Reply to Marijuana Officially Legal in VA

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm reading the book, "Locking Up Our Own," by a Black (former) public defender in DC in the 90s, about how Black leadership were some of the toughest on crime, particularly with regard to drug laws.  And some of their arguments in the 70s and 80s against decriminalization of marijuana was that while both Black and White youth use in the same numbers, White kids are generally higher income and have the economic supports and resources to help mitigate any damage done through drug use.  Black youth generally don't.  And at the heart of that are income disparities that impact everything we do.

In fact, in some jurisdictions where marijuana has been legalized for those 21 and over, the arrest rate for Black youth has gone up.  Because marijuana use has gone up.

I personally don't care if marijuana is legal or not.   But it does present other social disorder issues, outside of arrests/records, and those will still impact Black youth more than White.     Look at Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension from the Olympics for THC use.  It's not an arrest.  But it is a negative impact of drug use.   And those types of issues will continue to disproportionately impact people of color.

Back to the point of the book -- we need to create an infrastructure that supports the health impacts of drug use if we are going to legalize it.  And we completely ignore that.  While marijuana isn't addictive in the traditional sense, improper use can rise to the level of marijuana use disorder.  And that does impact family, work, and community.   Put the support services in place at the same time.   Use some of that new tax money to do so. 
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