• Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • Login
  • Register
Your Trading Edge Magazine
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Feature
    • Market Commentary
    • Expert Advice
    • Columns
  • Trading
    • Shares and Trading
    • Technical Analysis
    • Trading Mindset
  • Crypto News
  • Finance
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Feature
    • Market Commentary
    • Expert Advice
    • Columns
  • Trading
    • Shares and Trading
    • Technical Analysis
    • Trading Mindset
  • Crypto News
  • Finance
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Your Trading Edge Magazine
No Result
View All Result

Marijuana entrepreneurs typify generational shift on $24B industry, but disparities remain

October 31, 2021
in Finance
Reading Time: 7 mins read
A A
0
Marijuana entrepreneurs typify generational shift on $24B industry, but disparities remain
0
SHARES
8
VIEWS
ShareShareShareShareShare

Twenty-five years after California became a pioneer in the marijuana industry, as the first state in the U.S. to make medical marijuana legal, almost every other state in America has now legalized cannabis either for medical or recreational use. It’s one of the fastest-growing markets in America that’s expected to surpass $24 billion in revenue this year, and eclipse $70 billion by 2028.

Estimates show that as many as 55 million Americans use marijuana regularly and a growing majority of Americans support its legalization on the federal level. In fact, 66% of Americans believe cannabis should be legal, according to a Gallup poll from October 2019, a dramatic shift from decades prior. By comparison, just 12% of Americans supported legalization in 1969, according to Gallup.

The numbers reveal a once gaping generational divide is closing as stigmatization of the drug slowly becomes undone with an increase in education. Research has shown marijuana can help relieve a number of ailments from chronic pain to depression, while health risks include mental health problems and respiratory disease.

Kika Keith and her daughter, Kika Howze, owners of Gorilla Rx, the only Black woman-owned dispensary in Los Angeles, represent two generations of marijuana entrepreneurs aligned on the benefits of the plant. After opening their shop this year in the Crenshaw neighborhood, the duo credits intrinsic generational values for the shop’s early success.

“We come from a very strong-rooted family … [and marijuana] was something that was a part of our family for so many generations and brought healing,” Howze told Yahoo Finance. “And that’s what we hope to be able to do for our community.”

“To be able to educate others not just based off of what we know from smoking the plant, but also what the topical wellness benefits for pain medication are … really takes us back to where the plant came from as a healing source,” she said.

Though cannabis has been used to treat ailments for at least 3,000 years, federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration have been resistant to classify marijuana as safe or effective in treating any medical condition. However, the FDA does “recognize the potential opportunities that cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds may offer.”

Former NBA star Al Harrington, CEO of his own cannabis company Viola, knows the healing power of marijuana well. He credits it for helping subside many of the ailments his grandmother had, including glaucoma, more than 10 years ago.

“It took me two days to convince her, but when she finally tried it, she experienced instant relief,” Harrington told Yahoo Finance. “The first thing she did was she went downstairs, and she read her Bible. I actually walked in on her reading the Bible, and she was crying. She said that was the first time she had read the words in the Bible in over three years.”

Black representation in the industry

It’s stories like this, and others like Mike Tyson saying he wished he smoked marijuana his entire career, that have increased the popularity of cannabis nationwide. But just as fast as the industry has grown, disparities have also emerged. People of color account for less than a fifth of owners or stakeholders at marijuana companies, according to a 2017 survey. And Black people occupied less than 5% of leadership roles in the industry.

Dozens of marijuana dispensaries (stores) have opened along the Highway 50 lakeshore drive since the legalization of recreation cannabis was passed by voters in 2016 as viewed on October 17, 2021, in South Lake Tahoe, California. The state of California raised $817 million in tax revenues on cannabis last year and is expected to surpass $1 billion this year. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

For critics, the disparities are emblematic of a continuous cycle of people of color being left out of profits on something they were once historically criminalized for.

“We were pioneers in these spaces,” Harrington told Yahoo News earlier this year. “And when you look at us today in 2021, we don’t have any representation. We have no ownership. So with cannabis, I feel like Black people that have found success in this space, we have to continue to speak on this. We cannot expect that they’re just going to do the right thing because they haven’t done the right thing historically.”

Black people have also been overcriminalized for marijuana dating back to the early 1900s, and arrests ramped up in the 1960s under President Nixon as part of the War on Drugs. Despite the same usage rates, Black people are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Today more than half of all drug-related arrests are attributed to marijuana.

It’s a troubling trend that Harrington hopes he can help course-correct with his marijuana brand. He’s advocated for more opportunities and resources on behalf of marginalized groups with politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.), who have lent their support. But there’s still mounting opposition in Congress.

