Sacramento to allow 10 new pot shops. Does it go far enough to fix equity issues, monopoly?
The city of Sacramento will allow 10 new storefront cannabis dispensaries to open, in an effort to address longstanding equity issues.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the addition, bringing the total to 40 -- an idea that’s been under discussion for years. But some say it doesn’t go far enough to ensure residents most impacted by the War on Drugs have an equal shot at success in the industry where a group of business partners have been able to gain ownership of a third of the shops.
Previously, the council discussed holding a lottery, but ditched that idea in favor of having the applicants instead submit “requests for qualifications,” with staff selecting the winners.
To be considered for the new storefronts, applicants must be participants or former participants in the city’s Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) program. That program is only open to residents who meet certain requirements, such as earning a low income, living in certain zip codes most impacted by the War on Drugs, or having a prior arrest for a cannabis-related charge.
The CORE program had about 159 graduates as of late August, and some have opened cannabis businesses, but the most desirable storefront dispensary permits have been unavailable.
The criteria include evaluating whether applicants will be able to successfully submit a complete application for a dispensary permit, be able to successfully operate a dispensary, and utilize criteria “reasonably necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare,” the staff report said.
“We’re not going to be looking at the resources people have to put into a project,” said Davina Smith, the city’s cannabis manager.
The city will likely receive 20 or 30 “really, really good submissions,” Smith said.
Getting a permit will likely help the applicants attract investors, Councilman Jay Schenirer said.
Malaki Amen, executive director of the California Urban Partnership, urged the council to allow those most impacted by the War on Drugs to be able to obtain a greater share of the city’s storefront dispensary permits.
“It’s been three years since CORE was adopted and the policy goal is 50% of dispensary licenses, not 25%,” Amen told the council.
Amen, who says none of the city’s dispensaries are Black-owned, said he also wants the city to collect voluntary race and ethnicity data as part of the selection process.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg called the addition of 10 permits “significant.”
“The work is never done to address equity but this is a significant advance,” Steinberg said.
Last year, The Sacramento Bee reported that one group of business partners had been able to gain ownership of a third of the city’s storefront dispensaries, despite a city code intended to prevent that. The code has since been strengthened, but the city did not rescind any permits.
Councilwoman Angelique Ashby signaled that she wants the council to rescind some of those permits so they can give a greater share of the total to CORE participants.
“We have a mess on our hands with the existing program,” Ashby said. “I really want to see us go back and clean up the 30 dispensaries we already have. People should not be allowed to have ownership in more than one.”
Amen said the CORE participants should be able to open “multiple locations in the same way as the existing dispensaries who violated city code go unpunished and enjoy a monopoly.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 10:46 AM.
