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What does the Bible say about the War On Drugs?

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War On Drugs

The War on Drugs has volumes of stories of injustices. The bible also speaks on this subject.

Exodus 23:1-3 King James Version (KJV)
1: Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2: Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
3: Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

Leviticus 19:13-15 (KJV)
13: thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
14: Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
15: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 (KJV)
18:Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
19:Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
20: That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Psalm 82:2-4 (KJV)
2: How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3: Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4: Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

James 2:6 (KJV)
6:But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

John 7:24 (KJV)
24:Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Matthew 7:1-3(KJV)
1:Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2: For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Luke 6:36-38 (KJV)
36: Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

The themes that run through these quotes seem to be justice must be:
Honest
Unbiased
Merciful

How important is justice?

Proverbs 29:14 (KJV)
14 The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

Philippians 4:8 (KJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Psalm 9:7-9 (KJV)
7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (KJV)
23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

It doesn't appear the War On Drugs is following this template.

Christianity feels no one is above corruption. But if we following a path that tends to lead to corruption of an otherwise noble field, shouldn't we change are strategy?

A GAO study (1) that study police corruption and the War on Drugs showed.
(1) conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures;
(2) stealing money and/or drugs from drug dealers;
(3) selling stolen drugs;
(4) protecting drug operations;
(5) providing false testimony;
(6) submitting false crime reports.

Other research (2) said about War On Drugs corruption
* Since 1983: At least 15 DEA agents have been convicted of federal felonies. * May 1989: Two veteran DEA agents, Drew Bunnel and Al Iglesias, were charged with taking bribes from a drug dealer.
* April 1989: DEA agent Jorge Villar was indicted for selling confidential information and the names of drug informants to drug dealers. When arrested, he was carrying a briefcase with $350,000 in bank certificates of deposit.
* July 1990: Herbert Pacheco, a sheriff s deputy in Clark County, Washington, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to deliver cocaine, and attempted cocaine delivery.
* March 1988: Four New York City police officers were convicted of the beating and torture of a drug dealer.
* October 1988: Tommy Pruitt, head of a Georgia drug task force was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling at least $10,000 worth of drugs to a drug dealer.
* July 1990: Carlos Simon, a Hialeah, Florida, police officer, was sentenced to 30 years for the murder of an alleged drug dealer and his girl friend.
* October 1990: Eddied Hill, a DEA supervisor, went on trial for embezzling drug money and filing false vouchers.
* June 1990: The police chief of Brockton, Massachusetts, received a seven to 10-year sentence for stealing cocaine from the police department's evidence room. Three hundred seventy-five cases had to be dismissed because of the missing evidence.
* January 1990: Four Philadelphia police officers who were members of a special anti-drug unit were sentenced to prison for stealing money and drugs from the chug dealers they arrested.
* March 1993: Edward K. O'Brien, a former DEA agent, was sentenced to six years in prison for cocaine smuggling and embezzlement of $140,000 in drug money.

Despite what the media, politicians and the police say the people who are arrested and sent to prison on drug offenses are minor offenders(3).

A medical official at Sacramento County Jail, was arrested for writing false prescriptions for drugs. He was charged with writing a prescription for him self and another person for Oxycotin (4 ).

A police officer for the departments Youth Aid Bureau was suspended with pay on charges of prescription drug abuse (5 ).

An officer in a prison was sentence to jail for smuggling drugs into jail. His motive was financial gain (6 ).

During a raid in a home of Tam Davage and Marcella Monroe of Portland Oregon, it was said the police used excessive force. This time the police had the right address,it was caused by the raid of a 500 plant grow operation by Roman McCloskey. The police told the judge they found a $2,100 check with Monroe name on it during the raid and both had owned a car together in 1997. It appears the police misled the judge who ordered the search warrant. The $2,100 cashiers check to McCloskey's maintenance service and was labeled for a business purpose. The officers informed the judge that they smelled a light odor of marijuana near the home. They did not inform the judge that, four medical marijuana card holders live on both sides of the place that was raided(7 ).

Robin Pratt of Everett, Washington was killed by a SWAT team when they were attempting to serve a warrant on her husband. Instead of using the key to the residence provided to them SWAT members threw a 50 pound battering ram on a glass sliding door. This landed near Pratt's six year old daughter. Pratt was order to get down when she started to crouch she looked up and said, "Please don't hurt my children.". A SWAT officer then fired at Pratt killing her(8 ).

In Garland Texas police shot and killed Kenneth Baulch after breaking down the door of his bedroom. They shot him because they mistook the ashtray he was holding for a weapon (9 ).

The DEA in Guthrie, Oklahoma broke into a home with axes handcuffed and kicked a man in front of his wife and daughters before they realized they had the wrong home(10 ).

A nurse who is the head of an anti drug team was caught by police with bag of ecstasy tablets, a packet of cannabis and a film canister of cocaine the police raided a motel room (11 ).

A sheriffs deputy was indicted on allowing illegal drugs to be used at her home where police seized drug paraphernalia, and also it was alleged that a police informant bought crack at her home (12 ). The charged were dropped due to a plea agreement in the agreement she agreed to resign her post as Deputy and never seek employment as a deputy (13 ).

The founder of an anti drug program in California was arrested for trying sell drugs to an uncover officer at a meeting set up at star bucks (14 ).

A report from the group Human Rights Watch said "The racially disproportionate nature of the war on drugs is not just devastating black Americans," the report also said "It contradicts faith in the principles of justice and equal protection of the laws that should be the bedrock of any constitutional democracy; it exposes and deepens the racial fault lines that continue to weaken the country and belies its promise as a land of equal opportunity, and it undermines faith among all races in the fairness and efficacy of the criminal justice system. Urgent action is needed, at both the state and federal level, to address this crisis for the American nation."(15 ).

This isn't just to single out one city in general, the reality is this gives an overview of a countrywide problem. A study of search warrants for drugs showed, in San Diego county African Americans were subjects of search warrants in twenty four percent of the cases. They are only six percent of the population. Hispanics are twenty four percent of the population and were subjects of fort three percent of the cases. Finally Whites are sixty one percent of the population made up thirty five percent of the cases. Researchers also found in New York that the rate of incarceration of an area population concentrated on the poorest of minority neighborhoods (16 ).

Well do these minorities use drugs in higher numbers? A federal Survey(17 ) said "Rates of current illicit drug use varied significantly among the major racial/ethnic groups in 2004. The rate was highest among persons reporting two or more races (13.3 percent) and American Indians or Alaska Natives (12.3 percent). Rates were 8.1 percent for whites, 7.2 percent for Hispanics, and 8.7 percent for blacks. Asians had the lowest rate at 3.1 percent.".

All of this is reflected in a recent survey based on race, about trust in the police. 78 percent of whites had a fair amount of confidence in their police 61% of Latinos and 55% of blacks felt the same way (18 ).