Darryl Hill, hailed for integrating college football in his youth half a century ago, was a successful entrepreneur with no criminal record and plenty of capital when he applied for a license to grow marijuana in Maryland – a perfect candidate, or so he thought, to enter a wide-open industry that was supposed to take racial diversity into account.
To his dismay, Hill was shut out on his first attempt. So were at least a dozen other African-American applicants for Maryland licenses. They were not told why.
Now, Hill, who has a long history of helping minority firms get financing and federal contracts, has a new game plan for breaking into the industry – just as a number of jurisdictions are turning to address the yawning racial disparities in the legal marijuana business.
States generally do not track the race and ethnicity of license applicants, but industry analysts and researchers say that dispensaries and the more-profitable growing operations across the country are overwhelmingly dominated by white men.
“Here’s a drug that for years has been the bane of the minority community, sending young people to jail by the boatloads,” Hill said. “Now, it could be a boon to these communities, but minorities have been left out.”
So the 73-year-old great-grandfather who was the first black football player at the University of Maryland sought an ally in his quest to help other minorities – and himself – break into the closed ranks of cannabis cultivation and sales.
Hill’s new business partner, Rhett Jordan, happens to be a groundbreaker in his own right. The 33-year-old Colorado industry pioneer, who is white, founded one of the largest legal marijuana operations in the nation.
“The way minorities get into the game is they need top management, technical expertise and money,” Hill said. “If Jordan is involved, there’s automatic respect and credibility when it comes to raising money.”
The marijuana trade, legal in some form in 29 states plus the District of Columbia, is one of the country’s fastest-growing industries. The $6.6 billion in medical and recreational marijuana sales in 2016 is expected to expand to $16 billion by 2020, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis data analytics company headquartered in the District.
But African-Americans seeking to go into business as growers or retailers face a host of hurdles, researchers say. Many states bar convicted drug felons from the industry, disproportionately hurting minorities because of historically higher conviction rates. Others have set high investment requirements. Some dole out licenses through appointed commissions that industry researchers say reward the politically connected, who by and large are wealthy and white.
“Marijuana legalization without racial justice risks being an extension of white privilege,” said Bill Piper, a lobbyist for Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for drug policy reforms.
The disparities have become such a source of consternation for some lawmakers and industry leaders that more than half a dozen states and municipalities, including Oakland and the District, are taking steps to boost minorities in the competitive licensing process.
Hill and Jordan plan to test their new partnership in Pennsylvania, where they are applying for one of the state’s first marijuana licenses, to be issued in June.
Unlike in Maryland, those licenses will award points for diversity and community impact – potentially giving African-American applicants like Hill an advantage.
“Here’s a drug that for years has been the bane of the minority community, sending young people to jail by the boatloads,” Hill said. “Now, it could be a boon to these communities, but minorities have been left out.”
So the 73-year-old great-grandfather who was the first black football player at the University of Maryland sought an ally in his quest to help other minorities – and himself – break into the closed ranks of cannabis cultivation and sales.
Hill’s new business partner, Rhett Jordan, happens to be a groundbreaker in his own right. The 33-year-old Colorado industry pioneer, who is white, founded one of the largest legal marijuana operations in the nation.
The marijuana trade, legal in some form in 29 states plus the District of Columbia, is one of the country’s fastest-growing industries. The $6.6 billion in medical and recreational marijuana sales in 2016 is expected to expand to $16 billion by 2020, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis data analytics company headquartered in the District.
But African-Americans seeking to go into business as growers or retailers face a host of hurdles, researchers say. Many states bar convicted drug felons from the industry, disproportionately hurting minorities because of historically higher conviction rates. Others have set high investment requirements. Some dole out licenses through appointed commissions that industry researchers say reward the politically connected, who by and large are wealthy and white.
“Marijuana legalization without racial justice risks being an extension of white privilege,” said Bill Piper, a lobbyist for Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for drug policy reforms.
The disparities have become such a source of consternation for some lawmakers and industry leaders that more than half a dozen states and municipalities, including Oakland and the District, are taking steps to boost minorities in the competitive licensing process.
Hill and Jordan plan to test their new partnership in Pennsylvania, where they are applying for one of the state’s first marijuana licenses, to be issued in June.
Unlike in Maryland, those licenses will award points for diversity and community impact – potentially giving African-American applicants like Hill an advantage. (Courtesy of Tracy Jan and Fenit Nirappil / Washington Post)
