Smoking weed is not my thing. Unless they ever create a strain that TAKES my appetite. In which case, I will become a weed-smoking connoisseur until I lose about 50 pounds. But until that unlikely event, I’m just not into it.
However, the fact that now states are rapidly legalizing marijuana, in some form or fashion, is fascinating to me. So let me get this straight:
Selling weed is now legal, if you apply to the state and pay a hefty fee, submit a business plan, and receive a license from the state, and have a cool million or so dollars in start up fees? And smoking weed is now legal in some states by doing nothing other than firing up a blunt, and in others, by applying, paying a fee, and receiving a medical marijuana card?
But tens of thousands of young, mostly black and brown brothas are sitting in jail for selling and smoking the same thing that is now legal if you have a million dollars and a business plan?
Once again, this is where text talk comes in handy because I can curse (which I don’t like to do) without really cursing.
GTFOHWTBS.
Don’t get me wrong. I support the complete legalization of marijuana. But that needs to come with the release of those sitting in jail for selling and using marijuana, and the cleansing of the related criminal records. Saddling young folks with records for what amounts to, worst case scenario, a “petty offense” for these young people is ridiculous. Imagine if a jay-walking ticket meant you were barred from obtaining a good job, getting federal financial aid, or obtaining certain security clearances.
The federal government needs to remove cannabis from its classification as an illegal drug. But until that happens, state and local governments need to take matters into their own hands and at a minimum, decriminalize the possession of marijuana, and at best, just outright legalize it.
Bernie Sanders is on point. White men are getting away with murder, while black and brown men are penalized for life for killing flies. I call bull@#$%.
It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana… pic.twitter.com/bltCSDhyXx
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 28, 2015