With the first meeting held on October 26, 2020, there is still much work left but their mission is beginning to take direction. In a December 14 meeting, the task force voted to center on anti-Black racism as they formulate their recommendations.

When Commissioner Paula Sardinas of the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs accepted the Co-Chair position, she was prepared to dismantle an industry that repeatedly ignored Black Americans who have paid the price of the war on drugs. The task force’s vote to center anti-Black racism in their recommendations acknowledges 400 years of oppression and takes a step towards dismantling the structural racism built into the framework of Washington cannabis.