Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Friday, September 28, 2007

Law Enforcement Maintains Marijuana Focus Despite Rise In Violent Crime

According to recently released statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), marijuana arrests reached an all-time high last year.

This news comes despite a rise in violent crime for the second consecutive year. Yet, last year alone, 829,625 Americans were charged with marijuana offenses according to the recently released FBI Uniform Crime Statistics. Eighty-nine percent of those charges were merely for simple possession.

This begs the question: shouldn’t law enforcement focus on the rising violent crime rate instead of wasting precious resources and manpower going after people for marijuana?

Close to 100 million Americans—including more than half of those between the ages of 18 and 50—have tried marijuana at least once. Military and police recruiters often have no choice but to ignore past marijuana use by job seekers. In fact, the FBI recently announced it is changing its policy of not hiring people with a history of marijuana or other illegal drug use because the policy disqualifies so many people the agency cannot fill needed positions.

Marijuana prohibition is unique among American criminal laws. No other law is both enforced so widely and harshly and yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the populace. Millions of Americans have never been arrested or convicted of any criminal offense except this. Enforcing marijuana laws costs an estimated $10-15 billion in direct costs alone.

Punishments range widely across the country, from modest fines to a few days in jail to many years in prison. Prosecutors often contend that no one goes to prison for simple possession—but tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of people on probation and parole are locked up each year because their urine tested positive for marijuana or because they were picked up in possession of a joint. Alabama currently locks up people convicted three times of marijuana possession for 15 years to life. There are probably— no firm estimates exist—100,000 Americans behind bars tonight for one marijuana offense or another. And even for those who don’t lose their freedom, simply being arrested can be traumatic and costly. A parent’s marijuana use can be the basis for taking away her children and putting them in foster care. Foreign-born residents of the U.S. can be deported for a marijuana offense no matter how long they have lived in this country, no matter if their children are U.S. citizens, and no matter how long they have been legally employed. More than half the states revoke or suspend driver’s licenses of people arrested for marijuana possession even though they were not driving at the time of arrest.

With violent crime on the rise, arresting marijuana users at such alarming rates does nothing to make Americans feel safer.


Drug Policy News

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are preaching to the choir here. What has to happen has to be a ground swell of the public to demand that this legistature stop the new prison because it is not needed. We need demonstrations and letters to the editor. We need the politicians to realize they cannot tax us to death and divert money from needed state programs. This governor and legistlature is proceeding with a unneeded prison to payoff their political allies in the prison industrial complex in this state. If you stopped the parole board from violating the law that the CCJRC faught to get into place, you could shut down prisons and spend that money on needed rehabilitation. $165 Million+ for a new prison plus the opreating costs (oh we get our name on it, but we have to fund the operating costs too?) verus $6 for drug rehab that the governor blows his trumpet about! How stupid do they think this group is?

Anonymous said...

1
秋天賞楓何處去酒店經紀,安排韓國旅遊有獨到心得的寶馬旅行社表示 酒店打工,秋遊韓國的重點就是美食、溫泉、還有雪嶽山美麗秋景。位於江原道 酒店兼差束草、襄陽、麟蹄一帶的雪嶽山,是韓國最早楓葉轉紅的地方,也由於雪嶽山一年四季都有奇岩絕璧 酒店兼職
、溪谷瀑布等美景,吸引了許多觀光客前來旅遊。一到 酒店工作秋天,以雪嶽山的最高峰~大青峰(1,708公尺)為首,雪嶽山各主要登山路線沿途的楓葉把山染 酒店上班成一片紅色的圖畫,美不勝收。


標榜「全程無自費」,相當受旅客歡 寒假打工迎,而且價格相當平易近人,只要14500元即可成行。另外還有全程五星酒店、海陸空版的「戀戀秋濟^海陸空濟州4日」 暑假打工,同樣獨家全程無自費!緊張刺激360度噴射快艇(價值韓幣25000元)、飛天熱氣球(價值韓幣25000元) 酒店PT、海水溫泉汗蒸幕(價值韓幣8000元) 禮服酒店等,海、陸、空讓您玩的盡興也只要13900元!現在就去體驗韓國秋天的美景吧~


驚險摩托車秀HAPPY TOWN 兼差價值韓幣12000元):表演者以機車為主,靈活的玩弄, 打工全世界只有兩組特技人員能做的高難度表演,在一個小時的演出中還有空中飛人﹑民俗雜技和大車輪 台北酒店經紀等表演,保證讓您大呼過隱,不虛此行喝花酒 特技令人嘖嘖稱奇。而享譽全球的國寶級亂打秀(價值韓幣45000元),是韓國人獨創的敲擊樂表演,故事的場景是發生在廚房中,因此所謂的樂器就是就地以鍋碗等廚房交際應酬 用具敲 打出澎湃的節奏。在沒有冷場的過程裡,不需要語言您就可以清楚知道劇情粉味的發展,台上演員還會與台下觀眾互動演出,整場歡笑不斷。


去過的旅客都津津樂道的酒店喝酒韓文化生活體驗營」,讓您親手體驗泡菜製作,穿著傳統韓服更能體驗韓國婦女的優雅!另外,精緻好吃的韓國美食當然也不能 酒店不嚐:鮑魚太極人蔘雞、長壽麵、、黑毛豬烤肉、還有獨家特色餐「?花魚定食+五花肉+鐵板馬肉+?料」「生猛海鮮大餐」等等讓人食指大動。酒店經紀酒店經紀酒店兼差酒店打工酒店上班酒店經紀酒店小姐酒店打工酒店兼差 酒店工作> 彩妝指甲彩繪口紅彩妝馬甲美白