A black U. Colorado regent has criticized a campaign by the university’s School of Public Health as “racist” due to its choice of imagery and “incomplete science.”
Wanda James, “the first Black woman elected to the board in over 44 years” and first African-American to own a cannabis company (along with her husband), noted she’s “push[ed] for years to include more inclusive images” regarding marijuana, but in this case CU used the “most negative connotations,” Westword reports.
The pictures “show a Black fetus, child and teenager all dealing with the impact of having a pregnant mother who consumed marijuana,” according to the report.
They also note marijuana effects include “impaired mental development,” “lower scores in verbal reasoning and memory,” and “challenges with impulse control, reading and behavior.”
A slideshow featuring the images, since deleted, was shared online by the group The Tea on THC, which was founded in 2021 “to curb teen use of concentrated THC products.”
James said “For sixteen years I’ve been fighting the negative connotations of racism in the War on Drugs and, more specifically, cannabis. This time, it kind of hit differently, because I am a regent at this university.”
James Corbett of Inititum Health, the firm which helped create the campaign materials, said using black characters in the images “was not to emphasize that information at the expense of other races.”
MORE: New scholarships will be funded by marijuana tax approved by Colorado county voters
He did, however, understand “the historical misinterpretation” and added there were “multiple versions” of the slide show featuring characters of different races with the same information.
The Tea on THC’s pregnancy page switched the race of the featured characters from black to white after January 28.
James (pictured), said while she’s “not trying to tell pregnant mothers or children to use marijuana,” claimed the campaign’s “information is wrong” and “has been debunked for over a decade.”
She noted the first image in Tea on THC’s slideshow states “Research Needed: Cannabis Risks in Breastfeeding Unclear” and “Unknown Impact: Effects of THC on Infants Unknown.”
“This is not befitting a research university to put out information that is not based in science,” James said.
A 2021 review connected to a bill from the state legislature examined over 66,000 marijuana-related studies, but found “zero relevant studies related to pregnancy.” Corbett said he agreed more research is needed on the topic but said “if we’re unaware of the risks on pregnant moms, we should steer clear” of the drug when carrying a child.
James said she’d like to see the whole Tea on THC campaign pulled and the remaining funds put towards “grants for marijuana business owners who qualify for social equity licenses.”
MORE: More schools offering marijuana studies degrees
IMAGES: Westword.com, CU Regent Wanda James/X
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