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sycodelix
Honorable Golden Shellback
Registered: 01/06/18
Posts: 294
Loc: Spokane, Washington
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl
#25867052 - 03/11/19 05:32 AM (5 years, 19 days ago) |
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https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna981391
Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profit For Amazon-owned Whole Foods to get the right to sell a single pot brownie, every non-violent marijuana-related conviction must be thrown out.
March 11, 2019, 4:37 AM ET By Simon Moya-Smith For years, the rich, white and powerful have demonized marijuana and those who smoke it, eat it or dribble CBD oil in their tea. They labeled it a “gateway drug”; limited research into its medicinal uses; designed and implemented policies that over-criminalized its possession (88 percent of marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010 were for possession, and marijuana represented 46 percent of all drug arrests in the United States); and disproportionately targeted black and brown people for arrest. Ronald Reagan fear mongered in 1980 that “marijuana — pot, grass, whatever you want to call it — is probably the most dangerous drug in the United States.” Now-former Attorney General Jeff Sessions said as recently as 2016 that “good people don't smoke marijuana.”
But these days, the rich white elite are planning to wildly capitalize on the psychoactive plant. (And I’m not just talking about former Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who declared himself “unalterably opposed” to legalization in 2011 only to join the board of a marijuana company in 2018.)
Related Rev. Al Sharpton: Marijuana legalization in New York can't just be about making money. It should be about making amends. “If cannabis is ever passed in Texas, chances are good that grocery stores will be selling that too,” Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey said during a conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune recently.
Well, before that happens — before Amazon-owned Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and all manner of opulent, upscale grocers start selling pot brownies to their deep-pocketed patrons — every non-violent marijuana-related conviction should be expunged, and those still incarcerated for marijuana crimes should be immediately released. Before a single Wall Street-loving yacht owner makes another dollar off a demonized plant with long-known medicinal properties, every single person who was thrown into the criminal justice system for enjoying it should get their lives back as much as possible.
It’s the black, brown and Native American people who still suffer from arrests (despite decriminalization and even legalization) and arrest records tied to the possession of the very same product which this entitled gaggle of money grubbers are slated to make billions off of over the next 10 to 20 years.
Related Jay Chandrasekhar: The racist origins of marijuana laws still affect how they are enforced today And any kind of conviction in this land of backward laws can make it nearly impossible for a person to land a job, get an apartment, handle money, volunteer, vote or work in the legalized marijuana industry.
In the meantime, rich white people are raking it in.
Even universities are getting in on the action: Northern Michigan University, for example, offers a four-year degree in marijuana. “We’re providing a fast track to get into the industry,” Brandon Canfield, a chemistry professor at the school, said.
Related For legal marijuana to thrive in the Trump era, Congress must legalize it But for whom? Usually not those doing time for possession of marijuana. Here’s an idea, though: Offer free tuition at Northern Michigan University (and all universities with marijuana majors and minors) for those who have been savagely ripped from their families and friends and had their lives damaged by the criminal justice system simply because they were black, brown or Native and had pot on their person.
It can only help, given how white the entire industry is shaping up to be. “Legal marijuana is an overwhelmingly white industry whose promises on racial equity have been left unfulfilled,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, wrote in a piece for USA Today.
She added: “As case in point, people of color made up to 86 percent of marijuana arrests in New York in 2017. These figures stand in stark contrast to estimates suggesting that those who hold licenses today in this growing industry are roughly 99 percent white.”
You can see not dissimilar inequities play out among consumers, too. Here in Denver, Colorado, though recreational marijuana has been legal since 2012, it’s not uncommon to see black and Latinos and Natives hide their joints and edibles while white folks openly puff and pass.
The policy nexus of pot and people of color is now a popular Democratic talking point as we near 2020. Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and several of the other nine POTUS-hopefuls are calling for the legalization of marijuana and speak to the scourge of racism in policing when it comes to cannabis.
“The War on Drugs has not been a war on drugs, it’s been a war on people, and disproportionately people of color and low-income individuals,” Booker said this week.
Related Legal marijuana businesses deserve better than to be treated as potentially criminal enterprises And speaking on a radio show on Monday, Sanders said too many people have been unfairly ensnared by this country’s pot policies. “Too many lives are being destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people get criminal records. You know why? Because they have smoked marijuana,” he said. “That’s insane.”
Insane, indeed — which is why it makes sense that, as Clarke put it, “those impacted should be given first-in-line access to licensing and job opportunities in this booming industry.”
One more suggestion: For every pot brownie or vegan cannabis cookie Whole Foods will inevitably sell, the mega company should vow to pay a portion of the legal fees to help free a person who is in a cage right now simply for having once had weed, the product they want to get in on. It’s the right thing to do.
Also, they should just lower their prices. Goodness knows they’ll be the most expensive option around because, let’s be honest here, they already are for everything else.
