Calling the bill “important” and repeatedly expressing his desire to have a bill on his desk before the end of session, the Governor referred to cannabis equity and local licensing reform as among the “key priorities” in the bill.
Category: Press
Equitable Opportunities Now News Clips & Press Releases
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“..although Massachusetts led the nation by being the first state to require cannabis regulators like us to create economic empowerment pathways for communities most harmed by the war on drugs, we lag behind other states that have created, among other solutions, funds for small businesses to access capital. A final bill to create a fund for Massachusetts with 20% of excess tax revenue will help to level the playing field for our residents.”
“It is deeply troubling that none of the legislators of color in either chamber who championed these issues will be at the table to decide how accessible this new industry will be to local entrepreneurs of color and from communities most harmed by the war on drugs,” said Equitable Opportunities Now Co-Founder and Question 4 Co-Author Shanel Lindsay. “Now, the spotlight is on Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ron Mariano and conferees to deliver a bill that reflects their stated commitment to equity.”
The House increased its proposed cannabis equity funding from 15 percent to 20 percent, thanks to Rep. Tyler’s advocacy and the support of leadership. Unfortunately, the Senate bill only allocated 10 percent.
Now is the time to let your state representatives and senators know that you hope they will encourage the Conference Committee to fully fund equity with 20 percent of cannabis revenue in the final bill.
Under the state’s current social equity program, only 23 of the state’s 253 licensed cannabis businesses are owned by entrepreneurs qualified for the economic empowerment and social equity programs administered by the Cannabis Control Commission. Shanel Lindsay, the co-founder of the advocacy group Equitable Opportunities Now, praised lawmakers in the House for the change and urged senators to retain the higher percentage in a compromise version of the bill.
This wasn’t always Kee’s plan. She says that she was selling weed on the black market until Boston attorney and activist Shanel Lindsay, who serves on the Massachusetts Cannabis Advisory Board, approached her and encouraged her to go legal. Eventually, she enrolled in the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s Social Equity Program, where she attended workshops, classes, and trainings on cannabis entrepreneurship in Massachusetts.
“We are excited and thankful to the Senate for pushing this bill forward, but disappointed by the low allocation to the equity fund,” said Shanel Lindsay
She co-founded a nonprofit called Equitable Opportunities Now to push equitable applications of existing laws and new ones. This year, the nonprofit and local activists organized a boycott and social media campaign against members of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association — a trade group representing brick-and-mortar companies — to defend a regulation aimed at bringing historically underrepresented minorities into the industry.
“There’s no other industry that is so intrinsically connected to the criminalization of Black and Brown people,” Lindsay says. “… If there’s not equity baked into cannabis, what hope is there left for any kind of justice when it comes to the unfair treatment of people of color in America?”
In 2014, when medical marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts, Lindsay started her own law practice. In 2015 she started Ardent, and Equitable Opportunities Now, or EON, a non-profit that fights to preserve equity provisions in cannabis laws to create equal opportunities for businesses and those seeking cannabis licenses.