February 16, 2011 1:22PM 

# The Drug War and Black America 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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Here is a new publication from Cato, “[How the War on Drugs Is Destroying Black America](https://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv9n1.pdf),” (pdf) by John McWhorter, who is a lecturer in linguistics and American Studies at Columbia University and a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s *City Journal* and *The New Republic*. Here is his conclusion:

> If we truly want to get past race in this country, we must be aware that it will never happen until the futile War on Drugs so familiar to us now is a memory. … The time to end the War on Drugs, therefore, is yesterday.

Read the [whole thing](https://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv9n1.pdf). You can also listen to McWhorter’s speech by clicking [here](https://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=1315).

For additional Cato work related to drug policy, go [here](https://www.cato.org/drug-war).

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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