Washington state lawmakers passed a law that changes every Revised Code of Washington with the word “marijuana” The change gets rid of the term, swapping it out for “cannabis” Supporters say the word has a
Highlights
- Washington state lawmakers recently passed a law that changes every Revised Code of Washington with the word “marijuana” The change gets rid of the term, swapping it out for “cannabis” Supporters say the word was used as a racist terminology to lock up Black and brown people.
- The changes will take effect in June, the bill passed unanimously into law March 11.
- The bill is a technical fix, but supporters say it does a lot to undo or at least correct some of the serious harms around this language.
- A 2020 ACLU report found that nationwide, Black people were still 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.