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I encourage everyone to watch this talk given by @drcarlhart at last year& #39;s @HorizonsConf. He expertly describes the connection between racist policing and drug prohibition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lLLhr6_TGw&feature=youtu.be&t=1496">https://www.youtube.com/watch... https://www.youtube.com/watch...
The only words spoken by Chauvin as he murdered George Floyd were, "Relax. What are you on?" Thao jokes as Floyd is being murdered, "This is why you don& #39;t do drugs kids....Don& #39;t do drugs guys." Later, a Cup Foods employee explains that Floyd––now unconscious––has, "Probably OD& #39;d"
Floyd& #39;s intoxication is used to justify keeping him prone and restrained with the knee-to-neck maneuver, it& #39;s used to undermine the seriousness of what& #39;s happening in Floyd& #39;s final moments, and it will almost certainly be used post-mortem by Chauvin& #39;s defense in his murder trial.
Chauvin explained his behavior to other officers who were worried about "excited delirium", a drug-associated condition that can be used as a pseudomedical catch-all to justify excessive force.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7608386">https://www.npr.org/templates...
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7608386">https://www.npr.org/templates...
If Floyd& #39;s murder hadn& #39;t been recorded, it& #39;s likely that Chauvin would have gotten off by claiming the deadly force was warranted by Floyd& #39;s intoxication, the detection of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Floyd& #39;s autopsy will still be used as evidence to support this claim.
This has happened countless times: The trace quantities of THC in Travon Martin& #39;s blood, Ramarley Graham being shot as he flushed a small bag of Cannabis down the toilet, Rumain Brisbon& #39;s bottle of oxycodone being mistaken for a gun, Philando Castile& #39;s jar of Cannabis.
You can& #39;t fight "racism" as a monolithic entity, you have to identify the mechanisms through which these tragedies occur. Prohibition transforms medical problems into criminal ones, providing a pretext for unnecessary intervention and a justification for excessive force.
These laws ensure mutual fear between citizens and law enforcement and are discriminatory and unjust even when they are enforced without prejudice. They are a cornerstone of institutionalized racism in the US and something you can fight to change.
