Rev. Al Sharpton announced his support for a new non-profit which aims to educate Americans on the importance of decriminalizing cannabis.

In a recent op-ed piece, the reverend described the non-profit, Decode Cannabis, as a new alliance between faith leaders, criminal justice reformers, healthcare practitioners, medical cannabis industry leaders, and labor unions.

According to their website, the group is attempting to establish a national effort to educate Americans on the social benefits of decriminalizing cannabis and will support important issues such as inclusion, women and minority business, patient rights, and civil rights.  

“For Democrats and progressives, the arguments have always been clear: generations of Americans, overwhelmingly people of color, have been imprisoned and starved of access to higher education, housing, and economic opportunities, and stripped of their inalienable right to vote thanks to non-violent acts,” Sharpton said. “Archaic drug laws have fueled wasteful government spending, and made millions of Americans who dream, achingly, of being their family’s breadwinner dependent on the charity of others.”

Sharpton said cannabis decriminalization is a civil rights issue since prohibition laws were disproportionately enforced against minorities and low-income Americans, and the future success of it will depend on whether minorities will fall victim to the same drug enforcement policies.