{"id":1748,"date":"2021-10-14T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T15:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenentrepreneur.com\/article\/390480"},"modified":"2021-10-14T15:13:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T15:13:00","slug":"massachusetts-awards-weed-delivery-licenses-exclusively-to-social-equity-applicants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=1748","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Awards Weed Delivery Licenses Exclusively to Social Equity Applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur<\/em> contributors are their own. <\/p>\n

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State officials and cannabis entrepreneurs in Massachusetts hope the recently launched weed delivery business provides a model for other states. The state system focuses not only on regulating an emerging area of the cannabis industry but also on social equity and addressing the damage wrought by the war on drugs.<\/p>\n

A major component of the state\u2019s system is to allow only companies with minority owners impacted by the war on drugs<\/a> to receive a delivery-only license for the first three years that delivery is legal. The program falls under the state\u2019s Social Equity Program (SEP).<\/p>\n

An example of this is the company We Can Deliver, which is delivering cannabis products for the dispensary Cultivate in Framingham, west of Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cMassachusetts kind of set the tone for other states,\u201d Brianna Grignon of Cultivate told CBS Boston<\/a>. The dispensary was the first to open in the state. \u201cWe are now writing the new norm for the American dream. I think we are bettering our wrongs that we have done to this country. How many people have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs?\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>3 Women Who Are Trailblazing Social Equity Programs<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Strict guidelines <\/b><\/h2>\n

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission defines <\/a>the goal of the SEP program as creating a cannabis industry in the state that includes \u201csustainable pathways into the cannabis industry\u201d for people impacted by the war on drugs, including those from areas with disproportionate arrest and incarceration rates.<\/p>\n

Cannabis industry businesses who qualify receive fee waivers and exclusive license types. The latter includes exclusive access to social consumption and delivery-only license types for up to three years. The state also waives application fees and some monthly program fees, including a 50 percent reduction in annual license fees.<\/p>\n

The eligibility requirements include the following.<\/p>\n