If you go to jail for a committing a crime that is then legalized, I think you deserve some kind of reparations. This country has a habit of making the black man’s hustle illegal then turning around and legalizing it so that the government can then make money from it. Making moonshine (liquor) was illegal until the government decided they wanted to make money from it. Running numbers was illegal (Harlem Nights) until the government found it to be lucrative. Hundreds of thousands of black men and women have been incarcerated for marijuana related crimes and now the U.S. is slowly legalizing the use of marijuana. So now what? What about the men and women who have done time for marijuana related offenses?

State officials announced that Oregon will start issuing reparations to individuals who have been convicted of marijuana associated crimes within the last 10 years. This decision comes burning on the amendments of marijuana legalization measures which started July first in the state of Oregon.

These individuals will be eligible for a refund of any fines incurred after those convictions, additionally they will be compensated for discomfort and suffering endured from being imprisoned. These parties will also have their records automatically expunged. This is being done in an effort to correct injustices previously perpetrated upon innocent people so that they can lead productive lives.

I hope other states follow suit and give these individuals a clean slate. To punish people for what the country now thinks is a great opportunity to make money is wrong. They definitely need to go back further than ten years to right their wrongs.