NAACP

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

Reno/Sparks Branch #1112
P.O. Box 7757
Reno, Nevada 89510

Phone: (775) 322-2992

Email: info@renosparksnaacp.org
www.renosparksnaacp.org

September 4, 2014

Legalizing Marijuana in Nevada

Stop Wasting Public funds and End Discriminatory Enforcement
The trend of legalizing recreational use of marijuana is starting to sweep the country
and Nevada needs to do the same. Marijuana was improperly put on the list of dangerous
drugs back in the early 1900s, contrary to the recommendations of the American Medical
Association. But, no one in Congress has had the backbone to try and change it.
Now, the states are taking action while facing potential criminal action from the
federal government. Presently, President Obama has said they are not going to get
involved with state use laws, but technically it is still a federal crime to possess and use
marijuana that could land you 10 years in prison.
But, on a practical note, it is a gross waste of taxpayers money to enforce marijuana
use and possession laws. The state of Nevada provides a perfect example of wasted public
funds. According to an ACLU report issued on June 5, 20131, police in Nevada made 10,382
arrests for marijuana in 2010. This was the eighth highest in the nation. Out of these arrests
9,139 were for possession. These people were then placed in the Nevada criminal court and
prison system. The reason given for the arrests is the war on drugs. This is not a war on
drugs, but a war on our local population. What harm is there to our society if a person is
smoking marijuana in their home?
Over the last 20 years the war on drugs has cost hundreds of millions of dollars with
no beneficial results except to explode our prison population to the largest in the world.
Since 2001 arrests for possession for marijuana in Nevada have risen 96%, one of the largest
increases in the nation. In fact, the use and availability of marijuana has not decreased, but
actually increased. This is reminiscent of the failure of prohibition.

http://www.aclu.org/marijuana

The impact on the people of Nevada is significant in numerous ways. In 2010, police
in Nevada arrested, on average, one person every 50 minutes for marijuana. In Nevada,
once you are in the criminal system you can not only go to prison but lose your money, job,
child custody, drivers license, student aid, and even be deported. The war on drugs is
creating a bigger problem for our country and costing taxpayers more and more each year.
Besides the cost to the individuals, the cost to society is huge with no inherent
benefits. In 2010, Nevada spent over $41.6 million enforcing marijuana possession laws.
That was the sixth highest in the nation. I think we could better use the money for
education or health services rather than send people to prison, which the cost per inmate is
a minimum of $20,0002 per year of taxpayer money, and especially when the marijuana
laws are not enforced equally.
The use of marijuana by blacks and whites is approximately the same. Yet, if you
are black and live in Nevada you are four and a half times more likely to be arrested for
marijuana possession than if you are white. This is the 11th worst disparity in arrest rates for
marijuana possession in the country. This is nothing to be proud of seeing how we have
historically been referred to as the Mississippi of the West.
In the 1970s the United States had a prison population of around 200,000 people.
Today, the prison population is over 2 million. Most of the increase is for drug possession
and a large percentage of the prison population is now made up of people of color, well
disproportionate to their population percentage3.
It is time to end the failed war on marijuana. Nevada needs to legalize its use and
our federal government needs to repeal its listing as a dangerous drug. We need to stop
wasting our hard earned tax dollars on a program that provides no benefit and
disproportionately impacts our black residents.
Jeffrey S. Blanck, Esq.
President Reno/Sparks Branch of the NAACP

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http://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander