RETURN OF DANGEROUS CLASS CL

The "war on drugs" in America continues to be fought with old "weapons". Harsh punishments continue to be handed out to offenders, but these measures fail to control the most dangerous forms of illicit drug use. This text identifies a "shadow agenda" sustaining the war on drugs, in which fighting drugs offers an opportunity for both political elites and ordinary citizens to create "enemies" - blacks, youths, immigrants - who can be blamed for American social and economic ills. These are the "dangerous classes", whose return is polarizing American society. This text describes how America is now paying the price for continuing with failed efforts at eradicating the drug problem, efforts that only intensify racial and generational conflict, decimate constitutional protections for criminal suspects and ignore the deeper social problems of deprivation, disease and inequality.