Pubdate: Wed, 01 Apr 2015
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2015 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Bryce Crawford

NEW STUDY SHOWS MARIJUANA ARRESTS UNEQUAL; AND MORE

Arrests drop, favor whites

Last week, the New York City-based Drug Policy Alliance released a 
17-page report titled "Marijuana Arrests in Colorado After the 
Passage of Amendment 64" (tiny.cc/w6mbwx), which shows the 
amendment's implementation has predictably gutted the rate of 
marijuana arrests since 2010. Statewide, arrests for possession, 
cultivation and distribution have dropped almost 95 percent. However, 
arrests are still disproportionately high for black Coloradans, as 
they were before legalization.

The statewide marijuana arrest rate for white people in 2010 was 335 
per 100,000 people. For black people, it was 851, a rate 2.4 times 
higher. In 2014, the arrest rate per 100,000 people for whites was 
116, and 281 for blacks, a difference still 2.4 times higher.

In El Paso County, the area's 40,000 African-Americans have 
experienced a worse, and growing, disparity. In 2010, blacks were 
arrested for possession 2.5 times more than whites. By 2014, the 
difference was 3.3 times greater - 77 white arrests per 100,000 
people versus 251 black arrests. Also, in regards to crimes related 
to public consumption, blacks are arrested in El Paso County at three 
times the rate of whites.

"The overall decrease in arrests, charges and cases is enormously 
beneficial to communities of color who bore the brunt of marijuana 
prohibition," the Associated Press quoted Rosemary Harris Lytle, 
president of the Colorado/Montana/Wyoming NAACP State Conference, as 
saying in a statement. "However, we are concerned with the rise in 
disparity for the charge of public consumption and challenge law 
enforcement to ensure this reality is not discriminatory in any manner."

Numbers were pulled from the Colorado Judicial Branch and the 
Colorado Bureau of Investigation and do not include Latinos.

Keef crumbs

Shortly after expanding into a neighboring space, 420 Speakeasy (1532 
N. Circle Drive, 471-3398) is ready to unveil the latest: The Ganja 
Game Room. "It's starting to be a big hit," says owner Travis 
Perkins, who notes that entry is included with the monthly $50 
membership fee. "We are actually the first marijuana-friendly arcade 
here in Colorado Springs." Expect pinball, air hockey and games like 
Hydro Thunder, Pac-Man and Crisis Zone.

Last week, the state of Colorado responded to lawsuits filed with the 
Supreme Court by Nebraska and Oklahoma, calling each "an attempt to 
reach across their borders and selectively invalidate state laws with 
which they disagree," reports the Denver Post.

"Friday's brief is the first time Colorado officials have had to make 
a full-throated argument in favor of the state's marijuana 
legalization laws," John Ingold writes. "In doing so, the brief 
spends several pages noting states' lengthy history of trying to 
regulate marijuana, 'a product whose use is staggeringly widespread.' 
Nearly half of all states now have laws legalizing recreational or 
medical use of marijuana, the brief states."
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