San Francisco Awards Its First Social Equity Cannabis License

The San Francisco, California Office of Cannabis has awarded its first social-equity business license to a married gay couple, Romwald (Ray) Connolly and Desmond Morgan, for their soon-to-open dispensary named Eureka Sky, according to the Bay Area Reporter.

The city’s equity program gives cannabusinesses who partner with an equity applicant priority review when applying for a cannabis business permit. Eureka Sky’s equity applicant is Chris Callaway, a cannabis cultivator who moved to the Bay Area 20 years ago to get involved with the medical cannabis industry.

Connolly said the team was “thrilled” to be the first social equity applicants to get the license in the city and that the local regulators were “wonderful to work with.” The dispensary is expected to open in Castro later this month; the business received unanimous approval for the concept from the Castro Merchants last year. The dispensary is housed in an old gift shop that occupied that space from 2006 to 2018. It will be the second cannabis dispensary in the Castro District.

California’s cannabis law includes social equity provisions – which provides a certain number of licenses to individuals most affected by the War on Drugs – and cities and towns are allowed to implement their own social-equity licensing plans. The plan in Los Angeles recently came under fire for its first-come, first-serve nature of the processes, which prompted City Council President Herb Wesson to call for a redo of the licensing round.

San Francisco was the second California city to adopt social equity plans, behind Oakland.