Green Justice: Get Involved in Cannabis Social Justice Movements

written by: Chynna Jasmine Pearson

At this point in time, the future's looking bright for cannabis. Over the past few years, legalization has moved quickly, but still, there are moves to be made. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved with the cannabis social justice movement, here are a few organizations and places to start! 

The NDICA 

This organization has a super clever name, which stands for The National Diversity and Inclusion Cannabis Alliance. Its main goal is to create “equitable employment and ownership opportunities in the hemp and cannabis space.” The NDICA is designed to constantly evolve in its endeavors to “decrease disparities in life outcomes for people that come from marginalized communities affected by the War on Drugs.” This non-profit organization makes it a point to create equitable programs for those who have suffered during the aforementioned war. This includes people of color, LGBTQIA+, and other members of marginalized communities. The NDICA is composed of people who take pride in being innovative leaders in the community as they strive to guide and mentor the cannabis and hemp markets. They do this by “bringing together government agencies, industry leaders, practitioners and intellectuals through forums, expungement clinics, trainings, think tanks and a thriving online community, NDICA provides the necessary technical expertise and resources to succeed in the cannabis and non-cannabis industries.” There are two chapters of The NDICA located in Los Angeles and Chicago, but that doesn’t mean you can’t join if you live elsewhere. You can become a member through their website, and it’s free!

National Cannabis Industry Association

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is an organization that focuses on helping the ‘main street cannabis community’ instead of the ‘wall street community’. The NCIA is one of the oldest and largest trade associations serving the cannabis community; it was founded in 2010 and has grown to be extremely effective. This organization is composed of hundreds of small businesses and thousands of professionals in the cannabis community. The NCIA proves that “we are stronger and more prosperous when we work together to lift up our entire industry.” One of their core goals as a company is to advocate for small cannabis businesses, they work every day “to advance policy reforms favorable to the whole industry — not just the wealthiest few.” As an example of one of their programs, they have an NCIA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program as our Equity Scholarship Program. This program provides their Equity Members with over 80% off membership dues for the first two years as well as other benefits specific to this program. The various benefits can be things like being included in committees, speaking at webinars, providing content for their Industry Insights blog, and even being a part of the Board of Directors. If this sounds like something you’d like to join, check out their website, they have many options for people wanting to be a part of the NCIA.

Last Prisoner Project

Personally, this is my favorite social justice organization on this list. The Last Prisoner Project, founded in 2019, has a core belief that “no one should remain incarcerated or suffer the collateral consequences of offenses that are now legal”. This group was created by “justice-impacted individuals, policy and education experts, and leaders in the worlds of criminal justice and drug policy reform to work to end the fundamental injustice that is America's policy of cannabis prohibition and the War on Drugs.” Since their inception, their teams have worked around the clock to assist in freeing tens of thousands of people who have been unjustly imprisoned for cannabis related offenses. Not only is this a goal for the back-end of justice, they strive to make changes in the front as well by the “systemic reform to our criminal legal system.” The Last Prisoner Project works across the country in 31 states to pass and implement bills that aim to release people who have been incarcerated for a now legal activity and clear the convictions from their records. As of now, the Last Prisoner Project has worked on 26 bills to clear criminal records and sponsored 2 of such bills. They have also had members testify in over 10 states in favor of bills to help prisoners. To get involved with this project, there are a few different options to choose from, one of the easiest options is their Stickers of Change program. To find out more, check out their website.

Veterans Cannabis Project

As you may not know, our magazine is Veteran owned and operated (shout out to Therin Miller!) so organizations like Veterans Cannabis Project are close to our hearts. The Veteran Cannabis Project message is this: “medical cannabis saves lives, and veterans deserve full, legal access. Help us change the conversation about medical cannabis by applying to become a local advocate – or VCP Force Commander – in the fight for veterans’ cannabis access.” By becoming a VCP Force Commander, Veterans can share their stories with policy makers in an attempt to make a change. Due to America’s prolonged military conflicts, there are more and more Veterans who could benefit from using cannabis to treat their war related injuries, mentally and physically. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, “Upwards of 20 percent of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will experience post-traumatic stress or depression.” Unfortunately, Veterans are often given a plethora of prescription drugs and addictive opiates that can cause further harm. Cannabis can be a way to alleviate pain without risk of addiction or accidental overdose. If you are a Veteran, thank you for your service, and if you’d like to be a part of this program, check out their website! For those of us who are not Veterans, please donate and help the men and women who keep us free.

Marijuana Justice Coalition

The Marijuana Justice Coalition is a “broad coalition of national advocacy organizations, convened by the Drug Policy Alliance, who have joined forces to advocate for federal marijuana reform through a racial and economic justice lens.” This coalition is comprised of drug policy focused, civil rights, criminal justice, and immigration organizations  who share a common goal, the pass a federal cannabis reform that “both acknowledges the disproportionate harm faced by Black, brown, and low-income communities, and works toward repairing this harm.”In the 116th Congress, the Marijuana Justice Coalition led the passage of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act). The MORE Act was the first instance in history that Congress voted to reschedule cannabis. The passage of the Act set a precedent that times are moving forward for cannabis and there is hope for the future. The Marijuana Justice Coalition continues to collaborate with the Senate on the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act to build upon the MORE Act. If this is something that appeals to you, The Drug Policy Alliance has options for becoming a member or even attending their conferences, check out their website for more!