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Quinn Coburn knows the lifestyle well. He has used meth most of his adult life, and has done five stints in jail for dealing marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin. Since April , 19 counties have enrolled a total of about 2, patients, including Coburn, according to the state Department of Health Care Services. He is also motivated to stay clean to fight criminal charges for possession of drugs and firearms, which he vociferously denies. Participants receive at least six months of additional behavioral health treatment after the urine testing ends. The state has poured significant money and effort into curbing opioid addiction and fentanyl trafficking , but the use of stimulants is also exploding in California. According to the state Department of Health Care Services, the rate of Californians dying from them doubled from to Although the cutting-edge treatment can work for opioids and other drugs, California has prioritized stimulants. To qualify, patients must have moderate to severe stimulant use disorder, which includes symptoms such as strong cravings for the drug and prioritizing it over personal health and well-being. Substance use experts say incentive programs that reward participants, even in a small way, can have a powerful effect with meth users in particular, and a growing body of evidence indicates they can lead to long-term abstinence. Duff acknowledged he was skeptical of the multimillion-dollar price tag for an experimental program. What convinced him? California was the first state to cover this approach as a benefit in its Medicaid program, according to the Department of Health Care Services, though other states have since followed, including Montana. Participants in Nevada County must show up twice a week to provide a urine sample, tapering to once a week for the second half of treatment. Every time the sample is free of stimulants, they get paid via a retail gift card — even if the sample is positive for other kinds of drugs, including opioids. Though participants can collect the money after each clean test, many opt for a lump sum after completing the week program, Duff said. For example, he uses blue toilet cleaner to prevent patients from watering down their urine, and has dismantled a spigot on the bathroom faucet to keep them from using warm water for the same purpose. If participants fail, there are no consequences. Abernathybettis has employed a tough love approach to addiction therapy that has helped keep Coburn sober and accountable since he started in January. I know my life is on the line. Growing up in the Bay Area, Coburn never quite felt like he fit in. He was adopted at an early age and dropped out of high school. His erratic home life set him on a course of hard drug use and crime, including manufacturing and selling drugs, he said. Coburn escaped to the solitude of the mountains, trees, and rivers that define the rural landscape in Grass Valley, but the area was also rife with drugs. Coburn fell deeper into the drug scene, as both a user and a manufacturer. Financially strapped, he rented a cheap, converted garage from another local drug dealer, he said. Law enforcement officers raided the house in October, and authorities found a gun and large amounts of fentanyl and heroin. Coburn, who faces up to 30 years in prison, vigorously defends himself, saying the drugs and weapons were not his. Coburn is also in an outpatient addiction program and is active in Alcoholics Anonymous, sometimes attending multiple meetings a day. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Angela Hart, correspondent for California Healthline, covers California health politics and policy in Sacramento and around the state with a focus on the governor, the legislature, and key elections. Previously, she covered health policy and politics for Politico with a focus on Governor Gavin Newsom. Read More. Skip to main content. CHCF is looking to understand audience needs and gather feedback on its website. Do you have time for a minute survey? Begin Survey here. By Angela Hart. Getting your Trinity Audio player ready Angela Hart Angela Hart, correspondent for California Healthline, covers California health politics and policy in Sacramento and around the state with a focus on the governor, the legislature, and key elections. Read More More by this Author:. Share This Article. Artificial Intelligence. Cookie Settings Accept. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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Race, Drugs, and Law Enforcement in the United States

Buying Heroin Sierra Nevada

Arrests and Incarceration of Drug Offenders B. Incarceration C. United States Law B. Since the mids, the United States has pursued aggressive law enforcement strategies to curtail the use and distribution of illegal drugs. The costs and benefits of this national 'war on drugs' remain fiercely debated. Relative to their numbers in the general population and among drug offenders, black Americans are disproportionately arrested, convicted, and incarcerated on drug charges. Public officials have been relatively untroubled by the disproportionate arrest and incarceration of blacks for drug offenses. Their relative indifference-and that of the public at large-no doubt reflects, to varying degrees, partisan politics, 'tough on crime' punitive philosophies, misinformation about drugs, an uncritical embrace of drug war logic, and misguided notions about the needs of poor urban communities. But to some extent it also reflects conscious and unconscious views about race. Indeed, those views have been woven into the very fabric of American anti-drug efforts, influencing the definition of the 'drug problem' and the nature of the response to it. Although whites are relatively untouched by anti-drug efforts compared to blacks, \[2\] supporters of the drug war may not see a problem of race discrimination because they do not believe the purpose of drug law enforcement is to harm blacks-if anything, drug law enforcement is seen as protecting minority communities from addiction, harassment, and violence. Perhaps without realizing it, they have accepted the same definition of discrimination that the courts use in constitutional equal protection cases-absent ill-intent, there is no discrimination. The requirements of a malign intent as well as a racially disparate effect for a finding of racial discrimination in United States constitutional jurisprudence differ from those in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ICERD , which the United States has ratified. Prohibited discrimination occurs where there is an unjustifiable disparate impact on a racial or ethnic group, regardless of whether there is any intent to discriminate against that group. Where official policies or practices are racially discriminatory, the State party to the treaty must act affirmatively to prevent or end them. Indeed, full compliance requires elimination of racial inequalities resulting from structural racism. The United States has claimed that 'the framework of legal prohibitions and enforcement mechanisms \[existing in the United States\] not only satisfies the requirements of \[ICERD\], but serves as an example to the world, of which the United States should be very proud. If it is to satisfy its treaty obligations, the United States must 'take greater responsibility for the role it plays-and has played-in creating and perpetuating racial discrimination and inequality. Racial disparities in the war on drugs may be one of the most striking examples of this country's failure to satisfy ICERD. