Washingtonians won’t be voting on marijuana legalization this year, but Californians still will. Proposition 19 will be on the November ballot and it picked up a big endorsement this week (via Pete Guither):
Saying that prohibition takes a heavy toll on minorities, leaders of the NAACP’s California chapter announced Monday that they are backing passage of a marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot.
The war on drugs is a failure and disproportionately targets young men and women of color, particularly African-American males, said Alice Huffman, president of the NAACP’s state conference.
This caused a Sacramento minister by the name of Ron Allen to put out a press release attacking the NAACP [emphasis mine]:
Bishop Ron Allen says, “It is time to take a closer look at how decisions are made at the California NAACP and what the contributing factors were that caused Alice Huffman to side with Proposition 19. California NAACP President Alice Huffman is selling out the very people that the NAACP has a history of protecting. She has been bought and paid for by the highest bidder, in this case it is George Soros, his Open Society Institute and the Soros Foundation Network. We know Soros is a major contributor to the NAACP and he is a primary funding source for the legalization of marijuana worldwide. With Huffman’s position on legalization, she is destroying the good work the NAACP has done for the African American people, and she is discrediting the good name of the NAACP. She has sold us out for her personal financial gain and I call for her immediate resignation. Alice Huffman, step down as the President of the California NAACP now and restore its good name.”
Allen continues, “As a NAACP member, I call for an internal investigation as to the NAACP’s ties to the marijuana lobby.”
I think Allen might be able to find his answer right here:
A look at booking stats for California’s 25 most-populated areas finds that in Los Angeles County African-Americans have a marijuana-possession arrest rate that’s 332 percent higher than that for whites.
The report, “Targeting Blacks For Marijuana,” was released this week and found that across those 25 largest counties the pot-holding arrest rate for blacks was often at least double that of whites despite evidence that indicates African-Americans use cannabis at a lower rate. In L.A. County the percentage was more than quadruple.
Anyone who’s been involved in drug law reform for some time is well familiar with the odd contradiction that occurs in many African-American neighborhoods. Despite being the most negatively impacted by the downstream effects of marijuana prohibition – from the violence of drug gangs to the disproportionate numbers of people within those neighborhoods who end up in jail – many of the leading voices within these communities cling to the belief that the drug war is both moral and necessary. But the impact of these racial disparities and the increased divide between African-American neighborhoods and the rest of America has made the truth of prohibition’s impact too hard to ignore.
During our failed American experiment with alcohol prohibition, a major milestone in its eventual repeal was when New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia began pointing out how devastating it was to New York’s large immigrant communities. The NAACP’s endorsement of Proposition 19 is an important milestone in this fight.
Raw meat for seattle libs; an appeal to white guilt.
yawn.
@1
Didn’t read the post again. Yawn.
Thank You George Soros for being a supporter of the NAACP.
A question for righton. Sir, do you know anyone that has lost a family member just because they just couldn’t afford proper medical care? Because they waited until the pain became unbearable because they couldn’t take time off work, or pay the bill to go see a doctor?
I would love to introduce to someone who just buried his daughter.
White guilt my ass…..
I only feel guilty that I haven’t fought hard enough to remove right wing Ayn Rand/smaller guvvmint/corporate death squad supporting zombies from all branches of MY government.
Look how hard right wing maggots fought to “defund” ACORN for having the nerve to try to help poor people, and minority voters get a say in our government that serves only Wall Street.
I just can’t wait till the fall elections when all them unverifiable electronic voting machines use their secret software to tell private companies what to tell us as to who got how many votes.
I should sell all them red states my All Facts Voting Machines. Everyone votes but not one single Republicon got one single vote, and America could for once move on and fix the system that only benefits the top 2% while crushing the rest…..
Class War. The billionaires are winning hands down at this time. Just ask the zero income tax paying Exxon if you need proof.
You guys are random; Lee posts some junk about Marijuan laws unfairly jail african americans. (lee, it wasn’t that hard to read). #3, “all facts”…you post has nothing to do w/ marijuana and afr americans…
i’m not convinced you scrap a law simply because blacks seems to like weed more than white folks do. you mean for every thing we have disparate use/prison rates…we have to scrap? Do you broadly then see if Jews speed more than Hispanics, or Gays get tickets more than straights.
where does it end.
