In this episode, I discuss a newly released cannabis press release from the state of Illinois and analyze a local news story that aired recently. It was interesting to see the shared themes between the local news coverage and the press release.
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Links mentioned during show
- Loan Applications Open
- https://cannabis.illinois.gov/research-and-data/industry-demographics.html
- ABC7 report
The auto-generated transcript is available below.
hello and welcome in this episode of the Cole memo we have Illinois Cannabis News I’m your host Cole pron every episode is released in audio video and transcript format to find the transcript audio or video version of any episode please refer to the description of the episode that you’re listening to now within that description you can find a link that will take you to our website which will display the transcript for this episode and the platforms where you can find this episode in audio or video formats if you’re unable to locate the episode description on whichever platform you’re listening from Simply note the episode number and visit the Co memo.com from there you can use our search functionality in the top right hand corner to find the corresponding episode and then you’ll be able to access the audio video and transcript version of that episode you might also find any links that we reference during the episode so that you might be able to do your own research if you’re not listening to this episode of the Cole memo on patreon then you are listening to this episode later than our patrons to become a patron go to the co memo.com patreon it’s a great way to support our show another way to support our show is at the colo.com support once again that is the co memo.com support if you can make a one-time monthly or yearly contribution of your choice that’s right you can donate any amount once monthly or yearly any amount and uh that’s not the only way to support our show a great way to support our show one of the best ways to support our show in fact is free subscribe to or follow our show leave us a positive review from wherever you’re listening to us from favorite this episode give it a thumbs up leave a comment or once again post a review your engagement and support is appreciated enjoy this episode of the Cole memo today is 10:32 no today is uh February 29th 2024 the time is 10:32 I am happy to report first and foremost that a press release was issued today is that the correct way to say it where the Illinois Department of Commerce and economic Economic Opportunity announced the second round of the Cannabis social Equity Loan program um you can read more about this at the co memo.com I will put a link in the episode description so that you can read this article which includes excerpts of the press release and a link to the press release itself there’s also information on round one of dceo funding and uh so you can like see who um received that funding and such for round one and like I say round two is now open so that’s news there’s the official press release it was issued today as you can see Thursday February 29th 2024 also released today was a report by the IT team this is not the first time we’ve watched the IT team on this podcast and I hope it’s not the last I uh generally really enjoy their reporting so let’s check it out shall we let’s watch what just aired on ABC7 I’m pulling it up right now here we go folks um you’ll be able to see the previews that they posted and the actual piece itself let’s up as we head into the weekend I’ll tell you when we get to the 60s and even 70s and diversity in the marijuana industry Our IT team following up on what’s being done to level the playing field for people of color in Illinois live from Chicago ABC7 I legal marijuana a $2 billion industry in Illinois but some people of color have been missing out there are a number of barriers to entry into this industry that they still are not able to overcome coming up next tonight the ABC7 I team is taking a closer look at the marijuana here in Illinois some critics argue the state hasn’t done enough to level the playing field for people of color to cash in on this business but tonight Illinois is touting Major strides to make the industry more Equitable our invest stative reporter samtha Chapman joins us tonight with the story one of the goals of legalizing marijuana was to repair the damage of mass cannabis convictions among people of color the state says it is proud of the steps it’s made over these past four years to make the industry more attainable for everyone when cannabis was illegal 80% of arrests were black and brown people my brother was one of the 80% uh of people who was arrested uh for cannabis possession his brother’s arrest was one of the reasons Matthew Brewer wanted to get into the marijuana industry Brewer is now celebrating his first year as the proud owner of the grasshopper Club the First Independent blackowned dispensary in Chicago it was a full circle moment when we opened our first location and the first purchase ever here was my brother he co-owns this Logan Square dispensary with his brother Chuck and mother Diane I had no relationship with marijuana it’s a venture Miss Diane couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams as a black woman when recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois back in 2020 the first cannabis businesses to open were 100% majority white owned and the state caught a lot of flack for that critics argued the barriers to entry were so extreme and costly people of color were finding it nearly impossible to break into the industry the following year Illinois launched its social Equity program which connects people and communities that have historically