Editor's Note: Race has been a major issue on the national front as well, and with good reason. One of the New York Times' now famous editorials that called for an end to prohibition also focused on the injustices of marijuana arrests, which, the article read, "are disproportionately people of color, with marijuana criminalization hitting black communities the hardest."
WASHINGTON – A debate over legalizing marijuana in the nation’s capital is focusing on the outsized number of arrests of African Americans on minor drug charges.
Pot legalization supporters in Colorado and Washington state also spoke about racial justice, but their voters are mostly white and their campaigns focused more on other issues. The race factor hits closer to many more homes in the District, where nearly half the population is black.
And that means this referendum could change how the nation talks about marijuana, some drug-policy experts say.
