Pubdate: Sun, 11 Oct 2015
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Column: NJWeedman's Passing the Joint
Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Ed Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian

DO #BLACKLIVESMATTER IN THE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION MOVEMENT?

I'm black, so obviously I support this concept that my life matters 
too. I also grew up in the suburbs of South Jersey, in a two-parent 
middle class home, believing that I was equal to my suburban white 
counterparts. I never thought I'd go to prison, especially not for marijuana.

I officially entered the marijuana legalization movement on November 
24, 1997. On that morning I was arrested in Bellmawr, NJ, by the 
Camden County drug task force for possession of marijuana with intent 
to distribute when a 40-pound package was delivered by Fed-Ex. Many 
activists start their activism in handcuffs; I was no different - my 
activism started in earnest after I was arrested. That cold steel 
around your wrists for marijuana makes people want to change sh*t.

What really motivated me was I felt my life mattered, my life was 
important to me and my family. I didn't want it to be ruined by the 
War on Drugs, as had already happened to so many of my friends.

 From the very beginning I publicly fought my case. I knew the War on 
Drugs was created mainly through racism because I've always been a 
history lover and have done a lot of research on drug prohibition. I 
knew who Harry Anslinger was and how the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 
was legislative Jim Crowism, but when I included the racist aspects 
of the War on Drugs in my public marijuana activism I got massive 
pushback from members of the mainstream marijuana legalization 
movement. I was told "we're all green" and was constantly asked why I 
had to bring race into it - why can't it just be a bad War on Drugs 
rather than a racist War on Drugs, as I referred to it. Factually, 
the race card was played when the Tax Act was created by Congress - 
this was the crooked hand dealt to me and millions of black lives.

The marijuana laws have always been racist - and enforced racially. 
The truth hurt some; they didn't want to hear it, or champion it - 
denial was normal.

I knew the statistics: 70% of all marijuana arrestees were people of 
color. I knew we were treated as chattel for the new age concrete 
plantation system (prison). But it seemed to me that this huge 
statistic didn't matter. At that time the marijuana movement was 
focused on medical marijuana; to them gay AIDS patients' lives 
mattered, and that agenda successfully got us medical marijuana. 
Again, I've always included the racial aspect of the War on Drugs as 
part of my legalization agenda, which hasn't earned me many THC 
brownie points. I was called a "loose cannon" and a "radical" with a 
militant nonconformist mentality because I always thought #blacklivesmattered.

I also knew substances controlled by whites were legal - e.g., 
tobacco, alcohol - and then there were the legal pharmaceuticals. But 
the substances that were historically "controlled" by people of color 
were made illegal by our all-white Congress with an openly racist 
agenda at the time. It's no secret that tobacco and alcohol kill, so 
putting black lives in a cage for a harmless, and even beneficial, 
substance was not OK to me. I felt my life and all #blacklivesmattered!

In the last three years, basically since the murder of Trayvon 
Martin/acquittal of George Zimmerman, there's been a movement to 
highlight the different treatment black males receive in U.S. 
society. After the "murder" of Michael Brown in the city of Ferguson, 
Missouri, and the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office's fraudulent 
presentation of facts to the grand jury, the #blacklivesmatter 
hashtag and movement officially began.

Admittedly, while I was in Riverfront State Prison (Camden, NJ) from 
December 2000 to April 2002 for marijuana I met several white guys in 
prison for marijuana too - I considered them white collateral damage 
in the racist War on Drugs.

There are numerous marijuana legalization organizations around the 
country, but rarely did they dwell on the black lives that were 
disproportionately destroyed by the marijuana laws. I'm a black man 
with a black life before I'm a marijuana activist, and the reality of 
the situation is that in this country race matters. There is 
institutional racism (like the marijuana laws) and some just don't 
notice it at all, whereas its victims can't seem to get away from it.

The marijuana legalization movement should embrace the 
#BlackLivesMatter movement, and embracing this doesn't mean excluding 
others and it doesn't mean that other lives are less important. When 
I first saw the #blacklivesmatter hashtag I thought they made one 
mistake: They should have said, "black lives matter too." Now we have 
all these hashtags - all lives matter, blue lives matter, etc. - 
those hashtags were created to undermine the #blacklivesmatter hashtag.

On October 17th there will be an East Coast Cannabis Coalition 
pro-legalization demonstration here in Trenton from 2 to 5 p.m. 
that's being billed as the NJ Cannabis Freedom Rally - the gathering 
point is the steps of City Hall from 1:00 to 2:00, followed by a 
march to the State House where an act of civil disobedience will be 
directed at Governor Chris Christie and his national anti marijuana 
legalization platform. We are embracing the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement.

To me, any politician who is against legalization is in support of 
the legal Jim Crowism that embodies the racist marijuana laws. It's 
no mistake that blacks are three times more likely to be incarcerated 
for cannabis than whites, who actually consume more of it.

While this rally isn't directly a #blacklivesmatter event, we all 
know whose lives are most affected by the current NJ marijuana laws, 
and who's keeping these laws in effect: Gov. Christie. He is our 
"George Wallace."

Over the last two decades I've encouraged black/brown peoples to 
participate in these events but I've had limited success. However, 
with NJWeedman's Joint as an urban organizing hub, that's changing.

Still, the more things change, the more they stay the same: This past 
July 10th a similar demonstration was held in Philadelphia and 
regretfully some disparaged the #BlackLivesMatter movement, some 
ridiculed the mere mention of it at that event despite blacks in 
Philly being the true victims of the marijuana laws. Ironically, they 
proudly featured a black drag queen. (That can be the topic of a 
whole 'nother Column...)

It's unfortunate mainstream marijuana legalization organizations have 
not publicly endorsed the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If they claim 
to represent victims of the drug war, which disproportionately 
comprise people of color, then they should align themselves with 
movements fighting for these same human rights, including the 
#BlackLivesMatter movement.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom