Cannabis & Social Equity

Due to the disproportionate impact that the War on Drugs had on Black and Brown communities, social equity has been a hot topic of conversation within the cannabis industry. States that are working to implement a legal cannabis market are now considering social equity as a part of the policies that guide the program. For example New York is working towards a goal to award 50% of all adult-use licenses to social and economic equity applicants, and Illinois stated a quota of 185 licenses that were allocated to social equity applicants when developing their program. In an analysis of which municipalities opted into their cannabis program, it was found that the New Jersey municipalities most likely to allow cannabis-related businesses in their jurisdictions are those with lower property values per capita, and less affluent residents. Since, in the USA, the poorest communities are more likely to be comprised of more BIPOC community members due to systemic oppression, data from New Jersey indicates that a legal cannabis market may actually work to increase equity in some municipalities that opt into a legal cannabis market. While states have had mixed success when it comes to equity, it is important to note that many individual cannabis companies have taken on the task of increasing equity and BIPOC participation in the cannabis community on their own, through diverse hiring goal setting, support of organizations working to increase equity in the cannabis industry, and direct engagement with social equity licensees. Though this process is imperfect, and everchanging, the industry is working with lawmakers to increase equity through the cannabis industry, which cannot be said for other industries.