Drugs and Alcohol use has been a huge concern in the U.S. and across the world. Drugs and alcohol are problems in every neighborhood, every working class, and within every race. When it comes to the publication and focus of drugs in the media and law, we see an unbalanced focus that tends to lean on the urban and minority communities. Often the spot light is on homeless crack addicts, alcoholic transients, or minority gang members selling drugs in urban communities. To reiterate, drugs and alcohol are problems in all neighborhoods. The type of drugs or people may be different, but they are still drug problems. There isn't much focus put on alcoholics and drug users in suburban and upper class neighborhoods. The same problems that occur in the lower class neighborhoods, happen in the upper class neighborhoods as well. So is it more ethical that a stay at home mom in a suburban neighborhood is an alcoholic, rather than the mother on crack in low class urban community? Both are putting their kids at risk. Is the young Latino who smokes marijuana being unethical more than then the rich kid who is addicted to ecstasy? Is the Doctor who sells prescription drugs illegally more ethical than a minority gang's drug dealer? All are unethical when they put themselves and others at risk. When a person drinks and drive, it's unethical and unmoral whether he is in a new $100,000 car or a 20 years old Chevy?
We should focus on drugs and alcohol more as a whole instead of where the most drugs are being used or what type of drugs are being used. We all know that getting caught with a certain amount of crack cocaine is an automatic 15 year federal sentence. But crack cocaine is mostly found in minority communities. We see the wealthy and celebrities walk away free from fatal DUI accidents, where as poor people end up with harsher punishments. All drug and alcohol problems should be treated the same, with equal punishments. Often we send drug addicts to jail without any help for their addiction. Often they get out of jail and go right back to their addictions. We need to help addicts and alcoholics more with programs to help them with their illnesses. That is the ethical thing to do.
What really is unethical is when the leaders of our own Government allow drugs to be sold in minority communities to fund covert operations and then turn around and launch a anti-drug campaign. Yes, this is what happened during the Regan Administration's term. The proof came out years later in CIA documents that were released to the public. When events like that go on, our leaders are being unethical to the people.