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination created by the treaty reviews States Parties' policies and practices and makes recommendations, but has no power to compel compliance with those recommendations. ICERD is extremely important nonetheless. Even if it does not provide a basis for a cause of action, plaintiffs in civil rights litigation can argue that United States laws should be interpreted in accordance with the treaty. Wholly apart from litigation, the Convention reflects an international consensus on the importance of eliminating racial discrimination, including that which is indirect and hidden behind ostensibly race neutral laws. As a country which prides itself as a leader in promoting racial equality, the United States does not want to be seen as violating or ignoring its treaty obligations. ICERD thus offers a powerful rights-based framework for individuals and organizations seeking to call attention to and develop support for measures to eliminate racial injustice in the United States' war on drugs, as well as in so many other dimensions of American life. In this Article, I briefly recap the role of race in the concerns that prompted and continue to animate the war on drugs, document the racial disparities in the arrest and incarceration of drug offenders, and argue that racial discrimination in the war on drugs violates U. There have been numerous detailed, cogent, and, in my judgment, appropriately damning assessments of the war on drugs, including the ways in which it has violated the rights of black Americans. I make no effort here to do justice to that literature. My more limited goals are twofold: First, to remind readers that the war on drugs has always been and continues to be targeted primarily at black drug offenders. And second, to encourage readers who care about racial discrimination in the United States criminal justice system in general, or in drug control efforts in particular, to include ICERD in their arsenal of weapons for justice. Race has been and remains inextricably involved in drug law enforcement, shaping the public perception of and response to the drug problem. Although the majority of those who shared, sold, or transferred serious drugs \[17\] in Seattle are white indeed seventy percent of the general Seattle population is white , almost two-thirds The racially disproportionate drug arrests result from the police department's emphasis on the outdoor drug market in the racially diverse downtown area of the city, its lack of attention to other outdoor markets that are predominantly white, and its emphasis on crack. Three-quarters of the drug arrests were crack-related even though only an estimated one-third of the city's drug transactions involved crack. Not surprisingly then, seventy-nine percent of those arrested on crack charges were black. The focus on crack offenders, for example, did not appear to be a function of the frequency of crack transactions compared to other drugs, public safety or public health concerns, crime rates, or citizen complaints. The researchers ultimately concluded that the Seattle Police Department's drug law enforcement efforts. Indeed, the widespread racial typification of drug offenders as racialized 'others' has deep historical roots and was intensified by the diffusion of potent cultural images of dangerous black crack offenders. These images appear to have had a powerful impact on popular perceptions of potential drug offenders, and, as a result, law enforcement practices in Seattle. The racial dynamics reflected in Seattle's current drug law enforcement priorities are long-standing and can be found across the country. Indeed, they provided the impetus for the 'war on drugs' that began in the mids. The use of cocaine, primarily powder cocaine, had increased in the late s and early s, particularly among whites, but powder cocaine use did not provoke the 'orgy of media and political attention' \[23\] that occurred in the mids when a cheaper, \[24\] smokable cocaine in the form of crack appeared. Crack was the latest in a series of drugs that since the late nineteenth century have preoccupied policy makers in the United States. Although the use of crack was by no means limited to low-income, urban, minority neighborhoods, \[31\] it was those neighborhoods which more visibly suffered from crack addiction, and the nuisance and violence that accompanied the struggle of different drug-dealing groups to establish control over its distribution in the s and s. Crack in black neighborhoods was a lightning rod for a complicated and deep-rooted set of racial, class, political, social, and moral dynamics. Politicians were able to woo a white electorate anxious about its declining status through the race-coded language of 'drugs' and 'crime. Public discourse focused on addiction and violence but the subtext was understood as that of race. Crack cocaine was perceived as a drug of the Black inner-city urban poor, while powder cocaine, with its higher costs, was a drug of wealthy whites. This framing of the drug in class and race-based terms provides important context when evaluating the legislative response. That response, most notoriously, included the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of , which imposed far higher penalties for possession or sale of crack cocaine than powder cocaine, as well as state laws that required prison sentences even for low level drug offenses. The legislative and law enforcement responses to crack 'cannot be attributed solely to objective levels of criminal danger, but \[also reflect\] the way in which minority behaviors are symbolically constructed and subjected to official social control. Urban blacks, the population most burdened by concentrated socio-economic disadvantage, became the population at which the war on drugs was targeted. When asked to close their eyes and envision a drug offender, Americans did not picture a white middle