[ad_1]
By Janell Ross
In 2015, a group of 24 investors managed to get a measure of legalization of marijuana on the ballot in Ohio.
In addition to sanctioning small amounts of weed for recreational purposes, the measure limited mass growth operations to only 10 lots controlled by the investment group. The Cleveland Plain Dealer announced that investors each invest $ 4 million, which was enough to buy the land and fund a legalization campaign focused on addressing inequalities in criminal justice while creating an economic advantage. The New York Times has described it as a potential monopoly. The Columbus Dispatch has identified only one black investor in the predominantly white group, a former NBA player.
Other members of the group of investors included the offspring of former president William Howard Taft and a former actor of the boys group. It was one of the richest groups in Ohio, which was offered an exclusive opportunity to enrich itself while arguing about the unequal social consequences of the war on drugs.
The measure failed between 64% and 36%. But broad claims of racial justice and inclusive business opportunities have re-emerged in subsequent marijuana legalization debates in California, Maine, Nevada, Michigan and elsewhere. Despite these claims, research conducted by legalization groups has shown that it does not eliminate racial disparities in marijuana arrests, nor does it distribute the economic benefits of marijuana almost equally. legal grass
. According to a statistical analysis conducted by the Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit group advocating drug policy reform, in most states that have legalized the pot, white residents have benefited the most. even though black Americans have borne the largest costs.
"It's not enough to say the right things about social justice or the right opportunities on business opportunities."
Results in Colorado, the District of Columbia and the nine other states where recreational marijuana became legal from 2012 to 2018, some lawmakers and even advocates of legalizing marijuana were skeptical of with regard to broader social justice claims. Builders in New Jersey and New York – two of the three states expected to legalize marijuana in 2019 – are now demanding detailed criminal justice and corporate equity measures as part of any legalization program.
Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey State Director for Drug Policy, says Roseanne Scotti, State Director for Drug Policy in New Jersey.
in New Jersey and New York, inequalities in other states have been clarified. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, in Colorado, the number of black minors arrested for marijuana charges has increased after legalization. In 2016, an analysis of the Colorado Department of Public Safety revealed that blacks living in this state were three times more likely than whites to be arrested for selling or possessing marijuana. In Washington State, an analysis of the ACLU revealed that in 2014, the first year in which marijuana was available in legal retail stores, a black adult was three times more likely to face charges of low intensity marijuana than a white adult.
The truth These figures are complex because state legal systems have not fully realized the new reality of the legalized recreational pot. "Law enforcement officials and prosecutors continue to fight to enforce complex and sometimes conflicting marijuana laws," according to the 2016 Colorado Department of Public Safety Report. arrests involve people who buy or sell small quantities on the black market Public consumption is illegal in many states where possession for recreational purposes and small scale is not. Many advocates of criminal justice reform say that the fundamental problems of law enforcement and prosecution – including the goals of arrest and individual and institutional fanaticism – remain.
States were also faced with the question of what should happen to people who have a criminal record for low-intensity marijuana offenses that are no longer post-legalized offenses. In Colorado, Washington and Nevada – a trio of precursors of legalization – state officials refused to take bills or veto measures that would have sealed or erased criminal records F: people convicted of offenses related to low power marijuana before legalization.
In 2017, criminal justice advocates and drug law reform convinced Colorado lawmakers to pass a bill allowing those convicted of possession of marijuana or a minor offense to keep their records if the case no longer constitutes a crime. The records are not erased. Oregon did something similar in 2015.
In Missouri, which legalized marijuana for medical purposes, lawmakers have reduced wait times for those who wish their criminal records be erased from 10 to three years. In Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont, where minor marijuana convictions can be written off, people still have to start and track the process and bear the costs. A drug conviction can make it difficult, if not impossible, to get work, student loans and even government-subsidized housing.
In New Jersey, lawmakers focused the ongoing debate on the evils of the war on drugs. Fairness in criminal justice has been as important as tax revenues, as legislators have debated the details of legalization. This has required frank discussions on racial profiling, poverty, fair trade and the consequences of a conviction for illicit drug use to block access to everything from university loans to affordable housing, going through the necessary state licenses for jobs such as haircutting.
The New Jersey assembly, Jamel Holley, who spearheaded the frank conversation, sponsored a proposal to rescind the low-intensity marijuana convictions, insisting that it must be passed into law. at the same time as any bill on marijuana for recreational purposes.
"I told myself, okay, you will not look closely and watch anyone create and do this great business, that we all know exists, without addressing justice, real and specific justice, "said Holley. "I have also said the same to my colleagues."
Raised by his grandmother in a poor part of Roselle, New Jersey, Holley observed almost every aspect of the war on drugs – the police targeting small users and pushers, the heavy penalties and the constant difficulty of finding legal work after a conviction. It changed the lives of family, friends and neighbors.
Outstanding measures in the New Jersey legislature now include the automatic removal of records for low-intensity marijuana-related offenses, as well as wording designed to give an advantage to the licenses of marijuana-owned businesses. to veterans, women and people of color.
In New York, where state lawmakers are expected to debate legalization in 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said it was necessary to "advance our justice agenda and fight in particular against forms of injustice ". for too long has been unfairly targeted at African-American and minority communities. "A task force devoted part of the year 2018 to drafting a bill on legalization in New York that will be presented to the United States. Next year.
Some states went from justice-related promises to details after legalization.
When legal legend became available in California in January 2018, a host of promises and potential The cities have put in place what they have called equity programs to open the doors of the legitimate weed trade to more people, but their effectiveness is hitting other rules that make the cost of entry into the weed area legally unusually steep.
"We want a chance.We do not want a regulation that stifles the life of the family." 9, a thriving industry, "said Shanita Penny, president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, which supports legalization by paying particular attention to criminal justice and fair trade opportunities. "And we do not want to be used by companies that do not care about communities that have been abused by the war on drugs. It is really time to sell your business dream as a social justice movement. "
Several months after California's legalization came into effect, lawmakers responded to new laws. California lawmakers have changed the process of canceling low-level marijuana convictions from something that individuals must pursue to a more automated thing that courts and prosecutors' offices will initiate. California legislators have also dedicated funds to local subsidy and loan programs that can reduce barriers to entry into the marijuana sector.
In Massachusetts, where the lawful sale of lawful grass for recreational purposes was held in November, lawmakers decided from the outset that regulators should strive to ban marijuana from residents of affected communities. disproportionately by the prohibition of marijuana.
When Maryland created a state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry this year, its lawyers said it would create jobs, new businesses, and significant business in cities populated by blacks. like Baltimore. ravaged by both drugs and the war on drugs. State law has called on regulators to actively seek racial, ethnic and geographic diversity in the ranks of those licensed to work in the medical marijuana trade. But after the state set up the process to compete for its first 15 producer licenses, no black candidates were chosen.
Penny found similar promises and results when Pennsylvania set up its marijuana program for medical purposes. She still has doubts about the effectiveness of California's recreational weed reforms and will work to influence what will happen in New York, New Jersey and in other states. " next year.
"I can not tell you how much we will be interested. put data, collect and require data, look for patterns and report defects next year, "Penny said. "After reading these incredible diversity plans and community plans that, I will tell you, have been too often BS, believe us that we have learned hard lessons."
Source link
