BET’s new documentary ‘SMOKE’ speaks on Blacks deserving a piece of the marijuana industry

Black Entertainment Television, BET, has announced a new original documentary, “SMOKE: Marijuana + Black America,” that will be executive-produced and narrated by Nasir ‘Nas’ Jones.

BET’s ‘SMOKE’ sheds light on how Black Americans deserve a piece of marijuana’s growing fortunes.

The two hour special talks about marijuana’s cultural, social, economic and legal impact on American society, specifically in the Black community. Some stories will be told through the lens of experts, policy makers, advocates and innovators in the consistently growing legal cannabis industry.

‘SMOKE’ will follow the history of marijuana in the Black community. Beginning from the early usage of using the drug recreationally to the political and racial dynamics that led to the criminalization of cannabis and its prohibition.

The documentary features testimonies ranging from notable individuals including Senator Kamala D. Harris, at the time, Senator Cory Booker, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Ty Dolla $ign, and many more prolific influences in the Black communities

“Even still, hate exists in this business for black people, and that is something that sickens me and should be recognized for its blatant evil. The people that have been locked up for marijuana should not only be freed but receive restitution for the damage done to them by outdated laws. It’s important to spread awareness on this, and that’s why everyone needs to make sure they tune in and watch the documentary ‘SMOKE,’” says rapper Nas.

The community further goes into America’s war on drugs systematically targeting marijuana use in the Black community which ultimately resulted in racially disproportionate numbers of arrests and convictions.

The legal cannabis industry is expected to generate $30 billion in sales by 2025 where only 4.3 percent of dispensaries are currently Black owned.

“SMOKE” will dig deeper into the stories of African American entrepreneurs across the country that have been fighting to own a piece of the growing legal cannabis industry that is currently dominated by White owned individuals.

“SMOKE: Marijuana + Black America” is produced by Swirl Films where Nasir “Nas” Jones, Jason Samuels from BET, and Eric Tomosunas from Swirl Films serve as executive producers. Erik Parker is the director for the documentary and Swirl Films’ Tony L. Strickland will be the co-executive producer.

“SMOKE: Marijuana + Black America” is set to premiere on Wednesday, November 18th at 10pm ET/PT.

Four states vote to legalize marijuana and Oregon decriminalizes hard drugs

On election day New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota voted to legalize recreational marijuana. While Oregon voted to improve their state by decriminalizing hard drugs. 

These four states will join the 44 states that allow medical and recreational marijuana use. This will only be for adults who are 21 years and older. 

New Jersey did not decide on how many plants a resident can grow but the state sales tax of 6.625% will apply to recreational marijuana and local governments  and may be able to enact an additional 2% sales tax. Further laws and regulations will be added once the state legislature and five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) makes final decisions.

In Arizona, the passing of this law will also allow people to grow up to six cannabis plants. Sales of cannabis will become legal while incurring a 16 percent sales tax. 

In Montana, residents will be able to grow up to four marijuana plants and four seedlings for personal use and the sales tax for marijuana will be 20 percent. 

South Dakota, passed their Amendment A and Initiated Measure 26. This will permit residents to grow up to three cannabis plants if in an area that doesn’t have any licensed marijuana retailers. The marijuana sales tax will be 15 percent.

While four states went on to legalize marijuana, in a first in the nation, voters in Oregon passed a ballot that decriminalizes possession of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other hard drugs. Passing this law will now change how Oregon’s justice system treats those who are found with personal use amounts of  hard drugs. Instead of going to trial and facing possible jail time, a person would have the option of paying a $100 fine or attending  “addiction recovery centers” funded by millions of dollars of tax revenue from Oregon’s legalized and regulated marijuana industry.

The measure will be effective in 30 days but the punishments will not go into effect until February of 2021. The state is hoping that the initiatives will lead to significant reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in both convictions and arrests.