class man snorting powder cocaine or college students smoking marijuana. They pictured unkempt African-American men and women slouched in alleyways or young blacks hanging around urban street corners. They represent a comparably small proportion of those who engage in non-possession drug offenses as well. By definition, drug users violate laws against drug possession. They also frequently engage in illegal drug distribution activities-e. Although there is little direct research on the race of drug sellers, for example, that which exists suggests a racial breakdown among sellers similar to that among users. National surveys of drug abuse conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have sometimes included questions on drug selling. In , 0. Although the proportion of sellers was twice that among blacks than among whites, in absolute numbers far more whites , reported drug selling than blacks , Fifteen years later, 1. Evidence regarding the race of drug sellers also emerges from research in specific urban drug markets. For example, the study of Seattle's drug market, discussed above, indicates that the majority of the drug sellers are white as are a majority of the users. Some might question whether blacks constitute a higher percentage than whites of persons occupying higher ranks in the drug business, e. Empirical research addressing this question is not available, but experts suggest that higher positions in the drug trade are not likely to be held by black individuals. The race of persons in the upper echelons of the drug trade is also not particularly relevant, because the overwhelming preponderance of drug offenders entering the criminal justice system are low-level non-violent offenders. But all other things are not equal. The data demonstrate clearly and consistently that blacks have been and remain more likely to be arrested for drug offending behavior relative to their percentage among drug offenders than whites who engage in the same behavior. There are many reasons for the racial disparities in drug arrests, including demographics, \[55\] the extent of community complaints, police allocation of resources, \[56\] racial profiling, \[57\] and the relative ease of making drug arrests in minority urban areas compared to white areas. Racial profiling is almost inevitable. Race becomes one of the readily observable visual clues to help identify drug suspects, along with age, gender and location. There is a certain rationality to this-if you are in poor black neighborhoods, drug dealers are more likely to be black. Local distribution networks are often monoracial; downscale markets are often neighborhood-based; and downscale urban neighborhoods are often segregated. The law and practice of drug enforcement is market-specific, and the markets are divided by race and class. Former New York Police Commissioner Lee Brown explained the police concentration in certain neighborhoods and the consequent racial impact as follows:. In most large cities, the police focus their attention on where they see conspicuous drug use-street-corner drug sales-and where they get the most complaints. Conspicuous drug use is generally in your low-income neighborhoods that generally turn out to be your minority neighborhoods. It's easier for police to make an arrest when you have people selling drugs on the street corner than those who are \[selling or buying drugs\] in the suburbs or in office buildings. The end result is that more blacks are arrested than whites because of the relative ease in making those arrests. Between and , there were more than twenty-five million adult drug arrests in the United States. Relative to population, blacks have been arrested on drug charges at consistently higher rates than whites. In blacks were arrested at rates almost three 2. In the years with the worst disparities, between and , blacks were arrested at rates more than five times the rate of whites. In the last six years, the ratio of black to white drug arrest rates has ranged between 3. Although the ratio of black to white arrests has decreased somewhat since the mid s when it was at its highest, racial disparity in drug arrests has continued despite changes in drug use and law enforcement priorities As the crack cocaine market began to constrict in urban areas and the use of cocaine stabilized, '\[L\]aw enforcement shifted its emphasis toward marijuana. Yet although marijuana use is prevalent across races, \[64\] and methamphetamine is used primarily by whites, \[65\] blacks continue to be disproportionately arrested. The difference between the black proportion of drug offenders and the black proportion of drug arrests reflects the ongoing salience of urban drug law enforcement, or, more specifically, drug law enforcement in black urban neighborhoods. The racial disparities evident in drug arrests grow larger as cases wind their way through the criminal justice system. A comparison of the rates, relative to population, at which blacks and whites are sent to state prison for drug offenses offers what may be the most compelling evidence of the disparate racial impact of drug control policies: the black rate As Table 1 reveals, blacks are sent to prison on drug charges at greater rates than whites in every state for which the data are available. Table 1: Rates of State Prison Admissions for Drug Offenses, by Gender and Race, \[77\] calculated per , adult residents of each race and gender. Just as conscious and unconscious racial notions helped define the drug problem, they have also helped shape political and policy responses to that problem. The legislative history of federal crack sentencing laws, for example, provides reason 'to suspect that regardless of the objectives Congress was pursuing, it would have shown more restraint in fashioning the crack penalties or more interest in amending them in ensuing years, if the penalties did not apply almost exclusively to blacks. Politicians have been able to reap the electoral rewards of endorsing harsh drug policies because the group that suffered most from those policies-black Americans-lacked the numbers to use the political process to secure a different strategy. Throughout the modern war on drugs, measures to battle the use and sale of drugs have emphasized arrest and incarceration rather than prevention and treatment. Faced with concerns about crack, the United States could have emphasized a public health and harm reduction approach prioritizing drug education, substance abuse treatment, and increased access to medical assistance. It could have restricted prison to only the most serious drug offenders e. Instead, federal and state governments embraced harsh penal sanctions to battle the use of drugs and their sale to consumers. Defenders of anti-drug efforts claim they want to