It’s been 50 years since we’ve declared war, and its cost is now impossible to ignore: billions of dollars wasted, bloodshed in Latin America and in the streets of own cities, and millions of lives destroyed by draconian punishments that have swelled our prisons and decimated our communities.

And as we’re subjecting millions of Americans to the mercy of an unjust criminal justice system, the only things we’ve managed to keep safe are the power and profit margins of a small group of politicians and businessmen.

“Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men. The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

— Harry J. Anslinger, Founding Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics

Over the past five decades, we’ve arrested 22 million Americans for low-level, nonviolent marijuana-related offenses. And despite almost identical patterns of cannabis usage, black and brown Americans are up to 50 times more likely than their white peers to be jailed for possession.

Something as small as a weed-related misdemeanor can make it impossible for an individual to access employment, education and housing for the rest of their lives. The biased enforcement of these misguided policies has resulted in the disproportionate economic, social and legal disenfranchisement of communities of color.

The good news is, liberalizing drug laws across the country give us the chance to start righting some of these wrongs.