Discrimination in Maryland’s broader business climate would justify giving minority and women-owned businesses preferences for entering the state-regulated medical marijuana market, according to a report released Wednesday.
The long-awaited report, ordered by Gov. Larry Hogan (R), gives lawmakers the justification they need to pass legislation to help more minorities break into the industry.
Pending legislation would set aside five new marijuana cultivation licenses for minority-owned businesses and put a pause on any other new licenses for as long as a decade.
None of the 14 companies licensed to grow cannabis for medical purposes in Maryland’s are led by black executives. That enraged lawmakers who said it was unfair that African Americans were disproportionately locked up on marijuana charges, compared to the overall populations, but were getting fewer opportunities to profit from the legal industry.
While the 2014 law legalizing medical marijuana called for regulators to seek diversity in licensing growers, the Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission did not consider race or ethnicity after receiving legal advice that said it would be illegal to do so without evidence of disparities.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Fenit Nirappil over at the Washington Post