been impacted by criminalization of cannabis to business ownership opportunities in the legal cannabis industry Aaron Johnson who oversees marijuana operations in Illinois says as of 2021 anyone in the state seeking marijuana business licenses must meet social Equity criteria you really qualify by living in a disproportionately impacted area so disproportionately low high school graduation rate disproportionately high use of SNAP benefits those markers that are really race neutral but um really get at the folks who were harmed by the War on Drugs we are literally the most diverse um industry in the country we we’ve led the way according to a state report analyzed by the ABC7 data team from 2020 to 2023 blackowned cannabis companies in Illinois increased from 0 to 27% Latino owned companies went from 0 to 5% and women-owned companies increased from 3 to 16% so we’re really doing things to make sure that our cannabis industry looks like the state of Illinois but critics like Ambrose Jackson CEO of the minority-owned Cannabis company the 1937 group says the state could do much more the license holders these social Equity license holders who were promised to dream um have had that dream either deferred or squashed um there are are a number of barriers to entry into this industry um that they still are not able to overcome raising capital is a huge issue Jackson says to date the state has not followed through on its legal obligations to provide funding to dispensary license holders via the social Equity cannabis Loan program the state didn’t tell me what was behind the delay for the release of these funds but told me they hope to start accepting applications this week back at grasshopper Club the owners are thankful to have not just one but two thriving dispensaries in Illinois but Matthew Brewer wants to see more business owners that look like him frankly a little bit disappointing that there’s not more critics say other barriers include extremely high cannabis taxes which are among the highest in the nation and the tight deadline for license holders to have their businesses up and running the state tells me it is committed to ensuring the federal government passes the safer Banking Act so that marijuana businesses can take advantage of the same loans other small businesses are able to access Samantha Chapman ABC7 Eyewitness News Samantha thanks so much for that report a Chicago animal rescue group is raising money to SA so that was an interesting report um so I just want to run through a few thoughts here really quick the first and foremost important thought I had on this report was it’s something that that we hear all the time these efforts these social Equity efforts are meant to rectify the injustices of the War on Drugs I’ve maintained that the only way to the only true way to begin to rectify these injustices and prevent further injustices is to put an end to the War on Drugs altogether in the context of cannabis in Illinois this would entail repealing the Cannabis Control Act of 1978 which the Cannabis regulation and Tax Act did not do arrests continue in Illinois despite its quote unquote legal status because the state’s quote unquote legalization policy implemented under the Cannabis regulation and tax act in 20 9 failed to address key issues established by the Cannabis Control Act of 1978 rather than decriminalizing cannabis across the board the legislation merely created narrow exceptions leaving many aspects of possession use and cultivation subject to Serious legal repercussions folks my question here is what was Mr Chuck Brewer I believe his name yeah Chuck Brewer what was he charged with apparently cannabis possession I did a few Googles and I can’t find exactly what his possession charge was I do think it’s notable to mention though that you can still be charged with cannabis possession to this day in the state of Illinois I’d like to maybe ask Chuck what he thinks about that um he could still be charged with cannabis possession to this day so once again I ask do these efforts actually uh address anything um it’s it’s just an honest question again because if these policies continue if these efforts are meant to rectify the injustices of the war on drugs again why don’t we just end the war on drugs so that we don’t have to rectify anything else that’s the last time I’ll say Rectify let’s go through the rest of my thoughts on this report that makes more sense why the president release came out today and funding is now available given that I I can’t remember exactly what was said but uh they ask about funding at a certain point in here maybe I can roll that back yeah let’s let’s roll this back just for a second given the context of what we just started the episode with let’s just play This Moment back not able to overcome raising capital is a huge issue Jackson says to date the state has not followed through on its legal obligation to provide funding to dispensary license holders via the social Equity cannabis Loan program the state didn’t tell me what was behind the delay for the release of these funds but told me they hope to start accepting applications this week back at grass so this week they are uh accepting the applications and you know just like that report said they would uh that press release came out today um so they’re open to that I I will just mention you know that I had a story that I wrote in the past um it was called craft growers in Illinois struggle to cultivate their dreams I wrote it as an article it’s also episode 60 we talk about it um but if you look in that article which I am going to share on my screen right now uh you will see a section entitled issues with funding and I talk about uh several licensed operators who described issues with funding um and specifically