What is social equity in Colorado’s cannabis industry? Regulators look to level the playing field for marginalized communities

With about 40 states expected to allow some form of legalization by the end of December, 2020 is poised to be a breakout year for cannabis.

But as the movement toward normalization gains steam across the United States, legislators and activists are adding a moral provision to the burgeoning marijuana industry: to rectify decades of racial persecution caused by the War on Drugs.

Colorado is no exception. This year, regulators at the state level and in Denver are tackling new initiatives to improve social equity in the industry — even if they’re still figuring out exactly what that looks like.

Broadly, social equity is a concept rooted in the idea that each person is equal and has inalienable rights. When it comes to cannabis, this much-buzzed phrase refers to righting the wrongs of the War on Drugs, whether it be creating deliberate entry points into the industry for people of color or seeking justice for those whose lives were upended by marijuana-related incarceration or criminal convictions. [Read more at Denver Post]