We all know the terrible consequences of the War on Drugs, the consequences of which are increasingly being acknowledged by very people who once were its champions. They tell us that the horrendous damage done was never anticipated or desired but is that true?
Quote:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2573832
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The Harper's article cited in the NYDN piece is here.
http://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/