Massachusetts commissioners advocate for the creation of a state-run fund to help people disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs establish themselves in the legal cannabis industry.
"The commission supports the adoption of a state-administered fund that includes both public and private funds for economic empowerment and social equity program participant applicants and licensees to receive low- or zero-interest loans or grants for the purpose of obtaining licensure and operating their establishment," the policy statement unanimously adopted by the Cannabis Control Commission reads.
Massachusetts was the first state in the country to mandate that equity and inclusion be part of its legal cannabis framework and was the first to launch programs specifically designed to assist entrepreneurs and businesses from communities disproportionately harmed by the decades of cannabis prohibition.
"It's time for the Legislature to address the reality of equity in legal cannabis by creating a social equity fund," Commissioner Ava Callender Concepcion said. "Otherwise, the promises of equity and inclusion ingrained in our state's cannabis law will never be realized."
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