The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?
8 months ago

The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?

Associated Press  

ARLINGTON, Wash. — When Washington state opened some of the nation’s first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. was on electronic home detention in Spokane, where he had been indicted on federal drug charges. “Social equity programs are an attempt to reverse the damage that was done to Black and brown communities who are over-policed and disproportionately impacted,” said Kaliko Castille, former president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. Cloud 9 Cannabis employee Kyler Hollingsworth grabs a product for customers, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board Member Ollie Garrett called the progress so far disappointing, but said officials are working with applicants and urging some cities to rescind zoning bans so social equity cannabis businesses can open. Cloud 9 Cannabis CEO and co-owner Sam Ward Jr. adjusts his chains, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. A single father of seven children, he continued dealing drugs to support them, he said, until he was indicted in 2014 — along with 30 other people — in an oxycodone distribution conspiracy. Operational lead Willie Morrow stocks shelves at Cloud 9 Cannabis as the store prepares to open, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. Turner is working to open cannabis stores in New Mexico and Ohio through social equity programs in those states.

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History of this topic

Rick Steves: Pot is now used by Mom and Dad. And Grandma’s rubbing it on her elbows (opinion)
3 years, 5 months ago

Rick Steves: Pot is now used by Mom and Dad. And Grandma’s rubbing it on her elbows (opinion)

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Rick Steves is a travel writer, public television host and chair of the board of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. One clear and predictable effect of the nationwide push to take the crime out of the marijuana equation is that black markets that have long enriched and empowered street gangs and organized crime …

Marijuana social equity: Seeds planted but will they grow?
3 years, 7 months ago

Marijuana social equity: Seeds planted but will they grow?

Associated Press  

DENVER — Terrence Hewing was working for a package delivery company in 2007 when police approached his cargo van in suburban Denver. It makes you almost feel kind of outcast.” Hewing, 39, recently became one of only a few Black entrepreneurs to receive a business license in Colorado’s recreational marijuana industry. States are making progress toward a more diverse marijuana …

Lawmakers advance legal pot bill, but more changes promised
3 years, 8 months ago

Lawmakers advance legal pot bill, but more changes promised

Associated Press  

Connecticut lawmakers on Tuesday advanced Gov. Members of Lamont’s administration tried to assure the committee back in February that the governor’s bill — which creates a framework for a new legal system — was the starting point for discussion. The revised version up for a vote on Tuesday adds new legislative appointments to a proposed Social Equity Council charged with …

L.A.’s promise of social equity for marijuana businesses has been painfully slow for entrepreneurs
3 years, 9 months ago

L.A.’s promise of social equity for marijuana businesses has been painfully slow for entrepreneurs

LA Times  

Whitney Beatty in her empty South Los Angeles storefront last week. “But it’s draining applicants who are the least financially able to handle these costs.” Los Angeles has long since granted licenses to some long-standing cannabis shops that met city requirements, but new retailers — those in its social equity program — have been slower to get approval. It’s “ludicrous” …

Advocates promote social equity in Virginia marijuana bills
3 years, 10 months ago

Advocates promote social equity in Virginia marijuana bills

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Mike Thomas earned a college degree in accounting, but has never worked in his field. Democrats in the General Assembly frame this as a social equity issue, a necessary step to ending the disparate criminalization of people of color under the state’s current marijuana laws. Virginia’s new Democratic majority already decriminalized marijuana last year, making simple possession …

L.A. revamps rules for cannabis licensing, hoping to redress harm from war on drugs
4 years, 5 months ago

L.A. revamps rules for cannabis licensing, hoping to redress harm from war on drugs

LA Times  

Los Angeles is revamping its rules for handing out licenses to cannabis businesses, amid anger and disappointment over the tumultuous rollout of a program meant to address the damage done by criminalizing marijuana. The rules passed unanimously Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council tighten the criteria for new applicants seeking to qualify for the “social equity” program, which is …

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