The Pennsylvania Chapter
of the NAACP endorsed Senate Bill 528, legislation that would
regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, yesterday during a press
conference in Harrisburg. SB 528 was introduced earlier this year by State Senator
Daylin Leach*.
Speaking at the press conference the
current chair of the Legal Redress Committee for the Cheltenham Area Branch of
the NAACP, David Scott, stated, “The war on drugs is a catastrophic failure.”
Sponsor Daylin Leach welcomed the
group’s support. “This is decimating the minority community. This is a problem
that is particularly acute,” said Senator Leach.
More coverage of this endorsement
can be found here, here, and here.
Sponsors of Senate Bill 528 hope to
bring it up for a committee hearing in the fall.
A recent report released by the ACLU, The War on
Marijuana: In Black and White, revealed that Pennsylvania was one of the
worst states when it came to racial disparities in marijuana arrests. According
to their data, an African American in Pennsylvania is over five times more
likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Pennsylvanians,
despite using at similar rates.
*Senator Leach is also running for
the US House of Representatives and has received support from NORML PAC. You
can learn more about Senator Leach’s campaign here or
the NORML PAC here.
You can learn more about the ACLU report here.
- See more at:
http://blog.norml.org/2013/06/26/pa-naacp-endorses-marijuana-legalization-legislation/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=PA+NAACP+Endorses+Marijuana+Legalization+Legislation#sthash.RqwT4M88.dpuf
