LIKE JOKES? I got one for you:
Q: What’s green and white all over?
A: The cannabis industry in Oregon.
As we begin to see the rollout of canna businesses around the state, it’s important we recognize that we here in Oregon are not a terribly diverse pool of ganjapreneurs. Part of that is due to the state’s racial makeup; according to the US Census, as of 2013, Oregon had a population of 3,928,068, and of that, 88.1 percent is white. We are a state with a complicated and cringe-inducing history when it comes to how we have treated—and in many cases still treat—people
of color.
In that context, it’s important that we take steps to encourage diversity in Oregon’s nascent weed business. One of the prominent figures on that front is Jesce Horton, co-founder and vice president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association (minoritycannabis.org). The MCBA is a nonprofit with a mission to make the cannabis industry more accessible to women and minorities.
Naturally, it’s a big undertaking, and it comes with a multitude of interconnected issues that face the minority community, especially when we’re talking about cannabis. As Horton said in a recent webinar with MJ Freeway, “For lack of a better word, minorities are shell shocked when it comes to anything regarding cannabis, regarding drugs and the potential to be arrested.”
The MCBA lists three goals on its website: economic empowerment, social justice, and patients’ rights. These are crucial issues, as minorities—whether they’re in the cannabis business or not—have less access to investment money, pay higher interest rates, and are turned down at a greater rate than non-minority applicants. The historic racial disparity when it comes to cannabis-related arrests and prosecution is common knowledge, as is the way in which a marijuana prosecution can hamper someone’s future business undertakings.
Patient rights are equally important, and as the MCBA website states, “The responsible use of cannabis has been reported to assist in the treatment of a number of medical ailments and social conditions, many of which affect the minority community at exceeding rates.” It’s vital to remember this, particularly as the rush to follow those recreational cannabis dollars comes at the expense of the plant’s value as an established tool in helping the sick and injured in our communities.
The MCBA is working to address these matters through education, national networking, training opportunities, and serving as a voice for the minority population. I asked Horton for his thoughts on the emerging cannabis market.
“I believe cannabis consumers represent the most widespread demographic of any nonessential product,” he said. “Cannabis culture, and the plant itself, teaches us so much about goodwill and unity. If we don’t stay true to these facts, and build this industry with inclusion and diversity as cornerstone principles, it will never reach its full potential economically or as a means for positive social change.”
What a pompous ass. Cannabis is essentially the most complete natural pharmacological panacea. Everybody ought to grow their own, thereby taking the profit out of crime and taxes. The poor of every race, creed, religion, nationality, and hood, will all benefit equally, without special privilege. Trying to make a high profit scam for a select few at the expense of the poor and middle class is fucking bullshit.
If you have been waiting to find a lawyer helping you negotiate the bureaucratic delays getting licensed to sell dried sifted budflower, consider instead setting up a workshop with a workbench and shelving for materials and tools, and make 25-mg-single-vapetoke utensils (flexdrawtube one-hitters) which will soon utterly replace the H(ot)B(urning)O(verdose)M(onoxide) 500-mg Joint or nicotine Blunt. Check out the free wiki article, “12 Ways to Make Vapetoke Pipes from Everyday Objects”, sign in, add diagrams and photos, rewrite, improve.
Anyone ought to be able to take their crop on down to the farmers market and sell it for whatever the market will bear.
Oh, yeah, that’s right, I forgot. Since most convicts of victimless weed infractions are minorities, only minorities ought to be able to get licensed to sell weight. We wouldn’t want to break anybody’s rice bowl. I hope this doesn’t hurt all the Mexican cartels growing thousands of acres of Marijuana in vineyards of Eastern, Washington State.
End the War on Drugs and let backward third world under developed countries sell what they grow best. Fucking hypocrites. Oh, the poor immigrants need jobs. If the US didn’t have it’s foot on the throat of their throats they might be able to support themselves. This interstate commerce clause bullshit is just closed market protectionism.
I demand real, old school, genuine, Panama Red, and Lebanese Blonde hash. Acapulco Gold, Michoacán, and Oaxacan have all been made extinct, due to parquet sprayed by US military aircraft. The fighting continues in Columbia, but Santa Marta Gold, Mangobiche, and Punta Roja still exist. Let’s fucking have it.
Oaxacan genetics can be found in Blueberry strain and Michoacán was crossed to produce Cannaloupe Haze. These are great hybrids, but the pure land race would have been worth preserving. Now it’s lost forever. That’s like what if oranges were to be wiped out, and you could never get them anymore.
This whole tax and regulate bullshit is un-American. Just like the Revolutionary War began with a 5% tax on tea, yet the first thing that General Washington did when he took office as President was to levy a tax on Whiskey. That REALLY pissed people off. Pennsylvania refused to pay, but all the other States were to scared to resist George Washington, so with all the fresh tax revenues, the President put together an Army and conquered Pennsylvania.
There’s always somebody trying to bum everybody else’s trip. Why do you want to take all the fun out of Weed by placing all sorts of meddlesome restrictions on it? The whole idea of smoking it in the first place is to relax, have fun, and enjoy the freedom.
It’s time to rescind the tax and regulation of so-called, “Marijuana” in Orygun, and end the prohibition completely, you fucking prick.