Marijuana arrests affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals every year, the vast majority of whom are Black or Latinx. The war on drugs unfairly targeted people of color and had no intention of improving public safety. Marijuana is a major component of the War on Drugs (WOD) despite being easily accessible and generally accepted, if not actively supported (Harris & Martin, 2021). The possession of cannabis results in more racial-based arrests than any other crime in the United States. In 2018, approximately 1.65 million people were arrested for drug-related offenses; of those, 43% were arrested along racial inequality lines of marijuana use (Ramirez, 2022). There is a disproportionate impact of legalization on minorities, who are less likely to have access to the economic and legal benefits it offers.
Even in areas where marijuana has been legalized and the number of arrests for marijuana charges has decreased dramatically such as Illinois, minority groups are still feeling the effects of the nation drug laws. This is because even in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal, the disproportionately high arrest rates of people of color for possession are still unacceptable (Baughman et al., 2019). The number of persons of color whose lives are negatively impacted by a marijuana arrest has increased at a faster rate in several states.
Racial Implications of the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act
As of January 1, 2020, recreational marijuana usage by adults was made legal in Illinois as per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA). However, the legalization of marijuana in Illinois has been associated with many racial implications. For instance, according to a report by Brennan Center for Justice, t is estimated that 76,000 people in Illinois are now incarcerated, with the imprisonment rate being twice as high for Hispanics as it is for whites and being 8.5 times as high for blacks (Ramirez, 2022). An additional 602,201 residents of Illinois have a criminal record with majority of them being the minorities (Ramirez, 2022).
Examples of key racial implications on blacks and Hispanics living in Illinois include permanently damaged career chances, exclusion from numerous government programs. Other impacts entail the loss of opportunity to get professional certification, increased monitoring and profiling by law enforcement, and severe health outcomes are all consequences of a felony conviction (Baughman et al., 2019). Further, despite the legalization of cannabis in Illinois, there has been no reduction in the racial disparity in arrests for the drug.
Illinois Plan
When Illinois legalized recreational marijuana usage, the state also implemented social-equity efforts to help fix problems caused by the War on Drugs (WOD). It highlighted the social and economic costs implicit in the realities of over-policing and disproportionate imprisonment in communities of color (Maya, 2019). The plan entails allocation of funds to the people of color to help them reap cash from the business. Additionally, the state created a special development plan that will provide licences at a lower charge and loans at a lower interest to the racially affected groups and those affected by arrests.
Comparison between Illinois Plan and Marijuana Legalization in Other States
The Illinois approach to marijuana a legalization can be thought as the most effective one as compared to other states. For instance, in California, the state does not support the minorities by providing them with licences or loans. The plan fails to include and address the economically, ethnically and racially diverse populations as that of Illinois (Harris & Martin, 2021). Additionally, felony convicted people cannot be guaranteed of licences if the conviction falls within five years of their application (Baughman et al., 2019). Other states such as Nevada and Michigan have failed to provide a permanent plan on the legalization of the drug and are only guided by temporal regulations unlike Illinois. Illinois is also far ahead of Oregon and Washington where the review process if holistic and lone.
Illinois is far ahead of other states as far as social equity and racial equality on marijuana legalization is concerned. Being the first state to include social equity in the legalization of marijuana, Illinois has made greater efforts in helping the victims of WOD acquire marijuana licences. However, there are delays in the review processes of the licences with many social-equity applicants being shut out in the initial stages of the applications (Harris & Martin, 2021). The state has also invested in providing loans and funds at a lower interest to the minority groups such as the blacks to enable them acquire licences.
There is much to learn from other state’s experiences on the legalization of marijuana. For instance, there are tough rules in Alaska on the registration of people with the licences being denied to agents, officers and owners convicted of felony (Maya, 2019). In California the issuance of the licences follows a detailed progressive approach unlike Illinois whereby an applicant must submit a detailed diagram of premises, operating procedures, their fingerprints and records of arrest. Illinois must also create strong rules on issuance of licences especially to people convicted of felony.
With the current exclusions of the people of color in marijuana legalization policies in most policies, an ideal policy that could cater for all races must come with reinvestment and expungement in the most affected communities. This may entail addressing, combating and later eliminating all discriminatory policies that are based on racial biasness in the legal systems. They must be replaced a bill that will see all people affected by marijuana racial bias laws compensated and provided with incentives to invest in the business.
References
Baughman, B., Hale, L., & Scott, B. (2019). America’s next generation of legal marijuana: new state laws focus on racial equity. NPR. Web.
Harris, K. N., & Martin, W. (2021). Persistent Inequities in Cannabis Policy. Judges’ Journal, 60(1), 9-13. Web.
Maya, R. (2019). Hashing Out Inequality in the Legal Recreational Cannabis Industry. Sage. Web.
Ramirez, S. A. (2022). The Illinois Cannabis Social-Equity Program: Toward a Socially Just Peace in the War on Drugs? Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, 53(4), 793. Web.