The most messed up part of weed legalization in Washington State is the simple truth that people of color, already disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs, have been almost entirely shut out of the wealth created by the legal industry. A few enlightened states around the country have tried to do something about this, but no state has gone as far as what our state just did.
Thirty-four retail licenses will be issued statewide “to allow for more opportunities for people of color to be a part of this growing industry, and to reap the benefits not only for their business community but for the entire community,” said Rep. Eric Pettigrew, who sponsored the law, which comes with $1.1 million to support those entrepreneurs. The law does not create new licenses, but rather redistributes licenses that have been given out previously and since been forfeited, revoked, or canceled for whatever reason.
Joy Hollingsworth, who may be familiar to you because her family’s farm appeared on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, estimated in an interview with The Stranger that each of those licenses is worth $500,000. She doesn’t work on the retail side of the industry, she works on the producer/processor side, but she’s been a vocal advocate for the social equity law because, as she puts it, “I just want more people to have the opportunity to get into the industry who look like me.”
