This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on July 14, 2015.
Much debate currently exists around the Confederate flag. Opponents claim the flag is simply a symbol of hate and that it has no place in society, while a handful of supporters view the Confederate flag to be a symbol of southern culture. I, for one, do not believe the rebel flag should ever fly on government property, however, an individual has the right to display whatever flag they choose on private property.
Currently the majority of “Union” northern states support legal medical marijuana and several northern cities now embrace legal recreational marijuana while no “Confederate” southern states have yet to enact laws that recognize the drugs use medically or recreationally. It is a war.
According to the ACLU, marijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the approximately 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana. Nationwide, the arrest data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates, blacks are 4 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.
When a society forms around any institution, as the South did around slavery, it will formulate a set of arguments to support it. The Southerners held ever firmer to their arguments as the political tensions in the country drew us ever closer to the Civil War.
Grants to states and localities are not contingent on increasing drug arrests, but federal officials acknowledge that many police chiefs and sheriffs believe racking up arrests bolsters their case for money they have come to depend on.
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