The war on drugs has been a war on communities of color, plain and simple. Some people realize that it is time to end a war that has devastated so many people, so many families, and has accomplished little to deal with actual drug addiction. A criminal justice model for drug use must give way to a public health model and a regulatory framework.
The California NAACP, with the support of law enforcement professionals, realizes that the state's battle for legalization of marijuana is part of the war against the war on drugs. And this new war is part of the fight for civil rights. Yes, pot legalization is a civil rights issue.
California NAACP president Alice Huffman is catching a great deal of flack for supporting Proposition 19, the ballot initiative that would legalize, regulate and tax the drug in her state. In an official statement, the California NAACP mentioned a recent study by the Drug Policy Institute that clearly shows marijuana laws are unfairly applied to young African Americans. Although young blacks use marijuana at lower rates than their white counterparts, they are arrested for marijuana possession at double, triple or even quadruple the rate of whites. In Los Angeles County, blacks are 10 percent of the population, but 30 percent of the weed-related arrests.
"While marijuana has been decriminalized over the years, there are staggering statistics that African Americans in every county of California have conviction rates far and above those of whites. It is time for the War on Drugs to focus on drug lords and cartels," the NAACP said. "We need to give our young African American citizens a chance at opportunity and not an arrest record that dooms their chances of success. The money spent on these minor drug arrests could be better used on education, health services, and counseling."
Supporting the NAACP is Neill Franklin, a retired black narcotics cop who now leads Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of pro-legalization cops, judges and prosecutors. These are the people who have been on the frontlines of the war on drugs. And war can leave you weary and disillusioned, particularly when you don't like what you witnessed in that war. "As a member of the NAACP, and as a former police officer who waged the 'war on drugs' for three decades, I can tell you that it is long past time to change our failed marijuana laws," Franklin said. "Like Alice and the other good folks at the NAACP, I'm tired of seeing young black men and women funneled through the revolving doors of the criminal justice system, all in the name of a 'war on marijuana' that actually does nothing to reduce its use." Franklin also believes that continuing the failed policy of prohibition bears obscene human and fiscal costs, and California voters need to know that.
Franklin and LEAP are standing with Huffman on an important policy issue, but they are also supporting the embattled California NAACP chief against unwarranted attacks from anti-reform groups. First and foremost among the forces out to get Alice Huffman is the conservative black clergy, led by Bishop Ron Allen of the International Faith Based Coalition (IFBC).
The IFBC website raises more questions than it answers about the organization, which purports to represent a coalition of more than 4,100 congregations. That's quite a claim, and quite unsubstantiated for that matter. The group describes itself as "an all-denominational, multi-racial, non-partisan non-political coalition of churches, ministries, community based organizations, governmental agencies, businesses and concerned individuals." Yet, this "non-partisan, non-political" group lists among its partners the California Republican Party and GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman (in fairness it also lists U.S. drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske).
And curiously, IFBC claims the NAACP as a partner, even as it simultaneously urges people on its website not to support the NAACP. "I would like to commend Rev. Ron Allen in his leadership against this evil Prompt 19 [sic]," said Rev. Anthony Evans of the National Black Church Initiative, on the IFBC website. Rev. Evans, by the way, has taken a prominent role against same-sex marriage in Washington. DC., and declared the black church will no longer allow African-American politicians to promote policies (i.e., gay marriage) that hurt the black church. It is uncertain how same-sex marriage will hurt the black church, but oh well.
Of Huffman and "Prompt" 19, Rev. Evans asserted "The NAACP is becoming an enemy to the Black family... Now they are allowing Ms. Huffman to unleash her unethical practices by supporting drugs that have ravished the African American community over the past 30 years." He continues: "I am authorizing all of our churches in the West Faith Command not to [sic] give a damn dime to the NAACP and not allow their congregation to be used for any of the NAACP meetings. There is no way that the Black Church will permit this immoral act as it will only further the devastation of the African American community."
Conservative preachers such as Rev. Evans and Bishop Allen are missing the whole point about the war on drugs, or perhaps this is intentional. Has drug addiction destroyed lives? Yes, to be certain, but so too have the consumption of alcohol and tobacco -- and these substances are not criminalized, but are regulated and treated as health concerns. Detractors insist Alice Huffman and the NAACP are an enemy of black America for supporting the legalization of marijuana. Yet, how can the prohibitionists claim to act in the interests of the black community when they support the perpetuation of a failed drug war that has placed countless black, brown and poor white folk behind bars, wasting their lives away in a cell, separated from their children, with their communities depleted of resources, hollowed out and disenfranchised?
