Only 4% of cannabis companies in Washington state are black-owned

The latest available data from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) shows that of all cannabis entrepreneurs in Seattle, Washington, only 4% are owned by blacks. A new report from King5 News interviews minority business owners who lost their place in the industry when Washington state legalized adult-use cannabis and how a Seattle task force is working on change.

Former cannabis business owners Peter Manning and Mike Asai reminisce about what it was like living in Seattle decades ago. “I know we’re using the War on Drugs to target black people and brown people,” entrepreneur and Seattle native Peter Manning told King5. “You guys have been punishing us for cannabis for years. And now it’s okay. now you do Now it is okay.”

“Growing up in Seattle in the 80’s, [if you] If you just had a joint, you’d get five years in prison,” said Mike Asai, co-founder of the Emerald City Collective. “[I’ve] seen this happen with family and friends and acquaintances, you know, for that very reason.

Washington state legalized medicinal cannabis in 1998, prompting both Manning and Asai to take a role in the industry. In the 2000s, both joined a medicinal cannabis collective that brought growers and retailers together in ways that benefited the community.

“Being on the bad end when it comes to cannabis and then being on the good end again has been very empowering,” Asai said of the collective. “Because I grew up and saw the war on drugs, it was really the war on African Americans, the war on black men and black women in this country.”

In 2015, the state legalized adult-use cannabis, forcing cannabis business owners to close their businesses and reapply for a license — but many black and brown business owners were unable to secure one. “Being legitimate and then suddenly being criminalized… It was very traumatizing,” Asai said. “It was very depressing and painful to see, especially when you see how much money has been made in the last six years since we closed. I had to find things out. I had to do Uber for about a year just to stay afloat.”

LCB data from 2021 shows that of the state’s 558 available licenses, only 19 were awarded to black applicants. “There’s no African-American property in the city of Seattle, and it doesn’t show that it’s supposed to be this progressive state, this liberal state,” Manning said.

In recent years, both Manning and Asai have spoken to the press and attended town meetings to speak out about this injustice. Most recently, both attended a Seattle City Council meeting on July 20, when public commentators urged the council to address the issue.

The Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force was formed in 2020 to establish a social justice program and issue and reissue retail licenses. The initial recommendations were submitted on January 6, 2022, with a deadline for a final report to be submitted to the state legislature and the state governor by December 9, 2022.

Ollie Garret, a member of the LCB Board’s Social Justice Task Force, told King5 that changes must happen now. “Yeah. I mean… what’s the saying? A day late and a dollar short. Now the community is screaming, ‘What about us? What about us?’ said Garrett. “We’re like, ‘Oh, we gotta fix this.'”

Garret describes the situation as “failure” and “a missed opportunity”. “Could you have done it differently in the beginning? Yes. But this was a new industry. Who knew who thought about inclusion and black exclusion,” Garret said.

According to King5, the Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force provides 38 licenses for people of color. Unfortunately, over half of business location licenses are in areas where cannabis is currently prohibited. “Where we are right now, the LCB cannot move licenses out of the territories they are in or create new licenses[s] without legislation,” Garrett said. “We introduce ourselves [that] in this forthcoming session.”

Manning challenges the task force’s view on justice. “What do you give me?” Manning said. “A license stating I have the right to sell cannabis? But I can’t sell cannabis because I’m not allowed to open in this place because it’s forbidden. How’s the equity?”

He also suggests that consumers are aware of where they buy their cannabis. “In our black neighborhoods, there are white-owned stores,” Manning said. “Ten years ago you locked us up for the same thing. Whites made millions of dollars. They take the money from our church and they put it into the white church. We want our black-owned businesses in our communities.”