Ganjly is one of the only minority-run and woman-owned cannabis publishers in the industry. We support the repeal of all Cannabis prohibition laws and penalties throughout the US and the rest of the world. And we believe that individuals shouldn’t suffer incarceration or stigma because of these unjust laws.
But we’re not the only ones fighting for social equity and social justice. Below is a list of organizations that enhance, support, and foster social equity in the marijuana industry. These organizations offer opportunities, jobs, training, and programs for minorities, overall diversity, and racial justice. These companies also support issues facing cannabis businesses.
We’re open to suggestions for other organizations that promote social justice and equality but for now, here’s the current list:
C.E. Hutton, is a minority-focused business development and management firm, provides a variety of tools, including capital-raise support to cannabis entrepreneurs and companies.
Drug Policy Alliance
The DPA aims for a “just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.” The organization’s website includes information on “race and the drug war.”
The Human Rights Watch covers many issues, racial disparity in drug arrests and convictions in one platform.
The Last Prisoner Project’s “core social justice focus is to release incarcerated cannabis prisoners.”
A recent statement from the group notes “suspected cannabis possession has been used to justify some of the most egregious examples of police violence and murder of Black Americans.”
The MPP lobbies for cannabis legislative reform across the U.S. The organization’s website includes information and resources related to race, justice, and cannabis.
Minorities for Medical Marijuana
M4MM is “focused on providing advocacy, outreach, research, and training as it relates to the business, social reform, public policy, and health/wellness in the cannabis industry.” Programs include cannabis industry apprenticeships and expungement of possession charges.
Minority Cannabis Business Association
The MCBA’s mission is “to create equal access for cannabis businesses and promote economic empowerment for communities of color by creating policy considerations, social programming, and outreach initiatives to achieve equity for the communities most affected by the war on drugs.”
MCBA has teamed with Merida Capital Partners to fund minority-owned cannabis businesses and institutions.
National Diversity and Inclusion Cannabis Alliance
The NDICA was founded “to create social equity, social justice and diversity for those affected by the war on drugs.” The organization offers events and programs and is a qualified vendor for Los Angeles’ Social Equity Business Development Program. The L.A. program assists entrepreneurs and companies with business licensing applications and more.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
NORML seeks to “reform state and federal marijuana laws, whether by voter initiative or through the elected legislatures.”
NuLeaf Project
The NuLeaf Project aims “to address the capital, education, and connection hurdles that people of color face when entering the cannabis industry.”
The organization, according to its website, “invests cannabis tax and corporate revenue into Portland, Oregon-based businesses owned by people of color and Portland professionals of color.”
The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project provides research and analysis meant to shape campaign priorities around criminal-justice reform, including disparities based on race.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
SSDP calls itself “the largest global youth-led network dedicated to ending the war on drugs.” A zip code-based finder on the groups directs users to local ways to advocate.
Hawthorne Social Justice Fund includes:
Last Prisoner Project is dedicated to cannabis criminal justice form, working to release people with low-level cannabis convictions from prison in states where it is now legal and provide pathways to employment.
Marijuana Policy Project Foundation is a racial justice and social equity project seeking to elevate cannabis reform as a civil rights issue at the national level and increase diverse representation within the legal cannabis industry.
Minorities for Medical Marijuana provides advocacy, outreach, research, and training as it relates to business, social reform, public policy, and health/wellness in the cannabis industry. Its Project Clean Slate program offers expungement clinics and wraparound services nationwide for those affected by past marijuana possession charges, while Project Safe Access NV assists members of the Latino community in accessing medical marijuana.
NuLeaf Project is working to build intergenerational wealth via the legal cannabis industry for the communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis criminalization–including Black and Brown communities. Hawthorne is a corporate sponsor for the Nu School Accelerator Program, which offers financial support and technical expertise on cannabis startup financing and operating an ancillary business.
United Returning Citizens provides job search and training, life and financial literacy skills and transitional and stable housing primarily for citizens reentering society from correctional facilities. This partnership focuses on workforce development, helping people with cannabis convictions in a high-unemployment area (Youngstown, Ohio) find employment and start businesses in hemp and indoor cultivation.
