You are preparing for an evening walk with your pup. You get ready, grab the leash, and step outside you light up a perfectly rolled spliff and begin your walk. With a sense of ease and security, you stroll your block giving your usual nods to the neighbors. You see a cop car approaching. Instead of quickly coming up with a plan to toss your newly rolled joint, you raise your hand in a hello. \u00a0Nods proceed, life continues. <\/span> Sounds like utopia right? Well, get ready because it seems our state is headed towards the path of legalization. Marijuana has been legal for medical use in New York since 2014. \u00a0As recreational legalization seems right around the corner one can imagine the financial opportunity that lies within this multi-million dollar industry. <\/span><\/p>\n Along with this attainable utopia world comes business opportunity. \u00a0Now, we all likely \u201cknow a friend\u201d.\u00a0 Imagine their financial upward mobility if they could take this hustle and turn it into a state-approved, tax benefited, business. Here in lies a potential hiccup. The access to the profits of a \u201cweed world\u201d is proving to be disproportionately in favor of people who identify as white. \u00a0With roadblocks of financial capital and lines of legality, it seems this new \u2018American Dream\u2019 is yet again curated for a select few. <\/span><\/p>\n Weed has been around for a long time and has been used in many different cultures for not only recreation but also spiritual enlightenment and religious gatherings. \u00a0This \u201cdrug\u201d that is less harmful to your body than alcohol or cigarettes yet it is still tabooed more in our society, what\u2019s up with that? To answer we have to go back in time a little bit. So hop into the DeLorean with Doc as we speed back to the 1970\u2019s War on Drugs. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nA Little History Lesson<\/b><\/h3>\n