Kevin Sabet’s anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, in partnership with the Illinois NAACP, argues legalization harms people of color:
“The reality is, marijuana legalization/commercialization exacerbates issues of systemic injustice by creating a predatory addiction-for-profit drug industry…[which is] already targeting communities of color like its predecessors Big Tobacco” and liquor.
- It’s promoting the hashtag #decriminalizedontlegalize.
Elsewhere in equity-related news:
- Sean Worsley, a disabled, Black Iraq War veteran with an Arizona MED prescription, faces five years in prison after he was busted for possession in Alabama and his life unraveled.
Washington Post - Business Insider spoke to activists who say legalization is essential to police reform.
- Not everyone’s wild about Colorado’s proposed “franchise’ business model” to support equity entrepreneurs.
Marijuana Moment - Broccoli Magazine‘s podcast discussed the history of cannabis in Africa & Mexico undistorted “by colonial perspectives and the erasure of Indigenous and Black voices.” ????WW California has more.
- The head of criminal justice at software non-profit Code for America, advocates for “clean slate” expungement policies for minor criminal offenses.
The Hill - Leafly discusses how to stop cannabis taxes from funding police.
- A federal appeals court ruled two men couldn’t be charged with a federal crime for a 2012 raid on their Humboldt property. ????WW California has more.
San Francisco Chronicle - The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police called for possession of all drugs to be decriminalized. ????WW Canada’s last issue has more.
CBC - In a primary, pot-hating former Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) lost his bid to reclaim his former Senate seat. The Onion gets it just right.
CNN
