Trailblazers In The N.Y. Cannabis Market Represent Equity In The Cannabis Industry

The Pot Business is on the boom stage, and as more states are undertaking to legalize the recreational use of Cannabis, opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment come along with it. When it comes to New York, in particular, it is setting up pretty high standards. It is implementing a program that is going to give the Black and Brown Communities marginalized by the war on drugs a chance to put themselves at the helm of this bidding industry.

A.B.C. News's Mona Kosar Abdi reports on the push for equity, which is going on within the cannabis market in the state of the State of New York, along with the legislation that is directly going to benefit those whom the decades-long war has impacted on drugs. She meets

With the industry leaders and trailblazers in New York to learn more about the equity of the pot movement and why it has been a long time coming inside.

This former Duane Reade is a first-of-a-kind for New York City, a Black-owned legal cannabis shop in the heart of Bleecker Street. Smacked Village opened its doors in January owned by Entrepreneur Roland Corner. The born and raised New Yorker is blazing trails. His dispensary happens to be the first Black-owned cannabis shop in New York City. On being questioned, "Does the pressure come from being the first black man to get the license?

Roland replied, "Oh, absolutely, because there is an expectation to succeed, and there's another expectation to fail. I'm going to succeed in, you know, and make this work."

Roland is at the forefront of the sanctioned industry. The State of New York awarded him with a conditional adult-use retail dispensary license. But this is not Rollins Ford's foray into the cannabis business.

During their teenage years back in the '90s, Roland was in prison for a cannabis charge at the height of the so-called war on drugs. That now makes him the first person with a previous legal conviction to open up shop legally. Roland stated, "It was surreal because a lot of times you try to hide your past, especially when it's negative, right? And so now I have to share: your past sometimes haunts you. You know, you can go to Jail, do your time, and it's still a stigma."

Post New York legalized recreational marijuana in March 2021, the Office of Cannabis Management was soon established, and just one year later, in the spring of 2021, Mayor Adams announced New York City's Goals for an Equitable Market and created the Cannabis Equity Program.

Who Can Apply For A C.A.U.R.D. License?

Previous Convictions

Justice Involved

Qualifying business experience

Impacted by the war on drugs

30% of the license needs to be within this criterion. C.A.U.R.D. is intended to focus on those who have been directly impacted, so their justice involves a previous cannabis arrest and conviction and, if not themselves, a spouse or a parent or child.

East Brooklyn Native Dawson experienced firsthand how the drug war afflicted Network neighborhoods like hers. The former Fortune 500 executive was appointed under Mayor Adams as a founding Director of Cannabis N.Y.C., the first role of its kind.

She stated, "And we are here to demonstrate what excellence looks like. Grounded in equity and education from madness from the 1930s and 1940s all the way to the 1970's Controlled Substances Act and the war on drugs in the 80s and '90s, we have been taught to fear and demonize Cannabis. It's our job to explain kind of how they were propagated and pushed into the communities and that we do need to undo that.

People like rolling as the ultimate hustler because when something like that happens in your life, it could ruin your life. Instead, he said it was not going to ruin his life. He overcame that a great example of how C.A.U.R.D. is supposed to work for Roland.

C.M.A.C. Village is a family affair. He works with his wife and, his son, Darius, and his family; his inspiration is to open up the shop. What is that like working side by side?

Roland said, "I feel blessed, but at the same time or whatever, I know this means something to a lot of men who look like me and those who didn't even like me."

Darius Conner, Employee @ Smacked, said, "The relationship between father and a son and what that really means, where you can work with your son, or you know still guide him because a lot of times we lose our kids like balloons and they get caught in the wind, and they're gone. I am fortunate enough to have a dad who's concerned about my future and wants me to go about the right way, and that's made me proud of him that he even took the initiative to do that for me; exactly one mile away is another pivotal phase of the program arena."

