New cannabis legislation is a start to restoring Black America after the War on Drugs
Photo courtesy of Rachel Cabitt Link
Cannabis Dispensaries: A Restorative Justice Response to Drug Laws that have Historically Criminalized Black but not White Communities
One week in jail for marijuana possession was all it took for aspiring correctional officer Andrea NaTay Drane to be shut out of a world of opportunities forever.
“Though I was in jail for one week, I was in mentally in jail for seven years,” says Drane.
In 2012, with just six credit hours away from earning a Masters of Science in criminal justice from Chicago State University with the goal of becoming a correctional officer, Drane, 39, was convicted of a marijuana possession charge. The conviction made her a felon; a reality that locked her out of essential financial aid and as a result she has been unable to finish her degree. Seven years later, she has yet to complete those last six credit hours.
Andrea Drane, 39. Photo courtesy of Drane
“I became discouraged, as I was on track to earn a Ph.D and go far in my career,” Drane recalled about not completing her masters.
But she had not hit bottom. Not until she applied to be an Uber driver but was denied due to being a felon that same year.
Yet, despite the setback, Drane decided to create a new career path for herself. In 2014, the Englewood native, decided to create her own opportunity and founded the Englewood Walk & Run 5K: Ditch the Weight & Guns. At the time of the first 5K race, 4,000 people participated, including former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel. Drane says, “Working out and working within the community was my therapy. I was still using my criminal justice background to empower Englewood to ditch the weight and guns.”
Seven years later, another opportunity for a new career path came serendipitously.
After attending National Expungement Week Chicago this past September, hosted by Element 7 and the National Diversity and Inclusion Cannabis Alliance (NDICA), Drane welcomed investors to her community for a tour, which included a potential cultivation center. After the tour, the investors made an offer for Drane to become a social equity partner.
Drane explains, “Now, we are partners, and I own 51 percent of the company. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without investor partners because the cost to open a dispensary is too expensive.”
Barriers to entry into the cannabis industry are multi-faceted, according to Drane. For starters, the cannabis dispensary application is difficult for some people to understand who need support.
“The State of Illinois should have done a better job of community outreach, letting the public know where to apply, get help, and financing,” Drane comments.
The cannabis dispensary application fee alone is $5,000.
During the December Town Hall Meeting on Adult Use Cannabis Law, in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, State Sen. Heather Steans (D-7th) was asked, “How are cannabis dispensary applicants from low-income Black neighborhoods supposed to afford the $5,000 application fee?” Steans suggested options including “application sliding scale rate, applying as social equity applicant, and Cannabis Business Development Fund.”
Drane’s story seems like a one in a million, and for many Black Americans who will never experience a full circle moment, that reality appears to be intentional based on the policies created during the “War on Drugs”.
“It’s a slap in the face when white communities are profiting from cannabis and people of color have felonies,” Drane declared. “Black dispensaries, Black cultivation centers, and Black Cannabis Transportation create generational wealth. And we are more likely to give back to our community than White counterparts. My plan is to create jobs for the community.”
The impact of the War on Drugs for Black Americans can still be felt in Illinois
Although the War on Drugs first impacted Black America many decades ago, its’ echoes can still be felt today.
In 1971, former President Richard Nixon announced a War on Drugs political campaign. Recently, though, Nixon’s Domestic Chief Policy, John Ehrilchman, confessed that it was never about the drugs.
During a 2016 interview, Ehrilchman confessed, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people. You understand what I'm saying? 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 [and Blacks] with marijuana and Blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. 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."
ACLU Chart displays Arrest Disparity and Arrests per 100,000 Persons in 2010
However, Nixon’s agenda did not end with his presidency, but still impacts Black America today. In 2010, national arrest rates for majijuana possession were 192 Whites per 100,000 Whites; Black arrest rates were 716 Blacks per 100,000 Blacks. Illinois arrest rates were comparable to national rates for Whites however, arrest rates for Black Illinoisans doubled. Illinois arrest rates were 202 per 100,000 Whites and 1,526 per 100,000 Blacks.
African Americans are criminalized at higher rates, though “each year over the past decade more Blacks than whites reported that they had never used marijuana,” reports ACLU.
During the Austin Town Hall on Adult Use Cannabis Law, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (D - 1st) reiterates, “There’s no secret to how the War on Drugs and unjust laws put more Black men behind bars, though other races used marijuana at the same rates. That in itself is criminal. The country has to go much further to correct the policy of but not only incarceration. Similar to the Great Depression, to get communities back on track, we need a Great Society initiative. We need a bold and judicious response to communities, like Garfield, that have been starved out.”
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (D - 1st) speaks at a Leaders Network monthly meeting. Photo by Lee Edwards
In recent years, the state of Illinois has decided to move forward with the movement of decriminalizing marijuana throughout the country. As of January 1, 2020, Illinois will become the 11th state to legalize medical and recreational marijuana allowing residents 21 and over to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis.
While marijuana dispensary licenses are being issued to start a business, concurrently many people have a marijuana related felony on their record and cannot get a job within the incoming cannabis industry.
State lawmakers attempted to address this ironic loopholes by adding specific measures to the The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (HB1438-SFA2) that would expunge/seal criminal records for felons with cannabis possession felonies. However, the process of expunging records could take a while - up to six years, stated NPR.
The Cook County State’s Attorney Office said in a statement to The Real Chi: “There are an estimated 770,000 records that will be cleared in Illinois as a result of the conviction relief made possible through the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Clearing these records is not only a critical part of righting the wrongs of the failed war on drugs, but an intentional step to give communities and families the chance to move forward.
By removing this barrier, we allow individuals to actively participate in society.”
Still the six year timeline for expunging records will have impacts on the lives, opportunities, and communities of color, especially Black Illinoisans.
The Cook County State’s Attorney Office agrees, “Collateral consequences resulting from these convictions in Cook County, specifically for communities of color, have impacted access to housing, employment, education and beyond.”