begin quote from:
Hakeem
Brown is unique. In the state of California, where black owned cannabis
businesses are rare, Hakeem Brown owned and managed a licensed medical
cannabis dispensary in Vallejo …
Racial Disparities Continue Under California’s Marijuana Enforcement
shiyali via Getty Images
Hakeem Brown
is unique. In the state of California, where black owned cannabis
businesses are rare, Hakeem Brown owned and managed a licensed medical
cannabis dispensary in Vallejo from 2009-2012, when it was shut down as
part of a multi dispensary raid. The raid was deemed unlawful and the
city was required to return the money seized during the police action.
Brown used this money to open up a new garden to grow for patients in
Napa. This garden was raided and Brown was arrested for possession with
intent to distribute despite possessing documentation confirming the
medical nature of the garden. For four years the case has dragged on,
with the judge limiting the ways in which those who were Brown’s
patients can testify on his behalf.
Stories like Hakeem Brown’s are too common in a state that has
allowed medical cannabis use for decades and is known for its
lassie-faire attitude about cannabis. In fact, cannabis remains illegal
in California, but you wouldn’t know it by witnessing its flourishing
industry. The cannabis culture on display in incubators and expo halls
is a far cry from what is happening on the streets of the Golden State,
where in 2014, there were over 13,000 felony arrests for cannabis, with black and Latino people overrepresented among them.
Cannabis has
been a non-incarcerable offense in California since the 1970s, and
possession of less than an ounce has not been an arrestable offense
since then. However, the subjectivity of “possession”, vs. “possession
with intent to distribute” enables police to use “evidence” such as an empty baggie or a certain amount of cash
to take a non-arrestable offense and flip it to a potential felony. Or,
as in the case of Hakeem Brown, claim that cannabis grown for medical
purposes is simply a front for illegal dealing. In the city of Oakland,
black people comprise 25% of the population yet 78% of those arrested
for possession with intent to distribute. On the other hand, white
people comprise 35% of the population and only 8% of those arrested for
possession with intent to distribute.
The racially disparate policing of cannabis crimes is not new information. Multiple reports
have highlighted this pervasive practice. In 2011, then-Governor
Schwarzenegger passed a law moving simple possession of an ounce or less
to an infraction. Now considered on par with a traffic ticket, guilty
parties simply had to pay a fine, no court appearance, no criminal
record. However, this change in penalty classification also came with
downsides. Now data on marijuana possession offenses are no longer
collected at the state level, which means it is now much more difficult
to measure whether unequal enforcement persists after marijuana
possession was reduced to an infraction. Additionally, as with traffic
court, the fees added onto the fine can be hefty and can be more
burdensome for some to pay than others.
In a collaboration between the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU of California, racial data on who is getting infractions
were obtained from the cities of Los Angeles and Fresno and analyzed to
determine whether there were racial disparities in marijuana possession
enforcement. Data collected from Los Angeles and Fresno show that
blacks were respectively cited for marijuana possession infractions 4
and 3.6 times more often than whites. The disparity is worse than the
rates at which blacks were arrested for simple possession of marijuana
prior to 2011, when possession was a misdemeanor offense. In 2010, black
were 2.2 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana
possession. Latinos were cited for marijuana possession infractions 1.4
time in Los Angeles and 1.7 times in Fresno more often than whites. It
is likely that these disparities are actually greater. California has a
long history of data collection challenges regarding Latinos, who are
often classified by law enforcement officers as white and thus
undercounted.
Most marijuana
possession citations are issued to young people in both jurisdictions,
particularly in Los Angeles. The mean age for those receiving marijuana
infractions is 26.58 years old in Los Angeles and 28.82 years old in
Fresno. In both cities, the majority of marijuana possession infractions
were issued to individuals 29 years of age and younger.
Hakeem Brown
was lucky. He was found not guilty at his trial in April. While he was
fighting for his freedom, others were planning for the green rush. The
infraction and arrest data in California show that there is a bigger
issue at stake than industry. The harms of cannabis prohibition persist
in California, and they do so most for young people of color.
The Adult Use of Marijuana Act,
which will give California voters the opportunity to legalized
regulated marijuana this November, allows those in jail for marijuana
offenses that will no longer be punishable by arrest to petition for
release, and for those on probation or parole to have their records
expunged. It also allows those with drug felonies to not only work in
the industry but to be business owners. It’s far past time to stop the
bleeding of prohibition that has been centered in our most vulnerable
communities, and legalize cannabis in California. Once we move cannabis
into a regulated market, we can slowly dress the wound left by decades
of disparate enforcement by making a place in the industry for those
like Hakeem Brown who have been on the front lines and have the scars to
show for it.
Amanda Reiman is the manager of marijuana law and policy for the Drug Policy Alliance.
This piece first appeared on the Drug Policy Alliance Blog: http://www.drugpolicy.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment