For Some, Marijuana Remains a Gateway to Trouble

Editor’s note: This commentary is provided by the Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI) of Florida A&M University.

Cannabis has come a long way in American culture, traveling a path that has taken it from a demonized drug to a widely accepted — and legalized — medicinal and recreational substance. Florida is one of 37 states along with D.C. that allow medical marijuana use for certain treatments.

Still, cannabis’ popularity hasn’t swayed some who view unregulated marijuana as an accessory to criminal activity, a gateway drug, and has a negative impact on the Black community.

Bobby Green is a captain in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked for nearly 30 years. He views marijuana use as dangerous, even if it’s legal because more people will use it and drive or work while they’re impaired. Capt. Green has seen lives devastated by marijuana, ranging from violent drug deals to arrests and incarceration for possession to loss of jobs or athletic scholarships for failing drug tests.

He said he believes the change in attitude toward cannabis has created a false impression that there aren’t consequences for using it illegally, such as in Florida.

But being arrested for possession of marijuana still poses the risk of criminal prosecution and jail time.

Getting arrested for distributing marijuana is another thing entirely, and Capt. Green says law enforcement continues to aggressively target people suspected of selling weed. Street-grade marijuana is much more powerful than it used to be 10 or 20 years ago, and he says if it’s laced with fentanyl, it could be deadly.

While medical marijuana use is legal under a qualified physician’s care in Florida, patients can still run into trouble with law enforcement, Capt. Green explains.

“If they don't have their registry card or the medical marijuana is not packaged correctly, that can be an arrestable offense,” he warns.

Anthony Durden, a Miami-based street minister and recovered drug addict, says he believes that cultural norms in the Black community have changed with the popularization of cannabis by Black entertainers and sports figures.

“It's hard to convince young people that [marijuana is] harmless when they see their entertainers and athletes celebrate it and when they've been given platforms to promote it,” says Durden, who has been clean and sober for 19 years.

Visit https://bit.ly/UnregulatedCannabis to watch MMERI’s Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Forum featuring Leon County Sheriff’s Office Captain Bobby Green and Anthony Durden, a Miami street minister and recovered drug addict, discuss unregulated cannabis use is illegal and its dangerous side effects.