"Marijuana has been intertwined with race and ethnicity in America since well before the word 'marijuana' was coined. The drug, my colleague Gene Demby recently wrote, has a disturbing case of multiple personality disorder: It's a go-to pop culture punch line. It's the foundation of a growing recreational and medicinal industry. Yet according to the ACLU, it's also the reason for more than half of the drug arrests in the U.S. A deeply disproportionate number of marijuana arrests (the vast majority of which are for possession) befall African-Americans, despite similar rates of usage among whites and blacks, the ACLU says..
“Here’s a doctor of 30 years who had not so much as a speeding ticket, and then his whole life is ruined for giving his wife medicine that’s now legal in Pennsylvania,' said Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who chairs the state Board of Pardons and who is a fervent advocate for legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
The pardon could allow Ezell to return to medicine, according to the lieutenant governor’s office, which made the announcement."
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