Law and Cannabis: Social Equity

Law and Cannabis: Social Equity

 

Law and Cannabis: Social Equity

Setting Aside Half of All Future Licenses To Social Equity Applicants

As Maryland prepares to at last join its neighbor states in legalizing recreational marijuana and supercharge a medical industry that generates over half a million dollars, annually, it is necessary to set aside half of all future licenses to social equity applications who are majorly the people of color. Launching an industry that is already racially imbalanced, is not the take that Maryland should promote. For instance, only one out of the first 30 companies which were awarded grower and processor licenses in the year 2016 was mainly Black-owned, while the other three were owned by other racial/ethnic minorities (DeWitt, 2021). Additionally, it is important to note that prioritizing social equity applicants is necessary given that communities of color have unfortunately suffered the most from the legal penalties associated with the marijuana business.

Reducing or Eliminating Application and License Fees for All Social Equity Applicants

            Since most of the racial and ethnic minorities are low-income entrepreneurs, it is necessary to set aside micro business licenses in Maryland, with reduced application fees for all social equity applicants just like in New Jersey. Consequently, to promote less startup capital for cannabis business, Maryland should promote legislative rules for social equity joint ventures, like in Connecticut. Such legislative rules allow social equity applicants to forge a partnership with existing growers so that they can provide them with existing cultivation space and a percentage of the profits receive(Nani, 2019). The existing growers also provide the social equity applicants with mentorship and financial assistance in this state.

 

Providing Grants and Zero-Interest Business Loans to Social Equity Applicants

            To increase the number of social equity applicants, it is necessary to implement programs that provide grants and no-interest loans to people of color interested in running a business in the cannabis industry. Other states like California have already provided assistance to the municipalities in providing grants, loans, and technical assistance to social equity applicants. Cities like Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have already created social equity programs, which provide low or zero-interest loans to racial minorities interested in the cannabis business. Such loans help the new low-income entrepreneur to be able to compete favorably with existing growers in the cannabis industry(Title, 2021).

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References

DeWitt, S. (2021). Achieving Social Equity in the Cannabis Industry. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3861692

Nani, C. (2019). My Proposed Model Social Equity Equation for the Cannabis Industry. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3312114

Title, S. (2021). Fair and Square: How to Effectively Incorporate Social Equity into Cannabis Laws and Regulations. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3978766

Your state has an operational medical marijunana program in place, but only a very small percentage of licensees are persons of color formerly incarcerated for cannabis crimes. With growing recognition that states need to be intentional about ensuring access and participation from historically-underrepresented individuals, a group of legislators has formed a working group. Its goal is to consider the experiences of other states as well as novel instruments, and propose amendments to your state’s law that can retroactively address social equity.

The group is narrowing down the many suggestions that have been proffered, and for now, is focusing on the following three ideas:
setting aside half of all future licenses to social equity applicants;
reducing or eliminating application and license fees for all social equity applicants; and
providing grants and zero-interest business loans to social equity applicants.

The working group has asked for your recommendation on whether to pursue/adopt these ideas. In ~300 words total, make a recommendation on these ideas (~100 words each) explaining your reasoning as to how the proposed mechanism would (or would not) promote social equity in Cannabis licensing in your state.

Remember you are supporting legislators who (presumably!) want to make good policy: it is perfectly acceptable for your reasoning/discussion to include a recommendation for additional the data/evidence/information you think the legislature needs to accumulate or consider.