Bush's 'drug war' targets the poor

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Thousands on both coasts to rally for choice America wanted this march and America The resolution for a mass, nationwide action on Nov. 12 passed overwhelmingly.

Chapter after chapter reported an unparalleled number of calls by people who wanted to get active in the campaign to defend repro ductive rights. Membership in NOW quickly shot up to its highest level ever, surpassing the height of 220,000 during the ERA campaign.

Will Nov. 12 exceed April 9? The potential is there. Unfortunately, NOW has backed off somewhat from its call for a million proLike the administrations that preceded him, both Democratic and Republican, Bush has announced the launching of another "war on drugs." The heart of Bush's "war" calls for spending an additional $5.3 billion to expand police forces in this country, build more prisons, hire more prosecutors, and arrest more victims of the multi-billion dollar drug business.

Bush's new war received immediate and enthusiastic bipartisan support—almost as enthusiastic as the bipartisan support for a war on flag burning. The Democrats' only criticism was a cry for even more money to be spent on cops and prisons.

Yet there is no "war on drugs" in this country. There is a war on the Black community and on other minority populations-like the Native American, Puerto Rican, and Chicano communities. There is a war on poor people, the labor unions, and the right of women to have safe, legal abortions.

New war has several purposes Bush's new war has several major purposes which have little to do with suppressing the BER 1989 50 CENTS An Incubator lucrative drug business. First of all, the war is designed to cover up the fact that the government has no workable plan to provide the jobs, housing, schools, hospitals, and drugtreatment clinics that people in our inner cities desperately need.

To provide funding for these social services, the government would be forced to tax the big corporations and to end the fat military budget. But since both the Republican and the Democratic parties are controlled lock, stock, and barrel by big business, they can propose neither of these things.

Thus, they must provide a scapegoat. They must attempt to shift the blame for poverty, crime, and drugs away from government policy and onto the victims themselves.

From the point of view of the capitalist class, it is more "cost-effective" to spend money on cops and prisons rather than on a massive program to rebuild the cities of America. As a byproduct, they can create an atmosphere of intimidation in which people will accept a stepped-up war on the AfricanAmerican community and a war on everybody's civil liberties.

In addition, they hope to increase the U.S (continued on page 13)

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Elections in Nicaragua See pp. 9 - 12.