As Easley explains, medical cannabis, legal in California, helped him sleep and gave him a path to begin self-healing.
Easley’s college teammate Jordan Reed, who won all-pro accolades in the National Football League, was never an opioid user.
While Reed was investing in legal cannabis in Colorado, and later in other states, Easley pursued licenses in New Jersey.
As they tell their stories of the benefits of cannabis use, Easley and Reed also spread awareness that historic suppression of African Americans is behind the prohibition of the medicinal herb.
Attorney General John Mitchell declared marijuana a Schedule I drug under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, fueled by President Nixon’s eagerness to prosecute the antiwar left and black males.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance, the DEA still justifies the Schedule I listing on the lack of research and continues to bar private laboratories from engaging in scientific research into its beneficial qualities.
Virtually no one dies from using cannabis, yet federal action has not been forthcoming, most recently because of President Biden’s lifelong opposition to legalization.
Black disenfranchisement fueled by Schedule I has also led to asset poverty, which provides an effective bar to entry into the cannabis business.
allow banks to serve cannabis-related businesses in states where the activity is legal.” Meanwhile, cannabis-related businesses lack access to credit and require massive amounts of cash for entry.
Some states, despite their own high fees, have instituted “equity” programs to reverse the wrongs of past prohibition or create a more inclusive cannabis industry.
Michigan requires a $6,000 state application fee, $66,000 in state regulatory assessments, a $5,000 local municipality application fee, and proof of $200,000 in assets.
The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission admitted that only 10% of investors in the state’s cannabis were people of color, and most of those owned only small shares in licensed companies.