Push to aid minorities in pot biz

ALBANY – As the state moves closer to legalizing marijuana, a new coalition of black leaders is calling on Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature to design a law that benefits minority communities that have been hit hardest by the war on drugs.

The coalition on Friday will kick off a “We Rise to Legalize” campaign that seeks to require that any pot bill give priority to women and minority-run businesses and nonviolent offenders who had been convicted on marijuana charges when issuing licenses to grow and sell the drug.

The group also wants to make sure any bill expunges nonviolent marijuana convictions from people’s records and expand reentry programs to people impacted by drug arrests.

It also seeks to expand access to the current medical marijuana program into communities of color, reinvest profits from pot businesses into minority communities most harmed by the current drug laws, develop communitybased education and abuse programs, and create “good, sustainable jobs” in the marijuana industry.

The coalition includes civil rights advocates like Black Institute President Bertha Lewis, faith leaders, and other activists.

Lewis and others the criminalization of pot has disproportionately led to the convictions of black and Latinos “and have created enormous suffering in communities of color.”