Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jul 2010
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jesse McKinley
Note: Malia Wollan contributed reporting from San Francisco.

BLACKS IN CALIFORNIA SPLIT OVER MARIJUANA MEASURE

SACRAMENTO - Ron Allen says he knows all too well the ravages of drug 
addiction.

"I was a pastor on crack cocaine, sir," said Mr. Allen, who says he has 
been sober for 11 years and now identifies himself as the bishop of the 
International Faith Based Coalition here. "Drugs have no religious preference."

And while crack cocaine laid him low, Mr. Allen says his first drug of 
choice was marijuana. So it is that Mr. Allen and a cadre of other black 
pastors, priests and other religious leaders have bonded together in recent 
weeks to fight what they see as a potentially devastating blow to their 
communities: Proposition 19, the California ballot measure that would tax 
and regulate marijuana.

In doing so, Mr. Allen and his followers have opened a new, potentially 
crucial front in the battle over Proposition 19, pitting those afraid of 
more widespread use of the drug versus those who see legalization as "an 
exit strategy in the war on marijuana."

Mr. Allen has been particularly critical of Alice A. Huffman, the president 
of the California branch of the N.A.A.C.P., who has been vocal in her 
support for the measure, casting it as a potential victory for civil rights 
that could help reduce the number of young black men jailed on 
marijuana-related offenses.

"I'm not encouraging anyone to recreationally use marijuana," said Ms. 
Huffman. "I am simply focused on the injustice and the disparities in the 
criminal justice system."

How black voters in California decide on Proposition 19, which would allow 
anyone 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, could be 
critical to its success or failure. (At the moment, possession of more than 
28.5 grams of marijuana, about an ounce, is punishable in most cases by up 
to six months in prison and a $500 fine.)

Blacks make up less than 10 percent of the population in California, but 
unlike two larger minority groups in the state where opinions on the 
measure are also split - Asians and Latinos - their "participation in 
elections is on par with their populations," according to the California 
Voter Foundation, a nonprofit group here.

In the case of Proposition 19 - which is trailing narrowly in a recent 
Field Poll - appeals to that potential swing bloc have already begun, and 
the measure's backers have been seeking out the support of prominent black 
leaders. Last week, proponents secured what they view as a major 
endorsement, that of Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the former United States surgeon 
general and the first black to hold that position.

In a statement to be published in a voter guide, Dr. Elders said the 
legalization bill would help divert law enforcement resources to more 
serious threats. "We can let police prevent violent crime, or we can accept 
the status quo, and keep wasting resources sending tens of thousands of 
nonviolent marijuana consumers - a disproportionate number who are 
minorities - to jail," Dr. Elders wrote.

Kamala D. Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, who is black, joined 
the opposition last week. Ms. Harris, who is running for state attorney 
general, issued a statement saying that the proposition would encourage 
"driving while high" and drugs in the workplace.

Enforcement of marijuana possession laws is a touchy topic among many 
blacks here and nationwide.

This month, the Drug Policy Alliance - a New York group that is supporting 
Proposition 19 - released a study showing that blacks were arrested for 
possession at far higher rates than whites in California's 25 largest 
counties, often two or three times higher. In those 25 counties, blacks 
make up 7 percent of the population but accounted for 20 percent of the 
marijuana possession arrests; in Los Angeles County, which accounts for 
about a quarter of the state's population, blacks were arrested for 
marijuana possession at three times the rate of whites.

At the moment, 1,515 people are in California prisons on marijuana charges, 
750 of them black, state corrections officials say.

The study's author, Harry G. Levine, a professor of sociology at Queens 
College who has discovered similar trends in marijuana arrests in New York 
City, said that the impact of those arrests could be profound.

"A criminal record lasts a lifetime," Mr. Levine wrote. "The explosive 
growth of criminal record databases, and the ease with which those 
databases can be accessed on the Internet, creates barriers to employment, 
housing and education for anyone simply arrested for drug possession."

Rob MacCoun, a professor of law and public policy at the University of 
California, Berkeley, who has studied marijuana use in America, said there 
was little doubt that blacks - particularly black men - bore the brunt of 
arrests for marijuana.

"The arrest statistics are disproportionate with respect to 
African-Americans and disproportionate with respect to use," said Mr. 
MacCoun. "And that's very hard to justify in any way."

And while Mr. MacCoun said he was not certain that a ballot measure was the 
way to address that inequity, he said the positioning of Proposition 19 as 
a civil rights issue could be a potent selling point.

"I don't think it's decisive for all voters," Mr. MacCoun said. "But I 
think it's an important argument, and I think it's going to carry weight 
with some people."

Mr. MacCoun was one of several authors of a report issued this month by the 
RAND Corporation that found that legalization could double the use of the 
drug in California - of the 15 million Americans who regularly use 
marijuana, the study found, about 1.9 million of them, or 13 percent, are 
in California - and slash the price by up to 80 percent.

Opponents of Proposition 19 seized on the report as evidence of the 
potential damage of legalization. They were also cheered by the Field Poll, 
taken on July 9, which showed that support for the measure had dropped to 
44 percent, with 48 percent disapproving, equal to national levels of 
support for legalization.

The poll found only 40 percent of black voters backing the proposition with 
52 percent opposed. But white people are supporting the measure, 48 to 43 
percent.

Mr. MacCoun cautioned that polls could be deceptive on the issue, because 
of the longtime stigma surrounding drug use.

"If you get called on the phone, people may be uncomfortable saying that 
they support a marijuana initiative," he said. "But for years, I've had 
people come up to me - grown-ups in corporate America - and say to me, 
sotto voce, 'If it were up to me, I'd legalize it.' "

On the ground, meanwhile, Mr. Allen and his followers have continued to 
campaign against the referendum. At a recent rally on the steps of the 
state capitol here, several pastors used fiery language to rally a small 
crowd, calling for Ms. Huffman's resignation, describing marijuana as "the 
most sinister drug," and asking that "the demonic spirits be cast back into 
hell."

"How stupid to think that by legalizing a vice it's going to help the 
situation," said Darryl B. Heath, pastor of St. John Baptist Missionary 
Baptist Church in Sacramento. "This is not a game. A whole generation is at 
stake."

For her part, Ms. Huffman shows no signs of backing off her support for the 
proposition, saying her critics "have got their heads in the sand" when it 
comes to the reality of drug use, and enforcement, in America.

She also scoffed at the notion that she would bend to their calls for her 
resignation.

"Why in the world would I allow a bunch of locals who don't amount to 
anything run me out of office?" she said. "When they come up with a 
solution, they can look me up."

Malia Wollan contributed reporting from San Francisco. 
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