slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2008
- Messages
- 6,483
October 22, 2010 | 11:39 am
Seeking to appeal to black voters to support marijuana legalization, the Drug Policy Alliance and the state NAACP are releasing a report Friday afternoon saying that blacks were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession at higher rates than whites in 25 California cities.
The report, which will be discussed at a news conference at the NAACP’s convention in Oakland, follows one released this summer finding a similar disparity in California’s 25 largest counties. Alice Huffman, the president of the state NAACP, steered the group toward an endorsement of Proposition 19 earlier this year, arguing that it is a civil rights issue.
The Proposition 19 campaign is targeting black voters with mailers and phone calls. Among those expected at the news conference are actor Danny Glover and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. surgeon general. In a preface to the report, Huffman calls the war on drugs "a war on people of color" and writes: "For decades, law enforcement strategies have targeted low-income people of color who bear the disproportionate burden and stigma of arrest, prosecution, and permanent criminal records for marijuana possession and other minor drug offenses."
(...)
In Los Angeles, the report found that blacks are arrested at 7.1 times the rate of whites. Torrance had the highest disparity among the cities studied, with blacks 13.8 times as likely to be arrested. Pasadena had the second-highest rate at 12.5 times. The lowest rate was Compton, at 2.2 times. The researchers did not include California cities that had low arrest rates for marijuana possession.
continued at
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...r-pot-possession-than-whites-report-says.html
Seeking to appeal to black voters to support marijuana legalization, the Drug Policy Alliance and the state NAACP are releasing a report Friday afternoon saying that blacks were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession at higher rates than whites in 25 California cities.
The report, which will be discussed at a news conference at the NAACP’s convention in Oakland, follows one released this summer finding a similar disparity in California’s 25 largest counties. Alice Huffman, the president of the state NAACP, steered the group toward an endorsement of Proposition 19 earlier this year, arguing that it is a civil rights issue.
The Proposition 19 campaign is targeting black voters with mailers and phone calls. Among those expected at the news conference are actor Danny Glover and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. surgeon general. In a preface to the report, Huffman calls the war on drugs "a war on people of color" and writes: "For decades, law enforcement strategies have targeted low-income people of color who bear the disproportionate burden and stigma of arrest, prosecution, and permanent criminal records for marijuana possession and other minor drug offenses."
(...)
In Los Angeles, the report found that blacks are arrested at 7.1 times the rate of whites. Torrance had the highest disparity among the cities studied, with blacks 13.8 times as likely to be arrested. Pasadena had the second-highest rate at 12.5 times. The lowest rate was Compton, at 2.2 times. The researchers did not include California cities that had low arrest rates for marijuana possession.
continued at
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...r-pot-possession-than-whites-report-says.html
