(The Center Square) – Some lawmakers in Illinois are being
critical of the governor’s attempt to distribute cannabis dispensary licenses,
calling it inequitable.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s license distribution plan involves a
scoring system and lottery that some believe shuts out minorities.
State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, calls out the system,
saying it put minorities at a disadvantage and needs to be rethought, as
reported by NPR.
Portia Mittons, co-chair of the Cannabis Business
Association of Illinois’ Minority Access Committee said she doesn’t blame
lawmakers, as she believed they tried to make an equitable law. Mittons said
despite this, the results proved otherwise and the scoring process was
particularly problematic.
“It was a complete failure,” Mittons said. “They chose a
company that did not do a good job.”
Some applicants received points for which they did not
qualify while others, like some social equity applicants, were not given the
points they deserved under the law, Mittons said. In the end, no one new got a
license last year.
“So you know the state is the one that’s responsible, the
state is the one that said we’re going to hand out these licenses, so the state
needs to figure out how to fix the thing,” Mittons said. “If it was the scoring
and it was the scoring company, fix that, because the applicants, us, the
social equity people, the people who put their money and time and effort into
it, you know, they were the ones that were screwed.”
Mittons said the scoring was just one of the ways
minorities were shut out.
“The reason minorities were shut out is the application
itself,” Mittons said. “It was extremely, extremely hard and there were costs
that were not expected.”
Some of the hidden costs involved paying for hypothetical
floor plans and security plans, while for others, the application proved so
complex they needed to hire a writer with in-depth knowledge of the cannabis
industry, Mittons said. These issues gave large, multi-state operators the
upper hand.
Mittons describes what equity would look like going
forward.
“Cannabis equity would look like the stores and the people
in the community who are in the cannabis industry to reflect that
community," Mittons said.