The California NAACP is under fire when it should be applauded for its courage. Alice Huffman is carrying out the mission of her organization, ensuring that it protects civil rights and remains relevant in changing times. Should we expect her to do less?
David A. Love is the Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to The Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is based in Philadelphia, and is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidalove
James Clark: Why Marijuana Decriminalization Should Be a Christian Issue
a) we started prohibition with illogical reasoning behind it, and
b) we still have prohibition
So the question should not be "why legalize cannabis?", but rather "WHY NOT??"
Alcohol and tobacco both cause hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect deaths every year, yet we condone (and even encourage) their consumption. On the other hand, there is NO conclusive evidence that cannabis is harmful to your health, and you can (and should) consume it by non-combustible means -- such as vaporizing or edibles -- which prevents inhaling harmful fumes. Furthermore, there has never been a recorded death (ever!) due to cannabis abuse. The only deaths caused by cannabis are due to the violence of the cartels that supply it and the only harm to society are the "criminals" that are born out of it.
Hence, the ONLY problem with cannabis is that IT IS ILLEGAL, and keeping it so only makes the drug lords richer, allows law enforcement to do racial profiling, and makes criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens.
If you think Prohibition works and 800,000 cannabis users arrested every year is a good thing then vote to send them to jail like the GOP, DEA and cops want you to. Be their punk .
When do you think you will get a chance to send this message directly again?
Can you vote on this every year?
No
The time is now and the people to do it are us and that my friends is that.
This may be the only ballot battle for cannabis rights in CA for years because failure can kill momentum, So if you not willing to get on the horse and ride it into the battle for every vote now when the CannaBarbarians are at the gates trying to kill this with every force of condemnation and dollar they have then you don't realize what victory means to the other side.
Roiling back SB420 and Prop 215 would be next.
For gods sake the GOP is running this year on a platform of Repeal Everything.
You don't think 215 and MMJ is on their hit list - wake the f**k up.
This is the new civil war and you are either for Slave States or Free States.
Make CA one of the free ones and the rest of the country follows.
Again, Prohibition is a failed public policy. Period.
People need to grow up and get over their misanthropic "legalize everything" attitude. It brigns us nowhere and it is very nai.ve to think that politicians will spend the money on rehabs, treatments, education and prevention. All the money we spend in education, health care, parks and recreational programs go to the dogs with one drug. Drugs are the cause of our problems, not the solution!
Drugs do solve problems. They cure everything from pain to depression.
"they don't make you happier in any form" -More broadbrushing. What drug is "they" that you refer to?
It's also a very subjective broad brushed statement. This is something that is personal to the person taking a drug and not the observer.
Who are you to tell a person, who professes to you that something makes them feel better, that it doesn't?
I feel great!
No you don't!
I enjoy marijuana while I cook out on my grill!
No you don't!
I like cookies!
No you don't!
The need of some to involve themselves into anothers business is a huge problem in our culture. YOU think you know whats best for ME and then try to impose YOUR will. By claiming tolerance you suggest that another is wrong and you are right but will tolerate it.
What is good for you may not be whats good for me. Tolerance is not what we need. We need understanding.
Sometimes the most mundane cliche's say it best.
"To each his own"
"Not my cup of tea"
"Dances to the beat of a different drummer"
Marijuana is not for everyone. Beer and wine are not for everyone. Country music is not for everyone.
But for some, these things are passion and joy.
So why is that important? The stronger the feeling of happiness caused by the drug the fewer endorphins you have for the rest of the day or even week = depression.
"The need of some to involve themselves into anothers business is a huge problem in our culture. YOU think you know whats best for ME and then try to impose YOUR will."
If that is true, what drives me to support universal health care, compulsory education, to call the police when someone tries to kill himself? That you feel misanthropic towards others when they are the victims of illicit drugs says a lot about people like you and why you don't understand why we made them illegal. See making them illegal is a pretty new, thus progressive concept. Legalization is going back to the 19th century indifference and lack of knowledge about the dangers of drugs when they are not under strict control and medical purposes.
