By Paul Shepard on Aug 20th 2010 6:11PM
Filed under: News, Profiles, Politics
First the California NAACP endorsed it. Now the National Black Police Association voiced support for a measure to legalize marijuana.
On the common sense marijuana meter, score it black folks 2, white folks 0.
Proposition 19, on the California ballot to legalize, tax and regulate pot, is a measure that's time has come.
Too many public resources are wasted chasing petty pot dealers, and there is growing evidence that marijuana laws are unevenly applied by police in the streets when it comes to race.
But race has little to do with why marijuana should be legalized. It simply isn't a big deal for many Americans these days. It makes little sense to criminalize an act that lots of Americans take part of in the quiet and privacy of their own homes.
I would rather see the money used for pot prosecution go for violent criminals - the type of people who really lower the quality of our lives.
The NAACP in California and the black police association agree. When are we going to see some majority organizations show similar guts toendorse the obvious?
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Comments: (11)
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By: Alie on 8/21/2010 7:48AM
Can anything be done about these spams on here? as for pot been approved by police, is this with the backing of the naacp? stupid!
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By: jeromequigley on 8/23/2010 5:31PM
@the utter nots: thank you for bringing some facts to this article. Not trying to bash Paul Shepard , but his article lacked any digging into this issue. Unlike some of the info that you brought to the table. However there is one point that Paul said that needs to be cleared up. 1) this Whites-0 blacks-2 is such BS! NORML has been fighting for the change of these laws for Years!! It is a good mix of races (which is why they work, because they work together) but most of the time you end up seeing mostly whites. And when "nots" talked about the racism mix of how it got started, You got it right! However peepz confuse that with being "ALL WHITES", no not at all. It is the RICH AND POWERFUL people, who at that time were white. There is a HUGE DIFFERENCE!! The average white person you meet gets nothing from any of these rich government heads! Now is this to say that your added info(tlking to "nots") was wrong, no it was right on for the most part. The government wanted to stop the flow of Mexicans into the country and that was their way of scaring the majority population which was whites. But for many many years the regular joe white guy has wanted these laws changed just as much as any one else. MAIN POINT BEING: Stop making ALL whites to blame for what the Rich and Powerful do, therefore making any enemy out of peepz that are getting crapped on by the Government just as much as anyone else! If we could stop doing that then we could join forces and stop the rich and powerful together!! Think of how much more power we would have?? That would be HUGE!!! Then we could get a lot more done in this country to make life better for ALL the Low and Middle Income peepz of this country! And isnt that what it's all about??? PEACE!!!
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By: mswll4 on 8/21/2010 11:28AM
Legalized pot, and smoked a joint, and drink a can of BUDWEISER, and you will feel good. Like i said, people who smoked pot, also drink alcohol.
ALCOHOL + POT = INTOXICATED
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By: Wyllyemozelle on 8/22/2010 3:37PM
This is an issue whose time has come. I agree that marijuana should be legalized.
The war on drugs is a massive, and I mean massive failure. It was/is money being poured down a black hole, and accomplishing nothing. Other than filling the jails, and making people THINK that something is being down when the reality nothing is really being done.
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By: Charles on 8/22/2010 8:52PM
For me smoking weed just got old, plus my food bill went thru the roof.I always thought law enforcement could be used to pursue other types of offenders. About time I saw in print that the same crime is enforced differently according to race sad but true .
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By: galadee9 on 8/22/2010 9:55PM
what's wrong?
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By: enferno on 8/22/2010 11:10PM
LEGAL POT IS NOT GOOD WATCH THESE YOUNG GIRLS GO CRAZY AFTER SMOKIN SOME POT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwMNpDVfKW8
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By: Warren on 8/23/2010 12:55AM
May as well - it's not going away.But these Draconian drug laws need to.This corrupt system of ours, and those who head it, are too stupid to realize that if you take the stigma away from marijuana- legalize and tax it - you kill a number of "birds" with 1 stone. The gangs/ dealers are out of business - the taxes generated would amount to billions - jail space could be used for the TRUE dregs of society - The "lure of the taboo" would be gone - the quality could be controlled -and lastly, those who already smoke could enjoy without the fear of harrassment and arrest.After a while, it would be just another legal commodity like alcohol.Besides, we all know human nature - if you take the forbiden, and make it available - it loses it's attraction very quickly.Legalize it!
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By: jeromequigley on 8/23/2010 4:00PM
@Paul Shepard, I would really of hoped that before you wrote an article like this that you would do SOME kind of research on the subject!!! NORML has been fighting to have these laws changed for YEARS! Please look into it. And why do you have to make racist statements about this issue?? Blacks 2 whites 0?? WTF is that about Paul?? I was 22 and got caught w/about 3grams of weed (which is about 1 good joint). Never been arrested before, I got a huge bail and ended up doing 89 days. Luckily because of my record and already doing all that time I got time served but still had to plead guilty to the charge. I am white and some how all this Priveldge people talk about did not seem to help me! WHEN ARE PEOPLE GOING TO FIGURE IT OUT, THE ONLY COLOR THAT MATTERS IS GREEN!!!! IF you are not Rich and Powerful then you get shafted, being white in no way gets you jack unless your pockets are loaded! The sooner people figure that out the sooner you will quit alienating a huge population that for the most part would so be on yourside for many issues. Yet you continue to spit on them with out the facts! All the info the guy in the beginning is true, but again it was not WHITE PEOPLE who started all this. It was RICH PEOPLE WHO HAPPENED TO BE WHITE!! There is a big difference!!!
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By: Sedated on 8/23/2010 9:20PM
Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhh...............What?
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