Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2012
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Jonathan Martin

STUDY OF POT ARRESTS: 25 YEARS, $300M IN COSTS

Election 2012

Group's Analysis Mirrors Arguments Made for Legalization Effort

A new analysis of crime data has found more than 241,000 people in 
Washington were arrested for marijuana possession over the past 25 
years, most of them in the past 10 years.

The report, by a New York-based group of academics, conservatively 
estimates those arrests cost $305,714,500 in police and court during 
the past 25 years, and $194,026,500 in the past 10 years, a figure 
that excludes the cost of defense and court fines.

The report underscores a key argument for Initiative 502, a measure 
on the November ballot, which would decriminalize small amounts of 
marijuana. Report co-author Harry Levine, a sociology professor at 
City University of New York, said his group is not funded by any of 
the large institutional donors to I-502; none of the authors 
contributed I-502, according to campaign finance reports.

But the timing is not coincidental, said Levine. "There is an intent 
to capture people's attention about what is going on," he said.

The data also underscores earlier findings about racial 
disproportionality in drug arrests. Although white people report use 
of marijuana at slightly higher rates than African-Americans or 
Latinos; blacks were arrested for marijuana possession at more than 
twice the rate of whites, and Latinos were arrested at rates more 
than 50% higher than whites.

At an I-502 debate Wednesday night, Baptist minister Leslie David 
Braxton, an I-502 supporter, made that point. He said there were 
"more black boys and girls in prison" than in colleges and 
universities, "not because we smoke more weed than white boys and 
girls, but because the laws are enforced in a discriminatory pattern."

According to the data, 65,483 people were arrested in King County 
over the past 25 years, and 35,823 of them from 2000 to 2010. Based 
on criminal justice cost estimates, the bill for those arrests 
totaled at least $53,734,500 over the past 10 years. On a per-capita 
basis, Whitman County  home to Washington State University  had one 
of the highest rates of marijuana possession arrests.

Levine said it is impossible to tell if people were arrested for 
marijuana in addition to another crime because of the way the data is 
reported. But based on other studies, he believes a large majority of 
the arrests were for marijuana possession alone.

The report uses 25 years of data  1986 to 2010  from the FBI's 
Uniform Crime Reports, and extrapolates costs based on estimates by 
the Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

Levine said the report analyzed arrests  not convictions  because 
arrests also carry a heavy price. The report notes that some online 
criminal background check services include arrests, and the arrest 
reports cannot be easily expunged. "Contrary to what people think, 
the simple arrests carry enormous consequences way behind the fines 
and the night in jail," said Levine.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom