Washington – Minorities for Medical Marijuana, the largest community-based nonprofit in the cannabis and hemp industry, kicked off Congressional Black Caucus Week with its bi-annual Diversity and Inclusion for Cannabis Equity Mixer in downtown Washington, DC. At the event, M4MM honored two “Champion 4 Change” Awardees, Bakari Sellers and Florida State Senator Tracie Davis. The advocacy group’s goal this week is for lawmakers to recognize how policy will affect minority communities and what is needed for these communities to be a vital part of legalization efforts.

"Operators are kept up at night worrying about how to survive in an environment where there is little support, extremely strong competition from illicit dealers from one side, and the existential threat of corporate competition on the other. The only solution for operators is to advocate for a level playing field and hope that reform will occur sooner, and not later," - Beau Whitney

If we look closely at the Cuomo cannabis plan there are red flags. According to Cuomo’s budget, “the program will limit the number of producers and retail dispensaries to guard against a market collapse.”