AS STAKES RISE, EQUITY JOSTLING HEATS UP

The City of Los Angeles appears poised to overhaul of its regulations to benefit long-suffering applicants for equity licenses. ????WW California has more.
AP

• Canna Law Blog looks at what the changes could mean for the key market.
• The move comes shortly after Massachusetts said it would reserve REC delivery licenses for equity applicants.
  WeedWeek
• The National Cannabis Industry Association said it would offer free membership and other benefits to equity businesses.

With some jurisdictions stepping up on “equity,” tensions over what it means and who should benefit are heating up.

• 4thMVMT, which aims to build a network of equity entrepreneurs through a franchise-like model, has clauses in its agreements with entrepreneurs which an attorney called “predatory.” 4thMVMT chief (and recent WeedWeek Power Player) Karim Webb denied doing anything predatory or against franchisees’ interests.
  Los Angeles Times
• MG Retailer got criticized for its piece on 8 Cannabis Businesses Working for Social Equity.
• Writing at Medium, Danielle Schumacher, co-founder of THC Staffing Group, calls the MG Retailer piece “oblivious,” and notes, among other things, that the highlighted companies are largely white-owned. “It is irresponsible to publish such superficial and inaccurate perspectives of what social equity work entails,” she wrote.
• In a letter to the cannabis and hemp industry, Cannaclusive co-founder Mary Pryor called for diversity and accountability. Katie Shapiro wrote it up at Forbes.
• Canada’s legal weed industry also has a diversity problem, Vice reports. ????WW Canada has more.

Quick Hit

1. One entrepreneur thinks hemp could help restore Black farm ownership.
   Hemp Industry Daily