Dr. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah—criminologist, sociologist, and co-author of “Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice”—has long argued that cannabis policy is deeply intertwined with racial justice. In a JFK Jr. Forum at the Harvard Institute of Politics two years ago, he and Tahira Rehmatullah spotlighted the unequal impact of prohibition and the potential of legalization to correct historic harms. Owusu-Bempah recently shared in an interview insights with the Harvard Independent on the potential benefits of legalization, the challenges that have emerged in the push for nationwide legalization, and the current political landscape affecting cannabis policy in the United States.
The push for cannabis legalization in the United States has remained a divisive issue since the early 21st century. Following the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s, marijuana—primarily used at the time within Mexican and Black communities—became the next target for government officials who sought to regulate behavior they viewed as immoral or minatory to social order, portraying the drug and its associated communities as symbols of a nation in decline.
In 1937, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act, effectively criminalizing the plant’s use nationwide, with limited exceptions for medical purposes. Decades later, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug—defined as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse—cementing its place at the center of the war on drugs. Today, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana, yet the drug remains illegal under federal law, highlighting a growing tension between state legislation and federal policy.
Proponents of cannabis legalization have argued that the benefits of widespread access to cannabis outweigh potential public health concerns. Meanwhile, advocates of prohibition have focused on the health risks and stigma surrounding the drug.
Owusu-Bempah is a criminologist and associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. His research centers on systemic inequality in the U.S. justice system where he sees cannabis use as closely linked to racial profiling and mass incarceration.
“You can’t understand inequality in the justice system without understanding the role that our drug laws have played in fueling that inequality,” Owusu-Bempah said. “And cannabis, as the most commonly used substance when it was illegal, and still commonly used in those jurisdictions where it’s legal, has been one of the key drivers of this inequality around drug law and drug policy.”
In 2020, a report by the American Civil Liberties Union found a significant disparity in marijuana possession arrests. It revealed that African Americans are, on average, 3.64 times more likely to be detained than their white counterparts, despite comparable rates of marijuana use across racial groups. According to a national survey on drug use and health, Black Americans constituted approximately 38.8% of marijuana possession arrests in 2020 even though they represented only 13.6% of the total U.S. population.
These disparities, critics argue, are not incidental. They reflect deeper institutional patterns in how drug laws have been enforced in the U.S. Legalization, in this sense, is not just about access to cannabis but also about rethinking what and whom the law is designed to protect.
However, as a resident of Canada—a country that federally legalized cannabis in 2018—Owusu-Bempah acknowledged that the extent to which racial equity intersects with cannabis legalization varies by jurisdiction.
“I’m talking to you from Canada,” he said. “We have legalization. Racial equity was not even part of the conversation until it was inserted into that conversation by people like myself and folks that I worked with on the advocacy side. Now, when you look at some American jurisdictions, California for example, very different situations… But I think, subsequently, it’s become a much greater part of the discussion, certainly not the whole discussion.”
Although racial equality has become a prominent part of the conversation in some U.S. states, Owusu-Bempah stressed that the case for legalization extends beyond justice reform. He also pointed to the economic and social benefits that can arise from a regulated cannabis market.
“There are profits to be made from selling legal cannabis and taking those away from the illegal market and operators in the illegal market,” Owusu-Bempah explained. “Washington State would be a very interesting example in which a certain proportion of the tax revenue from legal sales is then taken to reinvest in social initiatives. Many of those would be targeted at racialized populations. That’s a good example. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars there.”
He further illustrated this point by pointing out that in several provinces in Canada, cannabis sales are exclusively permitted through government-run entities.
“The largest cannabis retailer in the world is the Ontario government,” he said, describing the city that he lives in. “We have private retailers, as well, but they actually have to purchase from the government as well. So our provincial government in Ontario is the primary retailer of cannabis, and so they return a profit, in addition to generating tax revenues.”
Still, not everyone sees government-run cannabis enterprises as a perfect solution. Critics of this model argue that commercialization—whether private or public—can lead to overconsumption and the marginalization of smaller, community-based growers. Others worry that without strong equity programs, the same groups harmed by prohibition will be shut out of the legal industry entirely.
Despite the potential benefits, legalization also raises public health concerns that some view as serious enough to warrant continued prohibition. A recent study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute revealed health risks associated with daily cannabis use, particularly when consumed through smoking. The study found a 25% increased likelihood of heart attacks and a 42% heightened risk of strokes compared to individuals who do not use the drug.
For Owusu-Bempah, the public health concerns associated with cannabis are certainly worth noting, but in his view, the benefits of legalization ultimately outweigh these concerns.
“From a health and public health perspective, it’s important to note that cannabis has a number of negative health consequences,” he said. “There are links to psychosis for people who are predisposed. People can undoubtedly become dependent on cannabis. So it’s not that there are not health and social risks to cannabis. From my perspective, the harms of prohibition outweigh those risks.”
These risks, however, could be managed within a regulatory framework.
“The more people have access to cannabis, and the stronger cannabis they have access to, the more consequential that is in a negative way to health and to public health,” he said. “So that’s just a trade-off that regulators and health officials need to come to terms with and grapple with.”
Owusu-Bempah also noted that stigma can significantly impede progress toward legalization.
“I think that there are a number of objections to legalization,” he said. “One, people think that it’s morally wrong, like, drug use is something morally wrong. There’s the concerns around danger, like the health kind of impacts of this, and then there’s more of this kind of stigma of drugs, generally.”
Given these drawbacks, two important questions emerged: could an increasingly polarized political climate in the United States worsen these issues, and should the current approach to legalization be reconsidered in response? For Owusu-Bempah, two strategies can be considered at this time: one that emphasizes a libertarian perspective and another that focuses on economic principles.
“One would be the libertarian argument for legalization, right?” he said. “So get the government out of the business of telling the public what to do. That’s a libertarian kind of argument for legalization that I think could gain some currency right now.”
“And then there’s also the economic element, right?” he continued. “At the moment, the profits of cannabis sales are going to continue to go to criminal organizations and groups, when they could be coming to the legitimate economy, and ultimately, to the government as well.”
Owusu-Bempah expressed his belief that the path forward requires more than just legislation; it demands evidence-based policymaking and widespread cultural change.
“My policy recommendation around legalization would be to follow the science,” he said, emphasizing the importance of grounding decisions in research and data rather than fear or stigma. As someone based in Canada, he believes the U.S. has much to learn. “I think they can learn from our lesson on this one. And should.”
When asked whether students and universities could play a role in shaping the future of cannabis policy, he said, “I absolutely do.”
“Students for Sensible Drug Policy, for example, which is a student based organization, which often promotes legalization and sensible approaches to drug policy would be key. So I would say absolutely, student engagement, student activism, and student encouragement of policy shift—it is a must,” he said.
Nashla Turcios ’28 (nashlaturcios@college.harvard.edu) writes News for the Harvard Independent.