Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
D.C. legalized medical marijuana in 2014, removing criminal penalties to possess, consume and grow cannabis in small amounts. But you still can't sell it unless you have an established medical marijuana business. People wanting to open dispensaries need to go through a lengthy application process and secure financial support – and it still might take years.
Councilman Robert White says people of color should benefit from this growing billion dollar industry. African Americans currently account for about 1 percent of the marijuana dispensaries in the U.S.
"Particularly because people of color have been disproportionately harmed in the enforcement of our marijuana laws, I think that it is only right that they get to play a role in the commercialization of marijuana," White says. "Anything else, I think, is unfair and hypocritical."
According to the ACLU, African Americans are nearly four times more likely than whites to be incarcerated for drug charges, although the patterns of drug use are similar.
Victoria Harris is the co-founder of D.C. Tastebuds, a cannabis culinary service. She says the war on drugs, a government effort to combat drugs starting in the 1970s, disproportionately affected communities of color.
"The war on drugs has created such a stigma around cannabis," she says. "And Latinos and blacks have suffered the burden of that."
Harris hopes to grow her own business in the community, and experiments in the kitchen of her Northwest D.C. home – one such recipe is cannabis-infused cucumber salad. She hopes D.C. Tastebuds will create recipes and edibles with cannabis that can be used when someone has a prescription filled at a dispensary. Since cannabis edibles can only be sold at approved dispensaries or cultivation centers, Harris is still working out which businesses D.C. Tastebuds can provide its services to.
The National Holistic Healing Center in Dupont Circle is one of five dispensaries in the District. It's owned by Dr. Chanda Macias, who says access to funds is the biggest challenge people of color face in this industry.
"I had to just take out a second mortgage on my house to fund myself," she says. "Because I believe this is where I was supposed to be."
Macias is just one of two black women in the country who owns a dispensary. She says to make it in this industry requires a good deal of social capital – financial resources, relationships and networks.
"There's only six black men in the nation that have dispensaries or cultivation centers," Macias continues. "So, literally, I have 8 people I can call where my colleagues have over hundreds of people to talk to, support, find ways of getting capital, and derive innovation."
To give local minority-owned businesses a boost, Councilman White helped pass a bill to give them preference when they apply for medical marijuana business licenses. Even though the new law gives 'preference points' or priority to people of color, White is uncertain whether it will have much of an impact. A similar system didn't work nearby in Maryland.
"They distributed 15 licenses and, I think, passed a law to give some preference to people of color, and yet none of the licenses went to people of color," White explains.
So while there's a lot of support to broaden the base of medical marijuana dispensers, actually doing so remains an uphill climb.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Despite Local Government Support, Minority-Owned Medical Marijuana Businesses Are Sparse | WAMU
Author: Jessica Diaz-Hurtado
Contact: Get In Touch | WAMU
Photo Credit: Jessica Diaz-Hurtado
Website: WAMU | American University Radio
Councilman Robert White says people of color should benefit from this growing billion dollar industry. African Americans currently account for about 1 percent of the marijuana dispensaries in the U.S.
"Particularly because people of color have been disproportionately harmed in the enforcement of our marijuana laws, I think that it is only right that they get to play a role in the commercialization of marijuana," White says. "Anything else, I think, is unfair and hypocritical."
According to the ACLU, African Americans are nearly four times more likely than whites to be incarcerated for drug charges, although the patterns of drug use are similar.
Victoria Harris is the co-founder of D.C. Tastebuds, a cannabis culinary service. She says the war on drugs, a government effort to combat drugs starting in the 1970s, disproportionately affected communities of color.
"The war on drugs has created such a stigma around cannabis," she says. "And Latinos and blacks have suffered the burden of that."
Harris hopes to grow her own business in the community, and experiments in the kitchen of her Northwest D.C. home – one such recipe is cannabis-infused cucumber salad. She hopes D.C. Tastebuds will create recipes and edibles with cannabis that can be used when someone has a prescription filled at a dispensary. Since cannabis edibles can only be sold at approved dispensaries or cultivation centers, Harris is still working out which businesses D.C. Tastebuds can provide its services to.
The National Holistic Healing Center in Dupont Circle is one of five dispensaries in the District. It's owned by Dr. Chanda Macias, who says access to funds is the biggest challenge people of color face in this industry.
"I had to just take out a second mortgage on my house to fund myself," she says. "Because I believe this is where I was supposed to be."
Macias is just one of two black women in the country who owns a dispensary. She says to make it in this industry requires a good deal of social capital – financial resources, relationships and networks.
"There's only six black men in the nation that have dispensaries or cultivation centers," Macias continues. "So, literally, I have 8 people I can call where my colleagues have over hundreds of people to talk to, support, find ways of getting capital, and derive innovation."
To give local minority-owned businesses a boost, Councilman White helped pass a bill to give them preference when they apply for medical marijuana business licenses. Even though the new law gives 'preference points' or priority to people of color, White is uncertain whether it will have much of an impact. A similar system didn't work nearby in Maryland.
"They distributed 15 licenses and, I think, passed a law to give some preference to people of color, and yet none of the licenses went to people of color," White explains.
So while there's a lot of support to broaden the base of medical marijuana dispensers, actually doing so remains an uphill climb.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Despite Local Government Support, Minority-Owned Medical Marijuana Businesses Are Sparse | WAMU
Author: Jessica Diaz-Hurtado
Contact: Get In Touch | WAMU
Photo Credit: Jessica Diaz-Hurtado
Website: WAMU | American University Radio
