How the government could pay back ex-cons who’ve served marijuana convictions

Stoned Perspective: How the federal government can “do well” its social justice plans

If you’re looking for a reason why cannabis isn’t legal yet, despite the Senate being majority Democratic and a president who has “promised” to do something about it, two words come down to it – social justice.

It’s the hot new talking point of a guilt-ridden market in a desperate attempt to wash away the stains of injustice. Most of the time, it is topics of conversation from those who created the initial conditions that have had a negative impact on the “fringe groups”.

While Senator Chuck Schumer may be the champion of cannabis reform for Democrats, he has been vocal in favor of implementing criminal justice reform alongside cannabis legalization. The problem with this approach is that if you simply poll “cannabis” in public, you get a large segment of voters to side with the idea. However, the moment you start talking about creating special rules and processes for people negatively affected by the War on Drugs, you lose support pretty quickly.

Because even if you were to implement social justice licensing, as they plan to do in New York, where former prisoners affected by the war on drugs would be given priority licenses, you are only throwing breadcrumbs at the community at large who were made by negatively influenced by the draconian policy.

Even if some of the people adversely affected by the War on Drugs are given some sense of priority, the injustices that have occurred will not be undone. How many children have had neither mother nor father in their lifetime? How has this translated into lower potential outcomes related to their life success? How many chances have been ruined by a criminal record?

All of these factors make it very difficult to quantify the exact damage a wrongful conviction, or even a minor conviction, for cannabis has caused in their lives and how it has subsequently deprived the average person of their potential income via taxation. And while the government has a good conversation, this Politico article points out how bad it is at keeping its promises;

This week offered the most dramatic example yet of Democrats’ inability to make progress on their cannabis pledges: The government’s new spending package, released Wednesday, continues to ban Washington, DC from establishing a cannabis market, more than seven years after district voters overwhelmingly voted to do so for that were legalization. – Political

In other words, while the rest of the country is pushing for legalization, and in the only area where Congress has actually had first-hand experience experimenting with legalization, it has elected not to allow legal sales of cannabis in the district.

The article continues;

The spending law also failed to protect state-regulated recreational cannabis markets, nor did it expand medical marijuana research or protect veterans who use cannabis — two issues with widespread bipartisan support.

“I’m very frustrated and really disappointed,” said Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), an advocate for cannabis policy changes. “Polls in this country are off the charts that people want to normalize cannabis use… So what’s the problem?” – Political

Hanging amounts to social justice. Republicans have a cannabis legalization bill that doesn’t address social justice, and it’s already garnered more support than other bills with a stronger social justice emphasis.

Perhaps it would be wiser to separate the two issues and treat cannabis legalization as one thing and social justice and drug war reparations as another. Because with more regulation comes more bureaucracy, and when it comes to bureaucracy, the marginalized prefer to take a back seat.

In other words, if there is too much social justice on the table in the sense of “trying to compensate for past mistakes in the new law,” you create a partisan rift and nothing happens in the end…as has been the case with cannabis reforms in recent years years.

Drug War Reparations

Ultimately, social equity aims to reduce the severity of the damage caused by the war on drugs. Lawmakers want to make sure “ex-cons” have access to the industry, which is nice — but the fact that someone’s been caught with weed and sentenced to jail doesn’t automatically make them a weed enthusiast. In addition, the marketplace is a completely different place than it was when they were sentenced.

Some people have been in prison for decades.

It would probably be better (and cheaper) to simply pay a set amount of retribution for people convicted of cannabis offenses who received an excessive conviction for their non-crimes. While any time served for cannabis alone is an atrocity, the least Uncle Sam could do to undo the damage it has caused is to pay the prisoner for “lost time” by they are paid at least an annual untaxed minimum wage. In April, the federal minimum wage is $15.50 an hour. For a 40 hour week, that would be $620/week or $2480 per month. That would be about $30,000 per year.

While $30,000 won’t do much with rising inflation rates, it could definitely be a boost for someone who’s been in prison and has had a criminal record with no way of getting a job. This money could be used to start a business or help with the transition process from prison to society.

While paying prisoners $30,000 a year in prison, you are at least able to offer some sense of “justice” and “redress” for the injustices caused by the drug war. But even that wouldn’t really be an “apples to apples” comparison. However, it would give those affected by the drug war a choice to do what THEY would like to do.

Thinking that “excons” want to grow weed because weed got them is simply a choice for the party concerned. Although the intention is nice, we know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

My recommendation, separate legalization and social justice, and work on programs that actually benefit the Excon by simply compensating an annual minimum for each year of incarceration. Possibly some financial advisors to help them make wise financial decisions.

I don’t know… just something to chew on.

MORE ABOUT EX-CONS IN CANNABIS, READ MORE…

CANCEL EX CONS IN MARIJUANA

WHY THE MARIJUANA INDUSTRY SHOULD HIRE EX-FIGHTERS!

OR..

EX DISADVANTAGES IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY

WHAT THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY CAN DO FOR EX-CONS TODAY!

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