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Will Commercialization Deliver Social Justice?
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On the surface, legalizing marijuana might sound like a good way to address issues of systemic injustice. People of color are almost 6 times more likely to be arrested for all drugs, including marijuana, than whites.
We need a holistic approach that addresses the causes – not just the symptoms – of injustice. Removing criminal penalties for marijuana possession as part of a comprehensive marijuana policy is a must. Legalization, however, goes too far and creates a multi-billion dollar industry whose impact exacerbates many of the underlying contributors to systemic injustice.
The emerging data from states that have tried legalization offer three main reasons why legalization should be opposed as a tool for social justice:
Incarceration. Commercialization. Reformation.
Legalization has been heralded as a way to reduce the number of people of color incarcerated, yet despite reductions in the arrests for marijuana possession in states that have legalized, the prison population has remained stable and in some cases actually reversed years of decrease to an increase since legalization. While it is too early to say whether legalization has caused these increases in the prison population, we can objectively state that it has not decreased the prison population anywhere.
INCARCERATION
COMMERCIALIZATION
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THE
TEAM
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