Social Equity

California officials from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development are disbursing some $30 million in grant funding for local governments to fund low and no-interest loans for social equity cannabis operators.

Washington state lawmakers have sent a bill to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk that would implement a social equity program for the state’s cannabis industry.

Boston’s first cannabis dispensary licensed for adult-use sales has opened for business.

A hearing in Connecticut yesterday gave state officials, agencies, and stakeholders a chance to weigh in about the state’s governor-backed legalization bill.

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts is petitioning to block a previous court ruling that would force officials to license non-equity cannabis businesses.

A social equity bill in Washington that would also unlock out-of-state investments for the adult-use cannabis industry has received pushback from some industry advocates.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo renewed his pledge to legalize cannabis during his 2020 State of the State address this week.

Cresco Labs in Chicago has opened the application period for the company’s community business incubator program called SEED, or Social Equity & Education Development.

Labor unions have identified the cannabis industry as an opportunity to boost membership and are pushing for progressive cannabis reforms that emphasize equity and fair labor practices.

An upcoming San Francisco dispensary has received the city’s first social equity cannabis business license; the shop is expected to open in the city’s Castro District before the end of the year.

Evanston, Illinois has announced a plan to leverage adult-use cannabis taxes to provide financial assistance for minority communities who were most adversely affected by drug war policies.

As the first piece of federal legislation that would end cannabis prohibition to make it through committee, the MORE Act deserves a closer look; unfortunately, the bill is expected to be dead on arrival if it ever reaches the Senate.

Los Angeles’ latest cannabis retail licensing round was thrown into turmoil this week after City Council President Herb Wesson called on regulators to stop issuing licenses and to launch an independent audit of the system.

Cannabis regulators in Maryland plan to hire private firms to investigate the state’s licensing review process and to verify information contained in the applications submitted by high-ranking businesses.

New Mexico’s adult-use legalization task force has handed in its final report to the governor; the report suggests low-level expungement policies and predicts up to $620 million in annual cannabis sales after five years.

Massachusetts regulators voted 4-1 in favor of home delivery and social consumption rules; licenses for the two new business types will be made available first to social equity and economic empowerment applicants.

Because of Massachusetts’ host community rules and a general lack of funds, social equity applicants in the state are unable to compete fairly with larger, better-funded cannabis firms, according to Cannabis Control Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman.

Washington state regulators are considering what they call “Cannabis 2.0” reforms to the state’s adult-use industry, which could include a social equity program and the abandoning of the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

Weedmaps will no longer allow unlicensed cannabis businesses to list or advertise on their platform; additionally, the technology firm announced a new social equity program to benefit minority entrepreneurs in the cannabis space.

Massachusetts has awarded the first provisional license under the state’s social equity licensing rules to Pure Oasis, a Boston-based dispensary; the owners say they will hire locally and hope to establish a business incubator.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Sen. Kamala Harris are introducing a federal cannabis reform bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to both decriminalize cannabis and set up the expungement of prior cannabis convictions.

Michigan’s cannabis regulators have announced a plan to cut fees on cannabusinesses in 19 municipalities that were disproportionately affected by the plant’s prohibition, as per the legalization initiative approved by voters in 2016.

Federal lawmakers yesterday hosted the first-ever bipartisan hearing to recognize and address the racial disparity in cannabis laws and enforcement actions. During the hearing, members from both parties pushed for the end of prohibition.

Illinois is officially the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis and will be the first state to regulate cannabis sales via the legislature. The new law, signed this morning, will also set up nearly 800,000 prior cannabis convictions for expungement.