Women and the War on Drugs
Feb. 12th, 2008 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unusualmusic_lj_archiveFeatures > February 8, 2008
Women Behind Bars
War on drugs leads to explosion of female incarcerations
By Silja J.A. Talvi
Sure, cocaine can kill you, but the U.S. government classifies it as less harmful than marijuana.
Oklahoman Tina Thomas has been caught up in the American war on drugs.
In many respects, she fits the common profile of a woman doing time for a drug-related offense. Her crimes have ranged from possession to check forgery and theft, including an arrest for trying to steal a $64 comforter from Wal-Mart. Eventually sentenced to a two-year state prison term, Thomas admits that she committed her crimes to feed the “800-pound gorilla on my back that I just hadn’t been able to shake.”
Thomas is part of an alarming statistical trend and a modern-day American phenomenon. For starters, she is one of half a million people (roughly one-fourth of the total prison population) locked up on drug-related charges. Thomas is also an inmate in a state that locks up women at one of the highest per capita rates—129 per 100,000 residents, a figure that is right behind Texas, the federal system and California. Oklahoma’s imprisonment of women rose a stunning 1,237 percent from 1997 to 2004.
Drug addiction is what led Thomas down the river to prison, she admits freely. What’s a bit more unusual about her is that she holds a medical doctorate from the University of Illinois, and was a practicing neurologist and professor at a teaching hospital. She stood out in her field to such a degree that her colleagues felt uncomfortable around here, particularly after she disclosed she was a lesbian. What Thomas didn’t disclose, however, was an early childhood marred by incest, the lingering pain from which she used cocaine as an escape. Unfortunately, her cocaine use took a painful turn into a full-blown crack addiction.
Read the rest here
Via Feministe which also has a deconstruction of article.
What struck me about the article was one, the fact that Afr. Americans were 15% of the drug using population but by far the majority of those being arrested, and two, the fact that loads of middle and uppper class people are drug users too. My roommate advised me of this last year and I had a load of trouble believing it. I mean, poor people of colour were the ones being demonised on the news and on television shows every day. Upperclass people were shown using drugs are usually using it as a response to trauma or something, and they go into rehab. Poor people, especially people of colour? Are evil lazy school dropouts and deserved to be punished by jail.
And to make matters worse, apparently drug taking is much more serious than sexual assault. How else do you explain the fact that a drug offender can't get federal help of any kind, including schooling, while a sexual assault offender can? How in the world is this considered equitable and just? And if one has to identify one's self as a felon, the chances of work drop dramatically. There is no provision for societal reentry as a productive citizen. No wonder the recidivism rate is climbing.
In my opinion, the prison system is too focused on punishment. There should be much more emphasis on rehabilitation for non-violent crimes, especially first and second offenders. Prisons for drug use are silly. Rehab makes way better sense, along with education and job skills for those who need. And they really need to stop singling out drug users for exemption from gov't help. It's further punishment which doesn't make any sense.
Women Behind Bars
War on drugs leads to explosion of female incarcerations
By Silja J.A. Talvi
Sure, cocaine can kill you, but the U.S. government classifies it as less harmful than marijuana.
Oklahoman Tina Thomas has been caught up in the American war on drugs.
In many respects, she fits the common profile of a woman doing time for a drug-related offense. Her crimes have ranged from possession to check forgery and theft, including an arrest for trying to steal a $64 comforter from Wal-Mart. Eventually sentenced to a two-year state prison term, Thomas admits that she committed her crimes to feed the “800-pound gorilla on my back that I just hadn’t been able to shake.”
Thomas is part of an alarming statistical trend and a modern-day American phenomenon. For starters, she is one of half a million people (roughly one-fourth of the total prison population) locked up on drug-related charges. Thomas is also an inmate in a state that locks up women at one of the highest per capita rates—129 per 100,000 residents, a figure that is right behind Texas, the federal system and California. Oklahoma’s imprisonment of women rose a stunning 1,237 percent from 1997 to 2004.
Drug addiction is what led Thomas down the river to prison, she admits freely. What’s a bit more unusual about her is that she holds a medical doctorate from the University of Illinois, and was a practicing neurologist and professor at a teaching hospital. She stood out in her field to such a degree that her colleagues felt uncomfortable around here, particularly after she disclosed she was a lesbian. What Thomas didn’t disclose, however, was an early childhood marred by incest, the lingering pain from which she used cocaine as an escape. Unfortunately, her cocaine use took a painful turn into a full-blown crack addiction.
Read the rest here
Via Feministe which also has a deconstruction of article.
What struck me about the article was one, the fact that Afr. Americans were 15% of the drug using population but by far the majority of those being arrested, and two, the fact that loads of middle and uppper class people are drug users too. My roommate advised me of this last year and I had a load of trouble believing it. I mean, poor people of colour were the ones being demonised on the news and on television shows every day. Upperclass people were shown using drugs are usually using it as a response to trauma or something, and they go into rehab. Poor people, especially people of colour? Are evil lazy school dropouts and deserved to be punished by jail.
And to make matters worse, apparently drug taking is much more serious than sexual assault. How else do you explain the fact that a drug offender can't get federal help of any kind, including schooling, while a sexual assault offender can? How in the world is this considered equitable and just? And if one has to identify one's self as a felon, the chances of work drop dramatically. There is no provision for societal reentry as a productive citizen. No wonder the recidivism rate is climbing.
In my opinion, the prison system is too focused on punishment. There should be much more emphasis on rehabilitation for non-violent crimes, especially first and second offenders. Prisons for drug use are silly. Rehab makes way better sense, along with education and job skills for those who need. And they really need to stop singling out drug users for exemption from gov't help. It's further punishment which doesn't make any sense.