protect poor minority neighborhoods from addiction and violence. But the choice of arrest and imprisonment as the primary anti-drug strategy evokes the infamous phrase from the Vietnam War: 'It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it. In a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory criminal justice system, sanctions should be imposed equally on offending populations. Yet the racial patterns of persons arrested and incarcerated on drug charges are distantly related, at best, to racial patterns of drug offending. There may be explanations for the disparate impact, but can it be reconciled with principles of equal protection and non-discrimination? Drug laws are race-neutral on their face. Their enforcement is also ostensibly race-neutral, with law enforcement officials insisting they enforce the law without bias and in response to community concerns. Under longstanding constitutional jurisprudence in the United States, facially race-neutral governmental policies do not violate the guarantee of equal protection unless there is both discriminatory impact and discriminatory purpose. As Professor Lawrence Tribe has noted, the U. Supreme Court has decided that. If such actors cannot be found-and the standards for finding them are tough indeed-then there has been no violation of the equal protection clause. The requirement of proof of intent has been a formidable barrier for victims of discrimination in the criminal justice system seeking judicial relief. Harsher sentences for crack cocaine offenses compared to powder have repeatedly passed that test, with the courts easily deciding that legislators were pursuing a legitimate goal in trying to curtail drug abuse and that more severe sentences for crack were rationally related to that goal. With its focus on individuals and their motives, U. As law professor David Cole has observed, racial inequalities in the criminal justice system 'do not step from explicit and intentional race or class discrimination, but they are problems of inequality nonetheless. It offers no relief from high rates of black incarceration that have been produced by 'racial politics, not by a crime wave,' \[95\] and that reflect as well as contribute to the perpetuation of white dominance. Tied to the anachronistic requirement of intent, equal protection jurisprudence has not been able to provide relief to victims of ostensibly color-blind practices that so deeply prejudice black Americans. It has thus failed to achieve one of its central purposes: to 'correct for a certain marginal deficiency of majoritarian democracy: the danger that the majority, because it cares less about a minority's welfare than about its own, will award members of the minority fewer benefits, or impose on them disproportionate burdens. Equality among all people, including among persons of different races, has been deemed 'the most important principle imbuing and inspiring the concept of human rights. The equality inherent in all human beings regardless of race and the concomitant right of all human beings to be protected against racial discrimination is affirmed in the core human rights treaties that have followed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the most complete expression of the international community's commitment to the principle of racial equality and the right to be free of racial discrimination. States who are parties to ICERD are required to report periodically on the measures they have taken to give effect to the treaty. Although the Committee 'merely observes and comments on States Parties' practices, the comments should be acted on accordingly. The Committee's country-specific observations and general comments may be considered the official 'jurisprudence' of ICERD. The Committee does not have any power to compel a State to accept and act on its recommendations and there is no system of sanctions for States who refuse to do so. The Committee has reviewed two United States periodic reports, \[\] but has never directly addressed racial discrimination in the U. It defines the prohibited discrimination as:. The explicit disjunction in the definition-'purpose or effect'-makes clear that discrimination can exist in the absence of culpable actors who intentionally seek to harm members of a particular race. The Committee has explained that 'the definition of racial discrimination in Article 1 expressly extends beyond measures which are explicitly discriminatory to encompass measures which are discriminatory in fact and effect. Compliance with ICERD requires ensuring that domestic legislation prohibits all forms of racial discrimination as defined by the treaty. In , the Committee recommended that the United States take the appropriate measures to review legislation and policies to 'ensure effective protections against any form of racial discrimination and any unjustifiably disparate impact. The Committee noted that. In this regard, the Committee notes that indirect-or de facto- discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons of a particular racial, ethnic or national origin at a disadvantage compared with other persons, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. Article 1 1. The Committee again recommended the United States ensure that it 'prohibits racial discrimination in all its forms, including practices and legislation that may not be discriminatory in purpose, but in effect. Laws that on their face target particular racial groups in ways that harm them obviously fall afoul of the treaty, but countless race-neutral laws or practices may adversely affect one racial group more than another. Under ICERD, an adverse racially disparate impact becomes prohibited discrimination when the impact is unjustifiable. The justifiability of a measure that yields racial disparities is determined by consideration of its goals and how closely the measure is tailored to their achievement. The Committee has explained that differential treatment of racial groups 'would constitute discrimination if the criteria for such differentiation, judged in the light of the objectives and purposes of the Convention, are not applied pursuant to a legitimate aim, and are not proportional to the achievement of that aim. It requires an examination of whether the non-discrimination and equality guaranteed by law are actually enjoyed in practice. The requirement that the relationship between means and ends be considered closely in assessing the justification for a measure that yields racial disparities also reflects this emphasis on reality. The Committee has recognized that race discrimination infects criminal justice systems around the world. The Committee has been well aware that criminal justice systems may operate in discriminatory ways even in the absence of racist