By Georgina Munoz-Villanueva
The Cannabis Studies Program at Cal Poly Humboldt hosted a discussion on achieving social equity in California with United Core Alliance’s President and CEO Khalil Ferguson on March 22.
Ferguson is a social equity advocate, author, a business law and marijuana law student at Pacific’s School of Law, owner of a cannabis dispensary and the face of the United Core Alliance, a non-profit organization founded by social equity advocates, that works with communities affected by the war on drugs.
Ferguson spoke about the role of the legislative and constitutional limits, including California’s Proposition 209, in hindering equity efforts. The measure eliminated affirmative action programs in public employment, education and contracting and made it illegal for the government to show preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.
“The civil rights movement was asking to ban discrimination based on that,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think that’s a drawback, but it poses a hindrance when it relates to wanting to solve issues such as how to get more women involved in the market.”
In the cannabis industry, affirmative action will sometimes look like state-wide licensing systems with a quota that would grant a certain percentage of licenses to racial minorities, allowing them access to capital and social mobility. Nationally, according to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Cannabis Industry special report, racial minorities account for less than 16% of cannabis business ownership, while also accounting for more than 40% of the total U.S. population. In places like Illinois, Black and Hispanic cannabis majority owners comprise only 1% of the industry.
“The issue of this decade is how to include diversity, equity and inclusion in programs, jobs, houses, services, etc.,” Ferguson said. “It’s kind of frustrating […] to talk about racial justice because we all want racial justice, […] but how can you be passionate about it without knowing what your constraints are?”
Following the legalization of marijuana in California, AB-1793 was passed into law, which automatically dismissed or reduced all marijuana convictions that disproportionately targeted Black and Brown communities during the war on drugs. Equity programs were created to address these impacted communities, but created more problems.
“[Equity] has been over-inclusive,” Ferguson said. “There are folks in North Hollywood who haven’t been impacted by the war on drugs who qualify for social equity benefits.”
Ferguson talked about equity programs across California, and acknowledges that while Sacramento’s Resolution 2018-0323 has its pitfalls, he still uses it as a reference when compared to other equity programs. He believes Los Angeles’ cannabis equity program, for example, is one of the worst equity programs, as it requires applicants to have a commercial lease in the city before applying for a cannabis business license. The average office lease in Los Angeles costs around $45-$55 per square foot.
Humboldt County’s equity program, Project Trellis, has come under fire for similar issues as many cannabis farmers, some of which faced decade-long sentences in the 90’s for growing marijuana, find themselves unable to qualify for the program.
“That’s inequitable in itself,” Ferguson said.
Social equity advocates are now trying to argue for a more narrow definition of what equity would entail.
“I have to say that social equity is not a monolith,” Ferguson said. “Social equity is also easily challengeable because of the restraints that are erected by Prop 209. So, as an advocate, our job and your job is to be very innovative with how we can get around that.”
More information on Khalil’s work can be found at United Core Alliance and Khalil Ferguson’s website.
