Student presentation on how marijuana law and policy has long disadvantaged black people
My Marijuana Law and Policy seminar at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law continues, after a well-deserved spring break, with student presentations on the students’ selected research topics. Students provide here a brief summary and some background reading for their classmates about their planned presentation, and here is the first summary post with links for this coming week’s first presentation:
It’s no secret that American Policy has consistently disadvantaged black people. I wanted to examine that through the lens of marijuana policy law specifically. Black American’s run ins with cannabis really begins with enslaved labor as they were brought over to grow hemp. When they are freed, policy is shifted specifically to link black people with weed to gain public support for its banning. First, through taxes, then through criminalization, this goal was accomplished. The cost; the near destruction of black communities across the United States. Normalization efforts through pop culture help the eventual legalization of the plant. However, even in a legalized post-war on drugs era, Black people are still significantly disadvantaged.
Background reading: