Report: War on drugs targets minorities

NEW YORK, May 6 (UPI) -- The so-called war on drugs in the United States disproportionately targets racial minorities in urban neighborhoods, two reports said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch and the judicial equality advocacy group The Sentencing Project announced the release of two reports Tuesday on drug-related arrests saying the so-called war on drugs "disproportionately targets urban minority neighborhoods."

The Human Rights Watch report, "Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States," outlines statistics in 34 states saying more black offenders serve prison sentences than white offenders.

The report says the average across those 34 states found black men are 11.8 times more likely to serve time in prison than white men and black women are 4.8 times as likely to be sent to jail than white women.

The Sentencing Project report, "Disparity by Geography: The War on Drugs in America's Cities," found the rates of detention of black Americans increased on average by 225 percent compared to 70 percent for whites.

Both groups urged public officials to take steps to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing, increase funding for substance abuse treatment programs and to increase healthcare to address the problems associated with drug abuse.