While President Barack Obama is busy signing bills into law that will improve life overall for Americans, his administration is completely ignoring one of the most pressing issues affecting African-Americans, the failed “war on drugs” — a war that has morphed into a War on African-Americans, resulting in the violation of their constitutional rights and the near total destruction of our community at large.

Consider this: According to a 2009 report by the American Civil Liberties Union, African Americans make up an estimated 15% of drug users, but they account for 67% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.

This local editorial, headlined "Drug courts are proving their value," discusses a new state study providing additional support for the use of drug courts. Here are excerpts:

Drug courts work. For years, Judge Robert Rancourt of Chisago County, a leader in the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, has come to the State Capitol with that message about the specialized courts that offer willing nonviolent drug offenders an alternative to prison. For years, skeptical legislators have asked him to produce Minnesota-specific numbers to prove his point.

The New York City Police Department has an abysmal track record when it comes to the treatment of black men. Remember Sean Bell, Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo and countless other victims of police brutality. Recently, NYPD has been in the news because of its controversial stop and humiliate policy. As reported in the New York Times,

In a slow, somber procession, several thousand demonstrators conducted a silent march on Sunday down Fifth Avenue to protest the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policies, which the organizers say single out minority groups and create an atmosphere of martial law for the city’s black and Latino residents.

An earlier New York Times article entitled Injustices of Stop and Frisk noted that:

The title of this post is the headline of this new article from the Cincinnati Enquirer, which carries the subheading "Facing more than 30 years in prison a convicted drug dealer and gambler made a deal."  Here are excerpts from the piece:

Derek Ragan, a convicted drug dealer and gambler, faced more than 30 years in prison after officials raided his West End restaurant, called it an illegal gambling house and seized almost $1 million in cash. When he left court last month, Ragan had none of that cash – but had his freedom.