'A failure': How Washington’s cannabis program shut out Black business owners
Washington state’s retail cannabis program shut out minority business owners and now Black business owners are demanding change.
The vast majority of cannabis retailers in Washington state aren’t owned by people of color, and just 4% are Black-owned, according to 2021 data from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB).
However, the racial disparity goes back further than legalized marijuana.
In 1971, the U.S. declared war on drugs and then-President Richard Nixon called drug abuse “America’s public enemy number one.” In the 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan coined the phrase perhaps most synonymous with the war on drugs: “Just say no.”
The battlefield for this war was inner cities across the country, and the targets were predominantly poor people of color.
“I know that we use the war on drugs to go after Black and Brown people,” said Peter Manning, an entrepreneur who grew up in Seattle.
Decades later, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pointed out the lasting impact of the war on drugs. Black and white citizens use marijuana at similar rates, yet in every state with legalized marijuana, Black people are still more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to the ACLU. In some states, Black people are up to 10 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.
“You guys punish us for years for cannabis,” Manning said. “And now it’s okay. Now you’re doing it. Now it’s okay.”
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