Latinx Cannabis Community Unites In NYC To Advocate For Legalization In The Dominican Republic

A few days ago, hundreds of Dominicans, stakeholders and members of New York’s cannabis community gathered in Manhattan for the first CannaReD CannaTalk hosted in New York City.

CannaReD is a non-profit association founded in the Dominican Republic that hosts CannaTalks throughout the country and brought the series to New York to educate and inform the city’s Spanish-speaking community about the status of cannabis legalization efforts in the Dominican Republic.

“The CannaReD team and I are inspired to be gathered in New York City, which is home to the second largest Dominican population next to the Dominican Republic itself,” said Diego Sagawe, co-founder and treasurer of CannaReD. “The Dominican Republic has one of the most restrictive cannabis policies in the world, where even medical cannabis is difficult to access for patients. In our home country, cannabis legalization has a long way to go and the market in New York is set to be progressive and inclusive, which is why hosting events here is a great opportunity to gain support to influence cannabis reform.”

CannaReD’s mission is to educate, develop, and promote public policies for access to cannabis for medicinal use, industrial use, and scientific research in the Dominican Republic. The team is a community of Dominicans who seek to influence the regulatory process of cannabis in the Dominican Republic for the development and strengthening of civil society. Considering that many countries have already made the leap towards decriminalization and legalization of cannabis, CannaReD works to influence Dominican Republic regulations to join the progressive movement.

The CannaTalk included prominent Dominican leaders and cannabis trailblazers, including Vladimir Bautista, co-founder of Happy Munkey, New York’s long-time leading, Latino-owned cannabis lifestyle brand. Vlad and his team have focused on bringing together communities from diverse backgrounds and shifting the paradigm of cannabis culture through unique and innovative experiential activations. A mission that aligns heavily with CannaReD.

“I am beyond proud to combine forces with my fellow Dominican and industry peers at CannaReD to advocate for this important cause,” said Vladimir Bautista. “The appeal of organizing this Dominican state of the union of cannabis in New York City, shows that our Empire State will be a global cannabis leader that possesses the manpower and determination to provide assistance and guidance for international markets.”

This CannaTalk is just one installment of CannaReD’s to network with other organizations and countries to build support for The Cannabis March in May 2023 in the Dominican Republic, where the organization and the community can come together to lobby their nation for the cause of legalization and safe access to the plant.

More countries are changing legislation and beginning to expand their cannabis market; from therapy to managing symptoms of many diseases, favorable raw material with the preservation of the environment, the generation of jobs and employment, and contribution to the economy through tax collection. Dominican Republic’s continued prohibition of the plant will only feed into all the negative aspects such as drug trafficking, and informal production with risks of poor-quality products that could be a public health danger.