Defund the marijuana police? Reports call for California to shift from law enforcement focus

Should California defund the cannabis police?

The group Public Health Advocates is citing two new studies, one from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and the other from Youth Forward, to argue that rather than spend state cannabis revenue on more law enforcement, such funds should go toward community-led public health initiatives and investing in communities of color.

“Unfortunately, three years after (California voters legalized marijuana), elected officials have made decisions that are failing to meet these expectations and to reverse the course of the War on Drugs,” according to one of two reports released by the coalition.

The reports come as state lawmakers are weighing a Bureau of Cannabis Control budget request to fund an 87-member police force that would expand the state’s capability to crack down on California’s billion-dollar unlicensed cannabis industry.

The state wants the cops to investigate unlicensed and criminal cannabis activity and conduct activities that require a peace officer’s authority, according to a budget request document submitted by the bureau.

But advocates citing the two new research papers contend law enforcement agencies have a history of disproportionately targeting communities of color when it comes to marijuana enforcement.

In the UC Davis study, which examined marijuana-related arrests from 1996 to 2016, it was found that Black people were nearly four times more likely to be arrested and charged for marijuana-related crimes, such as possession with intent to sell, than were white people.

Though recreational adult-use cannabis is now legal in California, state and local law enforcement continue to go after (primarily minority) unlicensed operators, said Flojaune Cofer of Public Health Advocates, a lead author on that report.

“It’s another example of institutionalized racism, and all we’ve done is moved the marker,” she said.

Cofer criticized the state spending cannabis tax revenue on more law enforcement.

“The entity that was responsible for the racist implementation of the criminalization laws ... is now also getting the windfall of the money that is being generated from legalization,” she said.

That was the finding of the second study, from Youth Forward.

“In short, the law enforcement-centered approach to addressing cannabis has operated as a giant wrecking ball, destabilizing countless families and communities across the state,” the report said.

According to that report, police spending in California rose from $6.3 billion in 1982 to $17.5 billion in 2015, a 177 percent increase.

Public Health Advocates is arguing that money spent on policing could be better spent on other approaches.

It suggests allocating money to community-led prevention activities, and investing local tax revenue in communities of color.

Cofer also argued that the state should take a restorative justice approach toward illicit cannabis operators, providing an outreach window to help them come into regulatory compliance.

“This window will provide a safe and supportive process that includes capital, technical assistance, fee waivers, contracting requirements, immunity from prosecution and record expungement,” according to a statement from the advocates.

This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Defund the marijuana police? Reports call for California to shift from law enforcement focus."