ABSTRACT
For many, cannabis legalization is a social justice issue. While the cannabis industry has taken massive strides toward eradicating nation-wide cannabis prohibition – shifting federal legalization from aspirational to probable, and normalizing the public perception of cannabis and its consumers – the question of how to properly acknowledge the legacy of the United States’ war on drugs remains at issue. As states and localities across the country develop cannabis licensing programs, efforts to meaningfully account for the legacy of discriminatory policing and mass incarceration of minority groups are gaining traction at local, state, and federal levels of government. This chapter explores the legacy of the “war on drugs” in brief as well as the role and impact of “social equity” cannabis programs that seek to redress the disproportionate impact of the war on drugs on communities of color.