Prison is an industry. It has little to do with wrong or right, but more to do with who gets prosecuted and for what.
Is there one single bank exec that is truly crime free? I really doubt it. One single hedge fund manager, or for that matter one single Goldman Sachs employee that hasn’t committed multiple felonies? Nope.
The “Justice” system “goes after” drug users, and the people that do far more heinous crimes, like stealing people’s houses and retirement accounts, or triple people’s electric bills because of fake power outages get bigger, and bigger bonuses.
Our system is broken.
Where does it end? Good question righton. Maybe it will end when voter suppression, and voter caging is prosecuted, and black box voting machines are outlawed nationwide, and the media conglomerates who hide, and distort the news more than they report it get broken up.
Righton — is it that you don’t read the post or that you can’t?
You say: “i’m not convinced you scrap a law simply because blacks seems to like weed more than white folks do.”
Post says: “pot-holding arrest rate for blacks was often at least double that of whites despite evidence that indicates African-Americans use cannabis at a lower rate.”
@7
Haha, I’d just copied that snippet and was about to make the same comment. Welcome to the freak show, Pete. Our trolls are a special kind of stupid you don’t see at a lot of other blogs.
Funniest comment of the night… how about ACORN working to cause voter fraud?
Wait for it. Someone will whip out FackCheck.org 2008 when the convictions happened in 2009.
Hey Factless,
Ever took a pen or pencil from work for personal use?
Just checking…
Seems to Puddy HA Libs can’t understand the black church and how it looks at drug use. Maybe cuz most HA libs haven’t been to a black church service!
Libs…that “study” was from pro drug drug policy institute.
next time read your source before you presume its factual. their assertion is no more valid than the opposite (that i used).
ever hear the phrase, 2 wrongs don’t make a right? If indeed black arrests are too high vs their criminal activity…the solution to that propblem is not to decriminalize…
yipes….
Legalizing marijuana should be a no-brainer. It is just sheer political cowardice that gets in the way of legalization. I don’t use the stuff, but I could give a rat’s ass if someone else does. No one should go behind bars for smoking a joint. And, the lives that would be saved if some of the profit was taken out . . . I guess “Christians” like Puddy don’t care about such things.
nobody feels like working, panama red is back in town . . .
Notice the proud leftist didn’t address the issue of why black churches are against drug use. Of course he obfuscates… but that isn’t new for the kitsap barrister now is it?
I am not saying I have never committed a crime. What I am saying is the people that do many of the most destructive crimes, defrauding trillions from millions of people, and stealing their houses for “bonuses” are richly rewarded. The people that grow a few plants are prosecuted like there’s no tomorrow.
And btw ACORN turned in the people that were turning in fraudulent voter registrations.
ACORN = help poor people become involved = evil
Only in right wing world. God help anyone not working to enrich the rich!!!!
Ummm yeah right… Can’t seem to find where Latoya Lewis was turned in by ACORN. Maybe you’ll have better luck!
Only in your mind eh? Puddy and others didn’t say that. Watch now as Pavlov calls the arschloch producing a link from his vaulted database!
Puddy @ 15
Who is talking about pro-drug use? Religion and law are different. You understand that, don’t you? Jesus Christ most certainly did. I don’t think you get that. I know that Cynical doesn’t. Cynical should love the Taliban. The Taliban sees religion as law. So does Cynny. He wouldn’t know Jesus Christ from George Bush.
Proud Leftist, what is legalizing marijuana to a black minister? Pro-Drug Use! When you understand what that means in the black church let Puddy know! Puddy realizes most other leftists on this blard would be scared to venture into the inner city and park their car and visit a black church!
And don’t use Jesse HiJack-son or Al NotSoSharp-ton as black ministerial examples! They are only in it for themselves.
@19 Self-Righteous Puddy
And when you find that the God you dismiss her eis the real one, what will YOU do?
As for being afraid of going ot a Black Church … how much time do you spend in the CD?
And then there is ACORN … eactly waht was it they were found guilty of … ?? or is being Black and politically active now a crime?
God “Playing” SJ,
When has Puddy ever dismissed God? Just because your view and Puddy’s view differ, well we’ll see when Jesus returns right?
