The news spread like wildfire: Basketball legend Shawn Kemp would break barriers by opening a Seattle cannabis retail store. The October news release proclaimed Kemp’s Cannabis would be the city’s first Black-owned retail cannabis store. But much like racial equity in the cannabis industry in general, the reality was much murkier. The company later walked back its […]
Social Equity
Curio Wellness launches $30M fund to help women and minorities own a cannabis dispensary
“We think of diversity as a keystone issue for the cannabis industry,” said Curio WMBE Fund managing director Jerel Registre in a conversation with TechCrunch. Registre’s conviction around this program is obvious as he explains the problem the fund is addressing. The new fund, started by the Maryland-based medical cannabis company Curio Wellness, aims to […]
Equity obstacles in Virginia push to legalize marijuana
RICHMOND, Va. — Could legalizing marijuana in Virginia help address social disparities and inequities? That’s one of the topics the state’s legislative watchdog agency explores in a new report examining how the commonwealth could legalize marijuana. The Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission report was published shortly before Gov. Ralph Northam announced he will support […]
Cannabis Ballot Wins Pave The Way For Social Justice Action By States And Companies
In the Unites States, cannabis drug laws have disproportionately affected Black and brown people, while newly-legal marijuana endeavors are predominantly owned by people who are white and male. This fall’s ballot wins for cannabis legalization give states and private businesses the opportunity to ameliorate racial disparity in an industry where about 17% of executive positions […]
He Was Arrested for Weed at 13, and He’s Selling It Legally at 27
In the hinterlands of central Massachusetts, Seun Adedeji works the crowd with an evangelist’s flair. “We’re here to get you guys medicated and elevated,” he says. At his store’s grand opening this month, he and his customers—some in khakis and leaning on canes, others in psychedelic T-shirts and ripped jeans—greet each other with pandemic-friendly elbow […]
Known Unknowns In LA’s Cannabis Social Equity Amendment
This summer, the LA Municipal Code was changed decisively (the “Amendment”); shifting power power in a cannabis social equity company to the equity-shareholder (“Equity Individual”). These changes will have a significant impact on LA’s social equity licensing, and they also raise new question. So it’s important applicants and operators understand what has changed, what’s the […]
CannabisForJustice.com launches to foster social justice efforts in the cannabis industry
PRESS RELEASE Boulder, Colo. (Sept. 17, 2020)—As cannabis companies seek out ways to promote social equality and justice, a new resource CannabisForJustice.com has launched to provide a compendium of trusted resources designed for companies in the cannabis industry seeking to do more. The website provides an expansive collection of trustworthy and expert resources that address […]
Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission makes major change to delivery licenses, targeted at improving social equity
State marijuana regulators have made alterations to the set of regulations that has been under development for months to allow delivery licensees to buy marijuana wholesale from cultivators and manufacturers, a change that one regulator said is key to equity in the newly-legal industry. The way the Cannabis Control Commission had drafted its newest set […]
Sustaining Equity through Economic Uncertainty
by Evelyn LaChapelle Black Lives Matter is a powerful movement against the persistent structural racism endured by Black people in American society. The protests that have swept every state in the country have made it crystal clear that anti-racism and social change are active, not passive, responsibilities. In addition to its call for individuals to […]
Detroit Could Extend Recreational Marijuana Ban Through Next Year
When Detroit City Councilmember James Tate led the push to temporarily ban recreational marijuana sales in the city last year, he said he wanted to ensure marijuana legalization would benefit the people who’d been hurt by prohibition. Detroit’s majority-Black residents have historically been dealt harsher punishments for marijuana crimes than their white suburban counterparts, and […]
