The End of Policing

Vitale calls for the decriminalization of drugs. He points out how policies aimed at curtailing drug use, from the Harrison Act (1914), the Reagan Administration’s offensive on drug use, and the Clinton Administration expansion in drug crimes have done nothing to curtail the use of drugs in the US. In its wake, Vitale argues that mass incarceration, especially of African Americans and Latinos, has only served to create human rights violations and abuses in America’s privatized prison systems. Vitale believes that politicians have used this as a soap box over the last century to garner votes by creating moral panics and ignoring evidence that drug use in itself becomes particularly dangerous through policing. He argues that there is no tangible evidence to support the idea that decriminalizing drugs would increase its use amongst Americans any more than legalizing marijuana has in countries like the Netherlands and Canada.

Laws developed over the last century have specifically targeted marginalized groups more so than any other group. As a result, there is a disproportionate number of Black citizens and people of color in prison compared to their white counterparts. Worryingly, Vitale argues that the war on drugs has also legitimized the use of paramilitary tactics by police.