Drug Policy Quotes
That was certainly true at that time in the United States. Marijuana was illegal, but alcohol and nicotine—cigarettes—were legal. Yet, over 350,000 deaths a year were caused by nicotine, over 100,000 alcohol related death the epidemiologists had found. But the number of marijuana caused death was just a handful, although there were hunreds of deaths of drug dealers fighting for territory, Nicotine an alcohol science had proved was addicting. Not so for marijuana which for some people was habituating, but marijuana never met the scientific criteria for addiction.
Two decades earlier leading Black politicians, observing the differential deleterious effects of drug use on Blacks called for a massive Federal effort to diminish substance abuse. The War on Drugs responded and reduced the drug use in America somewhat. However, the unintended consequences—especially for Blacks—caused many Black politicians to call for an end or serious curtailing to the War on Drugs. The differential effect on Black males was dramatic. White drug dealing tended to occur in private offices and homes where black dealing takes place to a greater extent on the streets where the lower level dealers are much more likely to be caught. The differential penal;ties for possession or selling of powdered cocaine (preferred by whites) and crack cocaine (preferred by Blacks) caused many more Blacks to be jailed. With less access to the better attornies, the Bplacks tend to get longer sentences, even for the same crime. In addition, the drug of choice for most whites is alcohol which was made legal while the drugs of choice for Blacks are illegal. In many Black urban neighborhoods like Newark, the majority of young Black men arwere in jail for ddrug law violations. See {624056} for a concurring opinion.
Although only a minority of Americans advocated legalization of Marijuana at the time, Nixon brought his notorious anti-Semitic point of view to bear on a situation where the overwhelming majority of Marijuana legalizers were Christian. There were Jews as well – in particular some prominent Jews such as Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Milton Friedman who recommended against marijuana use, but argued against government making it illegal. This was a position held by most Libertarians, many liberals, and many conservatives like Friedman.
