Is the War on Drugs Over?

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

An increasingly popular narrative touted by the NY Times and other liberal media outlets is that the “war on drugs” in communities of color has been scaled back. Evidence of this in NYC is said to include the end of “stop and frisk” tactics by the NYPD, the emptying of upstate prisons, the drive to close Rikers Island, the expansion of drug treatment services to more people, and a new “attitude” toward addiction that sees drug use as a disease rather than a moral failure. The shift to policies and practices that are “smart” on drugs rather than “tough” drugs has been explained as an outcome of the “whitening” of the population of drug users. But an alternative explanation is that many of the changes in the system are the result of the drive to privatize the justice system via the monetization of clients that were formerly a drag on state budgets. This poster examines the claims of both sides.

Authors

• Nicholas Batka, The Graduate Center, John Jay College / CUNY

• Maria Caba, The Graduate Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY

• Yanni Gray, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Dana Waite, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Brian Karabolli, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Krystian Surdel, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY