Marijuana has become the drug of choice for police departments nationwide - a trend that is playing out with serious consequences here in Brown County. According to a new report released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, police have turned much of their zeal for fighting the failed War on Drugs toward the enforcement of marijuana laws in communities across Wisconsin and the country. In 2010, cops in Wisconsin busted someone for having marijuana once every 28 minutes. The majority of these arrests are happening in communities of color. Despite roughly comparable usage rates, blacks in Wisconsin are nearly six times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession. [continues 326 words]
Everyone seems eager to reduce violent crime. Mayor Norquist's Crime Reduction Commission is meeting. The Milwaukee Safety Coalition, which includes the Milwaukee Police Department and many local ministers, is meeting. Recommendations are due out by the beginning of August. City residents deserve serious recommendations from these two groups. I attended four of the six public hearings held by the mayor's commission and read the coalition's report on its trip to Boston. Clearly, many residents are not willing to write off and incarcerate the current generation of young men in our city. Safety, yes, but given declining crime rates and a good economy for many, the old get-tough slogans of the so-called "war on drugs" no longer control the public debate about urban poverty and crime. On the contrary, even conservative pundits such as William F. Buckley acknowledge that the "war on drugs" leads to widespread violations of civil liberties and undermines the trust that is needed for effective community policing. [continues 80 words]
To the editor: The Milwaukee Police Association has criticized Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist and Police Chief Arthur Jones for supporting a local ordinance that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. While the American Civil Liberties Union is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates for elective office, the flap over decriminalizing marijuana in the mayoral election provides an opportunity to advocate on one issue. We have opposed marijuana prohibition since 1968. The ACLU has its disagreements with Jones over issues such as area-specific enforcement, but his position on decriminalizing marijuana is right. [continues 147 words]
