‘Can we say economic justice?’ Inside the fight for equity in California’s cannabis industry
“Can we say economic justice?” Malaki Seku Amen said to his partners as they stood on the west steps of the California Capitol last Monday.
Malaki Seku Amen is the Executive Director of the California Urban Partnership, a Sacramento-based organization that strives to achieve economic opportunity for communities of color.
Seku Amen stands in solidarity with the California Cannabis Equity Alliance, a coalition of cannabis equity operators, advocates, and social leaders from Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno and Los Angeles.
A month ago, Amen stood with members of Sacramento’s CORE program as they opposed a freeze on cannabis permits in North Sacramento.
Together they all share a vision of equity in California’s marijuana industry. The alliance is asking the state to establish an equity oversight commission with key community stakeholders.
They want the commission to have the power to review social equity related grant agreements with local jurisdictions, conduct audits of grantees, and compel local jurisdictions to disperse grant funds received, according to a letter the group sent to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
They also demanded the state lower taxes on social equity businesses to 5%, prioritize application processing for equity-qualifying businesses, and allow businesses to apply directly for social equity grants authorized by the California Cannabis Equity Act.
“California made some progress in reinvesting cannabis tax revenue to support youth programs and address severe trauma, but the state continues to ignore the business development problems created by its legacy of racialized marijuana policy enforcement,” said Amen.
California Department of Justice data shows that from 2006 to 2015, Black Californians were two times more likely to be arrested for cannabis misdemeanors and five times more likely to be arrested for cannabis felonies than white Californians.
During the same period, Latino Californians were 35 percent more likely to be arrested for cannabis crimes than white Californians.
Advocates say, despite legalization, a new drug war is plaguing cannabis business operators as businesses are not given what they were promised — an equitable opportunity to enter the marijuana industry.
Alex Grate, owner of Ness Culture distribution, an Oakland-based distribution company, says that cannabis operators can no longer rely on their cities alone.
“We need the state to step up and help fund this transition of people from the illicit market into the legal market,” said Grate.
State Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, joined the California Cannabis Equity Alliance and authored Senate Bill 1294 which calls for regulating cannabis in a way that “reduce[s] barriers to entry into the legal, regulated market.”
This includes a grant to assist local equity applicants and local equity licensees through that local jurisdiction’s equity program.
“To date, over $55 million of cannabis equity grants have been awarded,” said Bradford in a press conference on Monday at the State Capitol. “Sadly, most of those dollars never went to the communities and individuals in which it was entitled.”
Advocates say the Golden State has to lead the way and set precedent for what equitable distribution of opportunity looks like, as other states mirror California’s blueprint for legalization.
“The fight in San Francisco, the fight in Oakland had a ripple effect all over the state. L.A. and Sacramento,” said Nina Parks, chair of the San Francisco Cannabis Oversight Committee. “But what we all are experiencing is that there’s still a lack of implementation.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Can we say economic justice?’ Inside the fight for equity in California’s cannabis industry."
