Why Social Equity Matters

We have an obligation to ensure the momentum behind marijuana legalization is accompanied by policies and programs that help to right the wrongs of America’s War on Drugs.

America currently sits at a crossroads when it comes to cannabis. Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states, 11 of which have also legalized cannabis for adult-use. And given the fact the number of legal states seems to grow every quarter, politicians and industry leaders expect full federal legalization in the coming years. These are exciting developments. After over a half-century of misguided drug policies, the country is well overdue for a more sensible approach to marijuana.

That said, the momentum behind marijuana legalization — coupled with the meteoric growth of the legal cannabis industry — has also highlighted the ways marijuana prohibition fueled mass incarceration and devastated low-income communities of color. And too add insult to injury, the spoils of this new “Green Rush” are overwhelmingly flowing to wealthy, well-connected and/or disproportionately white interests — and leaving the communities who bore the brunt of prohibition-related policing in the first place behind.

There’s something so viscerally unjust about the fact a handful of wealthy, well-connected, disproportionately white business people will make millions of dollars doing the very same thing we’ve jailed generations of black and brown men for. It’s imperative that members of the public — alongside our elected officials — come together to demand that legalization is accompanied by policies and programs aimed at repairing the harms of the War on Drugs.

This confluence of factors has laid the groundwork for a groundswell of support for social equity initiatives — programs and policies that ensure communities disproportionately harmed by the drug war are able to access economic opportunities in the legal cannabis industry. These efforts include legal measures to expunge low-level marijuana-related convictions, as well as policies that help people from disproportionately impacted communities access economic opportunities in the industry (most social equity programs are focused on facilitating minority ownership of cannabis businesses by giving entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds prioritized access to cannabis business licenses).

Given the sordid history and devastating social consequences of marijuana prohibition, it’s imperative we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — as well as an ethical obligation — to ensure we’re creating a diverse, equitable and sustainable legal cannabis industry.