Are Social Justice Cannabis Rules a Corporate Strategy to Monopolize the Marijuana Industry?

Why Social Equity Cannabis Legalization Is A Corporate Strategy To Monopolize The Cannabis Market

I’m always very tired when it comes to “Social Justice” and policies like “Affirmative Action”. Not because I don’t think we need to create systems that empower individuals to rise above their current predicament – but because the “social justice” map has largely been used by corporations to shirk accountability, though it “apparent” was working for a greater good.

For example, the “climate change” argument distracts from the real culprits destroying our planet; MONSTER CORPORATION AND GLOBAL ARMIES.

That’s right, most of the pollution wreaking havoc on the planet comes from the very companies pushing green agendas. They fly to distant lands in their private jets to talk about how they can “save the world.”

This level of sadistic psychopathy can only be mastered by the ruling elite, and what’s worse is that they believe everyone will just “go along with it.”

The scary thing is that there is at least part of the population that blindly goes along with this policy.

Today, however, we are not here to talk about the shortcomings of climate change, but to take a closer look at another “hype term” – social justice.

Dafuq is social justice?

You may have heard the term “social justice” thrown around with cannabis legalization bills, workplace policies, and so on. So, to put an end to any doubts, let’s take a closer look at the definition of “social justice”.

According to Knowledge Bank,

Social justice can be understood in its simplest sense as impartiality, fairness and justice for all people.1 This means taking into account systemic inequalities to ensure that all have access to the same opportunities and outcomes.

In other words, it is a retrospective system that seeks to create a “level playing field” in a variety of ways, whether through affirmative action, creating “special rules” for the excluded, or restricting other people from participating in a particular one to participate in activity.

Now, before some of you get ballistic and break the concept of “social justice,” it doesn’t necessarily come from a “bad place.”

Finally, in an ethical and open society, we want to ensure that everyone is treated equally in the legal sense.

THE PROBLEM with social justice relates to one of its core motivations – that everyone has access to the same opportunities and results.

In an ideal world, this would be a beautiful scenario. Everyone has access to the same opportunities and outcomes. The problem is that even if you get all the help from the government, no result is guaranteed.

When it comes to “opportunity,” by definition, each individual has their own pros and cons. For example, if candidate A, B, and C all work in the exact same position at their workplace, but candidate A is a single person in good health, candidate B is a single mother who barely makes it every week, and candidate C is a person with a physical disability – they may all have the same opportunities, but their outcomes will differ significantly.

That’s because you can’t construct the result. You can only provide the opportunity.

This is the core problem of social justice – trying to achieve an artificial outcome. And that’s exactly why the whole cannabis social justice experiment isn’t working.

Furthermore, the only real people who benefit from these “social equity licenses” seem to be monster corporations that supposedly don’t have access to these licenses.

What’s happening in Arizona?

Arizona has one such program that allows people with prior marijuana convictions to gain access to stock licenses. Essentially, this is the state’s attempt to undo the damage done by the drug war. While this is a nice touch, the biggest problem for people who have a state or federal marijuana record is that they usually don’t have any money.

Because starting a successful cannabis business requires a lot of money. And so big corporations look for people who can essentially “work with” them to get access to the equity licenses, and in return everyone wins!

Well – first!

Then, after a while, the company can buy out the license and keep it under the name owner, add it to their portfolio, and essentially empower the affected communities!

And why wouldn’t you. The state has this whole concession scheme that can’t really be touched by the affected community due to their lack of funding. Even if they also get financing, running a successful cannabis business is very different than selling weed from the trunk of your car.

A marijuana conviction does not immediately make you an expert in selling marijuana in a legal setting. In fact, one would argue that a marijuana conviction suggests you were so impoverished that it was “worth” risking your freedom for the promise of money.

These aren’t the kind of people who necessarily run a pharmacy, audit payroll, pay for lights, taxes, etc.

So it makes sense that companies would step in, charging up the hefty bill to run the company, and then looking to siphon off money from those stock royalty payments for years to come.

That’s why a new civil lawsuit is being filed against the state of Arizona by an advocacy group that alleges the state has failed to protect these minority communities from corporate abuse.

The new legal complaint argues that the social justice program failed to meet the standards set out in Prop 207, the ballot initiative passed by voters last year that legalized marijuana and allowed thousands of Arizonans to get rid of previous marijuana fees. Through Prop 207, voters directed the state to create a program that would encourage dispensary ownership by people disproportionately affected by marijuana laws — which in Arizona were often poor, black and Hispanic communities.

But since the draft rules for the Social Justice program were released, proponents have warned that big cannabis investors could easily outsmart the system. And now Rodriguez says she sees that.

“Voters wanted to enrich communities affected by the drug war,” Jimmy Cool, the lead attorney on the case, told the New Times. “Everything from the perspective of our customers [the program] enriches 26 people.” – SOURCE

And that’s the truth with practically all of these schemes.

Why social justice fails!

It’s easy for a millionaire to sit down, analyze the problems of the poor and say, “Do this and you will get that!” The problem with the millionaire is that he or she doesn’t share the same values, needs, and desires as do a poor person.

Therefore, “thinking” from the perspective of a wealthy individual can never understand the nuances required for the individual to be truly successful. Social Equity Licensing is a solution devised by the wealthy to whitewash their “war on drugs” debt.

It’s a concoction of savvy corporatism to show that it cares about them when in reality they have benefited from the drug war and will benefit from drug legalization as well.

The main problem with social justice is;

1. Limited licenses create artificial value

2. The costs associated with cannabis are still high

3. You still need a company to run a cannabis store

Because the cost is so high, raising capital is impossible for someone who has spent years in prison. With no access to bank loans or even the experience to run a successful business, the only solution for these “equity license” holders is to work with a money-hungry firm.

The solution is a two-tier cannabis industry

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The ONLY real solution is to create a distinction between corporate cannabis and mom and pop operations.

The biggest problem with the lower classes of society is that the fees associated with the cannabis industry reflect the budgets of large corporations, while the rest of us work on Farmer’s Market budgets.

Because of this, we need to create a system that allows people on lower incomes to start a business without having to invest too much. We can also unburden these companies by reducing the rigor of testing etc.

My plan was always;

$1,000 for an annual license for cannabis operations with an annual profit of up to $1,000,000. Once the $1,000,000 threshold is reached, the corporate cannabis program can come into play.

This gives people the opportunity to build a business from scratch. It also means there would be no “equity licenses”. Anyone would be able to get it for $1,000.

If you can’t raise $1,000, you may not earn a cannabis license.

This also gives these stock license holders the opportunity to build a business from scratch, hire local talent and reverse the damage of the drug war.

However, we must first separate the need to include social justice in every bill, because before you know it, companies will gobble up all these licenses, and then we’re all screwed.

last words

There’s a reason Schumer couldn’t pass cannabis legislation. It’s because of these social justice laws. While it’s nice to think about those affected by the drug war, unless you bring actual solutions that can be scaled by the affected population – you just invent multi-million dollar solutions for the impoverished who can never reach the standards set by the elite.

reduce legalization to what it is; a plant that needs to be grown, processed, and sold. There is no need to write social justice at the core of legalization.

Rather, any state could create investment clubs through taxation, but — if we understand the nature of politics … unless we back down and remove their social justice language from legalization efforts — the Arizona Dilemma will only persist elsewhere in the US.

Make weed legal, make it cheap to get involved, and give these small businesses a grace period to grow. And you will see that the net benefit would far outweigh the social justice laws.

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