A local cannabis dispensary owner in Sonoma County, California recently received nearly $40,000 in social equity grant funding. The move came after John Loe targeted the county's cannabis social equity program as "racist." The white cannabis entrepreneur was one of twenty cannabis operators in the county who received grant money in early May.
What Happened: In a recent interview with SFGate the shop owner said he got the funding because he made inquiries about the program.
"I hovered over it and made sure it wasn't racist, and because of that they were not able to be as racist as they would have liked to have been," Loe said, even though applicants are not asked to reveal their race.
According to the county's application website, the eligibility criteria for the grant were an applicants or a close family member's conviction and/or arrest history with a focus on a nonviolent cannabis offense, in addition to nearly a dozen others, none of which mentioned an applicants' race, as SFGate pointed out.
Read Also: California Distributes Additional $15M To Cannabis Social Equity Program Participants
Though the county gave him $39,687.50 in social equity funds, Loe still calls the system racist.
"It's a racist program, I called it out for what it was," Loe told SFGate. This followed a statement Loe made in the fall of 2023 at a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting. "White people will stand up. You will not intimidate us," he said then asked the county for a $1 million grant.
"It was a win for me and for white people who feel like these programs were written to exclude them," Loe said after being awarded the grant money.
It is worth noting that a 2021 analysis estimated Sonoma's cannabis shops are owned by 75-78% white males.
Meanwhile, California has awarded more than $100 million to 35 cities and counties for to fund local cannabis equity programs over the past four years. The Sonoma County's cannabis equity grants were part of it. The Sebastopol Times noted that the program seeks to advance “economic justice for populations and communities impacted by cannabis prohibition and the War on Drugs."
More precisely, the money is supposed to help "socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals navigating the cannabis permit process," said David Rabbitt, chair of Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors.
Yet, a Sebastopol Times' investigation found that several applicants who obtained money under the program "do not quite fit this description," as the "majority of the grant recipients are among the most successful and influential people in the county's legal cannabis industry."
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