From The Appeal:
It’s 4/20, arguably the most notorious unofficial holiday for consumers in America after Black Friday. Denver, Colorado, hosts the Mile High 420 Festival. Revelers in San Francisco flock to Hippie Hill. Over here at The Appeal, we’re celebrating by tackling some popular myths about marijuana and the criminal legal system. Because this is apparently how nerds have fun.
Myth #1: Outlandish sentences for weed possession are driving the mass incarceration crisis.
Fact: Not exactly. There is a popular idea that habitual offender laws have been used to push scores of nonviolent drug offenders—disproportionately Black people—into unduly long prison sentences all because they dared to smoke weed. One reason this idea is so popular is that it’s convenient: If most people were in prison for marijuana possession, then decarceration becomes a much more simple and sympathetic argument. We’re talking about weed, after all.
While habitual offender laws have certainly driven many people into long prison sentences, the majority of those people are not there for marijuana-related charges. In California, for example, 80 percent of people in state prison are there because of a conviction for a serious or violent crime. People with convictions for violent crimes also make up the majority of state prison populations in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and elsewhere. (Though, it is important to note that in some instances “violent crime” can include acts without physical harm, like purse snatching or burglary.) And at the federal level, convictions for marijuana possession alone remain nominal, though not zero. Continue reading >>>
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