ACLU: Racist pot policies must end

BLACK PEOPLE are five times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession in Philadelphia - and 10 times more likely in some parts of Pennsylvania - according to an American Civil Liberties Union report released yesterday that found coast-to-coast racial disparities in pot busts.

The report, which blasted the nation's marijuana policy as a "fiscal fiasco," estimated that states spent $3.6 billion in 2010 alone to enforce marijuana-possession laws and make arrests, on average, every 37 seconds - with little to show for it.

"It used to be focused more on crack and cocaine, but now half of all drug arrests in this country are for marijuana," said the ACLU's Ezekiel Edwards, the primary author of the report. "Some of this is clinging to a criminal-justice approach to drug use and possession that has proven to be a failure."

Drug-policy reformers say the 187-page report, combined with a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that a majority of Americans support marijuana legalization, could represent an exit strategy to the $1 trillion drug war that the U.S. has waged on itself for 40 years.

"We could be much more effective ridding our communities of violent crime if we got away from locking people up for weed," said Neill Franklin, a former Maryland State Police major and undercover narc who now heads Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Even Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said yesterday that he thinks possession of a small amount of marijuana should be treated as a summary offense with a citation, rather than a misdemeanor with handcuffs.

"If that's a possibility, it certainly would not be opposed by me," Ramsey said, adding that he doesn't support legalizing marijuana.

Gov. Corbett, the state's former attorney general, opposes any loosening of marijuana laws, even for medicinal purposes. Pittsburgh police have largely moved away from taking people into custody for marijuana possession of 30 grams or fewer. But Ramsey said he believes that state law requires his officers to perform full custodial arrests, rather than issue citations like Pittsburgh.

Philly has become a hotbed of pro-marijuana activism, including the "Smoke Down Prohibition" events at Independence Mall, where hundreds of people have sparked joints in protest near the Liberty Bell. Two people were arrested by federal officers at last month's event, but organizers have defiantly scheduled another later this month.

"People want to end marijuana prohibition and they want some place to demonstrate that," marijuana activist Chris Goldstein said. "There's no better place than in front of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall."

Read William Bender's story on PhillyDailyNews.com to read the full report from the ACLU.