By Dianne Anderson

If for no other reason, voters bored to tears with midterm election choices this November might turn to weed--presumably not smoking it as much as voting on it.

Proponents of Yes on 19 point to a recent California Legislative Analyst’s Office study estimate that passing the proposition would save law enforcement more time and resources to go after serious violent offenders, while creating

$1.4 billion in new tax revenue.

African Americans voters may also turn out strong on the proposition, not so much to support the bad economy as to save themselves.

Despite historically similar pot-smoking habits between Blacks and whites, Blacks are still nearly over three times more likely to get busted for smoking the seven pointed leaf than white smokers.

If the new law passes, all adults would be able to legally possess and cultivate marijuana for personal use, up to one ounce only for adults over 21 years. Cities and counties will choose whether to allow dispensaries or retail outlets that would be licensed, regulated and taxed like liquor stores.

At the continuing rate of arrests for small usage, African Americans stand the most to gain from the passage of the proposition.

Donald Craig, president of the Orange County branch NAACP, commented that Alice Huffman’s recent support of Yes on 19 is the right choice, considering how severely Black males are targeted for jails and prison for minor offenses.

He said that there are constraints in the proposition to protect the underage from access.

“It does prohibit anyone to have it in public or smoke it around minors,” he said. “I think the big focus here is the disparity of young Black men that are under 25 incarcerated or have felonies because of this.”

Recently, some members of the African American church vehemently came out against  Huffman's support for the passage of Proposition 19, but she has publicly stated that she will not step down as requested by those who oppose her support.

Huffman, president of the California NAACP, made clear that it’s not okay for Black teens to smoke, but the disparity in marijuana arrests must stop because the inequality in penalty is destroying so many lives.

She joins numerous organization and officials in supporting legalization for personal recreational use for adults, including 18 other long-standing nonprofits..

Among individuals supporting legalized cannabis include Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray (Ret.), Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Walter Clark (Ret.) and 29 other current or former police, representing several areas of law enforcement, district attorneys, judges and sheriffs.

Also on the list is former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, MD (Ret.), who is African American, and 12 other high-ranking physicians and medical specialists. In addition, 27 elected officials, senators, assembly members, board supervisors and council members, as well as eight labor organizations have publicly signed on to support the proposition.

At the same time, whites are not getting the same sentencing, Craig said. It may be a slap on the wrist instead of incarceration.

Craig added that unfortunately young people make mistakes but the proposition may help them to not be targeted or put them at risk of ending up a lifetime cycle in and out of jail.

“Our young men are getting probation, or a felony charge. That stays with them for years. That can lead to further incidence with incarceration down the road,” he said.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which also supports the proposition, both whites and Blacks use and sell drugs similarly, but Blacks make up 35 percent of drug possession arrests, 55 percent of convictions, and 74 percent of all imprisoned for drug possession.

The federal government’s 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also finds that 2.5 million whites sold drugs, compared to 700,000 blacks. However, today African Americans represent about half of the 2.3 million people in America behind bars.

Keith Stroup, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, compared the proposition to the end of alcohol prohibition.

“The federal government didn’t require that states legalize alcohol. They simply removed penalties,” he said, adding that some states still haven’t totally legalized alcohol.

At the same time, there are some studies that show countries with legalized marijuana, such as Amsterdam, actually report lower substance abuse overall among children and teens. Studies show that children 12 to 18 years in the United States use twice as much marijuana as the Netherlands, where that substance has been legally sold for decades.

“It is an interesting phenomenon, that if you have lighter or no criminal penalty, that there will be an increase in usage. That’s actually never been demonstrated,” said Stroup, who founded NORML 40 years ago to push marijuana reform.

He said that in the eleven states during the 1970s that had modest laws to stop marijuana arrests by hitting smokers with a maximum $100 fine for usage, studies showed ten years later that there was a slight decrease in use.

He called Huffman’s support “very courageous,” and that African Americans will benefit from Yes on 19.

“She got attacked for it, but I thought she recognized this is not whether or not you want to smoke grass. This is a civil rights issue when your race is being almost entirely targeted,” he said.