Women Grow and Drug Policy Alliance Partner for New York State Women in Cannabis Lobby Day

ALBANY, N.Y., March 8, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On Monday, March 8th, International Women's Day, Drug Policy Alliance and Women Grow partner to bring women advocates and business leaders across all sectors of the cannabis landscape together in New York, joining virtually to bring attention to the need for more women and people of color to have opportunities to participate in a legal cannabis market. Leaders of over 20 organizations will demand legislators pass comprehensive cannabis legalization that includes provisions of accessible entry points into the lucrative market. Women are urging the prioritization of a social equity licensing system, small business loans, and an incubator program along with community reinvestment.

Even though women aren't together in Albany for the Women in Cannabis Lobby Day, just as women have persisted in the fight for justice throughout our history, advocates will continue to bring attention to the urgent need for legalization. Advocates are ensuring their voices are heard by the Governor and Legislature through a social media mobilization blitz and daylong live-streamed programming.

Women of color who have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization and advocates will also speak to how New York must end prohibition once and for all while addressing the harmful impacts on women in child welfare, housing, employment, and immigration.

Women and Minority-Owned Businesses (MWBE) have historically been locked out of and overlooked in other industries, and not sought out by venture capital firms. To create an equitable industry, any legislation must explicitly outline pathways for women, especially women of color, to participate in the burgeoning legal market. Participants will also highlight the risks if lawmakers are not intentional in creating a regulated cannabis industry that doesn't include women, as some other states have failed to do.

Women entrepreneurs and advocates call for the legalization of cannabis to include equity programs and provisions aimed at supporting women and minority-led businesses (MWBE) and repairing harms of criminalization that impacted women.

Featuring messages from elected officials, advocacy mobilization, and daylong programming. Panels discussions on:
? Why Should New York pass the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act
? How Adult-Use Legalization Affects Women
? What Expanded Medical Marijuana Means in an Adult-Use Market

Senator Liz Krueger, sponsor of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA)
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, sponsor of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA)
Assemblymember Latrice Walker
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein
Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez Rojas
Assemblymember Richard Gottfried
Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez
Assemblymember Inez E. Dickens
Senator Jeremy Cooney

Melissa Moore, Drug Policy Alliance
Gia Morón, Women Grow
Tanya Osborne, Women Grow | The CannaDiva
Saki Fenderson, TLBK
Cristina Buccola, Attorney
Pilar DeJesus, All that Jive NYC
Patricia Wright, Women of Color in Cannabis (WOCC)
Kimber Arezzi, Patient Advocate
Charlotte Hanna, Rebelle
Mary Kruger, Rochester NORML
Hillary Peckham, Etain
Colleen Mairead, The HEART Program
Ngiste Abebe Colombia Care
Dr. June Chin, MedLeafRX
Sharron Cannon, Curaleaf

Media Contact

Women Grow PR, Women Grow LLC, +1 3476788079, [email protected]

SOURCE Women Grow LLC