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My Latest. In many states where marijuana is now "legal," marijuana related arrests of African Americans & Latinos have actually INCREASED - dramatically in many instances. What we're seeing is that racism is deeply baked even into these new "reforms."https://theintercept.com/2018/01/25/marijuana-legalization-weed-drug-arrest/ …
THREAD on the problematic rollout of the "legalization" of marijuana from coast to coast. In short, it's absolutely being done for the economic advancement of white people while the criminalization of everyone else still remains. The more I dug, the more disturbed I got.
1. So, get this... Recreational marijuana use is now "legal" in 9 states + DC. Another 14 states have "decriminalized" recreational marijuana use. 29 states have now legalized varying forms of medical marijuana. That seems like a lot more progress than it truly is....
2. In 2016, more people were arrested for simple marijuana possession in the United States than all violent crimes combined. More than one person is arrested every minute for marijuana possession in this country.
3. An astounding 574,641 people were arrested for simple marijuana possession in the U.S. in 2016 - that’s 89 percent of all marijuana-related arrests. These aren’t dealers, distributors, or kingpins. They are just everyday people with a little bit of weed.
4. From 2000 to 2010, an astounding 7,216,000 arrests were made in the U.S. for simple marijuana possession. How many lives were ruined? How many people lost their jobs? Their right to vote? How many of those people lost their college financial aid? How many were jailed?
5. The United States has arrested more people for marijuana possession than every country in the world...COMBINED. It's not even close.
6. In spite of countless studies showing that African-Americans and white people use marijuana at almost the exact same rate, African-Americans are 375 percent more likely to be arrested for it.
8. New York City (Dear @NYCMayor) is an example of a "progressive city" that is truly dropping the ball on marijuana reform while simultaneously bragging that it is nailing it.
Arrests for simple marijuana possession in NYC actually went up by 9 percent from 2015 to 2016.
9. Over 50 people a day are still being arrested for simple marijuana possession in New York City alone even though the Mayor and others say simple possession is now legal. It is. For white people. African Americans & Latinos are arrested daily all over New York for it.
10. In Colorado, which "legalized" recreational marijuana, arrests of white people have plummeted, but arrests of African-Americans and Latinos have actually skyrocketed as much as 50 percent. One has to ask: For whom did Colorado make marijuana legal?
11. While nothing is as awful as the fact that marijuana arrests & prosecutions are done almost exclusively down racial line, what also must be addressed is the extremely gross profits being made in the industry almost exclusively by whites while Black folk are still sent to jail
12. In California alone, the weed economy is worth about $7 billion, and it’s going to grow exponentially. White people are literally establishing generational wealth off of the industry while millions of Black are still going through the criminal justice system for it.
13/ End of Thread.
Read my full piece for @TheIntercept now @https://theintercept.com/2018/01/25/marijuana-legalization-weed-drug-arrest/ …
There is a deep and frightening problem that contracts for private prisons include occupancy levels. Prisons are guaranteed a percentage of full cells to enable them to bill state for prisoners
We have already seen Chicago judges busted for taking $5k from prisons for each juvenile convict sent their way
Prisons are no longer about “corrections”. They are about the farming of people, and a prison company like a farmer demands subsidies from the state when demand is low
Correct me if I'm wrong, but when have prisons ever been about corrections? How do you go about correcting someone smoking or selling a plant?
It's always been a weak effort, but nowadays prisoners are working as call centres etc. Prisons selling the labour of their inmates
So you think smoking and selling weed is a crime to humanity or government? I think we should have more authentic schools, health centers, and activity clubs than juvenile detention centers or prisons. Are you trying to justify incarceration for weed or am I tripping? 
Totally tripping. Weed offences are ridiculous. But they make up a lot of prison sentences. My point is that as it becomes legal, courts are going to have to find other ways to keep prisons full, so they don't breach contracts
Courts aren't in favor of the people, they are in favor of their interest. Prison shouldn't be a business to start and these shouldn't be laws that exist. If the people want control, they have to take it. Give em deadlines, the problem is they work on their time and not on ours
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