Ben & Jerry’s is psyched that legalization of marijuana is becoming more widespread. However, they used 4/20 over the weekend to remind us all that there’s still a lot of injustice when it comes to cannabis.
Over the stoner-holiday weekend, the household ice cream brand posted a blog celebrating the fact that weed is legal in 33 states, however, Black people are still much more likely to face pot-related charges than white people.
“Sorry to bring you down, but that’s the harsh reality. If you love pot AND you’re white, everything is totally awesome these days,” the blog post states. “In 2017, 81% of cannabis executives were white. Meanwhile, even in states where pot is legal, and even though Black people and white people use pot at similar rates, Black people are still arrested way more often than whites. We love 4/20 and we love legalization, but that’s not OK.”
According to a report by the ACLU, that between 2001 and 2010, among 8 million marijuana-related arrests, Black people were 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for pot possession than white people.
On top of that, in a video posted to Twitter, the company also pointed out that while people of color are the ones with higher arrest rates, few and far between most of the people making money in the cannabis industry are white.
In the words of Ben & Jerry’s, “That’s NOT cool.”
To address this issue, the company encourages their followers and pot users to be aware these racial disparities and to push for expunging everyone’s pot-related criminal records and working toward making sure people of color aren’t left in the dust.
Amanda Push
