Here Comes A Thought: Is Your 420 Intersectional?

Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2014, and today, you can see a dispensary almost as often as a coffee shop in some places. Comedians make jokes about how “everyone here is high,” and celebrities come to Colorado specifically to celebrate 420. In the years since the recreational legalization of cannabis, there have been all kinds of public weed smoking-related activities: smoke-and-paints, high yoga, baking classes where you make edibles. Some might say that smoking weed or taking edibles has become as commonplace as drinking alcohol. For the most part, it’s become a part of everyday life. 

So why is it that when it comes to arrests for marijuana charges, despite similar consumption rates, Black people are arrested at 3.6 times the rate of white people nationwide? Why is it that in 2020, people of color made up 94% of marijuana-related arrests throughout New York’s five boroughs? I’ll give you one guess. While it’s true that the racial disparities between Black and white marijuana-related arrests are lower in Colorado than they are in states where it is still not legal recreationally, that does not mean there’s no issue. We are not immune to racism because “Colorado is so progressive.” 

Let’s start closer to the beginning. It’s 1971, and Richard Nixon is president. He has decided to capitalize on conservative people’s fears of a drug epidemic, despite there only having been 4% of Americans who had tried cannabis, and declared the infamous War on Drugs. Nixon called drug addiction a “national emergency” and made drug abuse “public enemy number one.” This meant there were now mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession and distribution charges, the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and new acts being passed to “regulate” drug use. 

But all this effort wasn’t really to help those affected by substance abuse; this was to target Black and Brown people and those who were against the war. It was meant to further vilify minority groups in the eyes of an already racist and white supremacist system. Nixon’s domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman admitted, “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or (B)lack, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and (B)lacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities … Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” 

And disrupt the communities they did. Billions more dollars were poured into anti-drug legislation and policing while Black and Brown people were racially profiled and locked up at disproportionate rates. The 90s came after decades of mass incarceration and racist policing, and Bill Clinton made good on his promise to be “tough on crime.” 125,000 new state prison cells, 60 new crimes worthy of the death penalty, and 400,000 people incarcerated for non-violent, drug-related crimes later and almost half of the federal prison population are people who were convicted of drug-related crimes.

Now, Black people in Colorado are 1.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession despite its legalization in 2014. In Nevada, they are three times more likely despite the legalization in 2016. In Maine, they are four times more likely after legalization in 2016. And in Illinois, Black people are 7.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession despite its legalization in 2019. While the laws have changed, the means of oppression are still the same. Policing origins in the U.S. can still be traced back to slave patrols that established a system of terror to pursue and apprehend enslaved people and stop them from uprising.

We know that today the Trump administration continues to attack the trans community with executive orders and bans, trying to make trans folks seem like some evil that needs to be rooted out of our society. This administration is doing its best to try and turn its conservative followers even more against the LGBTQ+ communities and make their lifestyles illegal. Does this sound familiar? The Black community and the LGBTQ+ community are not totally separate. There is no liberation until the people most affected by intersections are free. That means our siblings who are disabled, Black, queer, experiencing houselessness, fear of deportation, etc. Their fight is one we all need to be involved in. Your fight is not over just because you moved to a blue state and your favorite barista is nonbinary. It is important to stand up for our people. We can’t forget about one marginalized groups’ struggles in favor of another. 

When you’re visiting downtown Denver, looking for a new dispensary to try, or going to a smoke-and-paint session at a cute new studio, how many of the marijuana businesses that you see are Black-owned? How many advertise their business values and mission beyond a sign that says “hate has no place here”? Are you supporting a business that is gentrifying the surrounding neighborhood while turning your nose up at businesses that were there since the city’s inception and run by people of color? 

We need to be honest with ourselves and one another about the realities in which we all live. Some people benefit from the systems in place and some people are hurt by them in multiple and compounded ways. If your idea of an inclusive space does not include Black and Brown people, trans people, disabled people, etc., then it is time to reevaluate. 

This is not a PSA to stop enjoying weed because Black people are in prison for it or to stop going to the dispensary that is accessible to you because it is not Black-owned. This is a reminder to be more thoughtful about your consumption. This is a reminder that, while we have made progress and should celebrate the wins we have, the work is not over. Look out for folks and support marginalized businesses when you can. Breathe deep and celebrate 420 how you see fit. Remember that rest is resistance. Take the time to truly refill your cup and rejuvenate yourself. We need you to show up; there’s still work to do.

Photo Credit: Vadim Vasenin