June 19th is Juneteenth. It’s also called Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, or Emancipation Day. Regardless of what you call it, June 19th is a day for celebrating the emancipation of slavery in the United States. If the government ended its draconian support of cannabis prohibition, it would be another great day to celebrate liberation or freedom. The American Civil War is a part of US history that we cannot erase. It is not a pretty part of our past, but it is one that we should learn from. America has been at war for several decades now. We have been at war with drugs. Or at least that’s what they called it.
The War on Drugs was more like a war against the American people. It was a senseless war waged by the US Federal government, with failed results. One of the main focuses of The War on Drugs has been cannabis. It’s considered to be horrible, to have no medical value, and destroy people. It’s the devil’s lettuce, it will poison the minds of our children, and it’ll make everyone lazy. How much longer can an aging government cling to this type of rhetoric? With every word against cannabis legalization uttered from the mouth of a politician, they show their support of racism, sexism, and lack of an ability to evolve in their ways of thinking.
Cannabis prohibition is wrong. Statistics show that people were arrested for cannabis more than any other drug between the years 2001 and 2010. In fact, statistics from the ACLU show that 88% of cannabis arrests between 2001 and 2010 were just simply for having cannabis. Another disturbing fact these numbers show is that African Americans were nearly four times more likely to be arrested than Caucasians. The racial disparity brought on by tyranny and an unjust government must be accounted for. The United States federal government needs to swiftly end cannabis prohibition once and for all. By continuing to support it the federal government in the United States of America continues to support outdated and wrong ways of the past.
Communities of Color have been targeted by law enforcement for decades. Being busted for being Black became too common. “I smell weed”, was often the excuse law enforcement used to harass communities and People of Color. Don’t get me wrong, cops have it out for everyone, but statistics have consistently shown that it’s a fact when it comes to busting people for cannabis, cops always have and continue to target those of color. Busting people for cannabis helped lead to the mass incarceration of the American population. The United States of America has more of its population incarcerated than any other country in the world.
Today politicians are starting to see the light. They are finally coming around and being slapped in the face with their mistakes. Not all politicians are horrible. Some of them are trying to make right on the wrongs of the past. They are looking at changing the social inequity of the cannabis industry and supporting ways of integrating this multibillion-dollar industry into helping the communities that were ravished and destroyed by the federal government’s failed War on Drugs.
African Americans are disproportionately targeted by authorities when it comes to those arrested for cannabis. Millions of people are arrested each year for cannabis resulting in the waste of billions of dollars of tax money. This is a type of behavior and a pattern of behavior that needs to stop now. This June 19th, when you’re celebrating Juneteenth, be sure your celebration includes education and information on the need for the government to end draconian cannabis prohibition.
America is called the United States. We should unite the states together supporting cannabis legalization. If the saying “united we stand and divided we fall” is true, then why do our elected representatives want us divided over cannabis legalization? Perhaps they do not want us all to stand together again. Let’s show them we don’t care what they think. Let’s stand together as a nation and demand that our elected representatives listen. End cannabis prohibition today. Stand in support of the United States before you fall divided from the country.
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