San Diego's Marijuana Industry Receives $900K in Equity Grants

In February, San Diego was awarded more than $880,000 by Governor Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development to support equity efforts in San Diego’s legal cannabis industry. Those funds are intended to cover permit and licensing fees, education, training, start-up property rental costs, and legal services to San Diego residents.

San Diego was one of 16 cities and counties that received $15 million in combined grants. These grants were funded through tax revenues from legal cannabis sales.

The grants are intended to be distributed locally in order to achieve the goal of advancing economic justice for communities harmed by cannabis prohibition. Kim Desmond, San Diego’s Chief of Race and Equity, commented that “the historical enforcement of drug laws produced profound disparities in business ownership, wage earnings, and mass incarceration within the criminal justice system for African American/Black, Latino, and Native American/Indigenous communities. An acknowledgment of historic institutional racism and systemic inequity is key to understanding disparities in the cannabis industry.”

According to San Diego’s Cannabis Business Division Deputy Director Lara Gates, the funds will be used to jumpstart the city’s Cannabis Equity Program, providing “a solid foundation for our initial cannabis equity applicants to get a strong foothold in the legal cannabis market.”

If you are considering starting a cannabis business and would like to apply for San Diego’s Cannabis Equity Program or another cannabis grant program, it’s important that you consult an experienced cannabis business attorney to help you to navigate the city’s requirements. At Purdy & Bailey, LLP, our experienced marijuana business lawyers are dedicated to remaining up to date with all the latest developments in this rapidly changing area of business law.

From helping our clients with zoning and permitting issues to helping ensure compliance to protecting our client’s rights during any possible disciplinary actions, our team at Purdy & Bailey, LLP are dedicated to supporting our client’s needs as they build and grow their cannabis business in San Diego.