The War On Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex
The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet, and the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska. Try to imagine the Drug Enforcement Administration erecting razor wire barricades around two states to control crime and you’ll get the picture.
According to the U.S. Dept of Justice, the number of offenders under age 18 imprisoned for drug offenses increased twelvefold from 1985 to 1997. The group most affected by this propensity for incarceration is African-Americans. From 1985 to 1997, the percentage of African-American young people put in prison increased from 53 to 62 percent.
Today, 89 percent of police departments have paramilitary units, and 46 percent have been trained by active duty armed forces. The most common use of paramilitary units is serving drug-related search warrants, which usually involve no-knock entries into private homes. (Excerpt from video.google.com)
Watch the full documentary now
This is crazy what is happening. The is a bogus war and we as citizens need to get involved and be heard.
Hey Vlat just so you know this isn’t in english
I think the first few minutes are in Dutch, but the rest is in English.
Thanks Graham.
I didnt like the twist in the later parts of the movie about children of convicts, it seems like they are trying to say that putting parents in prison is wrong…which is total bs.
However overall the documentary is pretty damn scary and the sentances are just draconian, i would be up in arms about this if i were american.
A nation of informants(rats) and police
The land of the free and the home of the brave
This doc is broadcast by Dutch channel VPRO, and was part of the series “De Nieuwe Wereld”, the predecessor of “Tegenlicht”.
It makes me sick, I mean I can totally see why people don’t care what the government has to say anymore. I think if you know that your going to be put in jail for 20 or more years, you might as well shoot as many enforcement officers as possible, because at least you’ll get to die quick, and your life will not be ruined from a felony. I don’t think this will ever stop until, we have an all out war.
jason (10/21/09) – i don’t think the point is to say that parents shouldn’t be put in jail. that is obviously bs. however, when you take a step back to look at the bigger picture and see the full spectrum of the consequences of criminalizing the non violent use of a controlled substance – hopefully one comes to the conclusion that the punishment is far worse than the crime. is it really right to be labelled a felon for life, experience extreme difficulty obtaining and keeping employment, housing, gov’t assistance and struggle (even harder) to raise children because you were busted for possession (and maybe distribution – but not necessarily on a large scale) of a controlled substance? and then the children of these (ex)convicts have an uphill battle ahead of them, because…. why, exactly? it perpetuates the cycle of a “criminal race” – especially considering the fact that youths of color are busted and convicted of criminal drug charges in a disproportionate rate to their white counterparts even though minority youths are no more likely to use drugs than caucasian youths….
i’m not crying conspiracy here, i’m just saying – eventually we need to sit down and really think about whether criminalizing drug use is an effective way to eradicate it. i think the answer to that question is obvious… apparently, though, it isn’t.
i also disagree with the other jason, and hope his comment about opening fire on law enforcement was one of exaggeration and jest. officer friendly is not big brother. change the laws they’re paid (by us) to enforce – don’t punish them for enforcing the laws our democracy has put into place.
A lot of Americans are up in arms. Drug policy is the number one topic at my school which is a community college with students of all ages. People are pissed. WA VOTERS SIGN YES I-1068
Wow this country is really f****** up!! something needs to be done about this because I don’t see how someone who rapes a child can receive less punishment than someone who was some what associated with drugs. How can a mother who is addicted to drugs be sent to jail and not even be offered treatment?! This just shows that the government would do every and anything to make money no matter the expense to the citizens. There needs to be more honest and more intelligent people in office because its obvious that they don’t know the effects of what these laws are doing to society
This is full on sh%t, I’m currently facing charges for weed posses/supply 3 pounds & use dangerous weapon to avoid lawful apprehension… I have priors for advance cultivation for comercial purpose (weed again). Including the time I have already spent in before granted bail on a section 32 i’m looking at 2 years, I live in Australia. This mind you is without making any deals with the crown/DPP, because snitching where i’m from has a much better chance of getting you killed than prison does!!!
After the short period of time in prison, i’m in a position now to think before getting involved in drugs again… I have had a drug problem since I was 12, i’m 25 now. through out the years starting off with weed then moving onto speed, X, LSD, Cocain, and on occasions heroin and Ice. My trial has dragged on nearly a year now and I’ve stayed clean and drug free since getting arrested, through the help of treatment I found on my own accord whilst out on bail that could not be obtained inside and strick bail conditions. I’m even half way through completing my HSC equiverlant in a program at University.
Locking people up for a third of there life is a complete joke! Drugs run rambit through the system anyway, so all they do is move the problem from one place to another in a bid to raise revenue. Besides that the longer you lock someone up for the less chance they have to get back on there feet, plus adjusting to life outside isn’t as easy as you may think after a long lagging. All the system has done in that time has given them an advanced criminal education so to speak. You put a group of criminally minded men together for long enough that spend all day talking and all night thinking is only shooting yourself in the foot. The amount you can learn in there even in a short amount of time is unbelieveable and forget Facebook or Myspace… If your a crim it’s the best place for networking. Plus it doesn’t take long for any support you have on the outside to die off too. So your mentality changes if it hadn’t already to f@%K it, you get out allot smarter and believe you have no other choice but crime to support yourself and chances are prison has made you a 1000 times more violent and connected. Anyone with an IQ over 70, can use everything they have learnt to there advantage. They are now no longer petty street crims, they are hardend criminals more than likely connected with prison gangs and hate one thing more than anything else, POLICE!
Obviously the war on drugs isn’t working, and while everyday american’s let in some cases just unfortunate people trying to support there family the only way they can or trying to mask a painfull history with drug abuse go to prison for crazy sentences when there’s a possiblity for rehabilitation, the people in power are going to continue to exploit the poor and uneducated as a means of making profit and eventually while you think F@%k them (junkies/dealers) It’s going to strike close to your heart when a father, mother, bother, sister, son, daughter will be behind bars, and when you realise that they are people too, it’s too late. My question is why, when there are alturnatives that work… Take my case for example
Give me a break. DON’T SELL DRUGS and you won’t have these problems. Get a job and act like a normal person. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white, green or yellow. Don’t break the law and you won’t go to jail. You know what you should get 15 years for a vial of crack. You should be 80 years. How’s that. They need to be taught a lesson and America needs to wake up. Enough with these weak and soft liberal documentaries. Lock em throw away the key.
“puck that snit ’cause i aint the one for a punk mother pucker with a badge an a gun, to be beaten on…an thrown in jail…we can go toe to toe in the middle of a cell”
-NWA
Only got 15 mins into the doc and was totally disgusted by the way the police f*** people over, in my country Scotland btw that s*** is known as entrapment if a police officer offers you drugs (any kind) you cant get done (charged) for taking it. To someone not from America just seems like standard Americas doing what the f*** they want quite ironic land of the free but has the highest prison population rate in the world. I think Scotland laws and prison systems are a joke but take comfort in knowing it could be worst. Good game unlucky Americans.