Making Weed Illegal Has Created a Racist Society

As a cannabis advocate, as well as human rights advocate, it’s essential for me to discuss the racist origins around the illegalization of cannabis. This is only the beginning of me getting into the way making cannabis illegal was an act of racist terrriosirism. There is an abundance of information and knowledge about this subject, and I promise you I will do my best to educate you properly and make you aware of the racial injustices that the war on drugs has caused for BIPOL. 

Today I will be sharing some statistics I learned about cannabis arrests in the United States.  

• The United States accounts for 5% of the world’s total population, and our prisons hold 25% of the world’s prisoners. 
• At least 40% of all drug arrests are for marijuana possession 
• In 2008 the NYPD arrested and jailed 40,300 people for possessing a small amount of marijuana. 
• Black people in the United States consume cannabis at the same rate as white people, yet black people suffer from higher rates of arrest for cannabis possession. In fact, African Americans are four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Americans. 
• 1 in 10 African American fathers is behind bars.
• Cannabis arrests are up to 150 times as common as in white neighborhoods in Chicago 
• In California, arrests of nonwhite teenagers for pot possession went from 3,100 arrests in 1990 to 16,400 arrests in 2010. 
• From 1997 to 2009 the NYPD arrested 430,000 people for possessing small amounts of marijuana 
  • 54% of arrests were blacks
  • 33% of arrests were Latinos 
  • 12% of arrests were whites 

Arrests produce permanent criminal records, and criminal records can prevent young people from getting jobs, being accepted into college, attaining scholarships, etc. This system allows young white people to get ahead in life while producing unemployment and prison sentences for blacks and Latinos. Our prison system was built on racism and continues to be about racism. The prison system targets blacks and Latinos for drugs that are not harmful. But because a white man claimed it was wrong, society accepted that belief and perched that possessing pot is unmoral. It turns out this white man was just a racist trying to get rid of blacks and Latinos but sending them to prison and away from their white communities. 

No one should be punished for possessing a plant that can heal someone. Legalization can NOT happen if we don’t acknowledge and learn from all the damage we created by making weed illegal. I recently saw a Pinterest quote that said “The beauty of life is while we can’t undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it, and change” and that’s the mindset we should all have when it comes to legalizing marijuana and taking the actions to put a stop to racism.