Marijuana Law Reform
Arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana constitute one of the most common drug-related points of entry into the criminal justice system, and are often directed primarily at people of color, despite strong evidence that whites use marijuana at higher rates. The Criminal Law Reform Project advocates for the decriminalization of personal possession of marijuana across the nation.
| Find out why the ACLU supports medical marijuana laws >> |
Eliminating penalties for low-level marijuana possession will prevent tens of thousands of people from becoming enmeshed in the criminal justice system in the first instance. Moreover, decriminalization will have the added effect of keeping people out of jail for probation and parole violations, and will eliminate the many collateral consequences that flow from marijuana arrests, thereby reducing the gross number of people entering or otherwise harmed by the criminal justice system.
Make a Difference
Your support helps the ACLU end punitive drug policies and defend a broad range of civil liberties.
Drug prohibition has largely driven America’s incarceration rate to unacceptable levels. Drug offenders comprise over 500,000 of the more than 2 million people in our nation’s prisons and jails, and drug offenses and failed drug tests account for a significant number of those returning to prison for parole and probation violations. Most of those incarcerated for marijuana offenses do not belong in prison, as they represent little or no risk to public safety. Removing criminal penalties for marijuana offenses will therefore reduce the U.S. prison population and more effectively protect the public and promote public health.
Features
Police Practices: The ACLU works to promote good police practices, which ensure public safety and prevent abuses in encounters between police officers and citizens. Unfortunately, across the nation patterns of racial profiling, the selective enforcement of laws against people of color and disturbing stop-and-frisk policies have resulted in a disproportionate effect on certain communities, with people of color coming in contact with law enforcement and the criminal justice system at far greater rates that white people.
Medical Marijuana (2011 feature): Contemporary scientific evidence confirms the countless stories of the therapeutic effects of medical marijuana, which has provided unique relief for serious conditions, including cancer and AIDS, when no other medicine is as effective or free of side effects such as nausea or loss of appetite. Nearly one million patients nationwide now use medical marijuana as recommended by their doctors and in accordance with state laws.
Cases
Casias v. Walmart (2011 case): The ACLU is suing Wal-Mart on behalf of a cancer patient who was fired for using medical marijuana in compliance with state law.
Arizona v. U.S. (2011 case): The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association (AzMMA), argued for the dismissal of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s lawsuit challenging her own state’s medical marijuana law. The law protects the right of sick patients to access the medicine they need. In January 2012, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.
Most Popular
ACLU Asks Michigan Supreme Court To Hear Medical Marijuana Case (2011 press release)
MCLU Urges Changes to New Medical Marijuana Rules (2010 press release)
Government Marijuana Scare Stories Deliberately Confuse Correlation with Causation (2008 blog)
Decriminalizing Marijuana, One Step at a Time (2008 blog)
Massachusetts High Court Limits Police Searches in Small Marijuana Cases (2011 blog)
California's Medical Marijuana Laws Get Nod from Court (2006 press release): Medical marijuana patients around the country scored a major win in November 2006, as a California Superior Court judge issued a preliminary ruling that state medical marijuana laws can co-exist with the federal law that prohibits all use.
