Law enforcement’s war on marijuana is a failure and has needlessly ensnared hundreds of thousands of people in the criminal justice system at a tremendous human and fiscal cost. Shifting Oregon away from the unsuccessful prohibition model towards a more effective harm reduction model long has been a high priority for the ACLU and our staff helped draft Ballot Measure 91.
Legalizing, regulating and taxing the recreational use of marijuana by adults 21 and older will bring a new approach to our drug laws, making them more fair, more compassionate, and smarter at reducing drug dependency and improving public health and safety. We urge a YES vote.
Between 2002 and 2012, Oregon law enforcement agencies arrested or cited more than 110,000 people for marijuana offenses, according to annual reports issued by the Oregon State Police. That’s like arresting or citing every single person who lives in Hillsboro.
What’s more, the war on marijuana is enforced along color lines. Blacks and whites use marijuana at roughly equal rates, but blacks are more likely – in Oregon, roughly two times as likely – to be cited or arrested for marijuana than are whites.
Money and valuable police time could better be spent on measures that keep communities safe, investigating serious and often unsolved crimes, and reinvesting in public health programs, including drug treatment. Rather than wasting time and money by clogging our courts and jails with marijuana users and producers, we should be licensing and strictly regulating marijuana production and sales.
The personal cost to those arrested is often significant and can linger for years. When people are arrested for possessing even small amounts of marijuana, it can affect their public housing and student financial aid eligibility, employment opportunities, child custody determinations, and immigration status.
Measure 91 would make marijuana legal for adults, take marijuana out of the black market, and establish a system in which it is regulated and taxed similar to alcohol. Marijuana laws applying to minors under 21 would remain the same.
