Michigan Agency Launches Social Justice Program to Address Critical Issues

The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) has launched a new program to improve social justice in the state’s cannabis industry.

On August 31, the MRA launched the Joint Ventures Pathway Program (JVPP), which is the culmination of an organized discussion that took place earlier this year.

“Based on a recommendation by the Racial Equity Advisory Workgroup earlier this year, the JVPP will become eligible social justice participants – and those who wish to become – with adult use licensees, potential adult use licensees, and any company that wants to work with social justice participants who are interested in pursuing partnerships including: joint business ventures, mentors, incubator program, employment, ”the MRA stated in the statement.

When the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act was passed through voter approval in 2018, it said the MRA was responsible for creating and enforcing all laws related to commercial cannabis companies. It also directed the MRA “to develop a plan to encourage and encourage participation in the marijuana industry by people from communities disproportionately affected by marijuana bans and enforcements and to positively impact those communities.” “.

The MRA’s press release stated that the language of the law was insufficient to meet Michigan’s social justice needs, so she founded the Racial Equity Advisory Workgroup in 2020. The group consisted of local officials, state officials and “industry representatives”. such as Representative Sarah Anthony, Senator Marshall Bullock, and Business Owners Anqunette Sarah and Tatiana Grant.

This group met from July 2020 to December 2020 before issuing its final recommendations in January 2021.

“MRA is committed to making Michigan the country’s modeling agency, including leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion in the marijuana industry,” said Andrew Brisbo, executive director of MRA, in a press release setting the final recommendations The group was released explaining their plan for the organization. “As the agency responsible for implementing and administering commercial licensing laws, the MRA recognizes the importance of equal opportunities for companies operating in this newly legalized industry.”

The recommendations comprised 30 pages of what the state social justice model should look like, through the categories of social justice, business development, local justice, processes and paths, use of resources and strategic partnerships (a team of four to five people was assigned to each category). It focuses on how social justice could create a more inclusive industry for the state.

In detail, the working group created concepts for their respective category, identified necessary legal or administrative rule changes, talked about where the funding would come from, and defined specific responsibilities for the MRA.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 80 percent of people in federal prisons and 60 percent of people in state prison jailed for drug offenses are black or Latino.

The results of the data released by the MRA show that in 2020 only 3.8 percent of cannabis business owners were black and only 1.5 percent were Latinos.

If you are Michigan resident and social justice qualified and interested in partnering with the JVPP, please submit your information here. Likewise, if you are a Michigan business owner looking to partner with social justice participants, you can become a JVPP partner here.

Michigan is already perceived as one of the most thriving cannabis markets in the country. Not only are efforts to achieve social justice in full swing, the variety and choice of products in the industry is also growing rapidly.

State officials are working quickly to address industry concerns such as regulating delta-8 THC products. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a brief notice earlier this month that those laid off for non-work cannabis use should remain unemployed.