police, prosecutors or judges or overtly discriminatory laws. Because of its recognition of the racialized role of criminal systems, the Committee considers 'the number and percentage of persons belonging to \[racial and other such groups\] who are held in prison' to be significant indicators of racial discrimination in a criminal justice system. The Committee has noted the particularly high rate of incarceration of African Americans and Hispanics in the United States as well as their socio-economic marginalization. In it recommended that the United States ensure that the high incarceration rate of these minorities was not a result of the 'economically, socially and educationally disadvantaged position of these groups. Looking narrowly at the problem of racially disparate incarceration rates, it insisted that the disparity reflected 'differential involvement in crime by the various groups. It also ignored whether the disparities in drug law enforcement might be the result of racial discrimination as broadly defined by ICERD and interpreted by the Committee. The Committee was not reassured. In it reiterated its concern with regard to the persistent racial disparities in the U. The Committee pointed out that stark racial disparities in the administration and functioning of the criminal justice system, particularly in the prison population, 'may be regarded as factual indicators of racial discrimination. There were other aspects of the U. Racial profiling did not go unnoticed: the Committee noted with concern that 'despite the measures adopted at the federal and state levels to combat racial profiling. The significantly higher rates at which blacks are arrested and incarcerated on drug charges relative to the rates of whites raise a strong inference of prohibited discrimination that could be countered only if the disproportion were justified. It is hard to conceive of a plausible justification. The rates bear no relationship to rates of offending; to the contrary, the evidence is clear that whites engage in drug offenses with relative impunity compared to blacks. The underlying motivation of the war on drugs was infused with racial views and concerns adverse to blacks. Michael Tonry has pointed out that the policies adopted by the architects of the drug war 'were foreordained disproportionately to affect disadvantaged black Americans. The war on drugs 'has become a replacement system for segregation \[by\]. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights concluded in a study of civil rights and the criminal justice system, 'Our criminal laws, while facially neutral, are enforced in a manner that is massively and pervasively biased. The injustices of the criminal justice system threaten to render irrelevant fifty years of hard-fought civil rights progress. Compliance with ICERD demands an acknowledgement of and genuine effort to address the way the United States criminal justice system operates to the consistent detriment of black drug offenders compared to white drug offenders. If the United States were to take its treaty obligations seriously, it would have to look long and hard at the way race has influenced the choice of drugs to target and the response to their use. It would have to question why the country has been willing to impose the burden of incarceration for drug offenses primarily on those who by virtue of race and poverty are already among the most marginalized in society. It would have to undertake an unblinking assessment of the costs and benefits of the war on drugs as currently waged, an assessment that political leaders have been avoiding for decades. It makes little sense to reduce racial disparities in drug control efforts by increasing the number of arrests and rate of incarceration of white drug dealers. Many independent experts believe that because U. Complying with the letter and spirit of ICERD requires the United States to untangle the twisted dynamics of race, poverty, drugs and law enforcement that have determined the course of the war on drugs to date. This may be an extraordinarily difficult undertaking, but it is imperative. But the racial discrimination is not just devastating to black Americans. It contradicts the principles of justice and equal protection of the law that should be the nation's bedrock. It undermines faith among all races and ethnic groups in the fairness and efficacy of the U. For succinct summaries of the opposing views, see Ethan Nadelmann, Op-Ed. Walters, Op-Ed. GAOR Supp. Texas, L. Int'l L. The obligation to review and eliminate racial discrimination is not contingent on lawsuits by aggrieved individuals or groups or, indeed, on any petition to the congressional or legislative branches. ICERD does, however, require State parties to ensure that 'competent national tribunals and other State institutions' offer effective protection and remedies against racial discrimination and to ensure that everyone has the right to seek reparation in court for damages suffered because of the discrimination. Constitution, the federal government is obligated to assume responsibility for U. Criminal Justice System , 40 How. See Terry D. The Committee monitors States parties' compliance with the treaty by reviewing the periodic reports that States parties are required to submit every four years under Article 9. It also has a role if one State party brings a complaint against another for failure to comply with ICERD's Article 12, and it may receive complaints from individuals or groups against a State party if that party has formally recognized the competence of the Committee to do so. The United States has not recognized that competence of the Committee. The United States has twice submitted periodic reports to the Committee and has appeared twice in Geneva before the Committee. The written reports by the United States government to the Committee are prepared by the U. Department of State with extensive assistance from other federal agencies. When the Committee has reviewed the report, a delegation of officials organized, again by the Department of State and drawn primarily from federal agencies, has gone to Geneva to participate in the Committee's review. Beckett, et al. Levine, eds. Levine eds. Powder cocaine is sold in larger, more expensive quantities. Powder cocaine is the most commonly used form of cocaine and is typically snorted, injected, or ingested. Crack cocaine, which is made by dissolving powder cocaine in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water, is smoked. Cocaine in any form produces the same type of physiological and psychotropic effects, although the onset, intensity, and duration of the effects are related to the method of use. Smoking crack cocaine produces quicker onset of, shorter-lasting, and more intense effects than snorting