Boston Council Hearing Probes Barriers Blocking Cannabis Equity Owners

BOSTON — April 20, 2023 — Boston City Council hearing spotlights racial equity failures in city's cannabis market. The Committee on Small Business and Professional Licensure, chaired by Council Member Brian Worrell and led by sponsor At-Large Council Member Julia M. Mejia, held a virtual hearing Thursday on Docket No. 0171, examining the barriers that have left entrepreneurs of color on the margins of Boston's legal cannabis industry. Boston Cannabis Board Chair Kathleen Joyce confirmed the city has signed 71 host community agreements — 39 equity, 32 non-equity — with just eight equity locations currently open, and that the city must issue a minimum of 53 licenses with no cap in place. Cannabis business manager Shakia Scott said the city has distributed 41 grants totaling approximately $659,000 since 2020, funded by roughly $300,000 per year from a cannabis sales tax. Former Council Member and Apex Cannabis owner Tito Jackson described seven approved dispensaries within a half-mile of his downtown location and warned that equity license holders, barred from selling their licenses and excluded from bankruptcy protections, face a "double whammy" that prevents wealth-building in communities of color — the central purpose of the equity program.