400,000 Marijuana arrest annually

For all the support, good will and outcry of injustice by the American Media, The State Department, The NBA, The WNBA, and their fans after the arrest of Brittany Griner (affectionately known as B.G), in Russia, for possessing cannabis cartridges in her luggage, these same entities have been silent, inactive, and disinterested in the tens of thousands arrested for cannabis everyday within the United States.

Why is this important?

1. The unprecedented, preferential treatment bestowed upon B.G

2. The draconian remarks made about Russia’s cannabis laws.

3. Most importantly, we know the racial factors that are used to target our fellow citizens for small amounts of cannabis.

Here are the numbers: From 2010 to 2018, 6 million individuals were arrested for possession of cannabis; every year roughly 400,000 individuals are arrested for cannabis; Blacks are 3x more likely to be arrested for cannabis than Whites; and Blacks outnumber the arrest of Whites for cannabis in states that have legalized it.

By Ojore McKinnon

If Russia’s cannabis laws are draconian, and the arrest of B.G was racist, then America’s cannabis laws are undoubtedly draconian and racist based on the historical evidence and the Bureau of Justice statistics. Here is what we know: The first federal bureau of narcotics commissioner, Harry Anslinger, who waged the first “War on Drugs” to target and harass Blacks and other racial minorities, advocated for the passage of The Marijuana Tax Act (1937), by propagating a negative stereotype and criminal intent of Marijuana users that he associated with Blacks and other ethnic groups.

The Act made possession, recreational use and the sale illegal; anyone found purchasing the flower was fined. Anslinger’s anti drug crusade was used to target, harras, arrest and made blacks into informants, and it was later discovered that he kept a “Musicians and Marijuana” file on Black musicians.

Anslinger’s racist tactics would get Marijuana on the schedule one controlled substance list, alongside heroin, cocaine, and opium. President Richard Nixon, recognized how successful his tactics were and deployed the “War on Drugs” to be re-elected. Today we know the effects the “War on Drugs” had, beginning with Anslinger, followed by Nixon, Reagan and Clinton especially on the Hip Hop generation.

U.S president Joe Biden, who negotiated a prisoner swap to bring B.G home, has also pardoned more than 6,000 individuals who were federally convicted of simple Marijuana possession and has called for the decriminalization of cannabis advising state governors to do the same. However he has done nothing to free the roughly 10,000 imprisoned for Marijuana in federal penal colonies. For this reason we must organize and galvanize that same goodwill and support given to B.G by the NBA and WNBA to push Biden to use his political power to “free” all unknown loved ones of citizens being wrongfully detained and held hostage in jails and penal colonies (state and federal) across the United States.

Anslinger’s racist tactics would get Marijuana on the schedule one controlled substance list, alongside heroin, cocaine, and opium. President Richard Nixon, recognized how successful his tactics were and deployed the “War on Drugs” to be re-elected. Today we know the effects the “War on Drugs” had, beginning with Anslinger, followed by Nixon, Reagan and Clinton especially on the Hip Hop generation.

U.S president Joe Biden, who negotiated a prisoner swap to bring B.G home, has also pardoned more than 6,000 individuals who were federally convicted of simple Marijuana possession and has called for the decriminalization of cannabis advising state governors to do the same. However he has done nothing to free the roughly 10,000 imprisoned for Marijuana in federal penal colonies. For this reason we must organize and galvanize that same goodwill and support given to B.G by the NBA and WNBA to push Biden to use his political capital to “free” all unknown loved ones of citizens being wrongfully detained and held hostage in jails and penal colonies (state and federal) across the United States.

If we are a nation who truly believes in justice, equality, and fairness, then Biden is obligated to extend that unprecedented, preferential treatment to our fellow citizens. We all know someone who has been arrested or imprisoned for Marijuana, or you may be that individual who was targeted and harassed by law enforcement due to Marijuana

You and I must be the voice of the voiceless and advocate for those who will not receive that preferential treatment. It has been well documented that individuals are jailed and imprisoned for remnants of a joint to less than a pound of cannabis receiving weeks in jail to life in prison. The organizing power of Cherelle Griner, is the blueprint. Let us rightfully point out the draconian laws and racist policies of the U.S; the harsh, inhumane sentences and conditions of U.U penal colonies, and we should blame the president for all arrests for cannabis, and his failure to put forth a bill to decriminalize cannabis. Furthermore, we must organize and lend our support and advocacy to those organizations fighting to legalize Marijuana, working to expunge the records of those arrested and convicted for possessing cannabis, and fighting to free those imprisoned for nonviolent Marijuana convictions. Whether you realize it or not, as it stands today, those states that have legalized Marijuana can not protect you from harassment, arrest nor being convicted under federal law. There is no reason why another generation of cannabis users should be criminalized when the presidential capital behind a professional basketball player who was arrested in a foreign country for cannabis cartridges. The power is in the people and how we choose to activate our political will.

Puff, puff, pass this on so others can get lifted. From my stance on maa, a voice from death row