A conviction for possession of a small amount of cannabis can lead to a lifetime of harsh consequences (also called collateral sanctions) and result in denial of student financial aid, housing, employment, and professional licenses. Discriminatory enforcement means these punitive collateral consequences disproportionately affect people of color.
Cannabis legalization is a key component of broader criminal justice reform, and perhaps the most profound change being driven by the cannabis movement is in the area of criminal justice.
As the cannabis reform movement has gained momentum, voters have become increasingly troubled by the long lasting, residual harm the war on cannabis has placed on lives through criminal histories. For most voters, it no longer makes sense that cannabis is treated as a legal product accessible by adults, yet individuals are still denied housing, an education, or employment because of a prior conviction history. Even more troubling is that discriminatory enforcement of cannabis laws has disproportionately sent individuals from Black and brown communities to jail, resulting in these communities being hardest hit by collateral sanctions.
This injustice has opened the door to expungement of criminal records. Most states considering legalization are now also including plans for expungement in their proposed legislation, and states that adopted legalization early on are adding expungement provisions to their existing laws. Ms May agrees and would push for a similar drafted legalization law like Illinois’ MPP-drafted legalization law will expunge close to 740,000 records and has been heralded as a breakthrough in criminal justice reform.
Someone is arrested for a cannabis offense every 58 seconds. There were 545,601 marijuana arrests in the country in 2019, and 92% of these arrests were for cannabis possession alone — not for sale or manufacturing. In the U.S., there are more arrests for cannabis possession each year than for all violent crimes combined.
Thirty-one states and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws to stop jailing their residents for possession of small amounts of cannabis. In 18 of those states, cannabis is legal for adults 21 and older, while 13 have “decriminalized” simple possession. Most of the decriminalization states impose a civil fine, which avoids the life-altering collateral consequences a criminal record carries. Decriminalization laws avoid imposing harsh punishments for possessing a substance that is safer than alcohol, while freeing up law enforcement to focus on serious crimes. Many of these laws were first enacted in the 1970s, and they have proven so non-controversial that several have been expanded.
2022 Raleigh News & Observer Voter Guide
SHOULD MEDICAL MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED IN NORTH CAROLINA?
Yes.
In response to 2022 NC Family Policy Council's question “Should the use of marijuana for medical purposes be legal in North Carolina?” YES
A- Publicly supports ending prohibition of marijuana for adults
Candidate tagged self on 10/6/22 as supporting medical use as well as adult use and decriminalization with the note: "Rev. Dr. Wendy Ella May is a proud supporter of your organization and stands for total reform of laws involving marijuana and has public said she is in favor of medical and non medical use and called for the decriminalized of all marijuana products."