MA Guts Pot Industry Protections for People of Color

When Massachusetts’ voters passed Question 4 last November it included clear language for diversity and inclusion in the forthcoming legal cannabis industry. Now lawmakers and activists are furious that the state’s omnibus cannabis bill does not match the vision of the drafters or will of the voters. As the discussion around inclusion in the cannabis industry for those communities most affected by the War on Drugs has snowballed over the last couple years, Massachusetts was one of the places industry observers were pointing to as an example of concrete steps being made in that direction. The issue has picked up major steam at the municipal level in places like Oakland, California, but Massachusetts’ actions at the state level would set a high bar for the future. But now things have gone sideways, and everyone from the bill’s authors to the Boston City Council is up in arms at the bravado of Beacon Hill’s actions — just down the street from the last team in Major League Baseball to integrate black players. “Under this bill, not only are people with felonies excluded from cannabis employment, anyone can be rejected from a license or have a license revoked for any conviction, including a traffic ticket,” said Shaleen Title, an attorney and co-drafter of Question 4. “Such over-broad and vague restrictions perpetuate the discrimination associated with marijuana prohibition, contrary to what the voters passed.” What the voters passed wasn’t exactly foggy on the subject matter either — from the language of the question: ‘The regulations…

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