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46 U. Balt. L. Rev. 523 (2016-2017)
Prison for You: Profit for Me: Systemic Racism Effectively Bars Blacks from Participation in Newly-Legal Marijuana Industry

handle is hein.journals/ublr46 and id is 544 raw text is: PRISON FOR YOU. PROFIT FOR ME. SYSTEMIC RACISM EFFECTIVELY BARS BLACKS FROM PARTICIPATION IN NEWLY-LEGAL MARIJUANA INDUSTRY Elizabeth Danquah-Brobby * Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.' I. INTRODUCTION Historically, blacks have been prosecuted and convicted across the United States at significantly higher rates when compared to whites for marijuana-related crimes, despite the fact that studies indicate marijuana use by whites and blacks is relatively equal.3 Further, individuals with lower economic means were dually susceptible to conviction as a result of less vigorous legal representation.4 Now, laws have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes in twenty-six states, along with a small portion of states (seven) 5 legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Yet retroactive ameliorative relief is not widely available to those who were convicted under circumstances that are now legal, and as a result, stains remain on the records of a disproportionate number of blacks.6 Marijuana has become a big business, often being compared to the Gold Rush and referred to as the Green Rush.7 However, regulations across states that are a part of this Green Rush effectively wall out * J.D. Candidate, University of Baltimore School of Law, 2017. Special thanks to my supervising Professor, Donald H. Stone, for his insight and guidance; and to my family for their unwavering support through my law school journey. 1. KENDRICK LAMAR, Mortal Man, on To PIMP A BUTTERFLY (Top Dawg Entm't 2015). 2. AM. CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, THE WAR ON MARIJUANA IN BLACK AND WHITE 4, 9 (2013), https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu-thewaronmarijuana-rel2.pdf. 3. Id. at 4, 21. 4. See id. at 12, 105-06, 114-15. 5. State Marijuana Laws in 2016 Map, GOVERNING, http://www.governing.com/gov- data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html (last updated Jan. 30, 2016). 6. Jake Thomas, After Legalization, Why Can't People 's Prior Pot Convictions Be Wiped Clean?, SUBSTANCE.COM (Dec. 11, 2014), http://www.substance.com/after- legalization-why-cant-peoples-prior-pot-convictions-be-wiped-clean-2/17203/; see AM. CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, supra note 2, at 4, 9. 7. Curtis Silver, Marijuana's $40 Billion Dollar Green Rush, FORBES (June 2, 2016, 7:35 AM), http://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2016/06/02/marijuanas-40- billion-dollar-green-rush/#10f08cae3097. 523

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