Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2014 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: Becky Straus Note: Becky Straus is the legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which endorsed Measure 91. POLICE SHOULD STOP ENFORCING SOON-TO-VANISH POT LAWS Oregonians spoke loud and clear on Nov. 4 when they voted to legalize, tax and regulate recreational marijuana for adults. Measure 91 passed with more than 55 percent of the vote. Lane County and on the coast posted even higher tallies, and 71 percent of Multnomah County voters supported the measure. We should interpret these numbers as a strong mandate: The war on marijuana has failed, and Oregonians reject prohibition. It is time for a new approach that focuses on eliminating the black market, ending the racial disparity in marijuana enforcement, regulating the industry and raising revenue for priorities like education, drug treatment and public safety. While the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has its work cut out for it to outline a regulatory scheme and much of the new law will not take effect until July, law enforcement agencies in Lane County and across the state should start now to begin to right the wrongs of decades of overcriminalization. Marijuana enforcement is a wasteful diversion of scarce public safety resources. Money and police time are better spent keeping communities safe and investigating serious crimes. Clogging our courts with people who buy pot serves only to line the pockets of black market cartels that fuel violent crime. And the personal cost of marijuana enforcement is significant and can linger for years. Being cited or arrested for even small amounts of marijuana can affect aspects of people's lives ranging from public housing, to student financial aid eligibility, to employment opportunities and more. These are exactly the skewed priorities that voters rejected when they approved Measure 91 - so let's take a new approach, starting now. The Multnomah County district attorney announced recently that he will no longer prosecute certain marijuana crimes and will drop pending charges immediately. Police officers and prosecutors should also take the lead in Lane County and across the state, and stop enforcing any marijuana laws that will drop off the books in July. Based on 2012 rates of marijuana citations and arrests, hitting the stop button now could affect more than 8,500 Oregonians. No less, alleviating the stark racial disparity in marijuana enforcement is a hallmark of many Oregonians' support for reform. FBI statistics show us that although rates of marijuana use are roughly equal between blacks and whites, blacks in Oregon are approximately twice as likely as whites to be cited or arrested for a marijuana offense. Measure 91 is not a panacea for racial disparities and biased policing. But this meaningful step forward on drug policy reform can be an opportunity to address those problems head-on. Not only should law enforcement immediately cease enforcing marijuana laws that are affected by Measure 91, all police departments and sheriff's offices should compile and disclose data that details the racial and ethnic breakdown of marijuana arrests in the future. Those data should report on all stops made by law enforcement, not just marijuana-related enforcement. The success of Measure 91 is a great step forward for criminal justice in Oregon because it shifts our approach on some drug policies from criminalization to regulation and treatment, with particular concern for the effects of the outdated approach on Oregonians of color. The mandate of this victory should resonate well beyond Election Day. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom