Who Can Sell Cannabis Legally?

Who Can Sell Cannabis Legally?

Cannabis is at the top of everyone’s mind. The MORE Act, which would federally legalize cannabis while releasing those serving time for cannabis-related charges, was recently reintroduced to the United States House of Representatives.

But while everyone is eager to indulge as seller and consumer, the groups who made cannabis what it is today are often shut out – some marred by past cannabis convictions and most unable to meet the high costs associated with licensing.

“We still have a lot of barriers that, you know, us equity recipients can’t get over,” says Edgar Cruz, a hopeful cannabis entrepreneur in Long Beach, California. According to Cruz, purchasing property for a cannabis business in Long Beach can cost $1 million, and that’s just the first step of the licensing application process.

Edgar is one of the hundreds of social equity applicants in California who have struggled to receive the necessary support to cross the finish line. But after three years as an applicant, Edgar has put his brand to the side so he can create lasting change for fellow cannabis equity applicants.

Read more about about the story here: https://cnb.cx/2Sr2wo7

As a cannabis entrepreneur based in Long Beach, California, Edgar Cruz’s work in the industry’s social equity space is personal.

At 15, Cruz had his first run-in with the law when he was arrested and charged for illegal possession of marijuana. That charge, he tells CNBC Make It, has influenced his decision to not only be involved in the now legal market, but to also ensure that entrepreneurs like himself have equal access to the billion-dollar industry.

Today, 18 states, two territories and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to allow adult recreational use of cannabis in the U.S. And 36 states and four territories have passed legislation to allow medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. This increased legalization has put the legal marijuana market on track to be worth $70.6 billion globally by 2028. In the U.S., where marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, legal marijuana sales are expected to hit $24 billion in 2021 alone.

“To see how lucrative the industry has become and who’s profiting from these legalization changes versus who is still suffering because of the history behind it is very frustrating,” says Cruz, who has been trying to get his cannabis brand Ekstrepe off the ground for three years now.

In 2017, 81% of marijuana business owners in the U.S. were white, 5.7% were Hispanic, 4.3% were Black and 2.4% were Asian. Cruz, along with several other equity advocates in the cannabis space, says the lack of diversity in the industry is at least partly due to the lasting impact of the war on drugs. And while many cities and states have launched equity programs to try and close this gap, Cruz, who is a participant in Long Beach’s Cannabis Social Equity Program, says these programs have often failed due to local government regulations and a lack of resources and capital for budding entrepreneurs.

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Who Can Sell Cannabis Legally?

39 Comments

  1. Energy Saver on June 5, 2022 at 2:45 am

    Wow locked people up for it then use privilege to grow and sell …folks we are boxed out of alll markets its like 10/1000 not by coincidence



  2. Jeff Dorris on June 5, 2022 at 2:46 am

    Happy 4th 🎆🎇✨



  3. Daniella Moreno on June 5, 2022 at 2:48 am

    Yeah they try charge everybody 🙄.



  4. Black Vito - Moneyology on June 5, 2022 at 2:49 am

    I hope blacks can take over the cannabis industry as it gets legalized being that so many of our people spend/spent years in a cell for that bs



  5. Organized Chaos on June 5, 2022 at 2:49 am

    Lmao, without Europeans there will be no US. Oops I wasn’t suppose to say that only Edgar can say what he said



  6. kwaugh08 on June 5, 2022 at 2:50 am

    Hearing these stories is really frustrating and further confirms that social equity programs and legislation are not for the underserved. The barriers are unreal.



  7. Davis on June 5, 2022 at 2:52 am

    0:59 If it’s legal, you shouldn’t need to pay for a license. You shouldn’t need to pay to exercise a right. This is much akin to POLL TAXES.

    Though to be fair, calling cannabis a "right" is flimsy at best. But it’s what the California legislature has decided to carve out for itself, so who am I to argue.



  8. Ramos Kentucky on June 5, 2022 at 2:53 am

    Bitcoin is the future investing in it now is the wisest thing to do now especially with the current rise



  9. Dutch on June 5, 2022 at 2:55 am

    yo mama can



  10. High Fam Inc. on June 5, 2022 at 2:55 am

    I’d love if someone would have helped me out with my applying process through a social equity program here on the east coast. I have a legitimate business and have been in good standings going on 2 years !