powder cocaine. The national survey found that an estimated 8,, persons twelve years or older had used crack cocaine at least once in their lifetime while an estimated 35,, persons has used powder cocaine. SAMHSA's prevalence estimates are based on a survey of representative households and non-institutional group quarters nationwide. Rev , It is a drug that has recently garnered public concern and law enforcement attention, although it is used primarily by whites. Among state and federal prisoners, whites were twenty times more likely than blacks to report recent methamphetamine use. Christopher J. Karberg, Bureau of Justice Stats. The criminal justice system shapes its policies and practices according to this perception. In , 5,, whites 3. Among older cocaine users, whites were more likely than blacks to report crack as the primary form of cocaine used. Hawkins eds. Research also suggested that 'crack cocaine smoking did not depend strongly on the race of the individual, but instead on social conditions. Lillie-Blanton et al. Ass'n Sent'g Comm'n, supra note 31; U. The deleterious social impact of crack markets faded markedly by the late s even though crack use remained relatively constant. A recent analysis concludes that the greatest social costs of crack have been associated with prohibition-related violence, rather than drug use per se. As the crack market matured, distribution methods became established and the profitability of crack distribution declined, crack related violence declined. Roland G. Fryer, Jr. Research Working Paper No. See, e. Crack became the only drug with a five-year mandatory federal sentence for simple possession. Under the infamous one-hundred-to-one ratio, five grams of crack cocaine garners a five-year mandatory sentence; it takes five-hundred grams of powder cocaine to get the same sentence. Similarly, fifty grams of crack cocaine versus five-thousand grams of powder cocaine triggers a ten-year mandatory sentence. The sentencing laws of ten states also distinguish between powder and crack cocaine. Because blacks are disproportionately arrested and convicted on crack charges blacks constitute the great preponderance of federal crack defendants , they bear the burden of the crack sentences which are on average These surveys are a reasonably reliable indicator of drug use. Because they are 'household' surveys, however, they undercount the homeless, people in jail and prison, and others without permanent homes. Blacks constitute about For example, in , Sent'g Comm'n, supra note 37, at fig. In recent surveys of youth ages twelve through seventeen, whites report higher illicit drug use than blacks. The proportion of white youths who reported using cocaine in the year prior to the survey 5. Howard N. Sociologist Pamela E. Oliver points out that 'most users of illegal drugs meet the legal definition of delivering illegal drugs because of the way an illegal market works, where people make buys and redistribute to their friends. Justice System, Final Report, at App. Analysis run August 26, Survey respondents were aged twelve or older. Hispanics and other races were reported separately from whites and blacks. Major changes in the survey methodology in , between and , and between and , create discontinuities in the time series that make it impossible to generate comparable trends. An estimate from one period cannot be compared to another because it is not possible to tell whether any differences are due to actual, real-world differences or simply to differences in survey methods. Figures for whites and blacks do not include Hispanics. White youths apparently also are more likely to sell drugs than black youths. Given the respective sizes of white and black youth populations, these rates would also translate into markedly greater numbers of young white than young black drug sellers. Lockwood et al. Jack Riley, Nat'l Inst. Cities Wilson, eds. Ryan S. Cities have more law enforcement resources per capita and higher arrests rates, which increases the likelihood of arrest for drug offending behavior. Human Rights Watch, Targeting Blacks The question answers itself. Stuntz, Race, Class and Drugs , 98 Colum. Stuntz also points out that the law of search and seizure disfavors drug law enforcement operations in upscale and hence predominantly white neighborhoods: serious cause is required to get a warrant to search a house, whereas it takes very little for police to initiate street encounters, indeed, 'no more than the sorts of information they can obtain through quick observation. There is considerable documentation of the practice of disproportionately stopping black drivers for minor traffic offenses as a pretext to search for drugs. Similarly, blacks have been disproportionately targeted in 'stop and frisk' operations in which police temporarily detain, question and pat down pedestrians. In recent years, a number of states and localities have taken action against racial profiling. For a different perspective on whether the stark racial disparities in 'stop and frisks' in New York City reflect racial profiling, see Office of the Att'y Gen. Police must rely on surveillance and tactics such as 'buy and bust' operations to make drug arrests. The circumstances of life and the public nature of drug transactions in poor urban neighborhoods make arrests there less difficult and less expensive than in other neighborhoods. Drug transactions in poor minority neighborhoods are more likely to be conducted on the streets, in public spaces, and between strangers, whereas in white neighborhoods, drugs are more likely to be sold indoors, in bars, clubs, and private homes. The stranger buying drugs on the urban street corner or in an alley, or overcoming local suspicions by hanging around for a few days and then buying drugs, was commonplace. Police undercover operations can succeed \[in working and middle class neighborhoods\] but they take longer, cost more, and are less likely to succeed. Prison Populations Revisited , 64 U. Justice 39 Bertram et al. The total number of reported arrests, 25,,, is less than the actual number because the arrest data only include those arrests reported by law enforcement agencies to the UCR Program and some agencies do not participate and others do not provide complete arrest data. Unless otherwise specified, information on drug arrests included here comes from Human Rights Watch, Decades of Disparity, supra note In , for example, the black-to-white ratio of drug arrest rates among the states ranges from a low of 2 to a high of In nine states, blacks were arrested on drug charges at rates more than seven times greater than whites. Of the increased , arrests for drugs during this period, In the years through , marijuana possession arrests accounted for between Human