war on drugs Archives - Rolling Out

The crack-cocaine era of the 1980s was the genocidal pill that was administered to Black Americans following the advancements of the civil rights era. Millions of Black families lost their loved ones and even themselves to the powdery substance that could be injected or snorted. The “War on Drugs” that was started by President Richard Nixon…

The Morehouse School of Medicine hosted “Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health.” Moderator Deborah Small explains how U.S. drug policy has a global impact. She is one of only 2K Black lawyers that are Harvard graduates in its history.

Pregnant woman

The Morehouse School of Medicine hosted Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health. The event brought together leading activists, students, and members of the community to discuss the ongoing War on Drugs and the devastating impact it has had on the Black community. One particular…

Morehouse School of Medicine hosted “Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health.” The event brought together leading activists, students, and members of the community. One such person was Brenda Smith, who says collective economics is the key.

In colonial America, successful crops and products were addictive substances rum, tobacco, and sugar. These crops were planted by slaves to continue the addiction cycle. Asha Bandele explains it all at Not One Step Back: Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health.

It has been 47 years since President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs” that was in fact also a systemic war on Blacks in America. Although much attention is given to the incarceration of Black men, a growing number of Black women are also being jailed at a higher rate. Although drug use and drug…

Rev. Ken Glasgow is a prime example of the continuing impact of the nation’s “war on drugs.” He spent years in prison for being addicted to crack. Glasgow spoke at “Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health” event.

Most experts and data confirm that the American war on drugs was focused on the Black community, but its racist origins go back to the fear of Mexican immigrants. Alyssa Aguilera spoke at Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health.

Susan Burton is the founder and director of A New Way of Life, an org that provides housing and support to formerly incarcerated women. Her journey started when her son was killed by a police officer; to deal with the grief, she turned to drugs.

In 1985, Kemba Smith became a victim of the war on drugs. The former Hampton University student was in an abusive relationship with a drug-dealing boyfriend. Smith spoke at the “Not One Step Back: One Day Strategy Session on the Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Public Health” event.

Jay Z has slammed the war on drugs as an “epic fail” that has disproportionately targeted Latino and Black males. The “99 Problems” rapper has narrated a spirited op-ed video for the New York Times, in which he argued tough narcotics laws implemented by President Richard Nixon and extended by President Ronald Reagan have reaped little benefit.…

“The forces behind the drug war seem to be achieving their desired outcome. The pharmaceutical industry is winning, the prison industrial complex is winning, the anti-hemp industries are winning, and the Drug Enforcement Agency’s budget explodes every year as it conducts more operations and seizes more assets,” marijuana advocate and former governor Jesse Ventura agreed…

President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 61 federal inmates Wednesday as a part of his ongoing effort to grant clemency to those harshly sentenced during the war on drugs era. Obama wrote a letter to the inmates, one-third of whom were serving life sentences, according to The Washington Post. “The power to grant pardons…

The war on drugs has always been a war on minorities and poor people. Congressman Hank Johnson recently revealed how President Obama seeks to put an end to the disturbing trend. Edit: Justin Dennis

In case you’ve missed it, HBO is currently running “The Wire” marathon over the holiday season. People who already adored the show are getting a refresher course in just how well written and true to life “The Wire” was. Those tuning in for the first time are being blown away by its grit. One of the…

On the “A” w/Souleo Nearly 12 years ago, Sage Gallon was just getting clean after a decade of smoking crack. He’s now reliving those days of substance abuse but this time as a photographer. In his photographic essay, “Crack(s)” Gallon presents Baby Dee, a man in his mid-30s and in the throes of drug abuse.…

Carl Hart has dedicated himself to examining the effects of drug use and drug laws. Hart, who serves as an associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, is also a former member of the United Nations reference group for intravenous drug use and HIV. As rolling out’s black intellectual of the week, we highlight several…

DEA: 100,000 gang members selling drugs in Black neighborhoods.

The last time Shelly Hilliard was seen alive, a cab driver dropped her off at her home where three men were said to have been waiting for her. She was found burned to death a few hours later. Police have filed murder charges against Qasim Raqib, a man previously arrested in a drug sting in…

The definition of conspiracy is “an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons.” The word is used daily in state and federal courtrooms across the country to convict countless defendants in America’s famously failed War on Drugs. Anyone who has faced a federal conspiracy indictment knows the government…