Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jun 2013
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117

REASONS FOR MORE ARRESTS

Re: "=C2=80=C2=9CACLU: Blacks arrested for pot more than whites" Use abou
t the
same, but group cites profiling in 2010 figures,=C2=80=C2=9D Wednesday ne
ws story.
The probable result of a marijuana arrest is a plea bargain that results 

in a felony record.

A person with a felony record can be legally discriminated against for
the rest of his life. He can be refused employment, housing,
education, government benefits and the right to vote. He may well
spend his life powerless and in poverty. The age group most likely to
use drugs and to be arrested is 18- to 25-year-olds. In 2010, 33.4
percent of whites and 27.6 percent of blacks in that group reported
using marijuana in the past year. That same year, police arrested 716
blacks compared to 172 whites per 100,000 for marijuana possession,
further impoverishing a disadvantaged minority. Texas follows the
national pattern.

In 2011, 74 percent of Texas inmates held for nonviolent drug law
violations were people of color; 43 percent were black.

Only 11 percent of Texans are black. The war on drugs continues
because it benefits powerful vested interests and is a huge provider
of employment for federal bureaucracies, the police, the courts and
the prisons.

It has a devastating impact on African-American communities far out of
proportion to the criminal activity taking place there.

Suzanne Wills,

Drug Policy Forum of Texas
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