Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Several speakers and audience members at a Hampton NAACP forum on marijuana legalization Monday voiced concern about what they termed unfair current enforcement of the state's pot laws.
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said that black and white people use pot at similar rates. But in terms of arrests, she said, blacks are far more likely than whites to be charged with crimes pertaining to that use.
In one city in Northern Virginia, she said, a black person is seven times as likely as a white person to get arrested for marijuana possession. In most of Virginia, she said, black people are about three times more likely to be charged.
"It's being enforced in a way that is disparate," Gastanaga said, saying there's been "over-policing" in some parts of the community. "This has a collateral impact that's not related to the actual use of marijuana in our population."
Those misdemeanor arrests show up on criminal records, several speakers said, and have an impact on people's ability to land jobs, housing, and even loans.
"Those people are tied with the stigma of a conviction," said Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell. Bell's office no longer prosecutes misdemeanor marijuana possession charges – with the prosecutor saying he's shifted focus to violent crime – even as the city is still prosecuting the cases through the city attorney's office.
Christine E. Marra, community relations director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said that "even a mere arrest can keep somebody from getting the rental housing that they need." The law center, she said, is planning to legally challenge bars to housing that stem from past marijuana arrests.
"It can also become a major issue in a custody case," Marra said. "Even if there's no arrest, if the other parent has an attorney, that attorney often knows how to use that piece of information in a way that could change that whole case – and in turn could change the child's life."
In the wide-ranging forum Monday evening at Bethel AME Church in downtown Hampton, the crowd of about 100 people was overwhelmingly pro-legalization and decriminalization.
Hampton Deputy Police Chief Barry Archie and Hampton University Police Chief David Glover offered some defense of the current laws.
Archie said that he's concerned about the increasing potency of marijuana out on the street.
"It's hard to control the intensity," he said. Plus, he said, legalizing the drug will not eliminate the black market for it.
"If there's a disparity in the (race) numbers, we should focus on changing those numbers," but not fix that problem by simply making the drug legal, Archie said.
When he started on the police force 25 years ago, Archie said that those caught with marijuana would invariably go to jail. But now, he said, they are released on a summons to appear in court, typically leading to a $100 fine.
Hampton police, he said, don't initiate stings to go after low-level marijuana users. Pot charges come with other arrests, he said, with the odor of the drug often leading police to find it.
Glover said that HU enforces current marijuana laws.
"We are a zero-tolerance state, if you will," he said. For students, Glover said, he tells them, "don't do it."
"You can vote, you can join organizations that are ushering in a change in the direction," Glover said. "But don't make the bad decision (to smoke pot). What you do if you go to Colorado is what you do if you go to Colorado." (That state has legalized the drug in recent years).
But even Glover said he would "enforce whatever laws that are on the books" and that he welcomed state lawmakers to take "a hard look at decriminalization."
An audience member, Sid Siddiqi, an aeronautics engineer, said that growing up in his native India, all sorts of people used marijuana, and there were no laws prohibiting its use. He said there were no problems with the drug, either.
Panelists said that if people want the law changed, they should work to make it happen through lawmakers. Daily Press reporter Travis Fain, a panelist at the discussion, said that lawmakers often listen to law enforcement officials and church groups – so if you can convince them to back your view, that could go a long way.
"You want to move the people that move them," Fain said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Panelists At Hampton NAACP Forum Voice Concern About Impact Of Marijuana Laws
Author: Peter Dujardin
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Website: Daily Press
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said that black and white people use pot at similar rates. But in terms of arrests, she said, blacks are far more likely than whites to be charged with crimes pertaining to that use.
In one city in Northern Virginia, she said, a black person is seven times as likely as a white person to get arrested for marijuana possession. In most of Virginia, she said, black people are about three times more likely to be charged.
"It's being enforced in a way that is disparate," Gastanaga said, saying there's been "over-policing" in some parts of the community. "This has a collateral impact that's not related to the actual use of marijuana in our population."
Those misdemeanor arrests show up on criminal records, several speakers said, and have an impact on people's ability to land jobs, housing, and even loans.
"Those people are tied with the stigma of a conviction," said Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell. Bell's office no longer prosecutes misdemeanor marijuana possession charges – with the prosecutor saying he's shifted focus to violent crime – even as the city is still prosecuting the cases through the city attorney's office.
Christine E. Marra, community relations director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said that "even a mere arrest can keep somebody from getting the rental housing that they need." The law center, she said, is planning to legally challenge bars to housing that stem from past marijuana arrests.
"It can also become a major issue in a custody case," Marra said. "Even if there's no arrest, if the other parent has an attorney, that attorney often knows how to use that piece of information in a way that could change that whole case – and in turn could change the child's life."
In the wide-ranging forum Monday evening at Bethel AME Church in downtown Hampton, the crowd of about 100 people was overwhelmingly pro-legalization and decriminalization.
Hampton Deputy Police Chief Barry Archie and Hampton University Police Chief David Glover offered some defense of the current laws.
Archie said that he's concerned about the increasing potency of marijuana out on the street.
"It's hard to control the intensity," he said. Plus, he said, legalizing the drug will not eliminate the black market for it.
"If there's a disparity in the (race) numbers, we should focus on changing those numbers," but not fix that problem by simply making the drug legal, Archie said.
When he started on the police force 25 years ago, Archie said that those caught with marijuana would invariably go to jail. But now, he said, they are released on a summons to appear in court, typically leading to a $100 fine.
Hampton police, he said, don't initiate stings to go after low-level marijuana users. Pot charges come with other arrests, he said, with the odor of the drug often leading police to find it.
Glover said that HU enforces current marijuana laws.
"We are a zero-tolerance state, if you will," he said. For students, Glover said, he tells them, "don't do it."
"You can vote, you can join organizations that are ushering in a change in the direction," Glover said. "But don't make the bad decision (to smoke pot). What you do if you go to Colorado is what you do if you go to Colorado." (That state has legalized the drug in recent years).
But even Glover said he would "enforce whatever laws that are on the books" and that he welcomed state lawmakers to take "a hard look at decriminalization."
An audience member, Sid Siddiqi, an aeronautics engineer, said that growing up in his native India, all sorts of people used marijuana, and there were no laws prohibiting its use. He said there were no problems with the drug, either.
Panelists said that if people want the law changed, they should work to make it happen through lawmakers. Daily Press reporter Travis Fain, a panelist at the discussion, said that lawmakers often listen to law enforcement officials and church groups – so if you can convince them to back your view, that could go a long way.
"You want to move the people that move them," Fain said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Panelists At Hampton NAACP Forum Voice Concern About Impact Of Marijuana Laws
Author: Peter Dujardin
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Website: Daily Press
