Editing Drug prohibition (section)

===Legal dilemmas===

The sentencing statutes in the [[United States Code]] that cover controlled substances are complicated. For example, a first-time offender convicted in a single proceeding for selling marijuana three times, and found to have carried a gun on him all three times (even if it were not used) is subject to a minimum sentence of 55 years in federal prison.<ref>''U.S. v. Angelos'', 345 F. Supp. 2d 1227 (D. Utah 2004)</ref>

In ''Hallucinations: Behavior, Experience, and Theory (1975)'', senior US government researchers [[Louis Jolyon West]] and [[Ronald K. Siegel]] explain how drug prohibition can be used for selective social control:

{{blockquote|The role of drugs in the exercise of political control is also coming under increasing discussion. Control can be through prohibition or supply. The total or even partial prohibition of drugs gives the government considerable leverage for other types of control. An example would be the selective application of drug laws ... against selected components of the population such as members of certain minority groups or political organizations.<ref name='Hallucinations'>{{cite book | author = Siegel, Ronald K. |author2=West, Louis Jolyon | title = Hallucinations: Behavior, Experience, and Theory | year = 1975 | isbn = 978-1-135-16726-4 }}</ref>}}

Linguist [[Noam Chomsky]] argues that drug laws are currently, and have historically been, used by the state to oppress sections of society it opposes:<ref>[https://chomsky.info/199804__-2/ The Drug War Industrial Complex – Noam Chomsky interviewed by John Veit]. (April 1998) Chomsky.info. Retrieved May 25, 2012.</ref><ref>[https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/1997/may/15/drug-policy-as-social-control/  Drug Policy as Social Control - Noam Chomsky]. (May 1997) Prison Legal News. Retrieved October 25, 2020.</ref>

{{blockquote|Very commonly substances are criminalized because they're associated with what's called the dangerous classes, poor people, or working people. So for example in England in the 19th century, there was a period when [[gin]] was criminalized and [[whiskey]] wasn't, because gin is what poor people drink.}}