August 23, 2010 | 3:42 PM | By

Marijuana Monday: The civil rights question

FILED UNDER: Politics, Marijuana, Proposition 19
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African Americans and Latinos are disproportionally targeted for possessing marijuana.

The California Democrats won’t touch it. Neither will the party’s candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. Bay Area congressional reps Nancy Pelosi, Jackie Spier, and Fiona Ma are staying out of the fray. Senator Feinstein is decidedly against it and Kamala Harris went so far as helping write the case for voting ‘no’ along with her Republican rival.

But two prominent African-American associations have come out in favor of Proposition 19, the state ballot initiative that would (at least try to) legalize the use of recreational marijuana. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People endorsed the measure in July and last week, the National Black Police Association joined the ranks of the measure’s supporters.

The primary motivation for the rift between these prominent organizations and the traditionally lockstep Democratic party? The severe differences in arrest rates for African Americans who use the drug. A recent study by the Drug Policy Alliance found that while a larger percentage of whites between the ages of 12 and 25 actually say they’ve used the drug, blacks are arrested at a much higher rate. That fact not only inspired two prominent African American groups to endorse Proposition 19, but has added a civil rights overtone to the debate over legalization–the argument being that as long as marijuana is illegal, African American men and women will continue to be shuffled into the justice system for what are considered minor crimes.

How this argument will play out at the polls is uncertain and depends who it appeals to. The New York Times had a great article about the split in the African American community over legalization last month. But the truth of the matter is that the Black vote in this state doesn’t go very far: about 6 percent of registered voters in California are African American. What may matter much more is how this civil rights claim plays in the Latino community–which accounts for 21 percent of the state’s registered voters.

Anecdotally and based on state data, it seems that Latinos suffer similar disparities when it comes to enforcement of marijuana laws. (In real terms it’s harder to prove as a national trend–FBI statistics don’t include Latinos as a category.) But the most recent poll I could find put Latino support for Proposition 19 at 38 percent, with 62 percent against. Meanwhile, African Americans in the same poll showed 40 percent in favor and 52 percent against the initiative. So why is the civil rights message seemingly not resonating amongst Black and Latino voters? I’ll be bringing you varying perspectives on that question, so check back.

  • blc49

    Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is a $100 ticket with no jail time in CA. Arrests for possession do not lead to jail time unless more than an ounce or on school grounds. Discrimination is not right and should be changed, but this is a distraction from the real issue of prop 19–iProp. 19 only applies to over 21 and only under an ounce anyway, so how would it change arrest rates for black youth? It won't. So why is NAACP really for Prop 19? I hope your future columns will enlighten me.

  • AbrahamK

    Before you spend too much time focusing on why the civil rights argument is failing, and minority groups oppose Proposition 19, you might look at Nate Silver's article about the Broadus effect. If you look a little deeper in your poll research, you'll find crosstabs showing large majority or at least plurality support among African Americans and Latinos, but only in automated polls (not conducted by a live operator.)

  • PabloKOh

    Here is your enlightenment. Punishment is not JUST $100 like you stated. You misrepresented the facts. Punishment is a $100 fine and a misdemeanor drug conviction. What is the difference? You are forever labeled a drug convict. You need to declare you are a drug convict on all job applications. You do not qualify for certain federal benefits, including student loans. You can not qualify to receive government housing. Your conviction pops up on every background check. The conviction will be used against you in any future court preceding, including divorce and child custody proceedings. I suggest a marijuana conviction has a significant monetary value far exceeding just the $100, probably closer to $100,000 in lost opportunities over a lifetime.

  • Fresnogirl559

    The reason More blacks are caught in this loop is that lower end neighborhoods MAKE their money this way!
    I am all for legalizing. But nobody get any credit for being a FOOL drug dealer! If People are expected to be as responsible for pot as they are Alcohol, Firearms ans cigarettes then there will be no Growing fields in the national parks, there will be NP money in it with dispensaries and personal growing. Just like Alcohol you can only grow for personal use NOT to sell. A vote to keep Pot illegal is a Vote FOR the drug cartels and Pharmaceutical millionaires to keep defiling us!

  • Johnny1

    Prop 19 has some flaws , I still vote YES on 19

    when prop 215 was written it clearly stated “any illness” cannabis can help with
    and from what I have read it was purposely written that way
    We live in a statistical world , there are people who feel a person has to be dying of a disease in order to legally obtain cannabis
    As pablo`stated , getting a misdemeanor charge is more damaging than any of the side effects of cannabis.
    Another comment “The reason More blacks are caught in this loop is that lower end neighborhoods MAKE their money this way!”

    The reason more blacks an latinos are arrested is

    RACIAL PROFILING

    just like the racist marihuana laws were created ,google “harry anslinger “
    “marihuana makes a white woman seek relations with a black man”

    When medical marijuana was made available it created thousands of jobs and tax dollars

    Look At New York , thousands of people arrested for “pot”
    you cant hide the numbers (mostly black an latinos)
    but some black activist groups still oppose MJ

    the biggest lie in the world purported by the government is that cannabis is a “dangerous narcotic
    with no medical value”
    and the sheeple follow

    Vote YES ON PROP 19

    end the madness

  • Dude

    Here is a quick easy test.Make a list of ALL of the recreational drugs, from Alcohol to Zoloff (or some other prescription drug starting with Z?) under each list ALL of the negative health effects for that particular drug, THEN cover up the drug names and ask ANYONE to choose which one is safest…. So why are we fighting a war against Cannabis ?

  • petri111

    Sheep, you are all government sheep!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_73C5GM7VU4N6ONIESUI45Y3DX4 Malcolm Kyle

    Prohibition causes massive crime and suffering, causes government/police corruption, causes America to have the highest prison population of any country in the history of the planet, causes Americans to lose all their rights and all their true values, causes the waste of trillions in taxpayer dollars, causes wars, causes violence and death in other countries, causes America to be hated by other countries, funds criminals, funds terrorists, causes the people who use drugs to be instant criminals who have to spend 100x the money for an inferior, adulterated, impure, unmeasured and thus unsafe product. Drug prohibition was started as a policy of racism and it perpetuates racism to this very day.

    Wake up guys! The prisons are bursting! The police are corrupt! Most of you are not even safe in your own homes anymore and the whole country is on the verge of a total financial collapse!