Growing marijuana industry struggles to attract employees of color
Advocates say people of color are often reluctant to join the growing legal marijuana economy because they were targeted far more often than whites during the war on drugs.
As Massachusetts developed laws for legal marijuana, officials wrote what they claimed was a first-in-the-nation Social Equity Program explicitly to give members of those communities a leg up. But this part of the state law isn’t working — next to no black or Latino candidates have applied for licenses in Massachusetts. They’re scared of the government. “They’re scared of the government, man,” said Sieh Samura, an outspoken cannabis activist. “This is still a new thing. And there’s taxes, there’s the government, there’s all kinds of things, you know. Just because people say it’s legal … it’s not welcoming for everybody.”
Original Article (NPR):
Growing Marijuana Industry Struggles To Attract Employees Of Color
Artwork Fair Use: Terry Johnston
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