Good to see you on this fine late hour. Regarding the Central District, Puddy gets there every so often but a few years back Puddy was there every weekend, sometimes coming back for evening activities. Puddy’s car was stolen from a church parking lot during one meeting.
What were the peeps working for ACORN guilty of SJ? The Google links are all there for your viewing pleasure. Google it. Puddy is your friend but doesn’t work for you.
BTW we met some fine Reformed Jews from VA last week. We did a Friday Shabbat opening service with them and learned some Hebrew words. Ate the braided bread too.
Lee-
Were some of your Pro-Stoner Brethren involved in the BC Bud bust??
http://www.peninsuladailynews......-bust-case
@22
Are you trying to make a fool of yourself?
There are like 25 million Americans who smoke pot regularly (and I’m not even one of them any more). Do you think I’d know every single individual who risks arrest in order to supply them all? There are tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) who do so.
That would be like if I saw some news article about a guy who gets caught fucking his goat. Should I just assume that you’d know him on the belief that all people who fuck goats all know each other? That makes no sense. I know that you don’t know all the other people in this country who fuck goats.
@12
You’re more than welcome to look through all these links if you want to stop making an ass of yourself.
21. Puddybud is shocked SHOCKED spews:
Isn’t it irt dismissive to say that the God of HA is not the true God?
Speaking of myself, one thing I can assure you is that I would NEVER claim to be God or even to know God’s will. THAT KIND OF ARROGANCE SEEMS TO ME TO BE YOURS.
That si what you get for driving a white man’s car
I did not accuse ACORN, you did. If you want to violate the Law by casting stones, seems to me you .. with your claim to hbe devoted .. ought to be able to back up such charges.
“Thou shall njot bear false witness”
I recently met a young AA guy who is deeply into Jewish scholarship. Fascinating guy
BTW .. I assume you do know about Rabbi Funnye?
Back breaking bread … one thing I like about you .. a lot. We need a lot more of learning about each other .. sharing rather contesting differences.
Oh god… where is your Son in any of these conversations? Seems you forgot about Him? Or is it because…
you ain’t who you is?
What were the peeps working for ACORN guilty of SJ?
I did not accuse ACORN, you did.
Wrong again… Puddy produced the facts.
lee, you are ignoring the slam inside my post (i actually don’t care if marijuana is legalized, since we allow alcohol)…my zinger is that your white guilt motivates you more than anything. witness the worst president in american history (a product of feeling guilty white voeters)
The election in November will make progress to end the stupid war against marijuana. It will take some time, but we in Washington will get another chance to at least decriminalize marijuana. It’s just a matter of time.
Thanks to Lee for continuing to work this issue on HA!
That George Soros…he is everywhere…lololol I heard he was responsible for our crappy weather.
@28
my zinger is that your white guilt motivates you more than anything
Zingers are more effective when they make sense.
witness the worst president in american history (a product of feeling guilty white voeters)
How was George W. Bush a product of “feeling guilty white voeters”?
$1MM house in Bellevue growing 700 pot plants had a fire reported on King 5 News.
Any of the HA Libtardo faithful know of this “supplier”?
Jimmae Cahhhhhhhrter is the WORST.PRESIDENT.EVER!
go read lefty Danny Westneat in the Sunday paper; he nails the 800bb crater our doofus president has created.
22. Mr. Cynical spews:
23. Lee spews:
Lee–
You start ranting…but fail to answer my legit question.
Do you know of the folks who were arrested?
Yes or No?
Hey Lee,
“There are like 25 million Americans who smoke pot regularly…”
This sounds like another typical liberal weasel statement designed to help destroy America. You know, like “Hope and Change”. How far up your ass did you have to reach to pull out that number?
Sadly, it has become axiomatic among modern movement conservatives that African Americans are vaguely inferior as a race.
This wasn’t necessarily always so.
There was a time when enlightened conservatism allowed the presumption that “race” was largely insignificant to personal individual potential.
But today’s conservative is convinced that certain racial minorities “differ” culturally in ways that predispose them to poverty, criminality, etc. Among conservatives this is what passes for enlightenment today.
i am a 52 year old black male who could’nt get a census job because i smoked marijuana in 1978.i was charged in colorado and fined $25.i also was issued an fbi number that has followed me around all of my life.
i hope california can lead the way and legalize marijuana.