If you Google the question "Is marijuana racist?" there’s no shortage of articles available to try and answer the question definitively. But the racial baggage behind the word is much more complicated than a simple yes or no answer. Cannabis journalist Abdullah Saeed and cannabis historian Isaac Campos join us to unpack it all, and to figure out how this history fits into today's discussions about equity.

This story is Part 8 of 8 in a series called Fair Shake, about what drug laws and the cannabis business can teach us about social equity in the U.S.

Written by Ann Marie Awad
Reported by Ann Marie Awad, Jo Erickson
Lead producer: Matthew Simonson, Jo Erickson
Editor: Curtis Fox
Music: Daniel Mescher, Brad Turner
Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale
Additional production: Rebekah Romberg, Luis Antonio Perez
Illustrator: Jonell Joshua

Thanks also to Kim Nguyen, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Matt Herz, Martin Skavish, Rachel Estabrook, Francie Swidler.

OnSomething.org
On Twitter: @COPublicRadio