If Opioid 2017 is a Epidemic ? What was Crack 1986


I found it interesting that the big push across the nation for the legalization of marijuana is largely due to the opioid and heroine epidemic that some are wanting to call it a national emergency. The powers that be hope that through legalizing marijuana they can trade one drug for a another. During the 1980s 5 million Americans became addicted to crack cocaine lives were destroyed and lost through numerous deaths and incarcerations. It is interesting that somehow crack didn't warrant being declared a national epidemic and that no legislators considered it such.The fact it was primarily regulated to urban communities and destroying  thousands of black families was unimportant. I didn't hear or see any propaganda or declaration for a national emergency,their were no discussion of treating the addiction as a medical condition, the only decision was jail the maximum jail sentence. I find this amazing because for anyone who has ever seen a person high or addicted to crack its one of the worst  demoralizing things you will ever see. The effects are immediate and obvious and totally worthy of medical intervention.  Fast forward present day, heroine knows no boundaries, knows no colors, but the application of punishment suddenly is less ferocious, the cry for help is heard in every media outlet,  were now willing legalize a drug hoping to induce a downward trade what was once considered illegal.  They cry for help in the inner city has always fell on deaf ears but when its pain is felt outside the walls of its pre-determined place of existence only then shall they be heard only then will they have a voice.

Comments

  1. Kyle MillerAugust 2, 2017 at 7:59 PM

    James, Thanks for highlighting this. Anyone with a critical eye can see the colors changes in these two events and see the obvious truth as to why it's a national epidemic this time and was only a public nuisance last time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. T. A. CornuteAugust 3, 2017 at 5:35 AM

    James, your post reminds me of the differences in crack penalties and cocaine penalties. The same drug, with the same effects, in different forms, were prevalent in different communities.

    I also think this post is very insightful. The schools in which we will work, MAY very well be positioned in communities with rampant drug activity. Not to scare anyone, but we as leaders must remain sensitive to the culture surrounding our buildings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Willie CookAugust 3, 2017 at 7:39 AM

    James, you are dead on sir! I actually wrote about the David Webb article, "Dark Alliance" where the CIA worked with and bought drugs from Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan...basically any communist latin countries who had paramilitaries, and then funneled those drugs into black communities in the 70s and 80s to stop the Black Panther uprising. I assigned this in tandem with the Ta-Nehisi readings...it gives you a dual view of the same situation. You are absolutely correct, once the drug epidemic reaches the doorstep of suburban America, all of a sudden, heaven and earth are moved to the point that there are antidotes in schools now. However, folks in Watts, LA, Chicago, Detroit...die and communities and families destroyed by crack. It is incredible how overt, yet covert these reactions are. Yet, those with are blind to the plight of those without.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 3, 2017 at 7:49 AM

    YES!!!!! There are a variety of articles that discuss this observation. I find it to be extremely interesting and disturbing that this issue is treated like a "new" challenge like it has never been seen before.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownAugust 3, 2017 at 10:58 AM

    Perhaps saddest of all is that neither political party tries to solve this sort of problem. The electoral process doesn't give you a choice to address the problem you lay out, James. Leaders of all races, male and female, come and go, but this issue lays dormant over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Keona WalkerAugust 23, 2017 at 10:51 PM

    It's things like this that make me mad, but I don't know how to channel that anger. What should I be doing to see that 1-those that are using crack are being offered treatment and not jail time and 2- what should I be doing to further educate myself on this and other topics. Knowing more about this situation makes me realize that I need to do some more reading, but I know I will end up more upset. As Baldwin once said "To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in rage almost all the time". But if I'm in rage, I mess up my chance at a job because I am "an angry black woman". smh

    ReplyDelete

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