Civil liberties groups in California are urging an end to the war on drugs because of the racial disparities inherent in the battle. (Eric Risberg / AP)
'War on drugs a war on minorities' - World - TheChronicleHerald.ca
WASHINGTON — The state of California could vote next week to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana, a move that some suggest could not only blaze a trail for more liberal weed laws across the country but also obliterate a longtime racial injustice.
A recent study found that from 2006 to 2008, police in 25 of the state’s major cities arrested blacks at four to 12 times the rate of whites. That’s despite several federal government studies that suggest fewer African-Americans smoke marijuana than whites.
The study, conducted by the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the pro-legalization group, Drug Policy Alliance, concluded that marijuana arrests are racially biased because police focus on high-crime, low-income neighbourhoods often populated by African-Americans.
Such revelations have prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to push for passage of Proposition 19, a measure that would make it legal for any Californian over the age of 21 to possess an ounce, or 28 grams of marijuana while also giving the green light to cities and counties to regulate and tax commercial sales of weed.
"The war on drugs has become a war on minorities," the ACLU wrote Monday to Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney general.
The organization added that "the historical and racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws is a primary reason" behind its support of Proposition 19.
The letter urged Holder against making good on his threat to vigorously enforce federal laws, including suing to overturn Proposition 19, in the event that California finds itself "up in smoke" after next week’s congressional elections.
Joycelyn Elders, the African-American former surgeon general under president Bill Clinton, has also urged an end to the war on drugs due to the racial disparities inherent in the battle.
"We are spending billions of dollars each year for a war on drugs, but it has been a war on young black males . . . and it’s time for us to end that war," Elders said in a recent interview.
At a weekend news conference that featured celebrities in favour of Proposition 19, actor Danny Glover said he’d personally been affected by the war on drugs because of his race.
"I come from first-hand experience in my own family, because I’ve had brothers that have been arrested for marijuana use," he said.
Glover is among dozens of celebrities, law enforcement officials and even social media founders who have been throwing their weight and their cash behind Proposition 19, although it’s apparently been to little effect.
Support for the measure is slipping steadily in public opinion polls despite having a commanding lead late last month. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is opposed to the measure. In an effort to turn the tide, the Yes side went to the airwaves on Monday in Los Angeles with its first television commercial. The spot features Joseph McNamara, the former San Jose police chief, declaring forcefully that "the war on marijuana has failed."
It’s time to legalize the substance, McNamara adds, "to allow police to focus on violent crimes and put drug cartels out of business."
Facebook co-founder Sean Parker recently contributed US$100,000 to the campaign for Proposition 19. His fellow co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz, has made two donations totalling $70,000.
Sitting beside Glover, singer Melissa Etheridge also urged its passage, telling the news conference that she relied on marijuana to combat the side effects of chemotherapy during her recent battle against cancer.
Edgar M. Bronfman, part of Canada’s Seagram liquor dynasty, recently urged Californians to pass Proposition 19, likening marijuana policy to the draconian prohibition laws of the 1920s.
Also from the link: "Edgar M. Bronfman, part of Canada’s Seagram liquor dynasty, recently urged Californians to pass Proposition 19, likening marijuana policy to the draconian prohibition laws of the 1920s."
^ Which they were and still are, and to note specifically from the above:
"The war on drugs has become a war on minorities"
Funny, I thought it always was a war on minorities, since the whole reason why the War on Drugs began was to make sure minorities didn't make any sort of living from growing marijuana and other drugs.
It'd be nice to see this pass, but I of course have my doubts..... and even if it did pass, chances are the idiots in government and other organizations that would lose money from it being legalized will somehow force it back into failure shortly after it passed.
Kind of like how Marijuana was decriminalized here for like.... what..... a couple of days before they re-criminalized it again due to US pressure.
Back when we were going to decriminalize it, the Bush administration threatened to tighten up border security, do more checks and turn travel & business between Canada and the US into a crawl..... so our government folded and re-criminalized it.
Then of course due to the whole terrorism fear mongering and claims that the 9/11 terrorists came from Canada, they tightened border security anyways.
Bravo.