cannabis – The Philadelphia Observer

Black Entrepreneur Creates Platform To Promote Diversity In The Cannabis Industry

Juan Ignacio — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 22:10:25 +0000

As more and more states begin to legalize recreational cannabis and expand the medical marijuana sector, many Americans are taking advantage of new entrepreneurial and business opportunities to cash in on the revenue. However, despite the new legal market, many Black entrepreneurs and professionals have struggled to get their start within the industry that continues to be dominated by white men. One Maryland man created a new platform aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion within the state’s emerging cannabis market.

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Kevin Ford is the CEO of Uplift Maryland, a new platform to provide training and resources for Black people looking to get into the medical marijuana sector. Ford says he got the idea after exploring medical markets in other legalized states and his own experience in using medical marijuana. “While I was studying marketing in college, I took an interest in the medical cannabis markets in California and Colorado. When the market began to open up in D.C., I watched it closely in hopes that I’d have an opportunity to mix my entrepreneurial spirit with cannabis in a legal, medical market in Maryland,” says Ford in an email interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“Being a medical patient myself, I saw a void in the market for a clear source of information. I realized how complicated it could be to navigate the registration and certification process. With countless stigmas surrounding cannabis, I wanted to create a community where people are supplied with education, tools, and economic resources to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams in this very profitable industry. I also wanted to redefine a commodity that is still deemed illegal and incarcerates so many Black men, and turn it into a positive for our community by providing [an] education of opportunity, especially to those who have been marginalized by oppressive and unjust drug policies.”

Source: Black Entrepreneur Creates Platform To Promote Diversity In The Cannabis Industry

How Bernie Sanders would legalize marijuana

Juan Ignacio — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 14:51:47 +0000

October 28, 2019 Edit Edit with WPBakery Page Builder

Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his marijuana legalization plan on Thursday, taking aim at the “destructive war on drugs” and large cannabis corporations.

Marijuana legalization has long been part of Sanders’ policy platform. He introduced the first standalone marijuana legalization bill to the Senate in 2015 and also was the first major presidential candidate to call for marijuana legalization in 2016. His plan proposes criminal justice reform measures such as expunging past cannabis convictions and proposals to give people with convictions financial help to launch cannabis businesses.

“[The war on drugs] has disproportionately targeted people of color and ruined the lives of millions of Americans,” Sanders said in a statement. “When we’re in the White House, we’re going to end the greed and corruption of the big corporations and make sure that Americans hit hardest by the war on drugs will be the first to benefit from legalization.”

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How does he plan to legalize marijuana?

Sanders‘ proposes to deschedule marijuana, which would completely remove it from its classification under the Controlled Substances Act as highly dangerous and without any medicinal value.

Marijuana is now classified in the most restrictive category under federal drug laws — Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act — along with heroin and LSD.

Sanders would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act through the attorney general by an executive order within the first 100 days of his presidency. He would also nominate agency leaders for the Justice Department and Health and Human Services who would work toward this goal.