CANNABIS & EQUITY in New York State KAELEN CASTETTER IN COVERSATION WITH REGGIE KEITH
Drastic action is needed for NY to achieve its goals for equity in cannabis.
The term “social equity” could be the most highly used phrase in New York’s cannabis industry. Despite an unprecedented effort by lawmakers to ensure a diverse industry that affords real economic opportunities to those communities devastated by the War on Drugs, there is no guarantee that a regulatory regime will achieve these goals. The Majority Leader, Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, made social equity a centerpiece of her legislation (the MRTA) to legalize cannabis. During debate on the bill Peoples-Stokes addressed concerns amongst her assembly colleagues that it allowed so-called “criminals” into the marketplace by flatly responding “they won’t be criminals come tomorrow” – referencing the fact marihuana was about to be legal in New York for the first time in over eight decades. She was spot on. New York isn’t creating a new industry, the State is simply legitimizing a marketplace that is already thriving. For the entirety of prohibition entrepreneurs grew, processed, distributed, and sold cannabis. Many of these operations became highly sophisticated and adapted to New York’s culture. For example, growers would hide plants along the brush line to avoid recognition by DEA helicopters while delivery services in Manhattan used apps and a network of couriers to help satisfy the insatiable demand. These innovators had to work under constant threat of violence, organized crime, and having their lives uprooted by law enforcement. They deserve a first look at the billion dollar opportunities legalization will open up.
A CONVERSATION
About Equity With Buffalo’s Most Legendary Cannaprenuer IN JULY, I sat down with Buffalo-area legend Reggie Keith. If you don’t know him – he is the founder of CannaHouse, a cannabis events and social club. He and his team have been putting on cool events in Western New York for several years now along with marketing their marquee product, “Dirty Lemonade”. He traveled to Binghamton with his team to discuss how my consulting firm, The Castetter Cannabis Group, can help him prepare for licensure. After sharing some stories and going through the business model, we ended up in a fascinating conversation around our frustrations of how the State was approaching social equity and more specifically – the inclusion of entrepreneurs like himself and my family who have been working hard for years in the informal marketplace. We ended up taking this conversation into a recording of our podcast, Empire State of Cannabis.
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CannaBuff.com FALL 2021
THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS AND A FULL RECORDING OF THE EPISODE IS ONLINE AT: CASTETTERCANNABIS.COM/PODCAST.
THE STATE WILL NEED TO ACT INTENTIONALLY The MRTA sets a goal that 50% of licenses awarded go to social equity applicants. If achieved, this will undoubtedly be a positive boost for communities most impacted by the War on Drugs and afford new opportunities to entrepreneurs who deserve them. However, Reggie points out that we will be setting them up to fail if the State isn’t intentional about reducing barriers to entry. “If there are legal systems in place that don’t allow those equity applicants to truly flourish then we are really just duplicating this process (prohibition) all over again”. – Reggie Keith on the Empire State of Cannabis Podcast
