CANNABIS legalisation in Britain could offer a “rare opportunity” to rebalance some of the racial inequality in society, a left-wing think tank argued today. 

Coinciding with 4/20, an international day of protests demanding cannabis legalisations, Common Wealth published a study warning against the “overmarketisation” of the drug since its legalisation in some foreign jurisdictions.

It says this has resulted in black and minority-ethnic (BAME) people being excluded from booming cannabis industries, despite these communities bearing the brunt of “draconian” drug laws. 

The paper, titled Cannabis and Capitalism: The Questions of Ownership in Drug Policy Reform, calls on Britain not to exclude BAME communities if the drug is legalised here. 

The paper looks at the situation in some US states, where only 19 per cent of cannabis business owners are BAME and white men overwhelmingly dominate this industry worth $8 billion (£6.3bn) a year.

Yet African-Americans are 3.73 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana offences, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The paper’s author, Birbeck University of London Professor Kojo Koram, says this stark inequality in ownership stems from legal and financial barriers preventing BAME people accessing the market. 

He warned that this problem could be even worse in Britain if legalisation takes place. 

Medical cannabis, including CBD oil, was made legal in Britain in 2018, a step that was a precursor to wider lifting of prohibition in countries such as Canada, Uruguay and some US states. 

The paper suggests that, with some Tory MPs already pushing for legalisation, it’s only a matter of time before Britain follows suit. 

In Britain, black people make up a quarter of those convicted of cannabis possession but comprise just 4 per cent of the population.

Mr Koram said: “The spectre of a legal cannabis industry offers us an opportunity to think differently about questions of ownership, both here in Britain and across the world.”