Who’s blocking marijuana legalization? Follow the money.
President Biden issues pardons and takes first steps to decriminalize marijuana.
Biden pardoned thousands of people with federal convictions of marijuana possession and encouraged governors to take similar action with state offenses. He’s asked the Department of Health and Human Services and DOJ to review how marijuana is classified under federal law. – NBC News
What do Koch Industries, ALEC, the Prison Industrial Complex and Republicans gain from criminalizing marijuana? Who gets hurt?
- Who benefits from high rates of cannabis arrests? Who is pushing legislation that leads to more arrests?
- What is the role of Koch Industries? ALEC? The Prison Industrial complex?
- Which communities suffer the most from these policies? What’s the role of racism?
- How do Republicans benefit from pushing harsh laws?
- How does sentencing impact voter suppression in communities of color?
- What can you do?
Follow the money blocking marijuana legalization
Billionaires behind racist voter suppression laws
- Did you know that nearly half of all drug seizures in 2021 involved marijuana? 400,340 arrests in 2021 involved the seizure of cannabis. – NIBRS/NORML
- Someone is arrested for drug possession every 25 seconds, and nearly 80% of people in federal prison for drug offenses are Black or Hispanic. – CNBC
- The war on marijuana is rooted in racial oppression. Blacks are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than whites. – MJ Law
- Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and up to almost 10 times more likely to be arrested in some states – ACLU
Racist voter suppression
“Many states prevent felons and those who have served their sentences from voting. “An estimated 6.1 million felons did not have the right to vote in the United States in 2016. This amounted to approximately 2.5 percent of the total voting age population. Florida has disenfranchised 1,686,318 felons or 10.43% of its population.” – Ballotpedia
Check this map to see how South Carolina has some of the highest rates of marijuana related arrests in the country. Overlay the number of arrests by the number of people of color in those counties to see the role of racism in those policies. Many Republican states deny voting rights to people who have been incarcerated. This deprives the communities hurt the most by these policies the opportunity to vote for reform.
In the mean time the companies in the Prison Industrial Complex make millions. Koch funded ALEC provides the GOP with sample legislation to pass for harsh criminalization laws. Republicans benefit from racist voter suppression and block the communities they are persecuting from voting against them. The circle is complete.
What can you do?
Information is power. That’s why we track where every member of Congress stands on seven different cannabis issues. Click your state to find out if the people who represent you share your values. – Headcount’s Cannabis Voter Project. HeadCount and Cannabis Voter Project provide voter registration services to all eligible U.S. citizens regardless of their political beliefs or preferences. They do not endorse, support or coordinate with any candidates for office or political party.
Cannabis Voter Project informs, registers and turns out voters who are interested in cannabis policy. Launched by civic engagement organization HeadCount.org in 2018, the Cannabis Voter Project believes it’s important for the cannabis community to be an active and informed voting bloc. Here at CannabisVoter.info you can:
- Register to vote
- Find out what’s going on in your state and where your elected officials stand on cannabis
- Tell your representatives that you are a cannabis voter
Look for the Cannabis Voter Project at dispensaries, on social media, and at concerts by musicians like Dead & Company and Lettuce. We’ll help you register to vote, stay informed and engage directly with lawmakers. Are you a cannabis voter? Don’t tell us. Tell your elected officials!
TakeAway: Legalize it.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Reposted from Democracy Labs with permission.