Social equity is a trendy term among lawmakers, regulators, and advocates working to create legal marijuana markets and undo the harms of the War on Drugs. Unfortunately, many of the policies intended to help victims of the drug war are failing miserably.
California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, Vermont, and Virginia are just some of the states with social equity programs failing to deliver restorative justice and direct relief to victims of the drug war. Instead, state regulators created systems that allow third parties to intercept and absorb the benefits of the programs. In many cases, the parties benefiting are wealthy, connected political insiders and large commercial cannabis companies.
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