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The cannabis industry is a boon for Massachusetts, with adult-use marijuana retail sales reaching $1.42 billion in 2022. According to a May 30 Cannabis Control Commission report, total adult-use sales from 2018 to date represent $4.5 billion.
However, the legalization of marijuana has left behind many people who suffered in the previous era, when possessing, consuming, and distributing marijuana was illegal and punishable by fines and jail time.
Most of those affected are people of color.
The one-year-old advisory committee hopes a new cannabis social equity trust fund, set up in 2022, will help entrepreneurs from these communities enter the state’s regulated cannabis industry.
And sooner or later, said Meaka Brown-Corea, a former cannabis banking regulation expert at Green Check Verified, a technology company that provides financial services to legal cannabis businesses. She serves on the state’s Cannabis Social Equity Fund Advisory Committee.
Cannabis prices have fallen, businesses have closed and less money is available, she said. Distributing the funds would help the cannabis industry and the state’s economy.
“The gold rush is gone,” Brown Collier said. “There are a lot of companies right now that are just praying and spreading their wings.”
The advisory committee is scheduled to meet with the Economic Development Secretariat on Friday to discuss how the fund will work.
What is the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund?
The fund was established to encourage “full participation in the federally regulated marijuana industry by entrepreneurs from communities disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement,” according to the state’s website. The board, also established in 2022, was created to advise the Economic Development Administration on the management of the fund.
Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien said in an interview on Boston Public Radio that the fund could potentially funnel $15 million to $20 million a year into social equity businesses. .
Brown Collier calls the fund “an attempt to right wrongs and balance the playing field so that we don’t have another industry where Black and brown people are shut out.”
On Cape Cod: ‘Good luck!’ $5 billion in cannabis sales across the state is no surprise, experts say
Black people are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.
Blacks and whites use about the same amount of marijuana, but blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to the American Civil Liberties Union’s 2013 book, The Black-White Marijuana War.
A 2016 ACLU report found that high arrest rates lead to criminal records and negative consequences. Arrests for even small amounts of marijuana have made it difficult for some individuals to find work, housing, or secure loans.
In every state in the Union, blacks were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. In some states, they were up to six to 10 times more likely to be arrested.
In 31 states, racial disparities were wider in 2018 than in 2010.
According to a 2017 study by Marijuana Business Daily, 81% of marijuana business owners are white, while just 5.7% are Latino and 4.3% are black. According to Marijuana Business Daily, legalization of marijuana laws has excluded individuals most affected by marijuana laws from economic opportunity.
According to Brown Collier, their arrest records and federal marijuana prohibition limit their access to banking and prevent them from accessing traditional lending and capital markets.
Massachusetts is trying to address the inequity by establishing a trust fund. The Economic Development Administration and the Advisory Committee have been meeting for a year to develop guidelines, requirements, selection processes, and penalties for such a fund to begin distributing funds.
Brown Collier hopes Friday’s meeting will signal the start of distributing the funds.
Dennis Coffey writes about business and tourism. Please contact us at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.
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