A customer receives information about cannabis as she buys THC leaves at the Weed World store on March 31, 2021, in Midtown New York. - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation legalizing recreational marijuana on March 31. 2021, with a large chunk of tax revenues from sales set to go to minority communities. New York joins 14 other US states and the District of Columbia in permitting cannabis after lawmakers in both state chambers, where Cuomo's Democratic Party holds strong majorities, backed the bill on March 30. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

A customer receives information about cannabis as she buys THC leaves at the Weed World store on March 31, 2021, in Midtown New York. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation legalizing recreational marijuana on March 31. 2021. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

“The War on Drugs has been a war on people — particularly people of color,” Schumer, Booker and Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) said in a joint statement earlier this year. “Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to right the wrongs of this failed war and end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color across the country.”

Viola, named after Harrington’s grandmother, is currently in six states and expects to be in nine by the end of 2022. But even with his access to capital after a 16-year NBA career, Harrington understands how challenging it is to break into the space.

“This industry has been founded on our backs,” he said. “And we just feel like 3% is not the proper representation for our people.”

‘Education is the key’

Keith believes education is a major part of leveling the playing field. She was able to open up Gorilla Rx thanks, in large part, to LA’s Social Equity Program, which promised to provide a more equitable ownership in the space.

But once she started going through the program in 2017, Keith quickly found various obstacles. She pushed back on many of the requirements and still, the slow rollout meant she’d have to pay monthly rent of $12,000 on a space that was left vacant for three years while she acquired a license. So Keith turned the space into a classroom.

“Education is the key,” she said. “We really have to look at both access to capital and education to properly prepare us to run a compliant business.”

Marquise Francis is a national reporter and producer with Yahoo News.

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit


Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendPinShare
Previous Post

Ethereum Breaks ATH and Retraces, Binance Coin Soars 8%

Next Post

Was The Smart Money Right About Visa Inc (V)?

Related Posts

W. P. Carey Inc. to Release Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results on Friday, February 10, 2023
Finance

W. P. Carey Inc. to Release Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results on Friday, February 10, 2023

January 27, 2023
3
This year’s rally bears an ‘eerie resemblance’ to last summer’s headfake: Morning Brief
Finance

This year’s rally bears an ‘eerie resemblance’ to last summer’s headfake: Morning Brief

January 27, 2023
3
Canada’s Aurora Cannabis to shut down a facility in Edmonton
Finance

INDIA STOCKS-Adani Group fallout drags Indian shares to 3-month low

January 27, 2023
4
S.Korea fines Citadel Securities for stock algorithm trading breaches
Finance

S.Korea fines Citadel Securities for stock algorithm trading breaches

January 27, 2023
3
Oppenheimer Suggests 2 Stocks to Buy, Including One With 170% Upside Potential
Finance

Oppenheimer Suggests 2 Stocks to Buy, Including One With 170% Upside Potential

January 27, 2023
4
Next Post
Was The Smart Money Right About Visa Inc (V)?

Was The Smart Money Right About Visa Inc (V)?

Recommended

Are we still in a bear market rally? Citi’s Kristen Bitterly explains

Are we still in a bear market rally? Citi’s Kristen Bitterly explains

January 24, 2023
5
Fiji Elects Pro-Bitcoin PM, Considers Bitcoin as Legal Tender

Fiji Elects Pro-Bitcoin PM, Considers Bitcoin as Legal Tender

December 30, 2022
9
VeChain: Digital passport on VET blockchain opens new trillion-$-market

VeChain: Digital passport on VET blockchain opens new trillion-$-market

December 31, 2022
9
Bitcoin Price Holds Steady at $21K: 4 New Bullish Indicators

Bitcoin Price Holds Steady at $21K: 4 New Bullish Indicators

January 21, 2023
5
Millions of Aussies letting $243 go to waste

Millions of Aussies letting $243 go to waste

January 16, 2023
7
Your Trading Edge Magazine

This is an online news portal that aims to share the latest news about trade, finance, crypto and much more. Feel free to get in touch with us!

What’s New Here!

  • Here’s Why Polkadot’s DOT Is Not a Security According to the Web3 Foundation
  • W. P. Carey Inc. to Release Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results on Friday, February 10, 2023
  • Mango Markets Files Lawsuit Against Avraham Eisenberg

Subscribe Now

Loading
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us

© 2021 - ytemagazine.com - All rights reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Feature
    • Market Commentary
    • Expert Advice
    • Columns
  • Trading
    • Shares and Trading
    • Technical Analysis
    • Trading Mindset
  • Crypto News
  • Finance
  • Subscribe

© 2021 - ytemagazine.com - All rights reserved!

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?