Pasadena Now reports..
Councilmember John Kennedy took a stand for social equity in the city’s efforts to loosen the city’s cannabis regulations on Monday.
The new regulations will allow up to three cannabis retailers per council district, instead of one, and decrease the required distance between cannabis retailers from 1,000 feet to 450 feet.
However, the guidelines do not address a social equity platform.
Social equity programs are designed to support equal opportunity in the cannabis industry by making legal cannabis business ownership and employment opportunities more accessible to low-income individuals and communities most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis.
The council won’t discuss a social equity program until April.
“We are here today and we are not even discussing social equity, but you are willing to put three dispensaries in District 3 without social equity,” said Kennedy. “It’s discriminatory. No African Americans or Latinos are in the queue to receive a license.”
Read more at https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/council-amends-cannabis-guidelines-still-no-social-equity/
