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Dear friend,

Below is an opinion piece I wrote this week for the Chicago Tribune discussing the
recent news that the members of the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus are raising
the alarm over the fact that no businesses slated to sell the substance once it
becomes legal in January are owned by people of color.
As we have stated before, in state after state that has chosen to expand this reckless
experiment, grand promises of social justice and equity were made. And in state
after state, we have seen these promises fail to materialize. In the end, the privileged
class will be the ones profiting, while disadvantaged communities foot the bill.
You can view this piece below or read it [[link removed]]
here [[link removed]].
Please consider chipping in a tax-deductible gift to SAM today [[link removed]]
to help keep us on the front lines in this fight for public health, safety, and
commonsense.
Together, we can help save lives,
Dr. Kevin Sabet,
Founder and President
Smart Approaches to Marijuana
In Illinois, the campaign to legalize marijuana marched in on a platform of social
justice, drowning out the concerns of black community leaders and pleas from the
NAACP. Today, the same corporate entities and advocacy groups close the doors to
prosperity as they build barriers to entry for minority business owners in a marijuana
industry that's worth billions.
Feigned empathy by addiction profiteers was nothing but a ruse to buy votes for
legalization. But now people of all colors are pushing back on the will of the few.
It began in earnest this month when black leaders in Chicago stood up to big marijuana
and said "Enough!" The
City Council's Black Caucus, led by Ald. Jason Ervin, threatened to delay Chicago's
legalization process until business opportunities opened up to more people of color.
Among the city's 11 existing dispensaries, minority representation is a dismal zero
percent.
America's rushed and haphazard experiment in corporate marijuana has left behind
economic opportunities for minorities. It's no wonder people are angry. Advocacy
groups NORML and Drug Policy Alliance have upped the ante on community and economic
upheaval with failed promises of social equity. Almost two years after California's
market first opened, the illicit trade is more prosperous than its official equity
programs, while Massachusetts companies have failed to follow through on promises
of diversity.
Corporate marijuana is another for-profit addiction industry concentrated in poor,
minority communities. In Denver, Los Angeles and Oregon, pot shops are disproportionately
located in disadvantaged areas. It's a striking message of exclusion that demonstrates
a willingness to take money from black and brown people and to redistribute harm.
Advocates point to lower rates of arrests as a measure of success, but they neglect
the incarceration burden minorities bear in post-legalization states like Colorado
and California. They talk of economic opportunity even as regulators fail to rein
in the burgeoning illicit trade. In the same sweeping breath, marijuana supporters
blame the ongoing pot vaping crisis - responsible for more than 1,600 cases of severe
respiratory illness and several dozen deaths from both legal and illegal products
- on the illicit market without mention of how legal marijuana can fuel the underground
trade.
Today's highly potent strains of marijuana, including concentrates with up to 80%
pure THC, are a new breed of drug that delivers a net harm to these neighborhoods.
Well-to-do white folks created a marijuana utopia for themselves. Just don't look
behind the curtain.
Ald. Ervin's stand against the greed of the canna-executive class is becoming a
chorus of its own. Black leaders have become wary of the industry's broken promises.
Last month, for example, Maryland's Black Caucus requested a pause on marijuana
licenses, citing concerns over a lack of minority ownership. Earlier this year,
politicians in New York and New Jersey were part of a broader effort to halt legalization.
They knew that the industry would railroad black communities in favor of profits.
We should applaud these lone voices for having the moral courage to stand up to
the false prophets of the so-called green rush. For too long, marijuana proponents
propped up people of color then tossed them aside without thought to the personal,
economic and communal costs they would bear.
Marijuana's failed promises of social equity threaten to halt years of progress
made in combating the drug war's harms. But a smarter approach to marijuana that
seeks to decriminalize rather than corporatize can achieve what advocates and industry
insiders have failed to for so long. We can reform our nation's drug policy with
everyone in mind.
As for Chicago, the fight against the white men in suits turns to the local level.
It is up to local leaders such as Ald. Ervin to shut the door on this addiction-for-profit
industry.
Dr. Kevin Sabet is president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former senior
drug policy adviser to the Obama administration.
About SAM:
Smart Approaches to Marijuana [[link removed]]
(SAM) is a nonpartisan, non-profit alliance of physicians, policy makers, prevention
workers, treatment and recovery professionals, scientists, and other concerned citizens
opposed to marijuana legalization who want health and scientific evidence to guide
marijuana policies. SAM has affiliates in more than 30 states.

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