NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD for Sunday, December 5, 2020
290th Weekly Edition
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this weekly platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we work on taking back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please join us every week as we try to Connect, Unite, Act with our North Carolina Daily Kos community. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
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12/5/2020 1:00 PM
NC 394,990 6,438 5,543 27 315,979 73,468
House passes historic bill to decriminalize cannabis
The House voted Friday on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, which decriminalizes cannabis and clears the way to erase nonviolent federal marijuana convictions. The Senate is unlikely to approve the bill.
The MORE Act also creates pathways for ownership opportunities in the emerging industry, allows veterans to obtain medical cannabis recommendations from Veteran Affairs doctors, and establishes funding sources to reinvest in communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
Friday's vote was the first time a full chamber of Congress has taken up the issue of federally decriminalizing cannabis. Of the vote count, 222 Democrats were in favor of passing the MORE Act and six were against it. Five Republicans voted in favor of it and 158 voted against passing it.
North Carolina task force calls for decriminalization of marijuana
WTVD-TV 11/18/20 RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A North Carolina racial equity task force is recommending the decriminalization of marijuana possession. Attorney General Josh Stein announced the task force's recommendations Wednesday. The task force was previously convened by Gov. Roy Cooper to develop policies to advocate for racial equity in criminal justice reform.
"You cannot talk about improving racial equity in our criminal justice system without talking about marijuana," said Attorney General Josh Stein. "White and Black North Carolinians use marijuana at similar rates, yet Black people are disproportionately arrested and sentenced. Additionally, it is time for North Carolina to start having real conversations about a safe, measured, public health approach to potentially legalizing marijuana." Justice Anita Earls, who is a co-chair on the task force, said 63 percent of more than 10,000 convictions for marijuana possession in 2019 were of minorities, despite them making up only 30 percent of the population and research showing that Black and White populations have roughly the same percentage of marijuana usage.
RELATED | Americans across party lines, regions embrace marijuana in 2020 election
Decriminalizing marijuana in small amounts in N.C. recommended
Journal Patriot 11/23/20
The N.C. Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, convened by Gov. Roy Cooper and co-chaired by Justice Anita Earls and Attorney General Josh Stein, on Nov. 18 approved recommendations that include decriminalizing marijuana possession in small amounts.
It also recommended further study of potential legalization of marijuana possession, cultivation and sale.
“You cannot talk about improving racial equity in our criminal justice system without talking about marijuana,” said Stein. “White and Black North Carolinians use marijuana at similar rates, yet Black people are disproportionately arrested and sentenced. Additionally, it is time for North Carolina to start having real conversations about a safe, measured, public health approach to potentially legalizing marijuana.”
Earls said the recommendation is intended to help alleviate racial disparities in North Carolina’s criminal justice system. She said data made available to the task force shows that 63% of the more than 10,000 convictions for simple possession of marijuana last year in North Carolina are people of color, while they are 30% of the population. Research shows that marijuana use is at roughly equal percentages among Black and white populations, Earls added.
Currently, possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana is a class 3 misdemeanor, subject to a fine up to $200 but not imprisonment. There were 31,287 charges and 8,520 convictions for this offense in 2019, with 61% of those convicted nonwhite. Possession of more than a half ounce up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana is a class 1 misdemeanor, subject to up to 45 day in prison and a $200 fine. There were 3,422 charges filed and 1,909 convictions for this offense last year, with 70% of those convicted nonwhite.
People around the country keep voting for marijuana. Here’s why that’s unlikely in NC.
News&Observer 11/12/20
On Election Day this year, people in several states voted for various forms of drug legalization — including deeply conservative Mississippi, where nearly 75% of voters approved of legalizing medical marijuana.
Exactly one week later, some state officials in North Carolina met to talk about decriminalizing or even legalizing marijuana here, too.
They discussed the economic and public health repercussions such a decision might have, as well as how drug laws disproportionately target minorities. The meeting was part of the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper established in response to the Black Lives Matter protests that began last spring.
But he cautioned against hoping that the state legislature is going to get on board with expanding that philosophy statewide anytime soon.
Momentum to legalize marijuana continues to build…as it should
NCPW 12/4/20
[Editor’s note: The following commentary by veteran Virginia journalist Roger Chesley was written after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s recent announcement of his intention to push for an end to marijuana prohibition in the state, but prior to today’s historic vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to end federal criminal penalties. It was initially published in the Virginia Mercury]
My attitudes toward America’s hypocritical — and racially biased — stance on marijuana were formed during my high school and college years in Washington. Those sentiments have only hardened since then.
I’ve revisited those days as the commonwealth now considers legalizing pot. Gov. Ralph Northam said he plans to propose legislation to do just that when the General Assembly convenes next month. Bringing sanity to cannabis laws is overdue in Virginia and many other states.
In November, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released a 274-page report weighing the benefits and drawbacks. The assessment by the state’s legislative watchdog agency noted current marijuana laws disproportionately affect African Americans and other people of color despite widespread use by other races, and how legalization could generate more than $300 million per year in tax revenues.
Boosting the state’s bottom line often sways formerly reluctant legislators, even if it means doing the (previously) unthinkable.
Thanks again, be safe out there!