you know they mentioned the CEO is failing to respond um I don’t know that it is in my report but there were you know a lot of questions about round one where the money went um I know another reporter I believe I don’t know if they obtained the data via Foya or what um but Alex nitkin at the time had some data actually yeah I referenc it right here he he ref he reported on October 19th 2023 again I actually was not aware that that I even reached out to Alex Alex did not get back to me um but I wasn’t aware where I could find that data um but of course it was released today that’s what I started off the report with um this data right here um and actually I believe if you so if we go to the dceo website uh right here and look at this this information about round one is here and this information about round two is here now if I take that link and I’ll show you how I do this way back machine so I’ll bring my screen back up here so again I’m show you guys how this works um and actually haven’t seen this for myself let’s just take a look because this should be new information so take this link here put it in the Wayback machine and what this is going to allow me to do so today is 229 2024 I’m going to go to the last snapshot which was December 7th 2023 this is going to show us what the website looked like this website what it looked like on December 7th 2023 willing to bet none of this information is here which is why I I’ve never seen this list before I’m glad it’s available uh but let’s check this out yeah latest updates oh just dis there we go they recently finalized the first round second round of funding will be available to qualified social Equity dispensaries when a new funding opportunity becomes available it will be provided on this web page which it is today so that’s where that is yeah and I couldn’t find that information in the past even though you know said the first round had been finalized oh they recently finalized so maybe they just didn’t have it at the time but yeah that’s the most recent screenshot so um yeah that’s all pretty new information here and this all makes a little bit more sense now that the ABC7 report has dropped and before I go I the other part that I found really notable about this particular report was the part where they referenced data let me play this segment really quick so you guys know what I’m talking about let’s watch this according to a state report analyzed by the ABC7 data team from 2020 to 2023 blackowned cannabis companies in Illinois increased from 0 to 27% Latino owned companies went from 0 to 5% and women-owned companies increased from three to 16% so we’re really doing things to make sure that our cannabis industry looks like this so I want to see uh you know I just watched this on TV so I’m not sure where that data came from I know that I’m just doing a little bit of research right now while we’re on the air I’m Googling Illinois cannabis C I’m just trying to find the C’s website I will display my screen now let’s take a look if we can see okay there’s a research and data tab there’s industry demographics I bet you that’s where this is and yeah hey look at that key changes from 2020 to 2023 these are the exact numbers that they provided I’m pretty goddamn sure these numbers are yeah that’s a pretty well exact ma match I’ll show share my screen again here check it out folks it’s kind of interesting so you can see key changes from 2023 you get blackowned companies increase from 0% to 27 7% uh 0 to5 and then where’s the women on 3 to 16 they didn’t include the asian-owned companies or wait did they no they didn’t um they didn’t include the Latino U oh wait these are employees sorry diversity is increased so yeah they didn’t include that data you can see they did not include asian-owned and they didn’t include a coalition of nonwhite owners with no race or ethnicity holding the majority from 0% to 14% um I don’t know what that really means to be honest but I just smoked a joint so just noticing these things we’re just kind of talking talking out loud now here let’s see well what’s this stuff three diversity studies okay yeah I think we’ve gone through this with Justin liby on the show in the past if you guys want to see us come through some of this data um look back to the chinois podcast episodes with Justin liby from the University of Illinois we talked about a lot of this data and he kind of combes through it on the podcast shares the screen and all that stuff uh just like we’re doing right now one thing I wanted to do before I go was just exactly what I did with that last web page you never know what you’re going to see I’m going to the wayb back machine and I’m just comparing the last snapshot I can find of it which happens to be on December 23rd as well uh with what we have available now it looks like it’s actually the exact same so maybe these changes are not new so always worth checking out to see what stuff is new there’s other ways to do this by the way folks if you want to look into this uh you know I I should do more of this actually there’s like this idea of I think it’s called ping trip or something you can set it up I think that’s what it’s called I might be wrong uh yeah you can set something up it’s like that will look for differences on a website and it will ping you it will like trip a sensor for lack of better words and ping you if if updates are made to a web page so if you’re super into following this stuff that’s a way you can kind of keep track of how websites change folks I hope you found value in this episode of the coal memo um it’s going to be March tomorrow isn’t it right yeah it’s gonna be March tomorrow Happy March um we’ll see you in the next episode of the co memo
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