The marijuana legislation currently working its way through the Massachusetts State House may not include specific language on licensing equity to allow minorities to take part in the industry.
Boston City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley joined Boston Public Radio weekend to discuss why she's strongly pushing for this equality, like she did for liquor licensing last year.
“With liquor licenses we are now trying to reverse 100 years of hurt," Pressley said. "We have an opportunity to proactively get ahead of this so that someone isn't digging out a 100 years later.”
Pressley believes that Massachusetts has the potential to be the first state in the country to get equity right.
“We’ve seen things in California, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and they do everything from you need to present a diversity hiring plan, set asides, 20 percent of tax revenue going to residency all these different pieces, however no one has gotten equity right," she added. "This is an opportunity for us to establish a blueprint.”
Another issue state lawmakers are grappling with is whether to allow municipalities to ban pot shops. “We really do believe these decisions should be made by ballot," Pressley said. "They need to go before the voters as a ballot measure.”
To hear the full interview, click the audio player above.
