Pubdate: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 Source: Fort Morgan Times, The (CO) Copyright: 2013 The Fort Morgan Times Contact: http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/submit/letter-to-editor Website: http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2115 Author: Aric Clark IT'S NOT ABOUT WEED, IT'S ABOUT JUSTICE Here's a subject you probably didn't expect a pastor to weigh-in on: marijuana decriminalization. Recently I have been privy to a string of conversations where people express their concerns about recreational marijuana use becoming legal. There are many people who see this as a symptom of moral decline, believing that those who choose to use marijuana recreationally are morally suspect and therefore they oppose commercial recreational marijuana facilities opening in our town. Like "dry counties" through the South hearkening back to the prohibition of alcohol in the 20's, we will hang on to our anti-marijuana outlook for a little while longer. I too believe this is a moral issue. The war on drugs has revealed an ongoing sickness in our society: our tendency to prey on the disadvantaged. Despite the fact that white people are slightly more likely to use marijuana (and most other illegal drugs), black and Latino men are 3 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. When you look at income the same disparity exists. Higher income individuals are actually slightly more likely to use marijuana than lower income individuals, but the arrest and conviction records reflect the exact opposite trend. Our system disproportionately targets young, poor, minorities for prosecution. This isn't about individuals behaving with prejudice. There are a host of complex reasons why our system unjustly penalizes certain people more than others. Wealthier individuals are less likely to purchase or use marijuana in public places where most arrests occur. Police departments follow policies targeting "high crime" areas which are disproportionately low-income neighborhoods. Cultural stereotyping makes us all more likely to assume individuals who fit certain profiles are guilty of crimes. Those with lower-incomes and less-education are less able to defend themselves in court and are therefore more likely to receive harsh sentences. The system is broken. When we recognize this it becomes our responsibility to change the system. It is not just the individuals arrested for possession who were paying the cost for our broken system. We arrested over 200,000 individuals for simple possession of marijuana in the state of Colorado in the past 25 years, accounting for approximately 5% of total arrests. There is an opportunity cost that we were paying to keep marijuana illegal. Over that same time period only 2 out of every 3 murders resulted in an arrest. Only 1 in 3 rapes, 1 in 5 robberies, and 1 in 10 car thefts resulted in an arrest. I'm not talking about convictions, just arrests. Wouldn't you rather our police spent their energy trying to solve violent crimes rather than arresting people for using a substance that is less intoxicating than alcohol and less damaging to your health than tobacco? I hope those of you who have felt moral reservations about the decriminalization of marijuana will reconsider, because Colorado has actually taken a big step for justice by ending a system of enforcement that was hurting vulnerable members of our society, and distracting us from much more pressing issues. You can learn more about law-enforcement and marijuana in Colorado here: http://mapinc.org/url/zlYY27BA - --- MAP posted-by: Matt