In Los Angeles, cannabis advocates and business leaders Emery Morrison, Marvin Wilcher, and Larisa Bolivar are focused on advancing equality and increasing Black and Latino people’s involvement in the cannabis space.
As Nadya Nataly from CampNova puts it, Black and Brown people harmed by the war on drugs have spent over a million years in prison for cannabis-related offenses.
According to a release from CampNova, co-founders of the tech company, Marvin Wilcher and Emery Morrison, alongside Larisa Bolivar, founder of nonprofit Cannabis Consumers Coalition, denounce the racial profiling and cannabis criminalization continuing to impact their communities and industry.
“The diversity, equality and equity of the cannabis space has to be questioned,” Morrison said. “Too many people are still in jail for weed.”
A System Set-up for Failure
The systemic racial profiling and marijuana criminalization of generations of Black and Brown people is merely the tip of the iceberg. Often for those whose lives have been subverted by cannabis charges, there is no home waiting for them when they get out of jail.
The long-term effects of cannabis criminalization confronts — denied public housing, student financial aid, employment opportunities, and child custody, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In an interview with Nadya Nataly from Camp Nova, Bolivar said, “The sooner that everyone understands it’s not just about releasing us from jail, but about restorative justice. It’s about finding pathways to generational wealth in cannabis for our families and communities, the better for our industry and community.”
Disproportionate Arrests Are Still Happening
Cannabis arrests are still widespread across the U.S. While thousands remain in prison for cannabis-related offenses, the green rush is underway with a number of cannabis business owners already generating revenues in the millions, according to CampNova. Wilcher estimates the cannabis industry will turn into a conglomerate with a financial impact of over $100 billion annually.
“Without early capture of businesses in the space now,” Wilcher said. “hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for our communities will be missed.”
In his Cannabis Financial Restitution Plan, Wilcher proposes $25 billion dollars be invested into a reserve fund over a period of five years to be invested in African American and minority-owned cannabis businesses throughout the country. Wilcher is set to release details of his Cannabis Financial Restitution Plan later this month.
About CampNova: CampNova is an e-commerce, technology marketing platform developed by experienced cannabis entrepreneurs. CampNova is a premier cannabis and CBD destination delivered directly to consumers. CampNova features brands, bonus limited edition exclusive releases from celebrities featuring pro-athletes, actors, and influencers. Headquarters are in Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif.
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Edit: This article cites information included in a Press Release, written by Nadya Nataly, sent to Candid Chronicle from CampNova. All images and quotations were provided by CampNova.
It needs to be more clear that you didn\’t write this yourself, Vanessa. I think it\’s cute that you finally linked the real story by the actual writer that you took this from, but this is extremely misleading. On top of that, the plagiarism was glaring. It\’s almost as if you learned nothing from the piece Ms. Nadya Nataly so eloquently wrote: a culture and industry that white people now profit off of while the BIPOC folks get no credit and are locked out of participation. I really hope you don\’t actually call yourself a journalist in real life.