Tucky Blunt was born in Oakland into a family that was deeply involved in the consumption of marijuana. He grew up with parents, friends, and grandmother who were religiously committed to cannabis.
As a result, he grew up to emulate the business of his parents and started dealing in marijuana at the age of 16. He was a brilliant teen who would purchase the product from suppliers in bulk and would resell to his client in secret.
He was cautious in making his sales and made thousands of dollars from the business, but unfortunately, an amount as small as $80 was what landed him into prison. Blunt got to realize that a perceived friend betrayed him. He was detained in 2004, prosecuted, and the court also gave an order that for the next ten years, the police has the permission to stop and search him wherever they see him.
That year, his arrest propelled the police to comb most of the black guys in Oakland; however, the whites were left to roam freely.
Blunt, who is now 39, said ”We went into this business to make little money to support our struggling parents. At that time, we never thought our peaceful trade could affect anyone.”
Legal and advocates for social justice has ascertained that the clampdown on drugs over the years, has had a substantial negative impact on poor communities, and has led to an increase in crime and unemployment within these rural areas.
In addition, was the general perception that more black- Americans were cracked-down by the police while the whites got some immunity. For example, Oakland statistics show that, in 2015, about 77% of blacks were arrested for weed-related activities, while only 4% of whites were arrested. This raised lots of concern, especially in a town that has an equal population of whites and blacks.
The same was experienced in most cities in the US, the preferential treatments that police exhibit during the raid of marijuana users. Health Statistics have proven that there is no significant difference in the rate at which whites and blacks consume marijuana. Therefore, it began to raise suspicion that there must be some ulterior motives behind the arrest of more blacks than white exhibited by the police.
