Sharpton: Industry must be inclusive
The Rev. Al Sharpton is calling on marijuana investors and entrepreneurs to join forces with those fighting against the disproportionate racial impact of stiff marijuana penalties, and pushing for the budding industry to include groups that have historically been victimized by the war on drugs.
“As this industry builds, it should be inclusive — blacks cannot be the ones that go to jail and others go to the bank,” Sharpton said at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo at the Hynes Convention Center yesterday. “That’s a civil rights issue. People should be able to make money that have also had the brunt of the criminalization.”
The civil rights leader recently joined Decode Cannabis, a group that is pushing for authorities to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs, the same category as heroin and LSD. The organization is advocating for federal decriminalization of marijuana possession and use.
Sharpton said marijuana is likely to be a key issue in the 2018 midterm elections, and said a coalition of civil rights and marijuana advocates could be powerful.
“We must expand the business opportunity to include all of us, and we can expand the voting base that can empower all of us,” Sharpton said. “We have more in common than we have apart. We can serve each other’s interests without losing our identity.”
Sharpton also stressed that medical marijuana should be more widespread and viewed the same way as other medical treatments, saying, “This is not something that is a passing issue to people that are suffering and in pain.”