Why We Need the Oregon Cannabis Equity Act of 2021
The fight to pass the most comprehensive cannabis equity policy in the U.S.
In summer 2020, leaders in Oregon’s cannabis community got together to discuss all the ways Oregon has – and hasn’t – included equity and restorative justice in our legal cannabis laws and marketplace. The assessment was grim.
Leaders in the community and the cannabis industry formed a coalition specifically to address this issue. Hundreds of hours of conversations have now led to a landmark piece of legislation, the Oregon Cannabis Equity Act, that we believe will begin to really move the needle.
The Oregon Cannabis Equity Act provides equal opportunity for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx ownership in the growing cannabis trade and invests in communities disproportionately impacted by overpolicing and cannabis criminalization.
legislation SUMMARY
As Oregon continues to see growth in the recreational cannabis market, the Oregon Cannabis Equity Act provides an opportunity for Oregon to pass the most comprehensive, holistic approach to cannabis equity in the United States.
This Act enacts free, automatic expungement of eligible cannabis crimes for everyone eliminating the hurdles that have kept 20,000+ Oregonians from expunging their cannabis record.
The act also focuses on widespread reinvestment in the communities that have been hurt most by racial profiling in the War on Drugs – Black, Indigenous and Latina/o/x communities.
Passage of the Oregon Cannabis Equity Act would focus cannabis tax dollars and other relevant funds into repairing the damages disproportionately done to Black and Brown communities by providing business opportunities and support and meeting housing, education, and health care needs.
To learn more about about this landmark legislation and what it would accomplish, tap the button below.
