Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
The City of Oakland this week debuted a new process for issuing permits for people interested in becoming medical cannabis entrepreneurs.
It's a bid to close the racial disparity gap it found in the industry during an analysis by the city's Department of Race and Equity earlier this year.
"The data shows that for over two decades, black and brown residents were arrested and incarcerated for drug offenses at disparately high rates, while largely white cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and distributors ... flourished under changing laws designed to accommodate the burgeoning industry," Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn said in a statement.
The city's new Equity program aims to fix that disparity, by offering applicants who qualify a series of incentives, including no interest startup loans, the fast-tracking of permits from landlords who offer Equity recipients free rent and an exemption from some city fees.
The Equity program will also look at how much income an applicant makes and their criminal record, establishing a city-wide threshold for who would qualify based on household income and past cannabis- related convictions.
"For the initial permitting phase, half of all permits will be issued to 'Equity' applicants with an annual income at or less than 80 percent of the city's median income – $52,650 for a one-person household or $60,150 for a two-person household."
"These applicants may also have a cannabis conviction in Oakland or have lived for the last 10 years in a police beat that has been targeted for cannabis enforcement."
The Oakland City Council passed the legislation that created the Equity program in March in an effort to completely decriminalize the cultivation, transportation, testing, delivery and manufacturing of medical marijuana in the city.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2017/05/25/oakland-marijuana-permits.html
Author: Riley McDermid
Contact: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/about-us/contact
Photo Credit: Angerer
Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco?t=1495741192
It's a bid to close the racial disparity gap it found in the industry during an analysis by the city's Department of Race and Equity earlier this year.
"The data shows that for over two decades, black and brown residents were arrested and incarcerated for drug offenses at disparately high rates, while largely white cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and distributors ... flourished under changing laws designed to accommodate the burgeoning industry," Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn said in a statement.
The city's new Equity program aims to fix that disparity, by offering applicants who qualify a series of incentives, including no interest startup loans, the fast-tracking of permits from landlords who offer Equity recipients free rent and an exemption from some city fees.
The Equity program will also look at how much income an applicant makes and their criminal record, establishing a city-wide threshold for who would qualify based on household income and past cannabis- related convictions.
"For the initial permitting phase, half of all permits will be issued to 'Equity' applicants with an annual income at or less than 80 percent of the city's median income – $52,650 for a one-person household or $60,150 for a two-person household."
"These applicants may also have a cannabis conviction in Oakland or have lived for the last 10 years in a police beat that has been targeted for cannabis enforcement."
The Oakland City Council passed the legislation that created the Equity program in March in an effort to completely decriminalize the cultivation, transportation, testing, delivery and manufacturing of medical marijuana in the city.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2017/05/25/oakland-marijuana-permits.html
Author: Riley McDermid
Contact: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/about-us/contact
Photo Credit: Angerer
Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco?t=1495741192
