Marijuana reform and inequality

rolling-stone-article

I just wrote this piece for Rolling Stone with friend and sometimes-collaborator Killer Mike.  In it, we look at the way marijuana legalization (in 28 states plus DC) has created a major industry, but also one that is leaving behind people of color.  As we note, black and Hispanic men have paid a steep price for marijuana prohibition (and the drug war generally) and so it’s particularly unjust to exclude them from the profits associated with legalization.

There are a number of ways to make marijuana reform more inclusive.  Here we focus on the need for states to allow people with convictions for nonviolent drug crimes to own and operate marijuana dispensaries.  In most states, they can’t–and that perpetuates the inequalities that have characterized marijuana laws for decades.