This past November, a clear majority of Oregonian voters agreed to take formal action on what had been a fairly accepted social norm: That marijuana use shouldn’t be illegal. Its use shouldn’t result in being arrested, serving time and a criminal record. It shouldn’t be used to target minorities. And it shouldn’t cost anyone their jobs, their education, their housing or financial security.
So we legalized it.
Still, the decades of prohibition means thousands of Oregonians are still saddled by past convictions for something the people of this state have deemed unworthy of punishment.
A comprehensive 2013 nationwide study by the American Civil Liberties Union reports that more than 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010 — the vast majority simply for possessing marijuana. The ACLU study breaks that down to a marijuana bust by cops every 37 seconds. And despite usage rates being relatively the same, the report found that blacks were nearly 4 times more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than whites.
These records — so often accrued as young adults — can be costly for a lifetime.
That’s why we support the Fresh Start Oregon campaign by The Bus Project. The campaign supports the proposal by Rep. Lew Frederick to expunge all nonviolent marijuana-related convictions now on Oregonian’s records. The reason echoes the mandate from voters back in November: To reduce the barriers to economic opportunity, and approach drug policy with “comprehensive, pragmatic, moral and sensible reform.”
Both government and business are lining up to consider how Oregon’s new law will make them money. And it is intended to do just that.
But it is an injustice that well-healed interests will soon be reaping profits for what continues to socially and economically oppress so many lower-income families.
Opponents of expungement say people should obey the law as it is, and should have done so when marijuana was illegal. And indeed, it is not a simple job to unravel years of bad policy and legal entanglements, but with a legacy of nonviolent offenses, racial injustice and costly incarceration, it is worth the effort necessary to at least set those records straight.
Fresh Start Oregon is working to galvanize statewide support for this effort and to encourage lawmakers to pass HB 3372. It is important for all of us who supported Measure 91 to follow through and continue with larger social reforms around drug policy. You can learn more at busproject.org, or head over to Twitter and check out #Freshstartoregon.
