Criminalizing marijuana: its weaponization against the black community

If you remember the Thirteenth Amendment completely abolishing slavery, you would be wrong.

The Thirteenth Amendment specifically states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Slavery was abolished in the US, but not in prisons. Prisoners aren’t guaranteed the same constitutional rights, more often than not being forced to work for pennies an hour. This provides the states with an abundance of labor at the cost of a few cents and a person’s freedom. Involuntary servitude and forced labor in US prisons include a variety of work for the prison as well as forcing them to make certain goods for businesses.

The Atlantic has explored prison labor in the United States, stating, “Punishments for refusing to do so include solitary confinement, loss of earned good time, and revocation of family visitation.”

While prison labor is technically considered voluntary, the opposite is true: Prisoners don’t have a choice, and they must endure the consequences if they decide not to work.

When Black communities and communities of color are singled out and targeted for street-level marijuana arrests, this exception in the Thirteenth Amendment is used as a loophole to force generations of nonviolent offenders to work for nothing.

In New York City, the cost of housing prisoners was reported to be around $447,337 annually for each prisoner. Private prisons can make this money back by offering their prisoners’ services at a pittance to the government, and these prisoners are then forced into providing their labor. These prisoners do not receive the same legal protections as other citizens provided under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In 2020 alone, New York State prisoners were forced to produce 100,000 gallons of NYS Clean hand sanitizer every week for schools, government agencies, and the MTA. This benefitted many but was a cruel irony for the prisoners who didn’t have access to soap or hand sanitizer themselves, yet were being forced to make it for everyone else. On top of that, prisoners only make between 10 and 33 cents an hour while laboring for six days a week.

To make matters worse, the only place these prisoners can spend this money is at a commissary, which is often the only place prisoners can acquire practically anything from soap to ramen. To afford a basic hygiene product such as a toothbrush, a prisoner might have to work 2.5 weeks just to afford that singular product.

When these prisoners are finally released, they have some degree of work experience but no savings or earnings to help them get started despite working almost every day of their sentence.

The criminalization of marijuana has made it easier still for the US to profit off incarcerated peoples’ forced labor. Black communities are racially targeted by the criminal justice system that fails to protect them from the same conditions their ancestors fought to abolish.

Source: FBI/Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data

The criminalization of marijuana led to more arrests than for any other drug, particularly for the Black community. Black people are almost four times more likely to be arrested for the possession of marijuana than white people even though the usage rates are nearly identical. Although this rate has gone down since 2010, racial disparities in the arrests of those possessing marijuana have not improved.

While arrest rates have declined in states that have legalized marijuana possession, they have increased in others where possession is still illegal. In some states where marijuana is criminalized, Black people are 6 to 10 times more likely than white people to be arrested for possession.

The decriminalization of marijuana greatly benefits the nation, as arrests over marijuana made up 46% of all drug arrests as of 2018. With the legalization of marijuana, there will be a significant decrease in arrests of members of Black communities, as well as other ethnic groups. As a result, less Black people will be sent to prisons to be unethically forced into legal slave labor.

As long as marijuana is criminalized, people will continue to buy from local dealers. These dealers sell cannabis but don’t collect sales tax from customers or pay business taxes for operating a marijuana business. By legalizing it and opening dispensaries, local and state governments collect tax revenue. Legal cannabis means fewer people imprisoned for marijuana charges, and fewer prisoners means less money going toward the prison-industrial complex.

There are currently several different programs to help ex-convicts re-enter society. In Ohio, a program called United Returning Citizens gives ex-convicts a way to transition back into society safely, helping them to become self-sufficient, productive citizens who can contribute to society in a meaningful way. So far, at least eight businesses in Youngstown, OH, have been started up by ex-convicts who went through the URC program.

Source: FBI/Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data

With the legalization of marijuana, the arenas of law enforcement, criminal justice, and public health can access untapped resources to combat the rising use of more lethal drugs like heroin and fentanyl.

Marijuana continues to be the leading cause of drug arrests. As the Black community has been known to use marijuana more than other ethnic communities, this poses a connection of the criminalization of marijuana to the increased number of incarcerated Black people in the US.

According to SAMHSA’s 2018 survey on drug use and health, “Binge drinking, smoking (cigarettes and marijuana), illicit drug use and prescription pain reliever misuse is more frequent among Black and African American adults with mental illnesses.”

NY Courts explains this change in the law: “Convictions for certain marihuana/cannabis-related events (possessing up to 16 ounces or selling up to 25 grams of marihuana/cannabis) are now eligible for expungement.”

Incarcerated Black people across the country who are currently serving time for the minor possession of marijuana will eventually be released, freeing themselves from a corrupt system while giving themselves another shot at life. Following their release, and also for those with a past record, automatic expungement is now possible.

In short, the legalization of marijuana will have an impressive long-term socioeconomic impact on New York.

When incarcerated Black people, especially men, are released from prison after serving time for marijuana possession charges, they are held back from contributing more to the economy. Some serve years or even decades in prison only to be released with a clean record and little else.

The opposite can be said when these victims have their records expunged. This clean slate allows them to apply for higher paying jobs with more opportunities or even start their own legal cannabis business with their experience in the industry.

As many in the Black community live with the tragedies that come with the criminalization of marijuana, the progression of legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use is a step in the right direction.