Environmental and Racial Justice in Cannabis
Full Title: Environmental and Racial Justice in Cannabis:We Can’t Ignore the Intersection
The racial inequality perpetuated by the war on drugs has made poor, urban communities of color especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. According to a United Nations report, these communities are:
More likely to experience the impact of climate change first
Likely to lose more assets and income than wealthy communities as a result of climate change
Less likely to recover from the resulting economic damage
Now is the time for cannabis industry leaders, entrepreneurs, advocates, and consumers to act.
Yes, the moral imperative is urgent. However, the need for sustainable solutions in cannabis worldwide is an excellent opportunity for brands savvy enough to invest in social equity and environmental justice as a business model.
How Social Equity Reinvestment Funds Can Include Environmental Justice
Illinois and New York cannabis laws each include provisions for community reinvestment funds, money diverted from cannabis taxes and used to enhance neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by prohibition.
Legislators design these programs to fund grants for violence prevention, substance abuse treatment, after-school childcare, job training, mental health treatment, nutrition, and other socially conscious services for economically disadvantaged communities.
These are excellent and necessary services, but they don’t address the environmental impacts of economic and racial inequality.
According to the World Health Organization, 80% of people living in urban areas are exposed to toxic air quality levels. This dangerous air quality increases the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, chronic and acute respiratory diseases like asthma, and stroke for those living in urban communities—most often poor, BIPOC children and adults.
COVID impacted Black people at a disproportionately severe rate precisely because we are more likely to have the type of pre-existing conditions exacerbated by exposure to toxins in the air. Can states use community reinvestment funds to improve air quality in areas disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs?
Another way that community reinvestment funds can promote environmental and racial justice is through the development of green infrastructure. According to the EPA, urban communities lack the type of green spaces that prevent rainwater runoff. As a result, toxic chemicals travel down impermeable pavement when it rains, eroding property and exposing residents to carcinogens.
Qualifying organizations can use cannabis funds to develop green infrastructure that captures and slows runoff while also providing residents with beautiful, safe recreational spaces. Parks, playgrounds, and gardens are simple solutions, but government budgets have historically neglected more impoverished areas where most residents are people of color.
As states move to legalize cannabis, they should continue to incorporate community reinvestment funds into the law’s text. However, they should also include measures that restore environmental justice in the communities that need it most.
Government cannot do this work alone. Existing and startup cannabis brands can leverage this moment to position themselves as first-movers toward environmentally conscious cannabis business with or without social equity programs in place.
How Cannabis Entrepreneurs Can Build Wealth and a Future through Environmental Justice
Social equity as a business model is simple.
Brands intentionally work to improve the communities they seek to profit from. In return, they earn far more trust than they would with empty promises and occasional social media posts.
Cannabis consumers care about social responsibility, so it’s more than morally conscious to make social equity and environmental justice the cornerstone of a brand’s identity. It’s smart business.
Cannabis operations can deploy the following strategies to promote social and environmental justice as they develop their own economic prosperity:
Invest in the communities they profit from. The cannabis market exists because of the mostly Black and Brown legacy entrepreneurs who built it. The war on cannabis tore those communities apart, making it exceedingly difficult for them to benefit from cannabis now that it’s legal. Cannabis companies can use a portion of their profits and their platforms to empower these communities with environmental justice in mind.
Form strategic partnerships with environmentally conscious brands. Cannabis brands should actively seek out minority-owned ancillary cannabis businesses that value sustainability and partner with them across their supply chain. These mutually beneficial relationships solidify each involved brand’s identity as a champion for social equity and environmental justice.
Get into hemp. Both versatile and carbon-removing, hemp presents farmers with one of the most environmentally efficient and versatile crops in agriculture. Medical and recreational cannabis use is the most well-known entry point into cannabis, but entrepreneurs shouldn’t miss the economic and environmental opportunities industrial hemp creates.
Develop an ancillary cannabis business focused on sustainability. Ancillary businesses can address many of the cannabis industry’s sustainability problems. For example, plastic dominates cannabis packaging, and the industry’s agricultural practices are notoriously unsustainable. Ancillary brands with sustainable products and technologies can play a pivotal role in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
Take a look at the following Black-owned plant-touching and ancillary cannabis businesses for inspiration on how to build a brand at the intersection of cannabis legalization, racial justice, and environmental sustainability.
Plant-Touching Sustainability Spotlight: Brown Girl Jane
Brown Girl Jane founders Malaika Jones Kebede, Nia Jones, and Tai Beauchamp created their beauty and wellness CBD brand specifically for women of color, a powerful but woefully neglected demographic in the beauty market. Brown Girl Jane’s ingredients are locally sourced, organically grown, cruelty-free, and sustainably packaged.
Brown Girl Jane donates a portion of their profits to a non-profit that aligns with their mission to include those disproportionately targeted by cannabis criminalization, isolated from the health benefits of cannabis, and excluded from the economic benefits of the legal cannabis industry.
Ancillary Sustainability Spotlight: TrellaGro LST
Aja N. Atwood, a mechanical engineer, and Andres “Dre” Chamorro III, an inventor, founded TrellaGro LST to solve a practical, nearly-universal problem commercial and home cannabis growers face: getting tall plants to fit in small indoor spaces. Trello’s patented technology allows cultivators to sustainably and automatically grow their plants horizontally instead of vertically to save space and conserve energy.
Trella doesn’t touch the cannabis plant, so the company doesn’t need to obtain a cannabis license—a permit that can cost thousands of dollars—to operate legally. However, it provides an innovative technology that can help the cannabis and food industries develop agricultural practices responsive to rapid climate change.
