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The war on drugs seem more like the war on black and brown people because when you look at the prison population, the majority of those incarcerated are mostly black and brown people with minor drug offenses.

Most of those sentenced for possession had the Marijuana for personal use and were non violent offenders.

It appears the system was designed to incarcerate minorities on frivolous charges so they can have free labor for corporations.

See what is reported by the Root.

The City of Seattle on Friday filed a motion asking the court to vacate hundreds of marijuana possession convictions going back three decades and adversely impacting people of color.

City Attorney Pete Holmes acknowledged the racial disparity in marijuana convictions, citing an ACLU report showing that African Americans are more than three times more likely to be arrested for pot possession than whites, despite the facts that blacks and whites use at the same rates.

As we see marijuana sold in retail storefronts today, people who simply had a joint in their pocket a decade ago still have a red mark on their records,” Holmes said in a statement. “It’s long past time we remedy the drug policies of yesteryear, and this is one small step to right the injustices of a drug war that has primarily targeted people of color. I’m hopeful the court will choose to clear these charges.

Marijuana is now legal in the state of Washington; voters approved its recreational use in 2012. A 2017 report forecasts the state to take in about $730 million from sales of legalized marijuana over the next two years.

In February, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the proposed reversals in a press release, saying the move would affect 542 people who have weed convictions on their records.

“Vacating charges for misdemeanor marijuana possession is a necessary step to correct the injustices of what was a failed war on drugs, which disproportionately affected communities of color in Seattle,” the Democratic mayor said.

“The war on drugs in large part became a war on people who needed opportunity and treatment,” she added.” While we cannot reverse all the harm that was done, we must do our part to give Seattle residents — including immigrants and refugees — a clean slate.”

The Hill reports that Seattle is following in the footsteps of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who in February dropped more than 50 criminal charges against residents for marijuana possession, in a radical new policy shift that he says should free up “[police] resources to solve homicides.”

 

 

See More-  Source:  The Root