It’s finally happening folks, well at least it’s definitely getting started. We are beginning to witness states that have since legalised cannabis reversing and dismissing cannabis convictions unfairly put through during the war on drugs. The fact that there are currently people in prison for something that is now completely legal in so many places just baffles me. Previously cannabis laws were not only a bit bizarre but have been proven to affect certain races more than others, especially when coming out of a short sentence for possessing tiny amounts of cannabis. The idea that many of these charges will be dismissed means a great deal to anyone who was incarcerated unjustly. Anyway, I’m getting over-excited, let’s have a look at what this actually means not just for the people of LA but potentially for the world at large and the cannabis industry.
This is not the first lot of dismissals to go through and last year 66,000 cases were planned to be overturned and allowed to freely leave prison without a conviction haunting them for the rest of their life. This was before proposition 64 was passed into law. Though all of these cases came from the Department of Justice data which doesn’t cover any of the thousands of cases through the LA county court records. These records date back over three decades and there were still countless cases that needed to be reviewed.
Proposition 64 is the proposition that legalised weed in Los Angeles and many feel that this was not its only purpose. Indeed, those who proposed this bill intended for it to do more than simply legalise cannabis for recreational use. Since the early 1900s cannabis has been used as an unjust tool by racist systems to keep certain groups in a state of poverty. Primarily because if you go to prison for an extremely small cannabis charge, especially one that certain other people would not be convicted for, time after prison is going to be extremely difficult. With a record of a conviction, it can be almost impossible to find a job or housing. The former director of the Drug Policy Alliance Lynn Lyman stated that,
“Proposition 64 was always about more than legal weed, it was an intentional effort to repair the past harms of the war on drugs and cannabis prohibition, which disproportionately targeted people of colour.”
The proposition was put in to allow those who have been unjustly imprisoned by previous cannabis laws to walk free without convictions hanging over their heads. Even before the proposition was passed George Gascón, the man responsible for all of this, overturned 9,000 cases as San Francisco’s top prosecutor.
Though this large list has been compiled there are thought to be countless more cases that are eligible for dismissal. In order to better identify those who are eligible for release and dismissal Gascón has partnered with a large American Tech company. They have developed an algorithm to identify those who are currently in prison for crimes that are no longer valid.
What Does This Mean On A Larger Scale?
So currently a high number of states in the US have legalised cannabis. Hopefully this number will only get higher as the years go on. Not only is this fantastic for medicinal industries, the economy and small businesses but for breaking down the inherently racist war on drugs. The fear of cannabis in the USA started in the 1930s as a way to arrest people of colour and make them the enemy. This brought forth countless lies about the drug. That it makes people violent, that men of colour would smoke then rape white women, that it was connected with Satanism. If you want to learn more please read my previous article on the racist origins of marijuana. We now know that cannabis is no more going to make a person violent than a pug is going to win a longest muzzle contest. So we have reached that point where politicians and governments are agreeing that cannabis is safe, so this mass turnover of convictions shows that we are beginning to work towards breaking down the racial stigma that comes with it. Don’t get me wrong, this is not me saying that systamised racism in the US is over, far from it. However, the release of those convicted with crimes that are no longer considered offences and were likely race driven convictions is a great start.
Moving away from race for a moment, the release of cannabis convicts is a huge boon for the American prison system. A system which is currently so completely overwhelmed that the people inside are being treated like less than animals. Releasing these people will take a massive weight off the system, which is needed now more than ever.
I think it is important that we take a look at The Last Prisoner Project. A group who are completely focused on the reimaging of drug policy and fighting criminal injustice. They believe there shouldn’t be one person left imprisoned for cannabis offences. Therefore they created a team formed out of cannabis industry leaders, policy and educational experts, criminal and social justice advocates, and leaders in social justice and drug policy reform. You can learn all about them by going to their website but they are one of the leaders in working towards freeing those who have been incarcerated for cannabis crimes.
Finally, Covid
The final issue here is that during the pandemic the prison system has been so overcrowded that Covid 19 has spread like wildfire. Not only are there hundreds of thousands of people wrongly imprisoned but they are all being exposed to the potentially deadly virus. Now more than ever it is vital that we push to correct the severely broken US prison system and free those who have been convicted for tiny cannabis offenses while in the same state business owners make millions from cannabis and cannabis related products.
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