NAACPNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

Reno/Sparks Branch #1112 Phone: (775) 322-2992

P.O. Box 7757 Email: info@renosparksnaacp.org

Reno, Nevada 89510 www.renosparksnaacp.org

September 4, 2014

Legalizing Marijuana in NevadaStop Wasting Public funds and End Discriminatory Enforcement

The trend of legalizing recreational use of marijuana is starting to sweep the country

and Nevada needs to do the same. Marijuana was improperly put on the list of dangerous

drugs back in the early 1900’s, contrary to the recommendations of the American Medical

Association. But, no one in Congress has had the backbone to try and change it.

Now, the states are taking action while facing potential criminal action from the

federal government. Presently, President Obama has said they are not going to get

involved with state use laws, but technically it is still a federal crime to possess and use

marijuana that could land you 10 years in prison.

But, on a practical note, it is a gross waste of taxpayers’ money to enforce marijuana

use and possession laws. The state of Nevada provides a perfect example of wasted public

funds. According to an ACLU report issued on June 5, 20131 , police in Nevada made 10,382

arrests for marijuana in 2010. This was the eighth highest in the nation. Out of these arrests

9,139 were for possession. These people were then placed in the Nevada criminal court and

prison system. The reason given for the arrests is “the war on drugs”. This is not a war on

drugs, but a war on our local population. What harm is there to our society if a person is

smoking marijuana in their home?

Over the last 20 years the war on drugs has cost hundreds of millions of dollars with

no beneficial results except to explode our prison population to the largest in the world.

Since 2001 arrests for possession for marijuana in Nevada have risen 96%, one of the largest

increases in the nation. In fact, the use and availability of marijuana has not decreased, but

actually increased. This is reminiscent of the failure of prohibition.

1http://www.aclu.org/marijuana

 

The impact on the people of Nevada is significant in numerous ways. In 2010, police

in Nevada arrested, on average, one person every 50 minutes for marijuana. In Nevada,

once you are in the criminal system you can not only go to prison but lose your money, job,

child custody, driver’s license, student aid, and even be deported. The “war on drugs” is

creating a bigger problem for our country and costing taxpayers more and more each year.

Besides the cost to the individuals, the cost to society is huge with no inherent

 benefits. In 2010, Nevada spent over $41.6 million enforcing marijuana possession laws.

That was the sixth highest in the nation. I think we could better use the money for

education or health services rather than send people to prison, which the cost per inmate is

a minimum of $20,0002 per year of taxpayer money, and especially when the marijuana

laws are not enforced equally.

The use of marijuana by blacks and whites is approximately the same. Yet, if you

are black and live in Nevada you are four and a half times more likely to be arrested for

marijuana possession than if you are white. This is the 11th worst disparity in arrest rates for

marijuana possession in the country. This is nothing to be proud of seeing how we have

historically been referred to as the Mississippi of the West.

In the 1970’s the United States had a prison population of around 200,000 people.

Today, the prison population is over 2 million. Most of the increase is for drug possession

and a large percentage of the prison population is now made up of people of color, well

disproportionate to their population percentage3.

It is time to end the failed war on marijuana. Nevada needs to legalize its use and

our federal government needs to repeal its listing as a dangerous drug. We need to stop

wasting our hard earned tax dollars on a program that provides no benefit and

disproportionately impacts our black residents.

 Jeffrey S. Blanck, Esq.

President Reno/Sparks Branch of the NAACP

2 http://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/

3  The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander