Christina Betancourt Johnson has made history in the cannabis sector. The Washington, DC, native with 15 years of experience as an executive — per Honeysuckle magazine — is the founder and CEO of Standard Wellness Maryland, which launched in 2019. The company had an interest in catering to consumers as well as patients looking for premium products for their medicine. Its offerings include flowers, topicals, tinctures, vapes, and concentrates, its website mentions. At the heart of S tandard Wellness Maryland’s lies a mission t o ensure there is greater representation in the cannabis industry, and this became part of Johnson’s call to action to drive equity in partnership with Rooted Therapeutics, her first company. Benzinga reports that Standard Wellness Maryland’s existence is historic as it is the first v ertically integrated cannabis company in the United States majority-owned by an African American and Latina, according to the social equity office in Maryland. It is licensed to...

The legalization of cannabis has sparked a once-taboo form of entrepreneurship and has since seen a 76 percent increase in the demand for cannabis-related jobs. As the cannabis market continues to bloom, people of color — who make up the majority of drug law violation arrests — are locked out the money-making enterprise. With the state of California leading the charge of the legal marijuana movement, some Black entrepreneurs still find it hard to open cannabis stores. The Los Angeles Social Equity Program (SEP) was designed to give those with low income, past cannabis-related offenses or arrests — or live in Disproportionately Impacted Areas — support in regards to owning and operating a licensed cannabis business. The program aims to empower those whose community was affected by the War On Drugs and break down obstacles that hinder entry into the cannabis business. One such obstacle is the sought after L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation business license. According to The...

Founder Rashaan Everett has launched Growing Talent, a social equity incubator dedicated to training those affected by the war on drugs to run a successful cannabis business. Growing Talent aims to educate people of color about the cannabis industry through a curriculum that emphasizes applying for a medical and adult-use license, federal and state laws, policy, horticulture, business development, and financial literacy. The Los-Angeles-based incubator is working in partnership with cannabis compliance software developer, Simplifya, and plans to train participants on the platform. Participants who complete the program can receive investment capital and financing from Good Tree, a luxury cannabis delivery service, and Good Tree Capital. The money will used to launch a Good Tree franchise. “Risk mitigation has been our focal point. We’re clearing the hurdles that social equity applicants face when they’re looking to raise capital to launch their businesses,” Everett told financial...