Rights Watch, Decades of Disparity, supra note 54, at. After marijuana, the drugs involved in the greatest number of arrests Nancy Rodriguez et. Drug Issues explaining that some studies have found whites use methamphetamine at much higher rates than non-Whites. Although most of the meth consumed in the U. Some evidence has suggested that whites are more likely to be involved in domestic meth production than Hispanics or blacks. See Laurence A. Census Bureau, American Fact Finder tbl. If the geographic region is extended to metropolitan areas, the black proportion declines slightly to Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States , at tbl. Thomas H. Percentage of black population calculated from data provided by Census data. Examples exist from other states as well. See Blumstein, supra note 59, at stating that increased racial disparity between arrest and sentencing include the type of drug offense possession or sale , the type of drug and the existence of a prior record. Prosecutorial discretion and quality of defense counsel also play a role. Human Rights Watch, Targeting Blacks, supra note 56, at The numbers do not include commitments from the District of Columbia Superior Court are excluded. The black rate of state prison admission on drug charges has grown much faster than the white rate: between and the rate of admission to prison for drug offenses for blacks quintupled; the white rate did not quite triple. Blacks have consistently accounted for the preponderance of federal offenders arrested and incarcerated for crack offenses. A Leadership Conference report in was the first major statement by the leading coalition of civil rights organizations about the harm to blacks and the goal of racial equality caused by drug law enforcement. Ronald H. Since then, the focus has been primarily on law enforcement. About two-thirds of the federal drug budget is allocated to interdiction, law enforcement and supply reduction efforts; one-third is allocated for prevention, treatment and other demand reduction strategies. Since then the focus has been primarily on law enforcement. About two-thirds of the federal drug budget is allocated to interdiction, law enforcement, and supply reduction efforts; one-third is allocated for prevention, treatment, and other demand reduction strategies. These proportions have not varied significantly in recent years. See Human Rights Watch, Targeting Blacks, supra note 56, at 2, summarizing the impact of incarceration on drug offenders, their families and their communities. Current policies cause much more harm than they prevent, and require tens of millions of dollars of annual expenditures on law enforcement and corrections that could be much more constructively committed to improving people's lives. See also Tonry, supra note Davis, U. Watts, F. Ayala, Fed. Capehart, WL 2d Cir. Beard, Fed. Williams, Fed. United States, S. Wideman, Fed. Williams, F. Poppel, F. Hunter, F. Brandon, F. Martin, 85 F. United States v. Gunter, F. Sentencing Commission Guidelines advisory in United States v. Booker, U. But see State v. Russell, N. Kemp, U. Wilson, U. The U. Sentencing Commission Guidelines previously mandated a one-hundred-to-one ratio between crack and powder cocaine sentences, following the ratio established in federal mandatory minimum legislation, in the wake of two recent Supreme Court decisions, federal courts have begun to apply much lower ratios. See Brian T. Research Serv. United States and the Impact of United States v. Booker 8 In United States v. Booker , U. United States , S. The Commission responded in by eliminating the one-hundred-to-one ratio except where mandatory minimums are triggered and recommended that Congress adjust the statutory ratio. Metro Housing Dev. See William M. Avery, F. Wilson, 90 F. Weaver, F. City of Oneonta, F. Courts have declined to apply strict scrutiny even when the petitioner has established that race was clearly the overriding motive. See Carter, supra , at As of April, , countries have ratified the treaty. The United States has submitted two reports. In addition, in it submitted written answers to questions from the Committee with regard to its submission prior to its meeting with the Committee in Geneva. The fourth, fifth and sixth periodic reports of the United States were submitted to the Committee as a single document in April, Gov't of the U. Non-governmental organizations may submit 'shadow reports' to supplement the party's official report. Slovakia, para The Committee made the observations after considering the initial, second and third periodic reports of the United States which were combined into one report. In addition to pointing out that various civil rights laws do not require proof of discriminatory intent, it has maintained that the requirement of intent required for claims under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is not be an obstacle to relief when circumstantial evidence which may include statistics, suffices as proof that the racial disparity was intentional. Independent observers of U. GAOR, 48th Sess. The Committee referred to the declaration adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in , which acknowledged and repudiated the persistence of racism 'in some States in the functioning of the penal system and in the application of the law, as well as in the actions and attitudes of institutions and individuals responsible for law enforcement, especially where this has contributed to certain groups being overrepresented among persons under detention or imprisoned. CERD, supra note The Special Rapporteur has observed that racial discrimination in criminal justice systems is 'not only 'behavioural or incidental but also institutional and structural. It also instructed the United States to 'take firm action to guarantee the right of everyone. In supplemental information provided in response to Committee questions about racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the United States reiterated the view that 'scholarly research indicates that disparities are related primarily to differential involvement in crime by the various groups, rather than to differential handling of persons in the criminal justice system. With regard to the possible role of socio-economic factors in the disproportionately high rates of minority incarceration, the United States simply stated that it would 'continue to work to eliminate the impact of such factors,' without specifying more. The United States did voice concern 'as a matter of public policy. It professed its commitment to continue to work to 'stamp out' any racially discriminatory practices that cause any racial disparities in the criminal justice system and to working to eliminate the impact of socio-economic factors on incarceration rates. No specifics were offered. This recommendation by the Committee reflects its view, enunciated in General Comment XXXI, of the importance of the creation and implementation of 'national strategies or plans of action aimed at the elimination of structural racial discrimination. Other international bodies have addressed racial profiling, a problem by no means limited to the United States. