Funding Option. Minority Owned Cannabis.

The funding source: Jay-Zs new $10 million fund that will invest in minority-owned cannabis startups

Why? Minorities are convicted more often under drug laws & comprise a fraction of cannabis business in the legal market

What does the data say?

• 5-7 times higher incarceration rate for similar drug crimes -2017 study for the National Institutes of Health
• fewer than 6% of the almost 7,000 agents registered to sell or grow cannabis in Massachusetts are Black
• under 6% Black ownership of cannabis businesses in Denver
• 3% Black ownership of cannabis businesses in Washington
•  4X as likely for a Black person to be arrested for marijuana possession in the U.S. in 2018

What states have created programs to bolster minorities in the cannabis business? California, Illinois, and New York

Wall Street Journal | Jay-Z Joins Push to Boost Minority-Owned Cannabis Businesses