INNOVATIVE U.S. PROGRAMS LEADING THE WAY TO EQUITY

Cities in all of the nine U.S. states that have legalized recreational marijuana, except for Colorado, are now attempting to implement some kind of equity program to make sure those who were previously targeted during the war on drugs — disproportionately black and Latino — are able to participate in the legal industry.

San Francisco has partnered with Code for America, an organization that uses technology to make government services more effective and accessible, to develop and implement a machinelearning algorithm that automatically expunges criminal records for pot possession. The algorithm reads through court documents to identify cases that are eligible for pardon or to be downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanour. It then automatically fills out the forms for the district attorney to file with the court.

Oakland runs an “Equity Permit” program. To qualify, applicants have to be earning less than 80 per cent of the average city income, and either live in a specified high-crime zone for 10 of the last 20 years or have been convicted of a cannabis crime in Oakland since 1996. The program offers fee waivers, technical assistance and zero-interest startup loans to equity applicants.

Massachusetts was the first to have a statewide equity program. It includes explicit recognition that past cannabis offences will not disqualify someone from working in or owning a cannabis business, and the possibility to have criminal records sealed. Fees and revenues will go to a fund used, among other things, for job-skills training, technical assistance and mentoring services. Massachusetts also plans to track how the program is working, and research any evidence of discrimination or barriers to entry in the cannabis industry. Catherine Solyom, Montreal Gazette