Should we legalize other medications as recreational drugs, too? No matter if an overdose can kill the person? I mean, it's "his business after all." Right? Feeling indifferent has nothing to do with being left-wing.
There are many reasons to support California Proposition 19. A YES vote on Prop 19 will have the following effects:
Reduce violence and crime
Reduce racially biased arrests
Generate $1.2B to $1.4B in taxes
Create 60,000 to 110,000 jobs
Reduce police corruption
Increase respect for police and the law
Free police to focus on property and violent crimes
Reduce prison costs and prison overcrowding
Expand California economy by $16 to $23 billion
Reduce drug cartels’ revenue
Reduce environmental damage from illegal grows
Allow adults to choose a safer alternative to alcohol
To see the studies underlying these claims, please visit yes19.org
Why do we need a law preventing marijuana use while driving? Marijuana does not impair like alcohol does. There is no problem to date that we can see with this issue at all.
Studies have shown that, in comparison, marijuana impairment falls well under the similar impairment of one glass of wine. The marijuana groups, when given driving tests, fall in the same range as the placebo groups.
We have drunk driving laws because drunk drivers were crashing cars. Passing out at the wheel and driving into ditches. Running red lights and stop signs. Causing death on the roads. Cause and effect. We had a problem and wrote a law.
We don't see any of these problems with marijuana, though. The call for laws are based on irrational emotional responses.
If your going to arrest people for having marijuana in their blood while driving, then why not coffee? Or aspirin? What about Prozac or Ritalin?
Outside of alcohol DUI is a fictional problem.
Bottom line is that your car radio poses more of a public safety risk on the road than adult marijuana users.
People need to just let go of the stigmas.
University of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana not a factor in Driving Accidents
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990325110700.htm
THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.- U.S. Dept. of Trans.
http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/MISC/driving/dot78_1d.htm
Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving.”
REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. Ottawa. Chapter 8: Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis.
1) There is no evidence that consumption of cannabis alone increases the risk of culpability for traffic crash fatalities or injuries for which hospitalization occurs, and may reduce those risks.
REFERENCE: M. Bates and T. Blakely. 1999. “Role of cannabis in motor vehicle crashes.” Epidemiologic Reviews 21: 222-232.
In contrast, there was no significant increase in culpability for cannabinoids alone. While a relatively large number of injured drivers tested positive for cannabinoids, culpability rates were no higher than those for the drug free group.
REFERENCE:
Logan, M.C., Hunter, C.E., Lokan, R.J., White, J.M., & White, M.A. (2000). The Prevalence of Alcohol, Cannabinoids, Benzodiazepines and Stimulants Amongst Injured Drivers and Their Role in Driver Culpability: Part II: The Relationship Between Drug Prevalence and Drug Concentration, and Driver Culpability. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 32, 623-32.
That being said, any adult should be allowed to ingest whatever drugs he wishes, as long as his drug usage doesn't directly impact others. Thus, drug usage while driving, operating machinery, etc., as well as the sale to minors, should still be prohibited. However, if you are ignorant enough to abuse drugs, don;t ask me to financially support you, or to pay for any medicial problems you suffer due to your drug use.
"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US,
and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers.
Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage.
This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations
with Negroes, entertainers and any others."
Harry Anslinger, testimony, Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
Now can you just say it is the application of the law, or the law itself?
Peace and equality for everyone!
The African-American sub-culture is largely dysfunctional. They have done that to themselves with decisions like, "Education is a white thing' and 'Marriage and making babies in wedlock is for white people, not us.' You can't do everything wrong, nothing right, and then be surprised when you find your self on the outside looking in. And you can't blame racism for your own failures. Blacks are 13% of the population, but commit 30 to 40% of the crime. A lot of that involves drugs and drug violence. Most of the victims of that violence are blacks. They have been waging war on themselves. Don't blame the law for that.
Another black failure-listening to apologists and excuse makers like the author of this column. That has only confirmed blacks in their "victimhood" and kept them feeling helpless, unable to make the decisions that will improve their lives.
I wonder if you realize how hateful it is putting up such a baseless thought? What in the world makes you think blacks are more crime prone than white? I know for a fact that black people use cannabis and other MADs slightly less than the Caucasians. Your statements above are simply not backed by factual evidence.