The history of cannabis prohibition is steeped in racism, right from its roots when fear of Mexican immigrants—and the rebranding of cannabis as marijuana to reflect that—was used to criminalize a popular and widely used medicine.
Over the decades, black and brown Americans have been punished for cannabis crimes at exponentially higher rates than whites.
“Legalizing cannabis is a big step towards racial justice but it’s far from enough,” says Feminists for Liberty’s Kat Murti in a BoldTV Millennial Minute debate featuring featuring Reason Foundation’s Jacob Rich, moderated by BoldTV’s David Grasso.
Today cannabis is legal in some form in 42 states. 1 in 3 Americans live in a state where recreational use is legal. Yet, in 2020, Black Americans were still 4 times as likely to be arrested than white Americans—despite roughly equal usage rates.
It’s clear social equity measures are necessary—but another government tax or regulation is not the way.
Instead, we need to further free cannabis markets, reducing the barriers of taxation and regulation that keep those on the frontlines of the drug war in the crosshairs of law enforcement
We need to release and pardon those languishing in prison for a so-called “crime” that is no longer illegal and remove impediments to their engaging in legal cannabis entrepreneurship.
