Thread by @mariliacout

1/ I just watched some videos about women incarcerated in Oklahoma for drug possession. I am a radical opponent of the war on drugs, I defend decriminalization and legalization and I know a thing or two about public statistics: the war on drugs is a war on the poor and the POC.

2/ Black and Hispanic people are incarcerated for decades for drug possession. The same governments that negotiate with the Triad or the Cartels will incarcerate a black or brown person for possession. This is Oklahoma. Some stories:
okjusticereform.org/project-commut…

3/ Mass incarceration has as much to do with the immoral business of private prisons, which must be abolished, as with institutionalized racism.

web.a.ebscohost.com/abstract?direc…

4/ The war on drugs is costly both in human terms (it destroys people) and in public costs. All taxpayers are forced to pay to torture their fellow humans.

wakelet.com/wake/7a6fe9ed-…

5/ I am radical in both prison reform and legally ending the war on drugs through decriminalization and legalization. The way to handle health hazards is by "harm reduction".

wakelet.com/wake/d738ee46-…

6/ Living in Oklahoma has been quite an experience. It's a horrible place and, as a social scientist, I feel like I'm in some demoniac mandatory participant observation study. In Brazil, I had direct contact with druglords and violence. Nothing beats white supremacy Oklahoma.

7/ It's an "immersion" experience I never thought I would have. It's brutal and can push you into suicide. The world stops making sense. As in "if this is it, then why bother?".

8/ It is the National (and sometimes the World) capital of all horrific things:
- the worst RW domestic terrorist attack, ever
- the highest prison population, predominantly black and Hispanic
- the headquarters of the most well-funded domestic terrorist organizations

9/ It reminds me of Brazil in 1972, what we call the hardline years of the far-right military dictatorship. Except it is exercised in a mockery of democracy by white supremacists in executive power.

10/ I give myself 18 months to plan and leave this Hell. It's also a health hazard for me (I'm heat intolerant). So either I leave or I can't live.

11/ I'm not sure Oklahoma can be changed. Maybe it's one of those places we just have to give up on.

@threadreaderapp unroll