Marijuana Legalization Must Benefit People of Color
We can't allow a lucrative new legal cannabis industry worth billions to ignore the millions harmed by over-policing and discriminatory policies.
I'm often asked why I link the legalization of adult-use cannabis with social and economic justice for communities of color.
My answer is simple: Black and Latinx people who make up those communities have suffered the most under cannabis prohibition and the racially-disparate enforcement of the "war on drugs."
To understand how this has occurred, an historical context is necessary. John Ehrlichman, who was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs for President Nixon, said in 1994, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people…we couldn't make it illegal to
