“You can just point to the fact that we have been deemed essential, why are we not legal?”
^ Matt Hawkins, managing partner of Entourage Capital, a private equity firm with $200 million invested in Green Thumb Industries and other cannabis producers, is hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate the cannabis legalization movement.
Source: CNBC
“Without providing these businesses the relief needed to carry out the recommended public health and worker-focused measures, we are putting these hard-working people—and ourselves—at risk.”
^ In a press release, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, advocated for cannabis businesses to have access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs. He, along with Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), introduced legislation April 23 that would make cannabis businesses eligible for SBA COVID-19 relief programs. Source: U.S. Congressman Blumenauer’s office
“While there has been some progress in scaling back the war on people who use marijuana, it is still wreaking havoc in much of the U.S.”
^ In an April 20 report titled “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that racial disparity in cannabis arrests has increased since 2015, with black people more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession, even in states that have legalized cannabis. Source: ACLU
