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UVSS HEMPOLOGY 101 CLUB LESSON #7 : FAMILIES AND THE DRUG WAR - Part 2 |
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Since the mid-1980’s the mass media
and many members of the medical profession have demonized expectant
mothers who use illicit drugs, viewing them as unfit parents who damage
their unborn children through their continued drug use. The combination of
our fear of illicit drugs, moralism, and the regulation of reproduction,
the suspected breakdown of the family and of traditional gender roles,
racism, sexism and classism has contributed to the social construction of
mothers who use illicit drugs as scapegoats who embody all that is feared
and considered evil in Western society. Will Foster was a productive citizen who paid his
taxes, served in the US army and had his own computer programmer/analyst
business for 5 years. He, his wife, Megan, and their 3 children were
leading ordinary lives in Oklahoma. Will has crippling rheumatoid
arthritis in his feet, hips, lower back and hands. He did not like
the side effects of the drugs his doctors prescribed, which were mostly
codeine-based and highly addictive. These drugs left him moody,
tired and edgy, making it difficult to enjoy his family and perform his
work. On Dec 28, 1995, based on a secret tip from a ‘confidential
informant’, police entered the Foster’s home with a ‘John Doe’ search
warrant for methamphetamine. They found no methamphetamine. What
they did find was his basement garden- 66 cannabis plants- and $28.
Will refused to take a deal and asked for a jury trial instead. He was
sentenced to a total of 93 years- 70 years for marijuana cultivation, 20
years for possession of marijuana in the presence of a minor child (his
own), 2 years for possession with intent to distribute and 1 year for not
having a tax stamp. His sentence was reduced to 20 years on appeal.
The S.A.M.H.S.A. today announced that current illicit drug use among youth ages 12-17 continues to decline. The rate has been moving downward from 11.6 percent using drugs in the past month in 2002 to 11.2 percent in 2003, 10.6 percent in 2004 and 9.9 percent in 2005. The baby boomer generation presents a different story. Among adults aged 50 to 59, the rate of current illicit drug use increased from 2.7 percent to 4.4 percent between 2002 and 2005. U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, Press Release, Sept 7, 2006 |
In Britain, Canada and in the U.S. a new punitiveness toward women drug users, especially single parents, has emerged since the 1970’s. These women are depicted as producing social problems and draining already strapped social, medical and criminal justice services. Their perceived unwillingness to work, to follow doctor’s orders, to refrain from using drugs not approved by the medical profession and justice agents, and their unfitness to parent justifies cutbacks in social and economic services and increased criminal justice spending. Women who are suspected of using drugs are vulnerable to inter-locking and competing spheres of formal and informal control. However, not all women are impacted similarly, poor women and women of color are most vulnerable to state and non-state intervention. In addition, although state and non-state intervention is patriarchal, women are also instrumental in regulating and punishing women constructed as ‘less moral’ than themselves. Women in Third World nations such as Columbia and women of color and Aboriginal women continue to be negatively affected by colonization in all its diverse effects. The punishment of women who use illegal drugs, especially pregnant women, challenges the rights and reproductive autonomy of all women. Susan Boyd, FROM WITCHES TO CRACK MOMS, 2004. Although the proportion of our citizens using illegal drugs is spread across all segments of society, a vast majority of those imprisoned for drug related crimes are the poor and the minority populations. Citizens released from prisons having served their time for drug related offences carry the stigma of ‘drug felon,’ limiting their ability to find work, obtain a mortgage, or receive federal college loans. Children are being lured or coerced from school to the streets to participate in a drug economy, which offers an (unrealistic) opportunity to become rich. The double problem of the addicted citizen and the crime-related economy supporting that addiction imposes a cost on society which must be paid using the same resources needed for improving education, public safety and quality of life. As a result, a small segment of society is holding the remainder hostage in an environment of danger, fear, low educational attainment, and low job opportunities. White Paper, City of Hartford, Oct 2005 |
