Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jun 2013
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2013 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Howard Simon
Note: Howard Simon is executive director, American Civil Liberties 
Union of Florida.

MARIJUANA LAW ENFORCEMENT COMES AT DEVASTATING PRICE

Last week the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report ("The 
War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on 
Racially Biased Arrests" www.aclu.org/marijuana) confirming what 
everyone suspected: marijuana possession arrests are wasteful, 
destructive and marred by racial bias.

The report, the first ever examining state and county marijuana 
arrest rates nationally by race, documents that while there were 
pronounced racial disparities in marijuana arrests 10 years ago  the 
problem has become significantly worse.

Over the last twenty years, in communities across the country, police 
have turned much of their zeal for fighting the misguided "War on 
Drugs" towards the enforcement of marijuana laws  and that has 
disproportionately been a war on people of color. State and local 
police have aggressively enforced marijuana laws selectively against 
black people, ensnaring hundreds of thousands of people in the 
criminal justice system.

Nationwide, between 2001 and 2010, there were 8.2 million marijuana 
arrests. Over 7 million (88 percent) were for possession-not for the 
sale or distribution. Florida officers made 57,951 arrests for 
possession in 2010 which amounted to 92 percent of all marijuana 
arrests for any reason. Marijuana possession arrests were 40.9 
percent of all drug arrests. In the past 10 years, the arrest rate 
for marijuana possession has risen 11.4 percent and the racial 
disparities in these arrests have increased 15.0 percent.

A handful of Florida counties rank in the 25 highest numbers of 
marijuana possession arrests. These include Miami-Dade, Broward and 
Orange County.

Despite the fact that the marijuana usage rates by whites and blacks 
are comparable, a black person was more than 3.7 times more likely to 
be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person. The figures 
are more disturbing in Florida: here a black person is 4.2 times more 
likely to be arrested for possession.

These racial disparities exist in all regions of the country, in 
large and small counties, cities and rural areas, and in both high 
and low-income communities.

Compounding the shame of the documented racial bias in the 
enforcement of the nation's drug laws, drug arrests also waste money. 
In 2010, police in Florida  state and local police combined  spent 
over $228.6 million on the enforcement of marijuana laws.

Enforcement of marijuana laws also devastate lives: an arrest can 
disqualify someone from public housing and student financial aid; it 
can cost someone their job or custody of their child, and because of 
Florida's Jim Crow felon disfranchisement policy, even the right to vote.

This record of enforcement against people of color also creates 
mistrust of the police, and increases tensions between police and the 
communities they serve.

It is past time to change both strategy and goal: states should 
legalize the use and possession of marijuana. Its production, 
distribution, and possession for persons 21 or older should be 
licensed and regulated. States should tax marijuana sales, and remove 
criminal and civil penalties for such activities.

If our lawmakers don't have the courage to acknowledge that it is 
time for legalization, at least they can consider depenalizing, 
decriminalizing or deprioritizing marijuana possession.

Depenalizing would remove all civil and criminal penalties for use 
and possession for persons 21 or older. Decriminalizing would replace 
all criminal penalties for use and possession of small amounts of 
marijuana by adults and youth with a civil penalty or a small fine. 
Deprioritizing would mean police and prosecutors simply lower the 
priority for the enforcement of marijuana possession laws and focus 
on preventing and solving crimes that truly harm our communities.

At a time when states are facing budget shortfalls, regulating and 
taxing marijuana would save millions of dollars. If we stopped 
wasting money on enforcement, we could invest more in public schools 
and community and public health programs  and drug treatment.

More than anything else, this would eliminate racially-targeted 
enforcement of our nation's marijuana laws.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom