Cause or Effect? | “A War on Poor People”: Speaking Out Against Drug Criminalization (original) (raw)
Interestingly, Massaro in her paper on “The Intimate Entrenchment of Philadelphia’s Drug War” states that those in power viewed “Poverty, unemployment, and under-education” as “curable through the elimination of the drug economy.” This view is the exact opposite of how Moses and the growing body of literature on the issue suggest the drug crisis should be handled. Many hold the misconception that drugs are the cause of societal issues such as poverty, unemployment, and poor education, however, the inverse is often true. The above markers predispose communities to having high incidences of substance abuse (Gutman). Consequently, addressing these problems would be a better alternative to the harsh policing methods of the past.