Freedom Rally Provokes Marijuana Conversations
BOSTON, MA — Thousands of citizens gather in Boston Common for the 28th Freedom Rally to support the legal use of marijuana. The event features hundreds of marijuana vendors and customers in an outdoor festival. The festival is filled with not just stoners but advocates who believe there should be zero legal repercussions for smoking weed.
In the fall of 2016 voters in Massachusetts decided to make the use of recreational marijuana legal and the bill will go into effect by July 2018, according to USA Today.
“I support the legalization for people who need it for medical reasons,” said Janet Kingsley, a brownie salesperson. “We can get a 6-pack of beer, can’t we? We should be able to buy a joint.”
Bongs, papers, and edibles can be found at every head turn. The festival also features live music and hemp products such as clothing and soaps.
Hempfest features few police officers. Although Boston has passed legislation toward legalization, over-policing on drugs is still a rampant issue in America.
“Between 2001–2010, there were more than 8 million pot arrests in the U.S. That’s one bust every 37 seconds and hundreds of thousands ensnared in the criminal justice system,” said the ACLU.
The War on Drugs has been a costly endeavor and a highly unbalanced one in regards to who is targeted for possession. Enforcing marijuana laws cost the U.S. about $3.6 billion a year, according to the ACLU.
“Marijuana use is roughly equal among blacks and whites, yet black is 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession,” said the ACLU. The racial disparity for these arrests is persistent in all areas of the country.
The gap between whites and blacks in arrests can further be seen with the ACLU’s statistic, “In over 96% of counties with more than 30,000 people in which at least 2% of the residents are black, blacks are arrested at a higher rate than whites for marijuana possession.”
Yet, as thousands of prisoners serve time for something that is becoming more accepted in the mainstream, the stigma around marijuana and the people who frequently use it remains.
One of the origins of marijuana’s stigma comes from President Nixon’s 1968 campaign. John Ehrlichman, assistant for Domestic Affairs during Nixon’s presidency admitted in a 1999 interview that Nixon wanted to run a campaign against the antiwar left and black people.
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities,“ Ehrlichman said.
“We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.”
Nixon’s aim ultimately succeeded. A story from the New York Times in 2016 stated “Dianne Jones, 45, who was arrested in New Orleans in 2014 on charges of having a small bag of marijuana, spent 10 days in jail because she could not put up a $2,500 bond. She was able to get enough money together only after her daughter sold the family’s television set at a pawnshop for $200.”
Jones is an African-American and was also unable to pay court-ordered fees and fines. While these incidents happen, some people at Hempfest seemed hopeful for the future and others more somber.
Kiana Hall, an African-American photographer said, “This event is very diverse. I see black and white vendors and I don’t think in the future with more legalization we will see more minorities being locked up for possessing marijuana.”
Lindy Paul, a teenager, said, “I think the rate of people of color will be arrested for weed will be the same. I think some cops may adapt to the new laws but others may not care.”
While it seems the future for African-Americans in the criminal justice system is unequivocally dismal, there are people fighting for their side.
Attorney Charles A. Reid III. said, “I see legalization on the big scale as something that will help uplift minorities. My office is assisting a minority gentleman to get started in the cannabis industry. It’s unlawful and illegal for cops to racially profile.”
Hempfest is an environment where for at least a weekend everyone is free from the societal stigmas against marijuana. Hempfest features more than just teenage stoners. The vendors at Hempfest are entrepreneurs and advocates who want to be taken seriously.
New England Veterans Alliance (NEVA) advocates for veterans to have affordable and easy access to marijuana for troops reentering civilian life. A NEVA spokesperson, Keith Crossly said, “I think it’s the answer to world peace. Basically, everyone smoke a joint and f — — — relax.”
Devin Keller, a spokesperson of NEVA, believes in getting veterans access to good doctors and marijuana dispensaries.
In regards to what he thought about the disparity in marijuana arrest he said,
“People should be informed of their rights. Stand up for yourself and know your states’ laws. Don’t blindly listen to what you heard on the Internet.”
