Many of the costs above went towards the various sectors of the justice system. Steve Wisotsky described an increase in, “law enforcement personnel, Assistant United States Attorneys, and clerical staff.” Wisotsky’s description shows that the country and the policy makers of this period saw the justice system as the best way to stop drugs usage and distribution. This mindset would slowly shift towards using prosecution and incarceration as the main means to solve drug problems. In a Los Angeles times article Mary Perez exemplified this thought process writing, “cities began turning to the civil courts to fight the war on drugs and reclaim neighborhoods.” Perez’s article points to the ignorance, for lack of a better word, our society had towards …show more content…
While the courts were overflowing with drug violators, who were sometimes dubiously charge, the police on the street were also experiencing hardship of the own. In 1991, Alex Kotlowitz reported on Officer John Gamble who while questioning a suspected drug criminal, “grabbed a hot iron off the nightstand and repeated touched it to the bare skin of the prisoner.” Kotlowitz effectively showed the negative impact the war on drugs was having on the psyche of the people employed within the justice systems. As the courtrooms and law enforcement we adapting to the often times negative changes brought about by the war on drugs, so would our prisons. Increases in drug related prison sentences became apparent rather early