AURORA | Supporters of an amendment that would legalize marijuana for adults say a recent report shows marijuana users are increasingly facing criminal charges in Colorado — and that minorities are more likely to face those charges.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is backing Amendment 64 on next week’s ballot, last week touted two reports that show thousands of marijuana arrests in Colorado.
The first report, prepared by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project, said 210,000 Coloradans have been arrested for marijuana possession in the past 25 years.
That report said Latinos were 50 percent more likely to be arrested on pot charges than whites, and blacks have been arrested at three times the rate of whites. The report didn’t break down arrests by jurisdiction.
Rosemary Harris Lytle, president of the Colorado NAACP, said the study shows the need for changes to state’s marijuana laws.
“Marijuana prohibition is taking a toll on all Coloradans, and it is our communities of color that are paying the biggest price. Law enforcement resources should be used to address violent and otherwise harmful crimes,” she said in a statement. “They should not be directed toward the enforcement of irrational marijuana laws that disproportionately impact African-Americans and other people of color. It is time for a more sensible approach.”
Supporters of Amendment 64 also pointed to a report showing marijuana possession arrests in Colorado were up almost 7 percent in 2011 compared to 2010.
Opponents of the measure have said there are very few people arrested solely for marijuana possession in Colorado — most are arrested on multiple charges, of which marijuana is just one.
“We do not ‘arrest’ people for simple marijuana possession — or for jaywalking for that matter — both of which are petty offenses,” Roger Sherman, campaign director for No on 64 said after the report was released.
He also criticized the pro-marijuana side for latching the issue to racial disparities in the justice system.
“This rationalization for legalizing marijuana trivializes the gravity of racial disparities in the justice system that have existed at every level for many decades and in fact, diminishes the efforts of the true champions for racial justice that have been fighting in the trenches for so many years,” he said. “Making marijuana legal in Colorado does nothing to address this serious national problem.”
But Denise Maes, director of public policy for the ACLU of Colorado, said the numbers show that minorities, particularly Latinos, are being unfairly harmed by marijuana prohibition.
“Discrimination against Latinos has gone hand-in-hand with marijuana prohibition since its establishment,” she said. “Our marijuana prohibition laws are doing far more harm than good, and that could not be more evident than in our Latino community.”
If Latinos are 50% more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges that whites, does that mean that 50% more Latinos are more likely to use marijana than whites? If blacks are arrested three times more frequently for marijana use than whites, does that mean that three times more blacks use marijana that whites? If these statistics are correct, what will marijana legalization do to the Latino and Black communities?