War on Drugs and The Prison Industrial Complex

“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."--Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President. 18 Dec. 1840

CCA houses over 80,000 inmates in
more than 60 facilities across the US.

In 1971, President Nixon declared an all out "War on Drugs" under the guise of benefiting the population by halting the trafficking in drugs in the United States, when, in fact, the motivations for starting this "war" were rooted in racism, greed, "empire building", and maintaining/gaining power and control. The proof is its success in meeting its true goals.  Because 42 years later, well over one million  non-violent offenders are incarcerated and   3,278 non-violent offenders are serving life without parole, not to mention, there are more drugs circulating than ever before. How is that proof?  Well, follow the money...and the drugs, legal and illegal.

The only people experiencing consequences from this "war" are the poor, not the ones who profit/benefit most from the drug trade: the banksters who launder the money and profit immensely!

Then  President Reagan’s Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986  fueled the prison boom, bringing in a lot more profit because it allowed privately owned corporations to build and operate prisons.  Today, it's a $50 billion industry, with prison quotas that push lawmakers to fill 90% of the beds! Not only that, the criminalization of Americans is profitable to these corporations because they equip them with essentially free labor...slave labor.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group [previously Wackenhut], the two largest private prison companies in this country, push for criminal justice legislation, including mandatory minimum sentences such as California’s three-strikes law “that increase the number of inmates who enter and stay in prison.” ITPI reported that CCA and GEO Group have also contributed to legislation like "Arizona Senate Bill 1070, requiring law enforcement to arrest anyone who cannot prove they entered the country legally when asked.”

Tulia Texas is a prime example. Undercover narcotics officer, Tom Coleman arrested 46 people - nearly all of them black - on charges of being cocaine dealers, sending many of them to prison for a total of 750 years. as part of a $500 million effort to fight the war on drugs in rural America

As the following documentary points out, one of the main achievments of the "War on Drugs" is "profiting from the felonization of sick people.



Links:

Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program

The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor

School to Prison Pipeline

Ill-Gotten Gains, The Rockefeller War on Drugs