All Articles Tagged "drug policy"
No Cause for Marijuana Case, but Enough for Child Neglect
(New York Times) — The police found about 10 grams of marijuana, or about a third of an ounce, when they searched Penelope Harris’s apartment in the Bronx last year. The amount was below the legal threshold for even a misdemeanor, and prosecutors declined to charge her. But Ms. Harris, a mother whose son and niece were home when she was briefly in custody, could hardly rest easy. The police had reported her arrest to the state’s child welfare hot line, and city caseworkers quickly arrived and took the children away. Her son, then 10, spent more than a week in foster care. Her niece, who was 8 and living with her as a foster child, was placed in another home and not returned by the foster care agency for more than a year. Ms. Harris, 31, had to weather a lengthy child neglect inquiry, though she had no criminal record and had never before been investigated by the child welfare authorities, Ms. Harris and her lawyer said.
Philly Eases Marijuana Prosecutions
(Philadelphia Daily News) — LYNNE ABRAHAM doesn’t get it. She didn’t get it when she was Philadelphia’s district attorney from 1991 until last year. And she’ll probably never get it, no matter how many statistics and reports show that America’s 40-year-old “war on drugs” has been a hugely expensive and crime-inducing failure. ”My view remains unchanged with regard to drug abuse,” Abraham, 70, said from her office at the Archer & Greiner law firm, where the bulldoggish ex-prosecutor is now a partner. Her view is that people who smoke marijuana – by far the most widely used illicit drug in the United States – are violent deviants, roaming Philly’s streets with deadly weapons, killing witnesses and committing “untold numbers of crimes” to support their habit. They are the enemy, Abraham and other old-school politicians still insist, even as forward-thinking cities and states are decriminalizing marijuana possession, and polls show that public support for legalizing pot has nearly quadrupled in the U.S. since President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy No. 1″ in 1971.
Supreme Court: Cops Don't Need a Warrant If They Smell Weed
(NPR) — The U.S. Supreme Court has made it significantly easier for police to force their way into a home without a warrant. On Monday, the court, by an 8-1 vote, upheld the warrantless search of an apartment after police smelled marijuana and feared that those inside were destroying incriminating evidence. The Constitution bars warrantless searches except in certain circumstances — for example, when police fear that evidence of a crime is being destroyed. The question in this case was whether police, by themselves creating such emergency circumstances, unconstitutionally evade the warrant requirement. The case came from Lexington, Ky., where police pursuing a drug suspect banged on the door of an apartment where they thought they smelled marijuana. After loudly identifying themselves, police heard movement inside, and suspecting that evidence was being destroyed, kicked in the door. There they found Hollis Deshaun King, smoking marijuana. Police also found cocaine inside the apartment.
Gray Finalizes Medical Marijuana Details
(Washington Examiner) — D.C. Mayor Vince Gray officially proposed on Thursday the rules to govern the dispensing and growing the drug in the District. The mayor can’t move forward with the plans until either the D.C. Council gives its approval or 90 days have passed since Gray’s proposal. Once one of those has happened, Gray can assemble the five-member panel that will review and approve the applications for the 10 growing centers and five dispensaries the rules call for. The D.C. Department of Health will then run the medical marijuana system. Gray said Thursday that he hopes Congress doesn’t try to kill the city’s marijuana program.
Pot Legalization: A Multi-Cultural Movement Becomes Multi-Class with Billionaire’s Backing
by R. Asmerom
When George Soros speaks, people listen. The infamous billionaire who is known as the “The Man Who Broke The Bank of England,” after he made a billion dollars for shorting the British pound in 1992, donated $1 million towards California’s legalization measure and penned an editorial in The Wall Street Journal explaining why he supports the legalization of marijuana. His declaration, a week before the mid-term elections when Californians will vote on the Proposition 19 measure to legalize limited marijuana use and production, has certainly helped to shed even more attention on this controversial matter.
Although many people in California, from hippies to policy makers to capitalists waiting to bank on a legitimate industry, are in support of legalization, the discussion is still a polarizing force across the country. What’s most interesting about Soros’ editorial is that it touches on the racial inequity associated with drug policy. This is nothing new to the victims and the advocates like NAACP California President Alice Huffman who has declared marijuana law reform a civil rights issue. The current policy disproportionately affects young African-Americans who are 10 times more likely to be arrested for drug possession. At a young age, these juveniles are tagged with criminal records.
Soros proposes that the origin of the drug policy was one based on prejudice to begin with: “When California and other U.S. states first decided (between 1915 and 1933) to criminalize marijuana, the principal motivations were not grounded in science or public health but rather in prejudice and discrimination against immigrants from Mexico who reputedly smoked the “killer weed.”
Even if California votes yes on Prop. 19, the likelihood that the policy will take effect is low considering that federal drug laws will complicate its enforcement. Regardless, the attention that Huffman and Soros and countless others have brought to this issue is a critical step in the movement to overhaul a seemingly counterproductive policy on drugs.
Justice Prevails with Crack Cocaine Fair Sentencing But Why Is Media So Quiet About It?
by Anthony Jerrod
Despite dwindling approval numbers, President Obama has done a very good job in keeping most of his campaign promises. Most political centrists who are independent of right-wing and left-wing talking points would agree. The historic passage of health care reform, credit card reform, equal and fair pay, tobacco reform and Wall Street reform legislation in a two-year period is extraordinary and unprecedented. But, if you listen to all of the cable chatter, especially from a right-wing perspective, you would not know about these magnificent accomplishments.
