NEW YORK — Women weed entrepreneurs who applied for New York’s first retail licenses are being left behind in the state’s effort to establish an equitable cannabis market.

Since launching the program in August, New York regulators have awarded dozens of licenses to entrepreneurs who had an immediate family member convicted on marijuana charges or have a record themselves. While those priorities were written into the program to make up for decades of disproportionate criminal enforcement, particularly in communities of color, the rules are having the unintended consequence of leaving women entrepreneurs out.

Across two rounds of licensing, 7 percent in the first round were women, while women made up just 14 percent of winners in the second.

“If we’re going to say that New York State is at the head of social equity and inclusion, it must consist of [women] or that is not full inclusion,” said Britni Tantalo, an entrepreneur who applied for one of the state’s first retail licenses through the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program.

New York isn’t the first state to leverage marijuana legalization as a way to bring people harmed by the war on drugs in on the financial benefits of a lucrative industry. But it has arguably taken the most aggressive approach to boost equity in the business and avoid the pitfalls of similar programs: It’s promising startup funding to entrepreneurs and even identifying and renovating real estate to help retailers. [Read More @ Politico]