4 ms·

>Black Americans have watched a completely different and profoundly more compassionate response to the white people affected by the opioid epidemic than they ex

by phaus 6y ago

>Black Americans have watched a completely different and profoundly more compassionate response to the white people affected by the opioid epidemic than they experienced in the crack/cocaine epidemic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/crack-h.. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/crack-h.... https://thewitnessbcc.com/crack-epidemic-opioid-crisis-race-.. https://thewitnessbcc.com/crack-epidemic-opioid-crisis-race-.... Great post and you brought up a few things I hadn't considered. Just curious about this one though. America in general has gradually shifted towards a view that drug addicts are sick people that need help. The shift was already taking place before opioids and methamphetamine addiction reached epidemic levels. How much of an impact do you think systemic racism had on the response to the opioid epidemic and how much can just be attributed to the fact that we have gotten smarter about drug addiction in general? I'm not super educated on the opioid epidemic, but is there evidence that even now the resources allocated for a response are being distributed unfairly?

jimbokun 6y ago
> America in general has gradually shifted towards a view that drug addicts are sick people that need help. Just a coincidence that this shift happened as more white people started suffering from such addictions?
- catalogia 6y ago
  It probably has more to do with the internet facilitating the dissemination of information that ran counter to the governments' anti-drug propaganda.
taurath 6y ago
> How much of an impact do you think systemic racism had on the response to the opioid epidemic and how much can just be attributed to the fact that we have gotten smarter about drug addiction in general? Most of society now empathizes with drug addiction because its hit white society a lot and the race of users can't be used as a political scapegoat. As long as you're white, the richer you are, the less likely you are to go to jail for it. Rehab is for rich people. We haven't gotten smarter about drug addiction in general, which is why we have the largest prison population in the world. > is there evidence that even now the resources allocated for a response are being distributed unfairly? Given a huge percentage of the "response" is police and prisons, and police and prisons dramatically discriminate against people by race, yes.
- phaus 6y ago
  >We haven't gotten smarter about drug addiction in general, which is why we have the largest prison population in the world. Legalization and decriminalization of Marijuana is still a relatively recent phenomenon. It seems to me like it will eventually get legalized by the federal government. If that happens, wouldn't we expect this to get better? The right thing to do would be to release everyone that was in jailed on marijuana related charges as long as they weren't also convicted of something more serious (like violence). Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I think a lot of Americans realize how insane it is that we jail more people than any other country. While progress is always slow, it seems like we're hearing more politicians talk about doing something about it.
  - taurath 6y ago
    While its true drugs won the war on drugs, that doesn't mean the racist and political underpinnings of keeping people locked up for nonviolent drug offences go away overnight. Actual real police reform and breaking the prison-industrial complex is a big goal of the current protests, but once again its conservatives with their decades of fear who are holding up progress.
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  >As long as you're white, the richer you are, the less likely you are to go to jail for it. Rehab is for rich people. // Any sources to support this, that equally wealthy people go to jail in higher proportions - for the same [drug] crime - if they're non-white?
  - taurath 6y ago
    I couldn't find one for drugs specifically, but this link is a decent one: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/02/the-race-gap-in-u-s-prisons-is-glaring-and-poverty-is-making-it-worse/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/02/the-race-g... The probability of being jailed for more than a year is over 20% for the poorest 20% of Blacks, and just over 10% for the poorest 20% of whites.

by phaus 6y ago

jimbokun 6y ago

> America in general has gradually shifted towards a view that drug addicts are sick people that need help. Just a coincidence that this shift happened as more white people started suffering from such addictions?

catalogia 6y ago
It probably has more to do with the internet facilitating the dissemination of information that ran counter to the governments' anti-drug propaganda.

taurath 6y ago

> How much of an impact do you think systemic racism had on the response to the opioid epidemic and how much can just be attributed to the fact that we have gotten smarter about drug addiction in general? Most of society now empathizes with drug addiction because its hit white society a lot and the race of users can't be used as a political scapegoat. As long as you're white, the richer you are, the less likely you are to go to jail for it. Rehab is for rich people. We haven't gotten smarter about drug addiction in general, which is why we have the largest prison population in the world. > is there evidence that even now the resources allocated for a response are being distributed unfairly? Given a huge percentage of the "response" is police and prisons, and police and prisons dramatically discriminate against people by race, yes.

phaus 6y ago
>We haven't gotten smarter about drug addiction in general, which is why we have the largest prison population in the world. Legalization and decriminalization of Marijuana is still a relatively recent phenomenon. It seems to me like it will eventually get legalized by the federal government. If that happens, wouldn't we expect this to get better? The right thing to do would be to release everyone that was in jailed on marijuana related charges as long as they weren't also convicted of something more serious (like violence). Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I think a lot of Americans realize how insane it is that we jail more people than any other country. While progress is always slow, it seems like we're hearing more politicians talk about doing something about it.
- taurath 6y ago
  While its true drugs won the war on drugs, that doesn't mean the racist and political underpinnings of keeping people locked up for nonviolent drug offences go away overnight. Actual real police reform and breaking the prison-industrial complex is a big goal of the current protests, but once again its conservatives with their decades of fear who are holding up progress.
pbhjpbhj 6y ago
>As long as you're white, the richer you are, the less likely you are to go to jail for it. Rehab is for rich people. // Any sources to support this, that equally wealthy people go to jail in higher proportions - for the same [drug] crime - if they're non-white?
- taurath 6y ago
  I couldn't find one for drugs specifically, but this link is a decent one: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/02/the-race-gap-in-u-s-prisons-is-glaring-and-poverty-is-making-it-worse/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/02/the-race-g... The probability of being jailed for more than a year is over 20% for the poorest 20% of Blacks, and just over 10% for the poorest 20% of whites.