I found it extremely funny that neither the right-wing, left-wing nor African-American media outlets have mentioned anything about the historic passage of The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to reverse the sentencing disparity relative to crack-cocaine. Finally, a public policy that Democrats and Republicans actually agreed was necessary and just and not one word has been mentioned. For those whose hearts are centered on the poor, downtrodden and the oppressed, one has to wonder whether a good narrative that directly affects the African-American community has been intentionally been left out of the news cycle because of racial dynamics or because it is too positive.
On Wednesday afternoon, the House voted to reduce racial inequity that has historically existed relative to the sentencing of people caught with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. To be charged with a felony, crack users needed to possess only 5 grams of the drug to be sentenced with the same charge that powder cocaine users needed to be caught with (500 grams).
For years, this 100-1 ratio landed many young African-Americans across the country in prison industrial complexes at a much higher rate than Caucasians caught with cocaine in the suburbs. According to research by the Human Rights Watch, “Blacks comprise 62.7 percent and whites 36.7 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison, although there are five times more white users than black. Moreover, black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate that is 13.4 times greater than that of white men.” And, statistics continue to show that there are more Black men (between the ages of 20 and 29) under the control of the nation’s criminal justice system than the total number in college.
Although a 1-1 ratio of crack cocaine and powder cocaine would have been ideal, it brings joy to know that lawmakers put aside ideological differences and political posturing to pass a law that has been needed for a very long time. The 18-1 ratio, which means 28 grams of crack cocaine to 500 grams of powder cocaine, is the primary tenet of the Fair Sentencing Act and is a major step forward toward social justice- a virtue that appears to have dissipated away in recent years.
Some critics and legislators believe that the reduction in crack-cocaine sentencing will actually hurt minorities and will result in a growth of apathy toward the culture of drug consumption and distribution. Although I agree that there will logically be some growth of apathy, one cannot forfeit institutionalized racist practices based on the attitudes of individuals who will always find a way to make quick cash even if it harms their community.
By all means, this legislation is not the panacea for all injustices relative to drug trafficking and consumption. Additional steps such as mentoring and accountability, education-based incentives, spiritual restoration and rehabilitation and job programs for former inmates are sorely needed. But, this week, I am filled with a fair amount of jubilation. This country should begin focusing more on public policies that lead to equal opportunities, rights and access exclusive of wealth class, race or any other anthropogenic divisions. And, if President Obama continues to refocus on the “least of these” as represented with this legislation and as he repeatedly promised during his campaign, then he truly will have a transformational presidency that transcends time.
Anthony Jerrod is a bestselling author, speaker, and public policy expert.
House Eases Crack-Cocaine Sentences
(Wall Street Journal) — The House approved a bill Wednesday that lightens federal sentences for crack-cocaine defendants, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature. After years of false starts and dashed hopes for sentencing advocates, lawmakers approved the legislation on a voice vote. The Senate had passed the bill this spring, and Mr. Obama is expected to sign it soon. The bill would raise the minimum quantity of crack-cocaine required to trigger a five-year sentence to 28 grams from five grams, potentially shortening prison time for thousands of defendants sentenced each year.
NAACP Gets It Right With Stance on Marijuana
by R. Asmerom
There’s nothing more tragic than seeing someone’s life going down the drain because of a mistake. That’s what can happen and has happened many times for black youth who were caught with marijuana. That’s why California’s NAACP has taken a strong stance in support of decriminalizing the use of marijuana, citing it as a civil rights issue for African-Americans. They are publicly supporting Prop 19, which is a California measure on the November ballot that seeks to allow recreational marijuana use.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle “the president of the state NAACP, Alice Huffman, said the current prohibition on marijuana has led to the criminalizing of young people and consequently has hampered the ability of many African Americans to prosper.”
The NAACP is referencing a study by the Drug Policy Alliance which found that, among other things, blacks are arrested for marijuana possession at up to quadruple the rate of whites although U.S. government studies show that white youth use marijuana at higher rates than black youth.
More often than not, the NAACP is criticized for not taking up worthwhile issues but even if this measure is not passed in California, the organization has taken a wise and strategic opportunity to expose the damaging connection between drug policy and the health of the black community.
NAACP Gets It Right With Stance on Marijuana
by R. Asmerom
There’s nothing more tragic than seeing someone’s life going down the drain because of a mistake. That’s what can happen and has happened many times for black youth who were caught with marijuana. That’s why California’s NAACP has taken a strong stance in support of decriminalizing the use of marijuana, citing it as a civil rights issue for African-Americans. They are publicly supporting Prop 19, which is a California measure on the November ballot that seeks to allow recreational marijuana use.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle “the president of the state NAACP, Alice Huffman, said the current prohibition on marijuana has led to the criminalizing of young people and consequently has hampered the ability of many African Americans to prosper.”
The NAACP is referencing a study by the Drug Policy Alliance which found that, among other things, blacks are arrested for marijuana possession at up to quadruple the rate of whites although U.S. government studies show that white youth use marijuana at higher rates than black youth.
More often than not, the NAACP is criticized for not taking up worthwhile issues but even if this measure is not passed in California, the organization has taken a wise and strategic opportunity to expose the damaging connection between drug policy and the health of the black community.
