“The entire industry has to remain united and focused on making cannabis justice part of our platform, right alongside other fundamentals like legalization and access.”

By Andrew Ward

The United States continues to have the largest prison population globally. Some 2.1 million Americans were incarcerated as of November 2018.

On the federal level, marijuana sentencing has dropped sharply in recent years. Just 92 individuals were sentenced for possession in 2017.

Yet according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data, officers on the state level made roughly 663,000 marijuana-based arrests in 2018, totaling 40% of those arrested for drugs that year.

Possession accounted for 92% of those arrested in 2018.

Efforts are underway to expunge the cannabis records of imprisoned individuals in select states, and proponents of marijuana reform are hoping the MORE Act is passed.

“We still have a very long way to go to remedy the damage done, but we are headed in the right direction and making more progress with each election cycle and legislative session,” says Dr. Chanda Macias, CEO of Ilera Holistic Healthcare and CEO of Women Grow.

“Our industry and advocates must continue to apply pressure to right the wrongs.”

Supporting Returning Citizens

Macias, who also heads up The National Holistic Healing Center, says post-incarceration social services have always been lacking.

“Freed cannabis prisoners have to fight for a slice of a pie in seeking ownership or jobs,” she says.

While the industry and certain states are advancing support for those affected by the drug war, more could be done to reduce recidivism and encourage industry participation.

“It is very encouraging to see so many states reforming and releasing prisoners,” says Liesl Bernard, CEO of the staffing firm CannabizTeam. “There is a long road ahead to reach adequate support for justice impacted individuals reentering the workplace.”

LaTorie Marshall, the founder of National Expungement Week, says that we all could be doing more to help returning citizens.

“We need to stay in communication to make sure that our people know they’re supported,” Marshall says.

“This helps to reduce the high recidivism rate that runs rampant through disenfranchised communities that have been systematically targeted for years.”

Riley, who is white, says his race and the sentencing disparity allowed him and the other men arrested, who were all Black, to receive pretrial intervention and not a stiffer sentence.

“If I wasn’t arrested, it would have been really different for them,” Riley says.

In addition to finding work in the space, returning citizens could also find opportunities creating an ancillary business or joining a team seeking a license. In many states, applicants receive additional points for partnering with returning individuals.

Additional Efforts To Continue Healing

Those looking to do their part can do so in a variety of ways.

“The entire industry has to remain united and focused on making cannabis justice part of our platform, right alongside other fundamentals like legalization and access,” says Macias. “Mentorship is free.”

N.E.W.’s Marshall says that funding and support for literacy workshops, programs and other educational efforts are also key.

“Let other industries know that they should be doing the same healing work, if you do any, and challenge them to do the same,” she says.

“We should all be asking what are the right steps to making justice, equity and wealth realistic, obtainable and available for communities that have been the most impacted and affected by this systemic injustice that capitalism no longer wants to call ‘a drug.’”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.