Four years ago, my bredren and I walked into the Marriott Times Square to attend the east coast installment of the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo. Colorado was the latest state cashing in on the “Green Rush,” with Denver having had twice as many dispensaries as Starbucks. Those shops were generating record high tax revenue. A TV show highlighting the mad dash to open the first dispensaries in newly legal Aurora, gave us a first hand look at how it was all unfolding.
With all that in the back of our minds, we walked in naive to the realities of this new industry. There were white men in suits all around. No one looked liked us. I initially thought we were in the wrong place. We were, in fact, in the right place. At the end of the weekend long event, I had a new understanding of what was going on. They were only giving out four licenses for the entire state and the application process and fees were damn near insurmountable; Well, if you looked like me. Had any cannabis convictions on your record? You’re done. It felt eerily similar to the feeling I got watching neighborhoods in my hometown NYC being gentrified. Why couldn’t we be a part of this new exciting, burgeoning cannabis machine? Coincidence?
I’d just been arrested for the second time that year for smoking outside. Anyone who’s had the experience knows it’s a sheer waste of everyone’s time. You have to sit in the bookings, wait to see a judge and get served a tosummons. On top of that, your clothes are ruined so those usually go in the garbage. Because who wants stink ass jail clothes. Crazy as it sounds, I felt it was a rite of passage in some ways. Those most victimized were getting the short end of the stick. Another coincidence.
Fast forward four years. Governor Cuomo laid out a plan to legalize recreational cannabis in New York earlier this month.
In the proposed plan, that takes cues from new legislation in neighboring New Jersey and in Massachusetts, cannabis would be available to adults 21 and older. By 2023, annual tax revenue could reach $300 million. Tax relief, criminal justice reform and much needed repairs to the MTA system are all highly speculated to be the beneficiaries of the new money.
That all sounds incredible. But there’s a growing tally of coincidences in the back of my head. There has been some talk from the Governor about sealing cannabis related records and convictions. That conversation has been far from transparent. Are their exceptions to these sealed records? Is the licensing process going to be a reality for those most impacted by archaic, racist laws? Is this going to stay a corporation driven business? Cities like San Francisco have gotten it right with their equity program that requires you to meet income caps and have a cannabis related criminal record.
I love my city and wouldn’t trade it for anyplace in the world. We have a chance to get this right and make it possible for the victimized to run the race.
But that short end of the stick is always out there lurking, threatening to trip us up.