I don't know if the parent was so much suggesting a conspiracy as a feedback loop. It's the status quo because those groups keep perpetuating it. And they perpe

I don't know if the parent was so much suggesting a conspiracy as a feedback loop. It's the status quo because those groups keep perpetuating it. And they perpetuate it partly out of selfishness, but mostly becuase in the world that they're exposed to, they only see the worst stories of drug use. Police, lawyers and prison guards see drug users and dealers when they get caught, and one very easy way to get caught is to turn to violence. They see drug criminals in the same context as other criminals and develop intuitive associations between those groups. That doesn't mean they're off the hook though. They are biased, and unlike the general public, they have a professional responsibility to account for that before acting to influence public policy.