Washington's Cannabis Social Equity Program is looking for applicants for a new round of licenses to be issued later this year. Established by the Legislature in 2020, and updated in 2023, the program aims to address systemic flaws in the state's legal cannabis market in an effort to right historical wrongs.
"We know that certain communities were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs and are underrepresented in legal cannabis spaces, and so this program specifically seeks to award retail cannabis licenses to those who qualify for the program," says Samantha Guter, communications consultant with the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board.
Under the provisions of the program, 52 new retail cannabis licenses will be awarded to qualifying applicants. The window to apply for one of the new licenses opens on June 2 and runs through July 1.
To qualify, applicants must have a majority ownership share in the proposed business and meet at least two of four criteria, such as having lived in a specified area of Washington disproportionately impacted by previous drug policy for at least five years between 1980 and 2010, has been arrested or convicted, or is a family member of someone arrested for or convicted of a cannabis offense, have a household income below Washington's median household income, and be classified as socially and economically disadvantaged as defined by the state in chapter 39.19 of the Revised Code of Washington.
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