Making Opium illegal criminalized Chinese immigrants.
Making Marijuana illegal criminalized Central and South American immigrants.
Harsh sentences on crack cocaine incarcerated African-Americans.
Yet legalized alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug companies funnel huge profits to White executives and shareholders.

President Richard Nixon officially declared a “war on drugs” in 1971. But the “crack” hysteria of the 1980s set the stage for aggressive policing of black and minority communities, zero‐​tolerance policies, and punitive prison sentences. The “war on drugs” provided both rationale and excuse for militarization of police departments, and increased arrests for minor, non-violent offenses.

Drug arrests and prosecutions disproportionately affect black Americans. Black Americans represent 13% of the population in the U.S. and about the same percentage of drug users, but they represent 44% of those incarcerated for drug crimes. 

The penalty for possessing crack cocaine is about 18 times more than possessing powdered cocaine, the only difference being that crack cocaine contains baking soda and water and is sold in smaller, cheaper quantities.

Today, 2.7 million children in America have a parent behind bars. These children are more likely to be incarcerated during their lifetime than other children, and are disproportionately children of color.