Hank Biggers, President and Co–founder of Unique Square travel agency, has partnered with the Doe Fund as a way to pay forward. The N.P.O. (Non-profit organization) supports formerly incarcerated men and individuals experiencing homelessness.

She said, "We are lucky enough, fortunate enough to be able to connect with the Doe Fought very early on before the application was released because we wanted to give a percentage of our profits to a not-for-profit that serves populations that the war has negatively impacted on drugs. The Doe One/Fund ended up becoming our applicant, so they are actually the majority owner of the dispensary, and 1% of all our profits are redirected.

The great work that they do, there are still over 40,000 people in prison, primarily Lack and Latino men, for Cannabis charges. You know, there are instances and stories of individuals who had like a dime bag and who were arrested and thrown in Jail for 7 years.

New York State is one among the 22 other states that legalized recreational Cannabis and 1 in 13 States that implemented its social equity program. But what sets New York apart is its framework legislation that directly benefits those with past convictions. We have been talking about the opportunity to take what was a tool of systemic racism in some ways are being implemented in communities like New York and use it now as a tool for Reparative and Restorative Justice and further opportunity for those communities."

"Other States are ahead in that they already had the policy, but 90% of the 99% of them purposely left out people that were previously harmed.

Suppose you had a conviction you could not apply. And Just by virtue of the fact that we are prioritizing that group, we are setting a standard not just in the United States but globally."

"And that's where New York can really be a pioneer. What is it like for New York to implement an equity program that benefits people who are sometimes on the losing end of the war on drugs, people who would not otherwise be able to be at the forefront of this? Some really smart people were there were in positions of power and understood the dynamics of New York understood what was happening around the country, and they really thought about This.

Now, it's not perfect because there's a lot of Nasa is out there, but it's definitely workable."

As the legalization of Cannabis takes the New York Markey by Storm, the crackdown on illegal smoke shops has heightened in New York City. There's Just in New York City, about 1500 unlicensed shops are selling regulated cannabis flowers and products. The feedback from the community members is that most times, the owners are not from those communities.

"Inside, we 'are seeing what we call the triple threat of things being sold without a license: illegal cigarettes, illegal nicotine vapes, illegal cannabis products. We work very closely in the stash force and interagency workgroup with the sheriff's department, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and all of the other enforcement agencies that normally would govern and oversee this. We are not trying to recreate the war on drugs to play 2.0 in our effort."

Enforcement this time around has to be grounded in education and equity. For many, the safety and regulation of legal dispensaries such as Smacked Village and Union Square Travel Agency provide a level of comfort in knowing that all Product is tested, produced and cultivated in New York State.

James "Splash Court," the Floor Manager of Smacked Village, said, "They say their customers range from recreational users to people looking for the treatment of health issues such as chronic pain, side effects of Chemotherapy, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, and insomnia. They have inherent medicinal properties, so that never goes away as an adult. As a 21-year-old and older, you have the right to use Cannabis. However, if you want to use it, whether that's nutritionally, spiritually or medicinally, or recreationally. And his role in arena building their business. "

Tanika Greaves, Bud Tender, Smacked! The village claims that "They employ those with the same passions to rise. It shows that you know, we are growing as a nation. Cannabis is this thing that I feel has bonded us, and so now it is legalized and decriminalized; it makes me feel like we'll have better relationships just socially through different socio-economic groups and less criminalization.

Will Warren, assistant manager of Union Square travel agency, is of the opinion that "You know, I just hope all the work that we are doing all together as an industry gets us to the point where it legalized federally and that there's no point for any like people on the street or like going to Jail for things like this. I hope that we get to that point together. And I think we are doing important work here, here in New York."

Roland's journey with Cannabis has come full circle from going to prison for a cannabis charge to becoming a businessman.

Roland said, "Within the fold of New York's emerging industry. I haven't worked since 2008. You know, I have been an Entrepreneur since then, and it's just something about being able to be my own man. Made a lot of mistakes now, You know, but being able to correct those mistakes and move forward.

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