The war on drugs is increasing the population rate in our prison system, leaving the states to increase government spending and to decrease spending in other areas such as the educational system. But this mass incarceration cannot and will not change if we do not change the inequality of race. Punitive laws and mandatory minimums can no longer be a law of the future, we can no longer afford to keep offenders in prisons for long periods of times for non-violent charges. Better yet we need to take the money we are spending on these offenders and put it to better use such rehabilitation programs, school systems by keeping these children off the streets and by giving these minority communities more opportunity by offering more employment. These