In the summer of 1971, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs.” Today, with over 2 million people behind bars, the U.S. is the world's most carceral nation. Many of those serving time are there for crimes related to drugs. Meanwhile, more than 70,000 people died last year as a result of drug overdoses. Nearly 50 years later, the so-called War on Drugs is failing. And advocates for reform have long argued that punitive policies have not reduced the flow of drugs across the country but have actually strengthened illicit drug markets, creating risky and unhealthy conditions for drug users by focusing on the criminal element of drug use instead of seeing it through a lens of healthcare access and social justice. In this episode of Latino USA, Maritza Perez from the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, DC breaks down the racial history behind the War on Drugs and why decriminalization may be the only way to end the persecution of people of color under the guise of drug enforcement.

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