The House I Live In

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The House I Live In
The war on drugs has been a resounding failure in many ways. President Nixon declared the war more than forty years with different policies intended to discourage and abolish the distribution, production, and consumption of drugs. In the United States, drugs are a matter of law enforcement rather than a public health issue. Since the government took such a touch prohibition stance against drugs, millions have fallen victim to the drug menace. Every year, thousands of minor offenders are sentenced to years in prison rather than having the underlying problems such as addiction and poverty addressed. Many people have questioned the prohibition tactics in fighting the war on drugs. The answer to this is no more apparent than in Eugene Jarecki’s 2012 film, ‘The House I Live In.’ Jarecki interviews all of the relevant parties in the war on drugs including federal judges, inmates, correctional and law enforcement officers, medical practitioners, inmates’ families, journalists, and politicians. Some of the primary professions that perpetuate the broken drug policy system include law enforcement and officers in the criminal justice system.
The reason why professionals in these fields have perpetuated the injustices in the drug policy is for financial gain, as well as their helplessness to do anything to change the system. Law enforcement officers who make many arrests gain financial advantage from their arrests, in form of overtime pay and other incentives. Because of this, officers are always on the lookout to make arrests even for minor drug crimes, which ultimately send the offenders to jail. Law enforcement officers’ actions are supported by various laws such as the 1980’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law that allows them to stop and search any vehicle. Judges play a significant part in the broken criminal justice system in the fight against drugs. Drug offenders are often sentenced to disproportionate jail terms, and US District Court Judge Mark Bennett speaks about this issue in the film. Judges have no choice as they make their rulings based on precedent and stringent laws surrounding drug offenses.
Members of these occupations get stuck playing their roles because of the incentives they offer, as well as powerlessness to do anything. For example, police officers want to get paid more, and the way to do this is to arrest more and more drug offenders on the pettiest of charges. Judges, on the other hand, have to follow the law, which is very harsh on drug offenders. To speak out against the system, the judiciary should work with the legislature on reviewing the effectiveness of current drug policies and laws, and encourage lawmakers to come up with more practical solutions. Law enforcement officers should make arrests based on the severity of the crime; for example, someone found with little amounts of marijuana should be fined without arrest. These actions might pose a risk for the officers; for example, other officers who take bribes from arrested suspects will try to discourage them by getting them off the streets and to other departments such as fraud or homicide.
The systematic injustice is so hard to change because individual players each have their motives for resisting change. For example, law enforcement officers have been receiving huge bribes from drug dealers, and a change of policy such as decriminalization of drugs would eliminate this. The judiciary’s hands are tied when it comes to change because their job is simply to implement laws. Students should stand up and be counted in the fight to change the unjust system. They can organize petitions to their local representatives, organize public awareness programs, and marches to educate the public and engage the relevant authorities on drug policies.
Works Cited
Jarecki, Eugene. “The house I live in.” Produced by Melinda Shopsin (2012).