Why is New Jersey reviving the old “marijuana” stigma?

“The Haymaker” is Leafly Senior Editor Bruce Barcott’s opinion column on cannabis politics and culture.

Words have always been weapons on the front lines in the American war on cannabis.

In the 1930s, Harry Anslinger and the Hearst newspapers accelerated the ban by transforming cannabis, then a common analgesic, into marijuana, a threatening drug that supposedly turned men and women into violent beasts.

In later decades, people who enjoyed cannabis were officially ridiculed as lazy stoners. Street vendors were demonized as predators.

We have come a long way since then – but apparently not in New Jersey.

In the noise and confusion that always comes with the passage of a legalization law, a neglected, harmful little clause has entered the gardening state code.

NJ’s new legalization law recognizes that there is “no substantive difference” between cannabis and marijuana. Both words refer to the same substance.

Cannabis is legal in New Jersey, but bad old “marijuana” isn’t. Are we doing this seriously again?

But according to the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, cannabis refers to the regulated form of the plant (what is grown, bought, and sold in licensed stores) while marijuana refers to the unregulated form of the plant (what is grown, bought, and purchased). , and sold on the underground market). “

In other words, just as New Jersey is ending its cannabis ban, state officials are breathing new life into one of the oldest sources of racial bias in the drug war: the idea that cannabis sold by whites is good, but marijuana sold by people is color is bad.

And here we are again, in the 1930s.

You repeat that, New Jersey

It has precisely escaped notice that an overwhelming percentage of business owners and licensees in the legal cannabis industry are white, while blacks are far more likely to be arrested and imprisoned for owning or selling the same products.

In 2018, New Jersey blacks were 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites. This nationwide race gap even increased between 2010 and 2018 when other states legalized for all adults.

In some local areas, the discrepancy is absolutely shocking: In Hunterdon County, New Jersey, near the Pennsylvania border, blacks were 14 times more likely than whites to be handcuffed for cannabis in 2018.

Most of the legal cannabis sold in New Jersey (when these stores open later this year) will likely be sold by white-owned companies. A different proportion of people arrested for selling illegal marijuana are likely to be colored.

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Enough with the stigma

The Trenton lawmakers who made this rule and the state officials who implement it may be acting in good faith. You see, there is a legitimate need to draw a line between legal, licensed products and illegal, unlicensed products. Otherwise, the illegal market will undercut legal sellers on price and entrepreneurs who abide by the law will be punished for doing so.

But folks, reviving an old racist duck is not the way to combat unlicensed sales.

Here’s why.

A tough, tough story

Many stories have been written about the racist origins and abuse of the word marijuana. Blattly employee Anna Wilcox noted how Anslinger, America’s original racist drug warrior, testified before Congress in support of the 1937 federal ban law:

“Marijuana is the most violent drug in human history … Most marijuana smokers are negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, is the result of marijuana consumption. “

In another notorious statement, Anslinger warned that Reefer made black men “believe they were as good as white men … the main reason marijuana banned is its effect on the degenerate races”.

Back when white men prescribed it as medicine and listed it in the United States Pharmacopoeia, it was cannabis. But when blacks enjoyed it in jazz clubs, it was marijuana. Same substance – but one word meant the difference between freedom and imprisonment.

Related

The history of the marijuana ban in the United States

Language develops, rises, and sometimes harms

Here at Leafly we are aware of the complexities that surround the word marijuana. Over the years we have increased and decreased its use. For a while we only used the word cannabis, never marijuana, to get America out of its prohibition-era stereotypes.

But then we came across the reality of language and the actual use of words in the world today. People often use the terms marijuana and weed when looking for information – not just cannabis. We want to reach these people with our articles that provide accurate, unobtrusive information not available on other websites.

So we adapted. We still use cannabis as our main word, but we’ll also mix marijuana and weed every now and then so people using search engines can find us.

We are aware of the complex racist history of marijuana. We also recognize that people can use problematic language without malicious intent. Sometimes the modern, algorithm-driven world demands that we get used to the tension between history, idealism and harsh reality.

But New Jersey’s distinction between the two terms in this case is not a compromise between idealism and reality. This is a purposeful change in language intended to stigmatize and demonize marijuana while elevating cannabis to a clean, bright, and far too white space.

New Jersey has to change that

Fortunately, New Jersey’s new Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) is one of the most diverse regulators in the country. Dianna Houenou, chairwoman of the commission, is aware of the power of words and legal constructs. In her previous role as policy advisor to the New Jersey ACLU, she advocated cannabis legalization, police reform and the right to vote for ex-prisoners. (Previously detainees, not former detainees. Language is important.)

Should the state regulate licensed cannabis and work to migrate millions of consumers in the illegal market to the upcoming legal businesses? Necessarily. But breathing new life into this old racist stereotype is not the way to go.

The CRC has its hands full getting the New Jersey licensed cannabis industry up and running. But that’s a change that you should make quickly. Discard the language of stigma. Call for an end to this stupid and harmful rule. We are in a new era. Houenou and the CRC have the power to run and improve their state. You should use it.

Bruce Barcott

Leafly Senior Editor Bruce Barcott oversees news, research, and feature projects. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and author of Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America.

View article by Bruce Barcott

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