"Although overt discrimination has diminished in the criminal justice system over recent decades, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we continue to grapple with the perceptions of and the reality of unfairness in our justice system"

A PENDULUM SHIFT

towards sensible drug policy

Even though drugs like Marijuana have gained unprecedented momentum throughout varying states, such as Alaska, California, and Colorado, there are still issues surrounding the drug. There are still around 700,000 people arrested for marijuana offenses each year, and almost 500,000 inmates behind bars for nothing more than a drug policy violation (DPA, 2017).
Progress is inevitably going to be slow, even with an administration who is willing to reform, there are unprecedented momentums that sit behind drug policy reform. Punishment for drug law violation is not only faced with the struggle by the criminal justice system, but also through policies that prevent daily tasks such as voting rights, employment, student aid, public housing, and other public assistance to those with criminal convictions. These preventions to living a normal life force ex-convicts to live with a second-class status. Similar to the issue itself, the war on drugs, these disenfranchisement policies disproportionately affect people of color. The purpose of this project was to acknoweldgee the discrimination and disproportionate drug law enforcement through the system that enforces it. The United States needs systems that work to eliminate polices that result in the unfair criminalization in communities of color by receding on mandatory minimum sentencing and by addressing the historical and current over-surveillance of these communities through the use of law enforcement. The decriminalization of drug possession and establishment of drug courts at a federal level would not only decrease the cause of disproportionate arrests but also help more people receive drug treatment when appropriate and reduce the re-entry rate in prisons. Ending policies that exclude people with drug arrests or convictions, such as barriers to voting, employment, and other opportunities would allow ex-convicts to contribute to society rather than deter it.