Cannabis and Racial Justice
Since 2017, Youth Forward has been a leading voice for racial equity and community reinvestment when it comes to cannabis legalization in California.
For decades, people of color, particularly Black people, were overcriminalized during the War on Drugs. The enforcement of marijuana laws played a large role in incarcerating people for minor offenses, driving families into poverty and in separating children from their families. We are organizing to ensure that state and local revenues generated from cannabis taxes are reinvested in communities of color that were most impacted during the War on Drugs. We believe these revenues should be used to repair some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs through investments in youth development, healing and health services and community economic development. Since 2018, we have been actively working with the Governor's Office and with state agencies to develop grant programs that support youth substance abuse prevention. Jim Keddy serves on the Prop 64 Advisory Commission at the Department of Health Care Services; this commission advises DHCS on the use of state cannabis revenues for youth prevention.
In addition to our work on cannabis revenues, we are leading advocacy efforts to strengthen regulations on the cannabis industry to protect youth from the harmful effects of cannabis use. We are working to raise awareness of the negative impacts of cannabis use on adolescent mental health and the role cannabis use can play in triggering psychosis among youth and young adults.
For decades, people of color, particularly Black people, were overcriminalized during the War on Drugs. The enforcement of marijuana laws played a large role in incarcerating people for minor offenses, driving families into poverty and in separating children from their families. We are organizing to ensure that state and local revenues generated from cannabis taxes are reinvested in communities of color that were most impacted during the War on Drugs. We believe these revenues should be used to repair some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs through investments in youth development, healing and health services and community economic development. Since 2018, we have been actively working with the Governor's Office and with state agencies to develop grant programs that support youth substance abuse prevention. Jim Keddy serves on the Prop 64 Advisory Commission at the Department of Health Care Services; this commission advises DHCS on the use of state cannabis revenues for youth prevention.
In addition to our work on cannabis revenues, we are leading advocacy efforts to strengthen regulations on the cannabis industry to protect youth from the harmful effects of cannabis use. We are working to raise awareness of the negative impacts of cannabis use on adolescent mental health and the role cannabis use can play in triggering psychosis among youth and young adults.