As Connecticut establishes its legal weed market, the state is giving preference in licensing to so-called social equity applicants who live in areas that were targeted by past drug enforcement.
It’s a move that a growing number of states where adult-use cannabis is now legal have taken as they’ve sought to address disparities from the war on drugs and enable those communities that were targeted to participate in the legal market. States have differed in their approaches to creating racial equity in an industry that is dominated by white business owners.
In Connecticut, half of all licenses for are reserved for social equity applicants, who must meet established thresholds for income, residency, and business ownership. Most applicants for cannabis licenses in Connecticut must go through a lottery system compared to merit-based system that exists in other states.
To help navigate a new industry in the state, the Social Equity Council that oversees this process has turned to a major auditing and accounting firm, CohnReznick. The firm is charged with developing a system for reviewing equity applicants to ensure they comply with the rules and to recommend applicants for approval or denial. The contract is worth up to $600,000 and is effective until Dec. 31.
While the council has the final say as to whether an applicant advances to the provisional licensing phase, it rarely, if ever, has strayed from CohnReznick’s recommendations. [Read More @ CT Insider]
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