![]() "If not, we start to lose the fabric and soul of our community. "We want to make sure that everyone has a real authentic opportunity to participate in that economy in the future," said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. So Somerville is taking action on its own to encourage minorities to jump into the industry. īecause of this history, when Massachusetts officials wrote the recreational marijuana law, they took pains to develop programs that would help people from what the state called "communities of disproportionate impact." But this part of the state law isn’t working - next to no black or Latino candidates have applied for licenses in Massachusetts. The long-term effects of the war on drugs launched in the 1970s are still evident in many communities of color. Studies show that blacks and Latinos have been arrested and incarcerated for cannabis and other drug crimes at four times the rate of whites. And there's taxes, there's the government, there's all kinds of things, you know. "They're scared of the government, man," said Sieh Samura, an outspoken cannabis activist. The application process for those groups looking for recreational marijuana licenses opened this week.īut due to the lingering effects of past and continuing inequities, advocates say finding black and Latino entrepreneurs to join the legal marijuana economy hasn’t been easy. Somerville passed an ordinance requiring that 50 percent of recreational marijuana licenses go to black and Latino applicants. When it comes to equity in Massachusetts’ fledgling recreational marijuana industry, one Massachusetts city is taking extra steps to level the playing field. The video version was created by Cristina Quinn. The radio version and text of this story were created by Aaron Schachter.
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