Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.
In the past decade, marijuana has been legalized for medicinal use in 29 states, Maryland among them. Nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational use. One salient statistic often excluded from the legalization debate is that, in the past decade, black people have been about four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
According to the Sentencing Project, blacks and Latinos comprise about 57 percent of the state prison population serving for drug offenses, despite drug use being about the same across all racial and ethnic groups. These disparities are the residue — and perhaps even the intent — of America’s history of racially discriminatory drug sentencing.
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Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City) has shown valiance and strength in discussions about medical marijuana legalization in Maryland through her steadfast commitment to ensuring that those who have been the most harmed by unfair drug sentencing — communities of color — are given the leg up they deserve in this new, lucrative market.
Maryland’s population is about a third black, and yet black executives run none of the companies that have been awarded licenses to grow medical marijuana. Glenn’s push has resulted in a compromise, passed by both the Senate and House of Delegates, aimed at bringing much needed diversity to this market.
On this topic, Glenn spoke of how, “For generations, African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by marijuana laws. … To have this industry up and running without African-Americans and other minorities involved as owners is shameful.”
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The compromise — which has Glenn’s support and will now head to Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk — begins to acknowledge and remediate the wrongs perpetrated by unjust sentencing laws. It would allow for some degree of restitution to communities of color and facilitate discussions about discriminatory drug sentencing laws that have disproportionately harmed these communities.
The fight for decriminalization and full legalization has been taking place throughout the country. In early March, R. Todd Edwards, political action director of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference, spoke eloquently on the issue of legalization, referring to it as not only a states issue but an issue of civil rights, and describing how “the disproportionate mass incarceration of people of color is one of the major civil rights battles of our era, and ending prohibition of marijuana can bring us closer to achieving real racial justice in the criminal justice system.”
The words of Glenn and Edwards illuminate the need for a more wide-ranging conversation regarding legalization that acknowledges how the system benefits those who are, and have historically been, in positions of power. And although the compromise bill isn’t perfect, it provides a unique opportunity for something beyond mere abstract conversation.
Beginning to reckon with the long, dark history orbiting the issue of unjust drug sentencing requires a clear attempt to not only acknowledge but to fully understand the extent to which mechanisms such as mandatory minimums and three-strikes laws have been used to thwart and occlude justice. This legislation serves as an entrance into a new era of medical marijuana legalization in Maryland — one which is aware of its past.
Sarah Riback is a sophomore English and sociology major. She can be reached at riback.sarah@gmail.com.
