New York plans to reserve their first retail licenses for selling weed to individuals with convictions for weed or related offenses. Others eligible for a license are relatives of those individuals.
The state is likely to usher in its platforms for retail sales by the end of 2022. And you can feel the excitement. Applicants will have access to stockpiles of weed supplied by local farmers. There will also be state-leased new storefronts.
The governor seems to be personally spearheading the push that assures the state’s first business owners be members of communities impacted most by the so-called war on drugs.
Of course, Governor Hochul’s not the first visionary to make such promises. Pretty much every legalized state to date promised some form of equity for the disenfranchised, and, in so many ways, the vast majority of efforts to be all-inclusive have failed or stalled. Major complications included lack of capital to help launch programs or cash-rich (white) operations, easily circumventing the licensing process and then crushing the not-cash-rich.
But New York appears to be looking to avoid the pitfalls other “social equity” programs fell into. Chris Alexander is executive director of New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management. He says New York is already ahead of the game. He says New York remains focused on individuals “who otherwise would have been left behind.” And New York’s doing it earlier than other programs that waited too late.
Governor Hochul has legislation on the table to help. It includes $200 million to support new business. The money would be applied to locating, securing, and renovating storefronts. This will be critical in places like the Big Apple. There, real estate prices were greatly impacted by COVID, leaving real estate in bad shape since the pandemic receded.
Alexander said the state will hand out between 100 and 200 licenses to people convicted of weed-related offenses before weed became legal, or those with “a parent, guardian, child, spouse, or dependent” with a conviction. The goal is for half of the marijuana-related licenses to land in the hands of minorities, women, veterans, distressed farmers, and individuals disproportionally impacted by the so-called drug war.
Alexander refers to eligible applicants as “equity entrepreneurs.” He attests it would be easy to set up 40 dispensaries online. Still, He has instead decided to focus on making sure “that the folks who have been most impacted actually have the space and the real runway to participate in a meaningful way.”
Reviews of the state’s plan have been positive. It even calls for pushing for “legacy” candidates — members of black market distribution — to step up and consider getting a license. One of the advocates of the plan is the Drug Policy Alliance’s Kassandra Frederique. She says the state seems to be looking at the mistakes of other states when it comes to promises of social equity.
These brand, spanking new dispensaries should start showing up by the end of the year. The rollout will be well on its way by early 2023.
