access to them (than alcohol or cigarettes). Dealers don't card. Regulate the sales of drugs (have to be made legal first) and the dealers will lose their profit margin, and possibly, their job! Anyone under the age of 18 should not have access to booze or drugs. Their young brains need to develop free from this influence! Sad thing is, we can never eliminate this 100% That is where good parenting would come in. Tell your kids the truth about the dangers of drugs. And, have good examples of peoples' lives you know were ruined by drugs. And remember, kids can spot bull**** a mile off!

And the other thing. The rich have proven again and again that the court system favors those who can pay (for example public vs private defense lawyers)! The poor cannot buy their way out of most of their situations. But a $5,000 lawyer can really help a lot!

From multipe studies done. But, the thing is, addicted to what? Ask any addictionologist and he will tell you >30% of the country is addicted (good for his business!) This was taken from LEAP infomation, directly. But, I don't know where they got it. It should be pretty accurate. But, I will look and see what studies were quoted. You could, probalbly, find it if you looked.