Yesterday, President Joe Biden announced in the White House Press Release that he intends to pardon federal convictions for simple possession. The President then asked for the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and urged states and local leaders to do the same regarding offenses. While this move signals a glimmer of hope, the local statistics concerning simple possession arrests prove alarming.
According to the ChattaData Police Dashboard concerning racial equity, African Americans make up 56 percent of all simple possession arrests, while only 29 percent of Chattanooga's current population.
What does that mean in straight talk? Even though black and white community members use marijuana at nearly an equal rate, we are statistically more likely to be arrested than our counterparts. The promise of equity begins when Mayor Tim Kelly makes good on his campaign promise to reimagine public safety.
I, along with over 2,500 Chattanoogans, are urging the Mayor and City Council to work together to draft legislation that brings an end to simple possession arrests. It's incumbent upon all of us to look for ways to dismantle policies and procedures steeped in racial inequality. The impact of simple possession extends far beyond the criminal legal system, as people face an array of punishments in employment, housing, education, immigration, child welfare, and public benefits - all of which can trap people in an airtight cage of poverty. Now is the time to act, and I hope public officials respond to the people's will. We are ready for a new Chattanooga.
Marie R. Mott
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I agree with Marie Mott about the decriminalization of marijuana, not much else. Just like William Barr tried to tell Lester Holt a month or so back during an interview, and I am paraphrasing The police distribute their resources to where the most crimes occur. If that is a black community, then just by virtue of more interaction between members of that community and police there will be more arrests. Simple math.
Sam Lewallen, Jr.
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Hello Ms. Mott,
Respectfully, not everything you wish to change is about race. I believe you are correct about the absurdity of government’s handling of simple possession of marijuana, but not for the color of skin reasons you cite. I wish to discuss your widely shared views about race, as well.
You as a highly intelligent woman blessed with an extraordinary talent in public speaking, very articulate. The first time I heard you speak at a City Council meeting, I wanted to stand up and applaud you. Your delivery is fantastic.
God gave you these gifts for purpose, and you choose to use these gifts to perpetuate division, rather than uniting and leading. Your own racism against people of no color is disappointing. I see talent that is being destroyed by self-imposed racism. I say no color, because white is the absence of color; it is a lack of pigment that I cannot change. I did not choose this color of skin. Therefore, it is illogical to judge people on skin color.
I wonder how you feel about our wonderful Hispanic and Asian neighbors. Do you believe the successful Hispanics have privilege that is not available to you? I have Hispanic first-generation American immigrant friends that literally had nothing but their clothes when they came to the United States to work agriculture as children. My Hispanic friends are successful business owners these days. That is the beauty of the greatest nation on this planet, called the United States of America. Everyone has opportunity to succeed.
Your theories of race fail miserably on many fronts and defy Christianity.
The Black Lives Matter hatred ideology you have embraced has over time become entrenched in young people of color. It is more than wrong to teach hatred of others to young minds. The young man at East Ridge High School in the video was spewing racist BLM ideology towards great educators. Teaching hate and division against others to young people is abusive, as hate will prevent them from excelling in the world where races of all types mix. Teaching hate against people of no color to young people will damage their world view and lower their quality of life. BLM should be rejected as harmful to children.
As for the subject matter of simple possession of marijuana, hemp legalization has convoluted the process of charging citizens with possession of marijuana. Hemp and marijuana both have detectable THC. Is lab testing of each government seizure of a small amount of marijuana a good use of taxpayer resources? I think not, as there are monumental problems with illicit, criminally manufactured fentanyl.
Our government endorses two of the greatest gateway drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Due to ease of access and availability, these government endorsed substances are the greatest of gateway drugs for youth. The government endorsed gateway drugs are deemed legal, and taxed to fund government operations. Cigarettes kill an estimated 500,000 a year in our country, according to the CDC. Smoking ranks number one as the most preventable death cause. Alcohol abuse kills an estimated 140,000 a year in our country and ranks number three as preventable death, or self-imposed harm.
The hypocrisy of governments endorsing alcohol and cigarette gateway drugs and incarcerating citizens over marijuana possession is apparent. Government has never, ever with emphasis, won a war on drugs. The first rule of business is supply and demand. Government works to incarcerate their way out of an illicit drug crisis through a supply chain view, rather than demand view. Illicit drug programs that worked to reduce demand of drugs, such as DARE, were discontinued. The government keeps repeating their failing method of incarceration for the supply chain, instead of addressing demand.
Ms. Mott you are correct about possession of marijuana, but not for the race reasons. Everything is not about race.
The aforementioned represents opinion, meaning it is simply one view. Have a blessed day y’all.
April Eidson
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Miss Mott has great insight and is more on time with her observation than even she might realize.
Police have the tools at their disposal to lay the foundation and set the perfect storm where crime can happen. When a person of such authority tells you they can arrange to have your home broken into, it says a lot. If someone has that kind of power over criminals then isn't it also just as well they can also control the ebb and flow of crime in targeted areas?
Poor, minority poor areas just make easier, soft targets. All laws, real, imagined, made up, manufactured are more aggressively enforced in poor, minority poor areas. An alleged rolling stop to a stop sign becomes an excuse to justify a traffic stop. Once that stop is made cops will look for other things to pile on, and usually everything goes downhill from there for their target.
Before the term "prescription drug addiction" became a household phrase, I witnessed it while working as a companion to a client in a highly upscaled community. All my client did was pop pain pills day in/day out and wash them down with diet soda. The client was in charge of their own medicine. Giving the client meds was not a part of my job description (praise the ancestors!) so I didn't have any part or say in how the client took their meds. I warned the client if they didn't eat I'd have to quit, because, although I wasn't in charge of any medication they were taking, I feared the individual might die and I could still possibly be held responsible. I finally got the client to partially nibble on some poached egg and toast, but that was about it. I also learned the pain pills weren't the only drugs the individual and their friends were using. After a couple of weeks on the job, frustrated, I quit for my own safety. This wasn't in some poor, minority poor community, but an area where one could find people living in mansions.
The situation for poor, minority poor communities and crime is more complex than 'simple math'. There a multiple variations taking place at any given time, even exploitation for those looking to boost their careers at the expense of others. To say or believe otherwise is misleading, naive and to be honest...ignorant.
Brenda Washington