More InformationPAQ Articles 
Lost Boys, Invisible Men: Racialized Policy Feedback after Marijuana Legalization
Nyron N. Crawford
PAQ, Vol. 47 No. 3,
327-346 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.37808/paq.47.3.5
One benefit of legalizing marijuana in the United States was that reform would end racial disparities in law enforcement and the negative effects of the so-called War on Drugs. However, the communities that have been most harmed by cannabis prohibition are benefiting the least. Apple-esque weed dispensaries now operate as legitimate storefronts while Black men, specifically, continue to be punished for past marijuana-related crimes. Yet, the research to-date has not paid sufficient attention to this emergent problem—that policy change predicated on reducing racial disparities has not sufficiently addressed past harms of prohibition. This paper takes a conceptual approach to explore and adapt theories about how justice-involved individuals might become alienated after reform. It begins by exploring data from the Black Voter Project (BVP) to explain Black support for legalization of marijuana, then provide a critical policy analysis on how current reforms have the potential to exacerbate racial inequality among Black men.
Subscribers: Login to read this article
Guests: Subscribe to PAQ, or purchase individual article access for $10.
The article is not available for automatic download. We will email the article to you as a PDF file upon receiving your payment, typically within 24 hours.