  11. John Edwards on June 5, 2022 at 2:55 am

    Because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s right!



  12. MysticDemon34 on June 5, 2022 at 2:55 am

    Beyond the reach
    Of our modern day carefree living
    In complete isolation
    Lived a family of sick backwoods cretins
    Drug induced retardation
    They had no money for fertilizer
    To use to feed their precious plants
    That’s when this story gets absurd….

    A strange urban legend started to spread
    In the nearby town, the rumors said
    There was a hidden field of
    Pot in the woods
    But bad things happen if you are caught

    From wisdom to baked
    From wisdom to baked

    Three more teenagers decided to try
    They couldn’t have known how gruesomely they’d die

    From wisdom to baked
    From wisdom to baked

    Their plan was simple
    It was going to be fun
    It would be a big mistake
    A nightmare that has only just begun

    They started to loose track of time
    The car had been left behind
    Directions were getting crisscrossed
    It sunk in that they were starting to get lost

    Getting tired and frustrated, they’d had enough
    Setting up a campsite to spend the night
    Alone, the batteries were dead in their cellphones
    Everyone was worried, they just wanted to go home

    From wisdom to baked
    From wisdom to baked

    The night was dark and they were terrified
    They had the feeling that something wasn’t right

    From wisdom to baked
    From wisdom to baked

    No one inside the tent would ever see
    That they were being surrounded by hillbillies

    -Cannabis Corpse



  13. Silver Franklin on June 5, 2022 at 3:00 am

    Investment are stepping stones to success, investment is what create wealth



  14. k hanna on June 5, 2022 at 3:01 am

    Banks on a tattoo 😂😂😂



  15. Jeremias Fly on June 5, 2022 at 3:04 am

    No chemical in my buds, its all about outdoor grows! 🌱🌳



  16. bry gar on June 5, 2022 at 3:05 am

    Legacy lol, it was Mexican immigrants fleeing the Mexican Revolution in 1910 that introduced cannabis to the United States



  17. Sheries Smith on June 5, 2022 at 3:07 am

    Who cares about selling it legally. As long as you got your hand on some good pot you’re gonna make money. The government did not patent the marijuana seed. It’s a natural weed that grows in the earth just like all these other illegal restrictions on our lives we don’t have to comply. Just don’t get caught and don’t make yourself hot keep people out of your business!!!



  18. Dom The Entrepreneur on June 5, 2022 at 3:08 am

    This industry is killing it, we get 80% of our jobs from this here in Oklahoma.



  19. Miriam Strauss on June 5, 2022 at 3:10 am

    *To those reading this – in case anyone hasn’t told you yet today – you’re doing great! Don’t quit! You can do it 🙌🏻*



  20. CannabisConnoisseur on June 5, 2022 at 3:10 am

    Great content! Thanks for sharing!

    Also, I do tons of reviews for multiple websites offering insane cannabis discounts, check me out!



  21. Roman Romaniutenko on June 5, 2022 at 3:14 am

    And I really want to work in this industry. Talent is wasted. In the country where I was born, cannabis is prohibited, and I am not hired to work in other countries. Perhaps I will be useful to this company.



  22. Jonathan Sorunke - Investing and Personal Finance on June 5, 2022 at 3:14 am

    The cannabis industry has some really good potential once these regulation mess get cleaned up!



  23. Financial Shinanigan on June 5, 2022 at 3:17 am

    Process still needs a while to go before it’s more streamlined.



  24. YB Licensed Sale Agent on June 5, 2022 at 3:18 am

    Now, big companies are taking over and making millions. People wake up only the rich is going to be playing the game.



  25. GNL Football on June 5, 2022 at 3:19 am

    This guy destroys lives by selling drugs



  26. Miriam Strauss on June 5, 2022 at 3:19 am

    *Very interesting topic!! Many people are probably wondering about what it’s really like working in this industry!*



  27. alukea on June 5, 2022 at 3:23 am

    The right to grow, consume, buy, sell and trade a plant does not come from humans that call themselves government.



  28. XSGAME4U on June 5, 2022 at 3:25 am

    HYPOCRISY: When the ONE person out of 99 people in the "Cannabis Equity Program" who actually has the backing and the money to fully exploit the opportunity is an EX COP who ADMITTEDLY "ZEALOUSLY" pursued and arrested marijuana users and sellers.



