Image credit: @honey_b_rocka via @pinkstonedc
So many of you might be wondering why we are doing a panel on Crystal and Cannabis (spoiler alert: It's actually going to be a whole series!!). Here at Smudge Wellness we believe in holistic wellness. In order for us to all be well, we have to all be free. As America starts to better understand cannabis as plant medicine instead of a drug to war against, we believe it is important for us to use this platform to hold space for these important conversations.
Crystals are beautiful, fun and healing and so is cannabis. There are so many varieties that have different properties and effects. Also Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in 15 states and medical use in 36 so it was a freer 4/20 in a lot of States this year.
There is a lot of great research out there but we want to shout out a favorite voice leading the pack - Ben & Jerry's. Here's some of what we learned from this great article they wrote:
- Cannabis is still illegal on the federal level but, as more and more states say yes to legalization, that hasn’t stopped the cannabis industry from booming—cannabis sales hit a record high of $17.5 billion in 2020.
- Between 2001 and 2010, before the recent rapid rise in the number of states legalizing cannabis, there were more than 8 million cannabis arrests (88% for possession) across the US. Overall arrests have fallen since 2010 by 18% but, according to a recent report from the ACLU, there were still more than 6.1 million cannabis arrests (90% for possession) between 2010 and 2018. Not only that, arrests seem to be on the rise again, with 100,000 more in 2018 than in 2015.
- From 2001 to 2010, Black people were 273% more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white people, despite using cannabis at similar rates. Now that state after state is legalizing cannabis, Black people are... 264% more likely to be arrested for possession.
- Legalization must have equity at its heart. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to support the MORE Act, which would make cannabis legal and (this is an important “and”!) expunge prior cannabis convictions.
So those are a lot of statistics and what does all that have to do with wellness you are probably asking right about... Well we all should all have access to the same plant medicine and freedom. We have fathers sitting in jail for the very same business that is now making people billions and winning them awards. I remember when I first watched the film Thirteenth and realizing how deep the system ran and how rotten the roots were and I remember waiting for us to bust open the prisons and do what what right and nothing really changed. There were incremental shifts but for the most part, I don't think a lot of us could imagine a new or different way. That is part of why we wanted to hold these conversations. So that we can hold space to imagine a better way. So we can talk and reimagine freedom. So that we can put people and faces back into the conversation and use our platform to amplify voices that know these subjects intimately. We hope you will join us for the first of many conversations about Crystals & Cannabis.
