Washington State eases cannabis licensing restrictions for convicted felons

By Maureen Meehan

Being a convicted felon will no longer prevent people from obtaining a license to sell cannabis in Washington, which became the first state in the nation, alongside Colorado, to legalize adult cannabis.

Currently, most US states require a criminal background check for applicants seeking a license to sell or grow cannabis; anyone with a felony or some misdemeanor convictions is considered ineligible. That will change next month in Washington, reported KOMO News.

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“I think it’s great what the state is doing to give people with a history of problems the opportunity to qualify,” said Tran Du, co-owner of Shawn Kemp’s Seattle cannabis company.

Under the new system, crimes will continue to be reviewed, but jail time or jail time will no longer automatically disqualify.

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“We wanted to reconcile the disproportionality that we saw in the remnants of the drug war and that blacks and browns were arrested disproportionately,” said Melanie Morgan, chairman of Social Equity in Washington state on the cannabis task force.

A study conducted by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project found that although African Americans and Latinos use marijuana at lower rates than whites, African Americans were 2.9 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possessing weeds. Latinos were 1.6 times more likely to be arrested than whites.

RELATED: New Program To Help Marijuana Offenders Get Jobs In The Legal Market

By relaxing the criminal background restrictions, it is Morgan’s goal to prevent people of color from being excluded from the legal cannabis industry.

“The end result brings equality to the industry and ensures that blacks and browns alike have access to this industry,” said Morgan.

The new rule has already been passed by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and will take effect on October 2nd.

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Black-owned cannabis companies are still few and far away

While state and city leaders and cannabis advocates across the country have embarked on social justice programs aimed at redressing the mistakes of the war on drugs and helping people of color get into the industry, their efforts have not yet had the desired effect.

The Pew Charitable Trusts looked at the situation across the country and found that low-income blacks and Hispanics, as well as those previously incarcerated, appear to be faced with one fundamental problem: money or lack of money.

“Cannabis businesses are uniquely expensive and difficult to run. You’ll have to navigate a thicket of state and federal regulations, from installing special ventilation systems to complying with specific safety protocols. Compliance may require hiring experts. And because the sale of marijuana is illegal under federal law, it is almost impossible to get a business loan, ”the think tank wrote.

Not a simple elevator

Pew’s comprehensive report quoted Laura Herrera, a cannabis consultant who advises social equity entrepreneurs in Oakland. And that’s just the beginning, she said.

“Except for large companies, nobody is really prepared for the bureaucracy and then for the compliance requirements and all operational requirements,” said Herrera. “It’s a huge elevator.”

Kudos to Washington State for their efforts.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.