The license comes more than a year after the state of New York legalized the use of cannabis. (Representative)
New York:
Naomi Guerrero’s brother was frequently stopped by the police and was once convicted on a drug charge when marijuana was illegal in New York. Now, she’s setting up a legal cannabis business, a promising new market that’s fraught with pitfalls.
New York state is awarding its first 150 licenses for the legal sale of cannabis to people — and their relatives — who have been convicted of drug-related offenses, including sale.
The policy, implemented by the state’s Democratic leaders, seeks to compensate African-American and Hispanic communities whose members were illegally arrested and convicted over the decades.
“It’s an exciting moment for my family,” said Guerrero, 31, a PhD art history student whose parents are from the Dominican Republic.
“Especially considering where we come from and what we’re dealing with, with the discriminatory policies that the city has, like stop and frisk,” he told AFP.
Last month, Guerrero was one of the first 28 successful applicants to receive a license to open an official store and sell locally grown cannabis.
The licenses come more than a year after New York state, home to 20 million people, legalized cannabis use.
In New York City, the smell of weed is now as ubiquitous as yellow cabs and shiny skyscrapers.
The city government expects the legal cannabis industry to generate $1.3 billion in sales by early next year and 19,000 to 24,000 jobs in three years. This represents much needed tax revenue.
racial disparities
Jeremy Rivera, is another New Yorker looking to profit. He was convicted of “non-violent drug offenses including cannabis” in 2016. He was released from jail in 2018 and vowed never to return.
The 36-year-old wants to put his knowledge of cannabis and business acumen to use by opening a weed shop on the city’s east side on Long Island.
The heavily tattooed Rivera, who was beset by crime in the Queens borough, hopes to be among the next group of licensees.
“I want to be that beacon of light that shows people, ‘Hey listen, I’ve done it. I was a gang member for 20 years, I was a drug dealer for a year. I decided to leave that lifestyle, he told AFP.
As well as a cannabis conviction, applicants must also have a profitable business to be eligible for one of the first 150 licenses that will be out before the full opening of the market.
In 2018, a state report estimated that there had been 800,000 arrests for marijuana possession in the previous 20 years.
In 2017, the majority of those arrested were Black (48 percent), while Hispanics made up 38 percent of arrests.
“Prohibition deprived people of opportunities, it caused disinvestment in communities, it tore families apart,” said Tremaine Wright, chair of the Board of Control for New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
Guerrero says that in the 2000s, the New York Police Department’s notorious stop-and-frisk policy, which disproportionately targeted people of color, meant “we couldn’t get out without getting picked up by the police.
“It was just living in a constant, constant state of surveillance and harassment,” she recalled.
While the cannabis program is ambitious, experts say implementation will have its own challenges.
“We are still at the beginning of our journey to social equality. We need education, we need funding,” said Desmon Lewis, co-founder of The Bronx Community Foundation.
under the counter
Last week, local media outlet NY Cannabis Insider reported that the team tasked with raising $150 million from private investors for the state’s $200 million fund to support retailers missed a key deadline set by the state Was.
This raises concerns that candidates may not get the ready-made stores that were promised.
“For some people, it’s very confusing. They’ve been counting on this place and these funds. Now it’s like sand slipping from under their feet”, said Allie Northrup, head of the Bronx Defenders non-profit.
Also a cause for concern is the stiff competition from unlicensed vendors, encouraged by decriminalisation.
They have taken advantage of the lack of control since legalization, selling on the street, in parks, as well as in smoke shops that are already selling THC edibles, pre-rolls, and flowers.
But Rivera only sees opportunity.
“You’ll also have people who didn’t feel comfortable buying from the illegal market who now want to buy from a reputable licensed provider,” he said.
“This is the start of the next 100 years of cannabis sales,” he said while inhaling a long joint.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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