MARIJUANA LAW REFORM IS A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," said the late
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967 when he spoke out
against the Vietnam War. At the time, he was roundly criticized by
friend and foe alike for speaking out on an issue considered outside
the purview of civil rights' leaders.

Dr. King understood better than most at the time the true cost of war
- -- in lives lost, in futures squandered, in dreams deferred and in
misspent resources.

Eventually, a majority of Americans came to agree with him about the
war in Vietnam but he did not live long enough to see the shift in
public opinion.

His moral courage lay in speaking out in the face of disagreement,
caring more about his integrity than popularity.

As leaders of the California NAACP, it is our mission to eradicate
injustice and continue the fight for civil rights and social justice
wherever and whenever we can. We are therefore compelled to speak out
against another war, the so called "war on drugs." To be clear, this
is not a war on the drug lords and violent cartels, this is a war that
disproportionately affects young men and women and the latest tool for
imposing Jim Crow justice on poor African-Americans.

We reject the oft-repeated but deceptive argument that there are only
two choices for addressing drugs -- heavy handed law enforcement or
total permissiveness. Substance abuse and addiction are American
problems that affect every socioeconomic group, and meaningful public
health and safety strategies are needed to address it. However, law
enforcement strategies that target poor Blacks and Latinos and cause
them to bear the burden and shame of arrest, prosecution and
conviction for marijuana offenses must stop.

The report released this week by the Drug Policy Alliance confirmed
that marijuana law enforcement in California disproportionately
targets our youth. Despite consistent evidence that Black youth use
marijuana at lower rates than Whites, in every one of the 25 largest
counties in California, Blacks are arrested for marijuana possession
at higher rates than Whites, typically at double, triple, or even
quadruple the rate of Whites.

We believe whatever potential harms may be associated with using
marijuana are more than outweighed by the immediate harms that derive
from being caught up in the criminal justice system.

Once a young person is arrested and brought under the justice system,
he or she is more likely to get caught in the criminal justice system
again.

While most marijuana possession arrests do not result in long prison
sentences, they almost all generate some entanglement in the net of
the criminal justice system -- acquisition of arrest records, entry
into criminal databases and the permanent stigmatization that arises
from such involvement. A simple marijuana possession charge and $100
ticket starts a rap sheet that can leave an individual with a
permanent record as a drug offender, which can easily be searched by
employers, landlords, schools, credit agencies, licensing boards and
banks.

Given the current economic crisis and high level of unemployment,
particularly for Black men, do we really want to permanently handicap
a person's ability to get an education, make a decent living and have
a productive life because they used marijuana?

Equally important -- is arresting people for possessing marijuana the
best use of our scarce tax dollars? At a time when counties are laying
off teachers, firefighters, child and senior care providers, can we
justify wasting millions attempting to reduce demand for cannabis
through law enforcement? How many more years should we wait before
declaring that strategy a failure? Our recent history is filled with
elected officials (including our current President), business leaders
and others who have admitted using marijuana and were nonetheless able
to lead productive lives.

How many would have been able to do so if they were subjected to
current law enforcement practices?

The California NAACP does not believe maintaining the illusion we're
winning the "war on drugs" is worth sacrificing another generation of
our young men and women.

Enough is enough.

We want change we can believe in; that's why we're supporting Prop.
19. Instead of wasting money on marijuana law enforcement, Prop. 19
will generate tax revenues we can use to improve the education and
employment outcomes of our youth.

Our youth want and deserve a future.

Let's invest in people, not prisons.

It is time to end the failed war on drugs by decriminalizing and
regulating marijuana to save our communities.