Rep. Barbara Lee of California has crafted a resolution to help open up the marijuana industry to people of color

Sometimes, all it takes is a poorly named weed strain to illuminate a real problem.

Just this week, Shanita Penny, the president of the board of directors for the Minority Cannabis Business Association, was contacted by a black woman who was shocked that a marijuana dispensary in Maryland is selling a strain called “Strange Fruit” – taking its name from the Billie Holiday song that uses fruit as a horrifyingly vivid metaphor for the countless African-Americans who were lynched across the Deep South mere decades ago.

Penny, whose organization aims to increase diversity in the cannabis industry, is rightfully riled up and bewildered as she tells this story. “Do you think if a black person were in charge of marketing or at the table that ‘Strange Fruit’ would’ve gotten on the shelves?” she asks.

It’s not just in Maryland. Across the country, the pot industry nationwide is overwhelmingly white. One often-cited survey found that fewer than one percent of the nation’s marijuana dispensaries are owned by black people. Another survey extended that question to all minorities, and found that less than 19 percent of the nation’s marijuana businesses have minority investors.  [Read More @ RollingStone]