It is widely known that the decades’ long war on drugs negatively impacted certain communities. When advocates started pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana, one of their biggest objectives was to help communities that had been adversely affected by the war on drugs. For most states that legalized cannabis, efforts to help communities included granting more cannabis dispensary licenses to minorities that qualified for social equity and even expunging marijuana-related charges. Illinois’ legal cannabis program also required people with low-level marijuana convictions to have their records cleared and minorities that had been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs were to be given special consideration in regards to cannabis dispensary licenses. However, months after Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, some social equity applicants argue the state is falling short of its objective to repair the systemic harm. Many social equity applicants contend that the state is not awarding enough marijuana dispensary licenses to minority groups.
CannabisNewsWire, 09/14/2020 04:20:15