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downlowfunk
Retired Festival Veteran
Registered: 09/25/04
Posts: 880
Loc: Physical Realm
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: sycodelix]
#25867133 - 03/11/19 07:20 AM (5 years, 19 days ago) |
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Ought to be legal like growing and selling snap peas without a license. Without a permission slip. Thank you sir may i have another tax stamp? OMG I grew too many non toxic plants lock me up!
Edited by downlowfunk (03/11/19 12:44 PM)
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gandalfe
Gandalfe
Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 119
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 4 years, 8 months
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: downlowfunk] 1
#25867429 - 03/11/19 11:14 AM (5 years, 19 days ago) |
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Even after legalization, the rich people that own this country, will control it.There will be countless restrictions, and new laws around it.The only reason these sold out politicians legalize anything, is for themselves and friends to make money.
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downlowfunk
Retired Festival Veteran
Registered: 09/25/04
Posts: 880
Loc: Physical Realm
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: gandalfe]
#25867566 - 03/11/19 12:42 PM (5 years, 19 days ago) |
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All these choppers and plant soldiers can start a poison ivy / poison oak eradication team. Id watch that show. They jump out with their guilie suits and take down some poison ivy. Train these out of work weed dogs to find it too.
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jhustla88
doc
Registered: 07/16/11
Posts: 28
Last seen: 2 years, 4 months
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: downlowfunk]
#25868334 - 03/11/19 07:43 PM (5 years, 18 days ago) |
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I have a Felony for marijuana possession in Arizona. I hope this is true. I never was in possession more than a oz.
-------------------- High desert
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Fractal420
Psycellium
Registered: 06/21/13
Posts: 5,913
Last seen: 10 months, 12 days
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: jhustla88]
#25868943 - 03/12/19 02:36 AM (5 years, 18 days ago) |
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Ive been hearing alot of talk about this in my state, but i dont know how far theyll go and "we didnt get it done right" could be an excuse to "not yet legalize"
That said of course once a crime is no longer a crime, there should be no criminal record. Otherwise its like you catch someone with a few O's, give them a felony, they cant get a good job easily, so is it a surprise when theyre dealing again?
Still, i say for prohibition states this shouldnt be a reason to delay shit, just get them both done (rec sales and reperations). And dont hand cannabis over to big biz (who dont give a FUCK about your problems)
-------------------- Dreaming of That face again. It's bright and blue and shimmering. Grinning wide And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes. Prying open MY third eye
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Jooceman
Registered: 12/05/18
Posts: 368
Loc: Hogwarts
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: sycodelix]
#25871409 - 03/13/19 09:57 AM (5 years, 17 days ago) |
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Quote:
sycodelix said: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna981391
Insane, indeed — which is why it makes sense that, as Clarke put it, “those impacted should be given first-in-line access to licensing and job opportunities in this booming industry.”
One more suggestion: For every pot brownie or vegan cannabis cookie Whole Foods will inevitably sell, the mega company should vow to pay a portion of the legal fees to help free a person who is in a cage right now simply for having once had weed, the product they want to get in on. It’s the right thing to do.
^This right here. I have been serving probation for growing cannabis in an illegal state,. I was damn good at it too. Almost had the funds to get out of this hell hole and build a legal business and someone ratted on me. They tried hitting me with 20-40 years in a state pen and after emotionally and mentally traumatizing my loved ones and myself for over a year they magically decided to give me 5 years of probation... Now fast track 1-2 years later and weed is medically legal here... I won't be able to grow it, at least until I'm off and then maybe not even because of them putting a stamp on me. How is that okay? They're just going to keep the people locked up or on a shit list that actually know how to do this shit? Because when I went to colorado for the cannabis cup their weed SUCKED ASS! Like bad as fuck. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BLACK MARKET if they put all the power into scumbags that don't know how to grow it and are already rich... The cannabis community is a culture of people who genuinely care about things like genetics, quality and morals. Not just quick cash...
Anyone that actually knows what they're doing shouldn't have to buy a license to do this shit... They should have to pay you to do it for them...
They should also pay all of us that they've locked up or charged restitution for wasting our precious time and money. People that get locked up for life over cannabis are NEVER going to get their life back... Doesn't matter if you legalize it for them... You've already left them to rot in a cell.
-------------------- Back from my Hiatus
Edited by Jooceman (03/13/19 10:01 AM)
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Fractal420
Psycellium
Registered: 06/21/13
Posts: 5,913
Last seen: 10 months, 12 days
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Re: Marijuana legalization must make War on Drugs' victims whole before companies profitpl [Re: Jooceman]
#25873109 - 03/14/19 03:03 AM (5 years, 16 days ago) |
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Its not okay. Once a crime isnt a crime, you arent guilty. This is usually federal though. So lets hope cory booker's law gains some traction
Because im not sure if this kind of thing applies with just state law.
-------------------- Dreaming of That face again. It's bright and blue and shimmering. Grinning wide And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes. Prying open MY third eye
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