How Black People Are Unfairly Targeted by Federal Cannabis Laws
By Ryan Najjar
Cannabis laws in some states have noticeably relaxed this century, and many think weed is no big legal trouble anymore.
Those people are right in some cases. However, activists and analysts note black people in the US are disproportionately targeted by federal cannabis laws, and have been since their origin.
A Clear Bias
Proof of this manifests in the proportions of white and black people using weed and being arrested for it.
In their 2020 study on the issue, the ACLU noted that while white and black communities generally use it at the same rate, black people get arrested for it four times as often.
As police are sent more frequently to patrol black communities, and as they subsequently perform more raids and traffic stops, they’re thrown into the criminal justice system for doing the same things people in majority-white communities do in peace.
As Ingrid Archie notes in the documentary “Prisoners of Prohibition,” bail is also a standard punishment for cannabis charges against black people, especially if the person in question is from a poor community.
This shows a clear legal bias towards wealthy, systematically-advantaged white people who are more likely able to afford that bail, and are often spared from the payment, usually only sentenced to attend treatment sessions.
Harry Anslinger, Richard Nixon, and the War On Drugs
This is nothing new, however; black communities have been targeted by the state over cannabis for decades.
Harry Anslinger, once Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics & the creator of the Marihuana Tax Act, pushed much of the anti-black and anit-hispanic propaganda wrapped up in cannabis fear mongering.
These same attitudes were reinforced by Richard Nixon’s infamously failed War on Drugs, which former aide John Ehrlichman even admitted later on was racially motivated.
They couldn’t make it illegal to be black or against the war, but they could hyperfocus on substances prevalent in antiwar spaces and black communities.
They were comfortable telling whatever lies about the drugs as long as they kept people scared and ensured police were arresting more people in the targeted communities.
As black communities continued to be targeted, with resources being diverted from after-school programs and other social services to policing, families continued to get torn apart.
With fewer opportunities to support themselves and stay off the streets after school, young people in these communities turn to self-medicating with weed, or resort to selling drugs as a way to ensure financial security.
Many end up getting arrested and incarcerated in turn, all while their white & affluent peers do the same things without any sort of punishment.
In Service of Modern Slavery
So what drives those in power to continue putting people from these targeted communities in jail? Wouldn’t it be better to improve the educational resources & after- school programs that are proven to keep youth off the streets and away from drugs?
Sure, the community would be in better shape, but that wouldn’t benefit those who make money off the stolen labor of prisoners.
To be specific, this desire to arrest more black people for cannabis-related offenses is rooted in the fact that America’s prison system is a modern continuation of slavery.
As explicitly stated by 13th amendment of the Constitution, slavery can still be used as a punishment against an incarcerated person, and white elites have taken full advantage of that idea since it was written.
The US famously and regularly benefits from prison labor, and there are even private prison companies that people can profit from and buy stock in. With all that free labor and profit, elites see no incentive to stop targeting black communities through police action and media rhetoric.
As we’ll explain in the second part of this series, this has led to extremely disproportionate prison populations, along with a clear lack of black leaders in the legal cannabis industry. Some states have taken steps to alleviate this, but there is much work to be done.
How Black People Are Unfairly Targeted by Federal Cannabis Laws, Part 2
We’ve outlined the historically persistent bias against black communities in matters of cannabis laws, but what does this situation look like today? Have there been improvements in the modern era, or do the same injustices persist?
The Current Situation
Unfortunately, black people are still disproportionately arrested and incarcerated for weed possession, even in states where medical and recreational cannabis are legal.
As discussed in the ACLU report mentioned in the last article, there were more than 6 million cannabis-related arrests made between 2010 and 2018, and there wasn’t a single state where black people weren’t unfairly targeted in those cases.
To be fair, some of those imprisoned have since been released and started activist groups, or entered the cannabis business themselves.
However, as discussed in the documentary “Prisoners of Prohibition,” there are still serious roadblocks between one incarcerated for a cannabis charge and financial success, let alone success in the cannabis industry.
White, Wealthy Elites and Legal Cannabis
As it stands today, entering the cannabis business is an expensive venture, and is made extremely difficult if you have an arrest record. You have to get a variety of permits and approval from governing bodies, along with having a variety of expensive resources to work with.
For those with limited financial and legal opportunities as a result of systematic oppression or incarceration, this renders the task nearly impossible.
The fear of potentially being arrested again, given the current federal stance on cannabis, also deters many with previous arrest records. With increased police presence in some of their communities, along with US laws, who’s to say there won’t be a federal raid on their store?
White, wealthy elites, however, have had no real problems entering the industry and making millions off cannabis.
In fact, around 81% of cannabis business owners are white. This is telling of long-standing racial biases, especially considering black & hispanic people are sitting in prison for selling the same plant the now-successful white business people deal in.
Small Victories in Certain States
Now, all this doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress made.
California, for instance, made a point to lower criminal penalties for weed-related offenses a few years ago, and, back in 2019, San Francisco city leaders decided to clear cannabis offenses off the criminal records of thousands of prisoners.
They’ve also worked to channel tax dollars from weed sales into communities that were unfairly affected by the War on Drugs, along with starting social equity programs to help those once imprisoned for it to get cannabis business licenses.
Massachusetts has similar social equity programs in place, and Portland, Oregon also allocates tax dollars from weed into communities of color.
What Needs to Happen Next
To cap things off, there are three major goals for cannabis and social justice activists to tackle:
Thousands upon thousands of people, especially black people, are still in prison for cannabis-related offenses and need to be released.
Politicians and social activism groups still need to fight anti-cannabis drug policies that threaten to throw thousands more in jail.
Legalization, decriminalization, and social equity policies need to be pushed, promoted, and voted for to ensure fewer people continue to be harmed by federal cannabis policy.
This isn’t all that needs to be accomplished, but managing to make all that happen will make the next steps far, far easier to handle. In the meantime, make a point to support some black-owned cannabis businesses next time you wanna enjoy some weed.