A spokesperson for the Iowa A-C-L-U says a study by the national A-C-L-U and Human Rights Watch found a huge disparity in how whites and blacks in the state are treated when it comes to drugs.
*
Nationwide, a black person is two-and-a-half times more likely to be arrested than a white person. Iowa is second in the nation for that disparity in arrests, behind only Montana. Veronica Fowler says this study follows up an earlier one on marijuana, and says this latest study reinforces the need for some change.
*
She says the failed efforts to create and then change Iowa’s medical marijuana law don’t give much hope that something will be done with the overall drug issue. Fowler says it is something that needs to be addressed.
*
She says the cost to house people for drugs crimes is taking away resources that could be used for other things. Fowler says Iowa is one of only three states that automatically and permanently takes away a person’s right to vote after a felony conviction, and that is another impact from the failed drug war.