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Re:Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, C... by Broken_Hippo on Sunday December 11, 2016 @07:09AM (#13150728)
This might not meet your 'credible' source credentials, but it does help point in the right direction:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judge-frederic-block/war-on-dr...

It surely isn't simply based on race as your hippie example points out: Rather, any group that was or is 'bad' at the time, be it based on race or status (being poor, for example). Not all race and class, but lots of it.

Re:Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, C... by meowface on Sunday December 11, 2016 @07:21AM (#13150771)
With the exception of some policies in the 10s-20s allegedly targeting Chinese and Mexicans, that article doesn't really support the claim as applicable to the last 60 years.
Re:Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, C... by Broken_Hippo on Sunday December 11, 2016 @07:44AM (#13150828)
That's because those are the most openly racist policies out there. At some point in history, it became harder to talk in the same racist terms as before.. Starting in the 60's.

And that makes things a bit fuzzy, unfortunately. Much harder to prove racist policies. And you wind up having to do a lot more digging and use examples. Think of the stereotypical crack dealer: That's from the 90's, if I remember correctly. We know the drug policies disproportionately affect minority communities and poor folks, yet numbers also tell us that addiction hits most levels of society. And have failed to change it. We didn't erase the racist-inspired laws either. To me, this sort of thing all stinks of. And I'm too cynical to think that suddenly, race had nothing to do with it.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing does little to prove any of it to a non-believer.

Re:Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, C... by meowface on Sunday December 11, 2016 @08:35AM (#13150987)
I'm not a non-believer. I'm neither a believer nor a non-believer. It certainly seems plausible, but I've seen a lot of conflicting evidence and arguments about law enforcement and race.