When Addiction has a White Face

          The crack epidemic throughout the 1980s was met head-on by lawmakers and enforcers with what we refer to as the 'war on drugs'. During this time, inner city African-Americans were often viewed parallel with drugs, gangs, and violence. As the media began broadcasting terrifying images of violent, addicted black Americans, the race as a whole was engulfed by a nationwide stereotype which attributed nearly all black Americans with drugs and violence. The result of this was brutal and unjust treatment of African-Americans by the police and court systems. This discriminatory treatment stretched wide and far, even to those who were never involved with or had committed any crime. As the epidemic took hold of America, we saw black Americans beaten and incarcerated time and time and time again, while having little to no effect on crime or addiction which both continued to spread.

          Today, addiction has a new face, and it's white. Heroin is being shipped in from the Mountains of Mexico and white, suburban Americans are now the target market. "Deaths from heroin rose to 8,260 in 2013, quadrupling since 2000 and aggravating what some were already calling the worst drug overdose epidemic in United States history" (Seelye). As the tide of addiction and overdose shifted from Crack to Heroine, and from black, urban Americans to white, suburban Americans, a huge discrepancy in policy and enforcement became evident throughout the criminal justice system. "When the face of addiction had dark skin, this nation’s police did not see sons and daughters, sister and brothers. They saw 'brothas,' young thugs to be locked up, rather than 'people with a purpose in life'" (Yankah). As empowered whites saw friends, coworkers, and family start overdosing, it finally hit home. Rather than incarcerating the masses of heroin addicts, like we saw with crack addicts in the '80s, policymakers decided that treatment and harm reduction are the best policies. The U.S. could have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars by attempting to introducing these policies during the 80s. Although it's altruistic to implement these policies now, it's a shame that it took so long to realize that this was the right path.

Seelye, Katharine Q., (2015). In Heroine Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs. The New York Times.

Yankah, Ekow N., (2016). When Addiction Has a White Face. The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/opinion/when-addiction-has-a-white-face.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/us/heroin-war-on-drugs-parents.html