First conference of its kind hopes to help increase equity in Denver's marijuana industry

On Saturday, the state of Colorado and the city and county of Denver held a cannabis social equity conference to provide prospective licensees with resources and opportunities.

Juan Trevizo is one of the prospective licensees who attended the conference. He's worked in the industry for 12 years. Now he's trying to break into the cannabis ownership space to help people like him.

"I did a lot of free work for a lot of friends of mine in basements to start off, and I gained the knowledge and eventually went to cultivation facilities here in Denver," Trevizo said. "Social equity, it has to be where everybody can be a part of it, right? Not just rich people with a lot of money. I mean people like us, Latinos, so they can get involved in the business." 

This is the first conference of its type to be hosted in Colorado, hoping to give people like Trevizo access to people and spaces they may not have been able to make contact with. 

"Whose participating in the industry? Where do we see gaps that inform potential barriers for certain communities, communities of color?," said Dominique Mendiola, the senior director of the state of Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division. "So, that is where we have identified this critical need to have dedicated resources and support in this area."

According to a recent survey released by the city, about 75% of cannabis business owners identified as white and 13% identified as Latino, which doesn't represent state demographics. Only 6% of those business owners identified as Black. While the state and the city have been working to improve those numbers, the focus is now turning to education, so that once owners get a license they can succeed in the industry.

"We don't want to wait for issues to happen, we want to support compliance, we want to be really proactive like that, and that includes thinking about resources, we're developing town halls that we're hosting, etc.," Mendiola said. 

Providing spaces and education, so that those like Trevizo can further their cannabis careers.

"There is a big opportunity for people like us and we need to jump into it," Trevizo said. 

For more information on the conference visit: https://sbg.colorado.gov/med/social-equity-opportunities-conference