Equitable Opportunities Now
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, representatives from EON and our Massachusetts Cannabis Equity Council were invited to testify before the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy regarding governance and operational issues at the Cannabis Control Commission.
Check out remarks from EON Policy Co-Chair Kevin Gilnack, Zèb Boutique Owner Drudys Ledbetter, and Dris Brands Owner Chris Fevry in the hearing video and read our full letter to the Committee below.
After extensive outreach to the 17 social equity business owners of MCEC with provisional and/or final licenses, and dozens of other equity and general applicants and licensees, it is clear that this is an important, timely, and complex conversation.
We are writing to express concern that ongoing deliberations regarding changes to the third-party transporter and Independent Testing Lab (ITL) should not cause any further delay in advancing these critical and overdue changes for equity businesses, microbusinesses, and patients.
Equitable Opportunities Now’s (EON) board and staff; our network of grassroots activists, consumers, patients, entrepreneurs, and workers; the social equity business leaders in our Massachusetts Cannabis Equity Council (MCEC); and the undersigned delivery operators commend you for your ongoing efforts to enhance your regulations. Given both the industry and regulatory framework are still young and evolving, we deeply appreciate your openness to engaging stakeholders and reviewing regulations that can better balance flexibility, access, profitability, health, safety, and equity.
We hope that you find the following public comments regarding your proposed regulatory changes helpful and welcome the opportunity to discuss them further.
More than a dozen cultivation, manufacturing, and dispensary owners, along with BECMA and EON, are raising concerns about repeated reports that owners of Ascend Wellness — a large, multistate operator founded and headquartered in Massachusetts — have violated the Commonwealth’s ownership limits.
Rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III is not enough. Marijuana must be removed from the CSA and should be federally regulated for both medical and adult use.
Rescheduling does not address the challenges and injustices that must be reckoned with…
Following an outcry from cannabis equity owners and advocates, the House elected not to adopt Amendment 10 to H. 4789, the economic development bill under consideration.
In response, Equitable Opportunities Now Policy Co-Chair Kevin Gilnack issued the following statement…
We sent the following letter to House leaders on behalf of our EON and our Massachusetts Cannabis Equity Council, an advisory committee of Economic Empowerment and Social Equity Program owners, stressing our objection to the license cap amendment and in support of several that would positively impact the entire industry.
“The Commonwealth’s license cap is vital to protecting a competitive market and our legally mandated mission to foster equitable participation in this new market,” said EON Policy Co-Chair and MCEC founding member Armani White, who owns provisionally licensed Firehouse. “With lobbyists and lawyers for large multistate operators working with a handful of business leaders to undermine small business protections, it’s vital for cannabis equity businesses to have a voice in the policymaking process.”
EON applauds Acting Chair Ava Concepcion, her fellow Commissioners, Director of Licensing Kyle Potvin, Esq., and the CCC staff for providing a two-week public comment period for the Model HCA that elicited 19-20 public comments that generated approximately 90 potential changes — and for advancing these key deliverables.