Legalization offers hope for social justice and it also has financial incentives.
Change drives innovation, and the U.S. is poised for a seismic shift in cannabis legislation with broad implications for social justice and economic health.
Several notable pieces of legislation are currently proposed or working their way through Congress. These include the Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (CAOA), a bill that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to file in April 2022. CAOA would decriminalize cannabis and support research, public safety, and restorative social justice initiatives.
There is also the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would eliminate criminal penalties and remove cannabis from the controlled substances list. Even if cannabis were to be legalized on the federal level, there remain significant hurdles regarding the industry’s access to financial institutions.
The bipartisan Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which is widely expected to receive a favorable vote, would allow cannabis companies to access needed banking services without financial institutions running afoul of the law.
Bolstering the business climate with medical cannabis and CPGs
I’m excited to see what the future holds for my fellow entrepreneurs. Cannabis and cannabinoids offer considerable potential for non-recreational use. There is a long list of health complaints that can benefit from cannabis and CBD extract products, such as insomnia, epilepsy, anxiety, and chronic pain.
The use of cannabinoids in CPGs promotes greater consumer safety, given their antibacterial properties. It will be exciting to see the results of cannabis research funded by acts like CAOA. Beyond these three bills–CAOA, MORE, and SAFE–other bills propose to facilitate cannabis research, such as the bipartisan Cannabidiol and Marijuana Research Expansion Act, which would reduce the red tape researchers must navigate.
For marginalized communities, legalization offers hope for social justice
Cannabis consumption rates are similar across racial groups. Yet, BIPOC communities are disproportionately subjected to significantly higher rates of marijuana-related arrests and convictions. This racial disparity has affected minority communities in both the U.S. and Canada, where my company is headquartered.
Throughout the U.S., BIPOC individuals are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for a cannabis offense than white people. There are considerable fluctuations from one state to the next. In some places, Black people can be up to 50 times more likely than white people to be arrested. Consider New York City. In 2020 alone, 94 percent of cannabis-related arrests involved people of color.
Legalization is a pathway toward eliminating cannabis-related incarceration disparity and promoting social justice. Both MORE and CAOA would funnel tax dollars into programs that lift underserved…
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