The Opioid Crisis vs. The War on Drugs:
A Case Study in Structural Bias
Sources + Links
Abstract:
There is a noticeable disparity in the severity of the government response to the “Opioid Crisis” compared to the “War on Drugs.” In this infographic I have set out to explain how, and why, the U.S. government has favored rehabilitation and lenient sentencing to victims of the Opioid Crisis while harshly punishing those entangled with the War on Drugs. This preferential treatment is influenced by both racial demographics as well as political monetary contributions.
Slide 2 - Marijuana vs. Opioids:
Marijuana:
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0 U.S. deaths per year.
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600,000+ yearly arrests for marijuana possession.
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Black Americans are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Americans.
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(Source: ACLU, NORML.org)
Opioids:
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47,000+ U.S. deaths per year.
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$25.5 billion industry
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Black Americans are 35 times less likely to be admitted to a hospital for opioid addiction than white Americans.
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(Source: The Center for Disease Control (CDC), Addictioncenter)
Slide 3 - Difference in Punishment:
War on Drugs:
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$47 billion spent every year to incarcerate drug offenders
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(Source: Drugpolicy.org)
Opioid Crisis:
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$2.5 billion spent every year on opioid addiction treatment.
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(Source: National Institute of Health)
Slide 5 - Community Demographics
War on Drugs:
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Communities are disproportionately BIPOC and Latinx.
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The government response has been to institute mandatory minimums for drug offenders (a required amount of jail time for possession).
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(Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine)
Opioid Crisis:
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Communities are majority white and suburban
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The government response has been to create “office-based recovery,” allowing some offenders to pay for rehabilitation
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(Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine)
Slide 6 - Influence of Lobbying:
Reform Advocacy:
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Drug policy reform groups spend less than $1 million each year lobbying government officials to restructure prisons.
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Leading groups: Drug Policy Alliance, Can-Do Foundation
Pharmaceutical Lobbying:
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Pharmaceutical companies and PACs spend over $220 million each year lobbying government officials to protect harmful drugs like opioids.
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Leading groups: Pfizer, Amgen, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Slide 7 - Similarity in Racial Makeup of Opioid Crisis and U.S. Congress:
Why does the government care more about the Opioid Crisis than the victims of the War on Drugs? The answer lays in the demographics of both the crisis and the government itself. An estimated 79.8% of opioid overdosers in the U.S. are white. Coincidentally, the U.S. Congress was 79.8% white for many years of the crisis. Although these numbers are a coincidental anomaly, I believe they give a psychological explanation for the racial bias and preferential treatment exhibited toward the Opioid Crisis.
Slide 8 - Conclusion:
During the Opioid Crisis the U.S. government has advocated for rehabilitation and recovery. That sympathy is severely lacking for the countless BIPOC and Latinx people brutalized by the War on Drugs.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121004/
https://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war
https://norml.org/marijuana/fact-sheets/racial-disparity-in-marijuana-arrests/
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/analysis.html
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/opioids-market
https://www.addictioncenter.com/news/2019/10/racial-disparities-opioid-addiction-treatment/
https://drugabusestatistics.org/drug-war-cost/
https://www.november.org/resources/resources-reform.html
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