Mayor Lori Lightfoot is working to form a city-owned cannabis cultivation co-op that aspiring entrepreneurs could buy into to address some of the inequities in the legal cannabis business, she said Monday.
“I would like to have the opportunity for the city to create a cooperative cultivation center so that we can bring a professional in … then people will buy into the cooperative even with a modest cash investment or sweat equity and eventually, after they learn the business from top to bottom, turn that over to them," Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot made the comments at an unrelated news conference to announce that eight more Chicago libraries will soon open on Sundays. She was asked about City Council Black Caucus Chairman Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, who’s held open the possibility that he may force a vote on a measure to push back the Jan. 1 start date for legal cannabis sales in the city.
Ervin last week said he’s still working to convince state officials and Lightfoot’s administration to strengthen the equity rules in the weed law so African Americans have a fair shake at getting a significant piece of the lucrative business before white owners corner it.
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