NAACP calls war on drugs racist, supports marijuana bill
Political - California
emily holding
July 07 2010
The California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced their "unconditional
support" of Prop 19, the initiative to legalize, regulate and tax
marijuana, at a news conference last week.
"We are joining a growing number of medical professionals, labor
organizations, law enforcement authorities, local municipalities, and
approximately 56 percent of the public in saying that it is time to
decriminalize the use of marijuana," said Alice Huffman, President of the
California State Conference of the NAACP, in a press release.
The NAACP has criticized the war on drugs, calling it a failure because it
has focused on low-level drug offenders, with the burden falling
"disproportionately on people of color" rather than on drug lords.
Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance, joined
Huffman at the news conference to present the findings of a study titled
"Targeting Blacks for Marijuana."
The report showed that in the 25 largest California counties, blacks are
arrested for marijuana possession more than whites, typically at double the
rate and sometimes even quadruple.
"The findings in this report are a chilling reminder of the day-to-day
realities of marijuana prohibition and the large-scale racist enforcement at
its core," said Gutwillig. "Racial justice demands ending this policy
disaster and replacing it with a sensible regulatory system that redirects
law enforcement to matters of genuine public safety. Proposition 19 is
California's exit strategy from its failed war on marijuana."
Prop 19 would legalize marijuana for adults over 21, allow small residential
cultivation and permit cities to tax and regulate pot sales. Huffman and
Gutwillig believe this is the way to get rid of racism in the drug war, but
Sacramento minister Rob Allen could not disagree more.
Allen, president of the International Faith-Based Coalition and bishop of
the Greater Solomon Temple Community Church in Oak Park, insists legalizing
marijuana poses a greater threat to African-Americans as it endangers youth
and communities. For this reason, Allen, who is also a NAACP member, says he
is disappointed with the state NAACP's backing of the initiative.
"Most African American pastors are disappointed, absolutely disappointed
with the decision," Allen told the Sacramento Bee. "If anyone should know
the effects of illicit drugs in the black community, it should be one of our
most respected civil rights organizations."
Allen, along with the International Faith-Based Coalition, which represents
3,600 congregations, has scheduled a news conference at the state capitol to
demand the resignation of Huffman "due to her ties with the marijuana
lobby."
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