Nixon advisor: We created the war on drugs to “criminalize” black people and • Hacker News Board

Re: Nixon advisor: We created the war on drugs to “criminalize” black people and

#21

Post by autopov » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 8:04 PM UTC

merpnderp wrote: post #8

It's my understanding that nearly everyone who went to jail for Watergate was incredibly angry at Nixon for throwing them under the bus and letting them actually do time. If Nixon was a bigoted racist or just a really bad president, is hard to tell from a guy with a huge ax to grind and waiting 40 years to spill the beans.

HR Haldeman wasn't incredibly angry. I knew him and his family. One anecdote is that around 1990 Nixon was in Santa Barbara. Bob knew when Dick's motorcade would be passing by and walked to the end of his driveway and waved to Nixon as he passed. Time heals most wounds.

Bob did the prison time and Jo started a career to support the family. I've read Jo's unpublished autobiography. The saga was difficult for them—especially Peter, the youngest son—but they paid their dues and moved on.

Re: Nixon advisor: We created the war on drugs to “criminalize” black people and

#22

Post by stevewillows » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 9:11 PM UTC

There's a fantastic documentary on the failed 'war on drugs' called 'The House I Live In' from Eugene Jarecki (http://www.thehouseilivein.org).

It suggests that the criminalization of narcotics (opium, cocaine, marijuana, etc) was set in motion purely as a way to prevent non-whites from 'stealing jobs.'

Whether you agree with this or not, it's an interesting view. It also gets into crack and the massive penalties that come with crack possession vs cocaine possession.

Re: Nixon advisor: We created the war on drugs to “criminalize” black people and

#23

Post by digi_owl » Sat, Mar 26, 2016, 4:26 PM UTC

hackuser wrote: post #6

Many questions: Other countries also made these drugs illegal. Was it around the same time? It seems unlikely they also had Nixon's motives, but then why did they do it? Did the U.S. establish the trend? Pressure others? Or perhaps Nixon saw the trend already happening and was opportunistic about it? Would it have happened eventually if not for Nixon? However, if drugs are illegal in most countries, why would the U.S…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_... may be of interest.

Now one may wonder what cannabis is doing on the same schedule as cocaine and opium though.