New York State to award up to 200 licenses to marijuana convicts – Cannabis Hemp Blog

New York State on Thursday will announce plans to award up to 200 cannabis business licenses to those with a parent, guardian, child, spouse or dependent with marijuana convictions, Office of Cannabis Management executive director Chris Alexander told The New York Times. This group will be the first licensed cannabis awardees in the state as part of an effort to assure that members of communities affected by the War on Drugs are part of the multi-billion-dollar marijuana business in the state, the newspaper reported. Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to announce the effort later today. New York State will also set up a $200 million public-private fund to support social equity applicants to seed businesses of social equity license holders. The effort is intended to avoid issues with social equity licenses in other states, where some have been forced to sell their licenses because of a lack of financing and other support.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Source