Black legislators in Pennsylvania call for equity in cannabis legalization efforts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If Pennsylvania decides to legalize cannabis like most of its neighbors already have, members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus want equity provisions included in the legislation.
In a news conference in the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg on Tuesday, members called for expungements for people with a criminal record related to cannabis, pathways to resentencing, a return of assets seized during cannabis-related arrests and compensation for people who had been incarcerated under marijuana possession laws.
"The Legislative Black Caucus will not accept the advancement of an adult-use program that still holds incarcerated individuals that have previously been convicted for cannabis activity," said the caucus' chair, Democratic Rep. Napoleon Nelson, who represents parts of Montgomery including Cheltenham, Elkins Park and Jenkintown.
Nelson also called for the establishment of an Office of Social Equity that would manage a Cannabis Development Fund. The fund would receive revenue via the state tax on legalized cannabis and a portion of licensing fees plus an initial appropriation from the state, and provide grants and low-interest loans to help people breaking into the industry.
Multiple state representatives in the caucus who spoke called for a large portion of licenses issued to cultivators, producers, dispensaries and other businesses to go to social equity licensees. That could mean people who were previously charged with cannabis offenses or people who live in a community with high amounts of cannabis convictions.
"Certainly, I live in and we represent communities that were disproportionately impacted by the war on cannabis," Philadelphia State Sen. Sharif Street said. "We want to make sure those folks can benefit from a legal cannabis market...get licenses, be grower-processors, but to also own dispensaries."
"It's about writing historical wrongs and addressing social inequities," Rep. Amen Brown added.
"We're in a commonwealth that has a number of dispensaries, I believe none of which are owned by Black folk," added Rep. Chris Rabb.
The head of a key industry group also spoke favorably of proposed equity measures.
"We know that we have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs," said Rep. Lindsay Powell of Allegheny County. "Pennsylvania ranks 14th when it comes to the racial equity gap, meaning that we are falling far behind our peers, far behind other states when it comes to ensuring Black and Brown folks are at parity with our White counterparts."
"By ensuring that we are focusing on criminal justice, making sure that those disproportionately criminalized and incarcerated for cannabis are being restored, making sure that we are centering social equity so that businesses are able to flourish and be created by these new revenue funds and that we can ensure that we have Black business owners that are able to capture shares of this market," Powell continued.
"Our coalition stands to work with all these folks behind me in ensuring their priorities are included in a lot of the existing legislation that's already on the table. We have vehicles that are ready to go - the voices of the legislative Black caucus being added to those vehicles will make them unstoppable," said Meredith Buettner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, which helps lobby and create policy for the commonwealth's existing medical marijuana industry.
In April, the House Subcommittee on Health Care held a hearing encouraging social equity measures including expungement to be part of the legislation.
A 2022 CBS News poll found 66% of registered voters in the Commonwealth supported legalizing marijuana.
Every state that borders Pennsylvania has legalized cannabis except for West Virginia. Earlier this year, Shapiro told CBS News Pittsburgh that legalizing the drug would bring in $250 million in tax revenue.
Thirteen bills and resolutions that mention cannabis have been introduced in the 2023-24 legislative session, which is coming to a close this month.