NAACP Endorses Marijuana Legalization in CO and WA

Phillip Smith
Stop The Drug War

Two of the three marijuana legalization initiatives on state ballots this year have won the endorsement of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) regional organizations this week. On Wednesday, the Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming conference of the NAACP endorsed the Colorado initiative, and on Friday, the Alaska, Washington, and Oregon conference of the NAACP endorsed the Washington initiative.

The Colorado initiative, Amendment 64, has already won the support of a growing list of organizations, including the Democratic and Libertarian Parties of Colorado, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Similarly, the Washington initiative, I-502, also has a growing list of endorsers, including the King County (Seattle) Bar Association, the Washington State Labor Council of the AFL-CIO, the Green Party, the state Democratic Party, and numerous county and local Democratic Party groups.

“In ending the prohibition against adult use of marijuana, we might affect mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on African-Americans and other people of color,” said Rocky Mountain states regional NAACP president Rosemary Harris-Lytle.

“Treating marijuana use as a crime has not only failed, it has perpetuated racial inequities through unequal enforcement,” said Pacific Northwest regional president Oscar Eason, Jr. “African Americans are no more likely than whites to use marijuana, but we are much more likely to be arrested for it.”

Every endorsement counts in what will be a nail-biter of a campaign in both states. According to recent polls, both initiatives are leading, but are only hovering around the 50% support level. It takes 50% plus one to win, and veteran initiative watchers say initiatives should be polling at least 60% as the campaigns head into the home stretch because some support is soft and likely to be peeled off by last minute opposition campaigning.

In Colorado, an early August Public Policy Polling survey of likely voters had Amendment 64 leading 49% to 40% and trending upward from an earlier PPP poll that had it leading 46% to 42%, but still not over 50%. In Washington, a July Public Policy Polling survey had I-502 leading 50% to 37% and trending upward over an earlier PPP poll that had it leading 47% to 39%, but still not over 50%.

Look for in-depth reporting on these two marijuana legalization initiatives and their prospects, as well as the one in Oregon, Measure 80, after the Labor Day holiday.

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