Gustavo Solis, and Jesse Marx

The Desert Sun

A drug conviction can cause a permanent resident to lose his or her immigration status and leave the country. That is why the Immigrant Legal Resource Center is supporting Proposition 64, known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, or AUMA.

ILRC released a report Thursday, available through their website, on the impact legalizing marijuana could have on immigrant communities.

“Prop. 64 presents a timely and important opportunity to push back against the mass incarceration and deportation of immigrants due to decades-old, punitive laws,” said Angie Junck, the center's supervising attorney.

The ballot measure would allow Californians to grow up to six plants in their home. It also gives municipalities control over whether to ban or approve outdoor cultivation and commercial operations, which could translate into significant money for the cities that desperately want in.

Under existing law, penalties for minor drug offenses include detention by immigration authorities, loss of a “green card,” ineligibility to apply for lawful immigration status and deportation. Legalizing marijuana will protect immigrants from being deported for these crimes, according to the report.

Pro-AUMA organizations have launched an aggressive PR campaign in recent weeks. Snoop Dogg on Wednesday dropped a video in which the “Gin and Juice” rapper asked people to register to vote this November. Two weeks ago former drug dealer and Beyoncé husband Jay Z narrated an animated video criticizing the drug war.

READ MORE:Marijuana among crowded California ballot measures

The campaign in favor of AUMA’s passage has the advantage at the moment, not merely in polling numbers and star power, but in finance. As of Sept. 27, proponents, including the Drug Policy Action, had raised a combined $18 million for the cause, according California Secretary of State records. Opponents had raised more than $2 million, thanks in large part to a wealthy retiree named Julie Schauer, who lives outside Philadelphia. On social media, she has asserted a link between marijuana-smoking and mass murder.

Several major law enforcement groups have also opened up their coffers. The Riverside Sheriffs' Association donated $5,000 in February to keep marijuana illegal. AUMA’s proponents contend that cops, prosecutors and prison guards have a financial incentive in prolonging the War on Drugs, which trickles down to them in the form of government grants.

In explaining why his clients oppose AUMA last month, John Lovell, a law enforcement lobbyist, pointed to language in the ballot measure giving state officials room to grant marijuana licenses to people who’ve been convicted of violent felonies and drug trafficking. Unlike big tobacco, marijuana businesses would be permitted to market on any medium, so long as the audience did not include more than 28.4 percent children.

This article is part of the Insider column, a weekly roundup of political and public policy news, endorsements and events. The full column runs every Sunday in The Desert Sun. Reach the authors at gustavo.solis@desertsun.com or jesse.marx@desertsun.com.