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination noted that. In other words, by targeting specific social groups, or the members of selected communities, the law enforcement agencies, often echoed and supported by the media, literally undertake to criminalize and stigmatize the members of these groups and communities and even whole areas where they live. Most of the time, the only profiling criterion, apart from skin colour, is external cultural or religious signs. The Special Rapporteur conducted a fact-finding mission to the United States in mid As of April 29, , findings from that report have not been published. The Committee urged the United States to undertake studies to identify the underlying factors for this discrimination so that it could then develop strategies to eliminate them. The Committee recommended the elimination of life without parole sentences for persons under age eighteen at the time of the offense. The Committee recommended that the denial of voting rights occur only when defendants have been convicted of the 'most serious crimes' and that the right to vote be automatically restored at the end of the criminal sentence. States should seek to eliminate the discriminatory effects of such legislation and in any case to respect the principle of proportionality in its application to persons belong to such groups. Legal F. Sobota Lecture , 63 Alb. In surveys carried out during the years , an average of 5. In the survey, 8. The persons surveyed were age twelve or older. During , an estimated , men and women entered prison on drug charges. Yet during that period, the proportion of persons age twelve and older who used illicit drugs remained essentially unchanged. Even the use of crack continues: in there were an estimated , users in and in that number had risen to an estimated , As Theodor Meron has pointed out, '\[T\]he Convention does not indicate that states can invoke a range of considerations to justify failure to take immediate steps towards implementing the equal achievement goal and can balance that goal with other desired community goals. Minnesota's Council on Crime and Justice recently concluded that the 'disparity between how different races have been treated in the war on drugs undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system, causing people to lose confidence that the system is even-handed and works equally for the benefit of all citizens. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Join our movement today. Countries Africa All Africa. Burkina Faso. Central African Republic. Democratic Republic of Congo. Equatorial Guinea. Eswatini formerly Swaziland. Sierra Leone. South Africa. South Sudan. Americas All Americas. Costa Rica. Dominican Republic. El Salvador. Asia All Asia. China and Tibet. Myanmar Burma. North Korea. Papua New Guinea. South Korea. Sri Lanka. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Czech Republic. European Union. Holy See. United Kingdom. Saudi Arabia. United Arab Emirates. United States All United States. Criminal Justice. Economic Justice. Racial Justice. US Foreign Policy. Topics Arms. Children's Rights. Crisis and Conflict. Disability Rights. Economic Justice and Rights. Environment and Human Rights. Free Speech. LGBT Rights. Refugees and Migrants. Rights of Older People. International Justice. Technology and Rights. United Nations. Women's Rights. Take Action. Join Us Our Committees. Film Festival. Legacies for Justice. Voices for Justice. About Careers. About Us. Social Media. Human Rights Education. Financials and Fundraising Policy. Give Now Make a One-time Gift. Give Monthly. Gifts in Wills and Trusts. Partners for Justice. Stock or Wire Transfer. Give from Your IRA. Donate Now. English Choose your language. More Languages. Would you like to see a version of this page that loads faster by showing text only? Yes No, don't ask again. Human Rights Watch. Racial Discrimination Under International Human Rights Law Conclusion Since the mids, the United States has pursued aggressive law enforcement strategies to curtail the use and distribution of illegal drugs. Part I: Race Defines the Problem Race has been and remains inextricably involved in drug law enforcement, shaping the public perception of and response to the drug problem. The researchers ultimately concluded that the Seattle Police Department's drug law enforcement efforts reflect implicit racial bias: the unconscious impact of race on official perceptions of who and what constitutes Seattle's drug problem. Incarceration The racial disparities evident in drug arrests grow larger as cases wind their way through the criminal justice system. Race, Crime, and Punishment Just as conscious and unconscious racial notions helped define the drug problem, they have also helped shape political and policy responses to that problem. United States Law Drug laws are race-neutral on their face. Supreme Court has decided that every lawsuit involving claims of racial discrimination directed at facially race-neutral rules would be conducted as a search for a 'bigoted-decision-maker'. Racial Discrimination Under International Human Rights Law Equality among all people, including among persons of different races, has been deemed 'the most important principle imbuing and inspiring the concept of human rights. It defines the prohibited discrimination as: \[A\]ny distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. The Committee noted that the definition of racial discrimination used in \[U. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination noted that \[i\]n a number of countries certain racial or ethnic minorities are associated in the minds of the authorities with certain types of crimes and antisocial acts, such as drug trafficking. Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world. Related content. More Reading. October 17, Dispatches. October 16, News Release. October 16, Report. August 21, Report. Most Viewed. August 15, Dispatches. August 29, Dispatches. October 29, Report. July 17, News Release. September 21, News Release. Protecting Rights, Saving Lives Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in close to countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice. Enter an email address Leave blank Leave blank Leave blank. An error occurred while subscribing your email address. Please try again.

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