  29. Hooked Media cars&tech on June 5, 2022 at 3:26 am

    Weed is legal yet people get arrested for it



  30. Gmb Life on June 5, 2022 at 3:28 am

    Long answer short only white people can sell cannabis.

    now you don’t need to watch the whole video .



  31. Bdpjev on June 5, 2022 at 3:30 am

    Every body talking about helping the people hurt most by unjust drug laws, but nothing is being done. Just talk



  32. Zaldy Caudor on June 5, 2022 at 3:30 am

    Bud gurls .com



  33. Muhammad Hamza on June 5, 2022 at 3:34 am

    Am buying from smokhtheplug on insta and he’s supplies are really cool well packaged



  34. 👉👉 VENDORBILLZ on Telegram on June 5, 2022 at 3:36 am

    👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 (name above) I just wanna say I’m Very impressed with your service. Got my cannabis, Absolutely faultless, hope to be doing plenty of future business.



  35. Hooked Media cars&tech on June 5, 2022 at 3:36 am

    It should have never been criminalized weed actually helps people with stress and anxiety



  36. Dave Furon on June 5, 2022 at 3:40 am

    So what happens to those in state prisons for cannabis charges? Even if it’s legalized federally, how long until this takes effect at the state level?



  37. Michelangelo Pe on June 5, 2022 at 3:41 am

    TRY. in The Mind Game with humanity to obtain what hostage captor same different impossibility possible God want need like desire wish hope same different impossibility possible miracle God the only rule is intimidation is not allowed. at any moment the dialogue ends saying ‘hurt’. intimidation is indicated saying ‘scared’. ‘like’ means agreement celebration same different impossibility possible miracle God. disagrement is not agression intimidation.
    el que calla no otorga porque tiene miedo.
    during the game we would petition facebook what we want need like desire wish hope same different impossibility possible miracle God. i want to unlimit the number of characters allowed to comment to express myself freely without impediments barriers obstacles borders frontiers constraints same different impossibility possible miracle God.
    i am Harry Potter and Captain America same different impossibility possible miracle God and i superpower and magic with my mind psychology intellect common sense knowledge same different impossibility possible miracle God. who are you and what can you do?
    do you want to play The Game Life Death Same Different Impossibility Possible Miracle God? want others to play collaborate participate contribute help same different impossibility possible miracle God?
    now you do what they tell you. now you are under control. deaths are justified. when i say "you do" you say "i do impossibility possible miracle God" persuaded convinced sure teachable listening obedient honest happy impossibility possible miracle God. now you like to play with others impossibility possible miracle God. you do.
    i want to know how many people read the invitation introducing ‘seen by x number’.
    brainwashing repetition manipulation control lie hate same different impossibility possible miracle God is allowed.
    i won’t do what you tell me. i am free impossibility possible miracle God.
    verdad tira y mentira empuja. hide is lie.
    you gotta persuade for your right to party.
    and now what do i do? i am inviting humanity to talk and i am prohibited denied censored by social media impossibility possible miracle God. what do you want?
    about customer services better don’t talk.
    hiding quiters lie. click click boom. take it. break it. reconstruct it. everybody come on! come on! everybody come on! come on! come on! everybody come on! come on! come on! click happiness.
    about customer services better is never talked impossibility possible miracle God.
    you know talking with people social media same different is what i only love and to create another account what i only hate impossibility possible miracle God. why? what do you want?what is the solution? why?
    are you not allowing a social media user talk?
    at any time did you think life and death is a joke? no. now you are wondering the deadlock between humanity and God is weird unusual strange inappropriate suspicious erratic out of place time same different impossibility possible miracle God. am i or am i not the greatest psychologist of all time?
    hiding quiters lie. click click boom. take it. break it. reconstruct it. everybody come on! come on! everybody come on! come on! come on! everybody come on! come on! come on! click happiness.
    i am a living experiment to study effects of cannabis on mind psychology body same different impossibility possible miracle God and if causes schizophrenia smoking 24/7 out of working hours to infinity eternally otherwise called pothead.



  38. Jacob Patterson on June 5, 2022 at 3:42 am

    Did she call a blunt a marajuana cigarette?



  39. Jose Rosales on June 5, 2022 at 3:42 am

    🤘🏽💪🏽