To defend their actions in starting unprovoked wars, and colonizing other countries, our leaders often claim that we are the most advanced country in the world, and we must spread our concepts of democracy, freedom, opportunity, and tolerance. Yet, we actually are the world’s largest system of denying freedom.
According to statistics from the ACLU, the US makes up 5% of the world’s population, yet houses 25% of the world’s prison population. Since 1970, the US prison population has increased 700%. Much of this has been caused by the War on Drugs, which requires draconian prison sentences.
The War on Drugs has been just as much a failure as all our other artificially created wars, and the consequences have been the same – it’s the least of society who has suffered the most because of it.
To read more on this topic, visit President Obama commutes non-violent drug sentences in move to reduce mass incarceration by Bethania Palma Markus
