Sacramento, California To Help Minorities Invest in Cannabis Industry
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he city of Sacramento, California has decided to help those most affected by the failed “War on Drugs” by helping them break into the cannabis industry.
The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 9 to approve the Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) program after months of discussion. CORE offers business coaching and a break from the permit fees associated with becoming a licensed cannabis business.
“This CORE program is going to help those who were disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs,” said Malaki Seku-Amen of the California Urban Partnership to the Sacramento Bee. ”It will help us who suffered generational poverty to benefit from the region’s $4 billion industry in cannabis.”
The program will be open to anyone who has been arrested for a non-violent crime involving cannabis between 1980 and 2011, as well as to family members who knew someone who was arrested during that timeframe. It is also open to those who lived certain zip codes with high amounts of cannabis-related arrests. “We have a goal of having 50 percent of all licenses be awarded to those who were impacted by the war on drugs,” Seku-Amen said to KCRA. “If you were sent to jail or arrested and you were in an area that was disproportionately impacted—you experienced generational poverty,” he said
The Sacramento program aims to clear the way for minorities and those negatively affected by the “War on Drugs.” A similar program equity program in Los Angeles was recently planned, but delays in starting the program unintentionally put those hopeful licensees at a disadvantage, paying rent on empty buildings and waiting while established businesses got dibs on locations. Inspired by the Los Angeles equity program, Senate Bill 1294 is moving through the state legislature and would also help with permit fees, compliance assistance and job training. “This is just the right thing to do,” said Councilman Jay Schenirer. “It’s going to take some work, we’re going to learn as we go, but I hope we can be both the statewide and national model.”
