http://www.channel3000.com/news/gubernatorial-candidate-to-hand-out-kkk-hoods/25762434 This guy's from "Madtown" Madison . . . "77 square miles surrounded by reality". Madison, in Dane county, where 40% of inmates are black (while only 6% of the population is) and blacks are 97 TIMES more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes than whites. But the drug war isn't the "racist policy" Democrats are worried about. No, they're still trying to twist this embarrassment into being all about how kooky Republicans are. He's since backed down from this stunt (and the left-leaning Channel 3000 site has removed the original story from their main page).
Here's a issue where I see both sides of things. Yes, blacks are incarcerated more that whites for drug crimes, which is wrong unless there is some rational reasoning why this is so I don't know about. But taking drug crimes out of the equation completely, blacks commit the vast majority (percentage-wise) of violent crimes like armed robbery, homicide, assault, etc.etc. At least they do in my town, and apparently almost all locations across the country. Something to think about.
One state (I think NC?) has harsher laws for smoking crack rocks versus the more expensive powder cocaine. The rocks are almost exclusively used by poor blacks while cocaine is found on rich country club types. 'Course, the war on drugs is stupid as hell anyway, but there's one example of minorities being disenfranchised.
It's a lot more than just one state, and there were also major sentencing disparities in federal law until just a few years ago.
The whole war on drugs is foolhardy. At the very least, the crackdown on people who smoke marijuana is absurd and needs to stop. As for this guy, all this does is ratchet up the hyperbole.
Also, isn't there usually a correlation between drugs and violent crimes? They don't always go hand in hand, I know.
All the more clownish now that Colorado is the next Amsterdam, and Seattle is heartbeats away from being part three.
Seattle decriminalized pot 10 years ago. The State as a whole (Washington) legalized pot at the same time Colorado did, it's just that our pot stores are under direct public control and so are taking longer to set up.
I read that even though it's legal on paper, everyone's dragging their feet, and you could still get in trouble for recreational sales.
Technically, Colorado (and soon Washington) is more than Amsterdam. The Netherlands decriminalized, which is different from actual legalization. And there are other states that have also done that, it's not just a Washington thing.
