By Richard Smith

It is easy to say ‘wait’ when there is not a monkey on your back. It is easy to say ‘wait’ if you are resting in the comfort of a solid job and secure housing. It is easy to say ‘wait’ if you can apply for public assistance or financial aid. It is easy to say ‘wait’ if your life has not been derailed by a charge of marijuana possession.

But for thousands of people in New Jersey – overwhelmingly people of color – it is not that easy. For them we cannot wait. On Monday the New Jersey Legislature must vote to approve legislation to legalize and regulate recreational use of cannabis, and most importantly to takes steps to undo decades of damage done to communities of color by draconian laws and sentencing guidelines that have derailed thousands of lives. For these communities there is no more time to wait.

We appreciate the leadership of Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Speaker Craig J. Coughlin and the sponsors of the bill, some of whom have experienced first hand the failures of the war on drugs in the communities where they live.

This bill goes further than any piece of legislation in any state to break down structures of racism in our society and in our laws. This bill provides a means by which people can vacate their sentences and expunge their records on certain cannabis convictions. In doing so, this bill will allow people to fully re-engage in their communities – to vote, to apply for assistance, to find a job.

This bill allows people the opportunity to stop waiting for their future. We cannot delay in acting to help the thousands of people who will benefit from these provisions. The time is now.

Let there be no mistake – a no vote on this bill is a yes vote for perpetuating the institutional racism that has oppressed my people for decades. A person who looks like me is more than three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than a white person, even though rates of use are the same for both groups. Black people make up 60 percent of the state’s prison population even though we make up 15 percent of the state’s population.

And let us be clear – a no vote on this bill reinforces that status quo. Cannabis is in our communities today – illegal businesses run on street corners and dark alleys and too often that drug trade results in violence. A no vote on this bill says to me and all people of color that you are comfortable with our oppression. You are comfortable with the harm brought to our families and communities when so many of my brothers and sisters are put in jail.

This bill is not a cure all. We have been fighting racism for the entire history of this country. Racism is enduring and embedded in so much of our society and our laws that one bill in one state will not abolish generations of inequality. But this bill takes a historic first step. And there is no excuse not to take this opportunity to dismantle one form of oppression even if others remain.

Some legislators think we should wait. Maybe some legislators want to do more. But on Monday the choice before them is to vote yes to long overdue change or yes to the status quo. Maybe it is easier for some legislators not to vote yes, or to not vote at all. They do not have a monkey on their back. They have not suffered as my people have suffered. To them I say, the time is now to be on the side of justice.

On Monday, the New Jersey State Legislature needs to vote yes to legalize cannabis and provide justice that has long been denied.

Richard Smith is the New Jersey president of the NAACP.

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