Who’s getting the grass? Who’s getting the cabbage?
Brothas, especially with locs, raise your hand if this has ever happened to you: You were most likely minding your own damn business. Maybe you were one of — or the only — Black person at a party. Perhaps you were just walking down the street, chilling in a park, on your way to school, or maybe it happened at work. Someone, often a white person, catches your eye and, never dropping their gaze as they move closer, a little too close, they lean in and ask, “Do you know where I can buy some weed?”
Actually, I should be asking how many times this has happened to you.
Let’s also talk to the so-called “crack babies” born during the “War on Drugs” of the ’80s and ’90s. Ask the children born to stimulant-addicted parents how they feel about the current “opioid epidemic.” Specifically, ask them about the vastly different response by law enforcement, healthcare, sociocultural politics, and media representation. How it felt to have their parents get prison sentences instead of social sentiment. Even as infants, they did not get compassion but endured inhumane treatment in hospitals where the caregivers were told that, as babies, they “should not be touched.” Just imagine these innocent children, not touched.
We know that the United States’ drug policy and procedure depends on who is holding the psychoactive drug-filled pipe. It’s obvious, as marijuana takes a meandering state-by-state path to legalization, as the internet provides everything from solid gold pearl-encrusted vape holders to cannabis vagina lube, to hemp-infused water or herbal blends you can add to your tea, incense, or blunt. White privilege comes into play in this new context because, again, this is America.
We have to ask, “Who is getting the grass and who is getting the cabbage?”
Pennsylvania State Rep. Jake Wheatley is gathering support for a future bill, House Bill 50 which will legalize adult recreational use of marijuana in Pennsylvania. In a refreshing move, Rep. Wheatley and his state senate colleagues Daylin Leach and Sharif Street, who have introduced Senate Bill 350, are putting justice and equity in the forefront of their legislation.
The Democratic House website states that “continued prohibition perpetuates a deeply unfair racial impact: Although African-American adults and white adults use cannabis at a similar rate … a 2017 analysis of Pennsylvania arrest data found that African-American adults were 8.2 times more likely than white adults to be arrested for possession.”
When asked how we can move toward equitable and just legalization in Pennsylvania, Rep. Wheatley responded via text:
“One of the primary ways we can make sure that we have equity and justice in any legalization of adult-use cannabis would be to automatically expunge the records of any prior convictions. … We could set aside a portion of those [proposed business licenses] for marginalized communities and entrepreneurs. This was done in other states with varying levels of success but would be a way to make the opportunities more equitable and just.”
Here, here.
This article appears in April 17, 2019 – Pittsburgh City Paper.
Please fix this article. Jake Wheatley’s bill is NOT called HB2600. That was his bill LAST session. His new bill is called HB50.
Americans don’t have to like cannabis, but they should hate its prohibition. This prohibition law strikes at the very foundation of our society. It is a tool of tyrants, used to violate core American beliefs and nearly every aspect of the Bill of Rights.
A populace that accepts and becomes accustom to overreaching government policies, such as the prohibition of relatively safe, popular substances, becomes more accepting of overreaching, powerful government in general. This devastates America, not a plant that has been used by mankind since the beginning of recorded history.
Those who believe in limited government, personal responsibility, free markets, and individual liberty should embrace the ending of this irrational, un-American, fraudulently enacted cannabis prohibition experiment. It should be the cornerstone of current GOP policy.
Federal studies show about half of the U.S. population has tried cannabis, at least 15% use it regularly, over 80% of high school seniors have reported cannabis “easy to get” for decades. This prohibition, like alcohol prohibition, has had little of its intended effect. In many cases cannabis prohibition makes cannabis usage problematic where it would not have been otherwise, be it light, moderate, or heavy usage. For the most part, cannabis prohibition only successfully prohibits effective regulation.
A few issues created by prohibition: there are no quality controls to reduce contaminants (harmful pesticides, molds, fungus, other drugs), there is no practical way to prevent regular underage sales, billions in tax revenue are lost which can be used for all substance abuse treatment, underground markets for all drugs are empowered as a far more popular substance is placed within them expanding their reach and increasing their profits, criminal records make pursuing many decent careers difficult, police and court resources are unnecessarily tied up by pursuing and prosecuting victimless ‘crimes’, public mistrust and disrespect for our legal system, police, and government is increased, which is devastating our country.
Prohibition is also very expensive, though, a cash cow for a number of powerful groups such as those related to law enforcement and the prison industry. These organizations have powerful lobbies and influence that perpetuate a failed drug policy through ignorance, fear, disinformation and misinformation. This ensures an endless supply of lucrative contracts, grants and subsidies from the government and its taxpayers to support their salaries, tools of the trade, ‘correctional’ services, and other expenses. Cash, property and other assets from civil forfeiture laws also significantly fatten their coffers while often violating civil rights.
America was built on the principles of freedom and liberty. In some cases there are extreme circumstances that warrant intervention with criminal law. In the case of mind-altering drugs we have already set this precedent with alcohol. Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol to the consumer and especially to others. If we are to have justice, then the penalties for using, possessing and selling cannabis should be no worse than those of alcohol.
Regardless of legal status, a large market for cannabis will continue to exist as it has for decades. Either the underground controls the market and profits from it, or the state does…all while ending their assault on our citizens. Let’s end this costly, futile attempt to eradicate a plant that a majority of Americans believe should be legal.