420 with CNW — NY Selects Companies to Construct
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America’s state-level cannabis reform movement has put plenty of consideration into ensuring that individuals from marginalized communities are given a chance to participate in the billion-dollar industry. It’s no secret that the war on drugs, and cannabis policing to be more specific, had a disproportionately negative effect on members of Black and Brown communities.
Black people are much more likely to be arrested and receive harsher sentences for cannabis offenses compared to white people despite similar use rates.
Social equity provisions in marijuana legalization bills were meant to give individuals from these communities a leg up in the industry and allow them to profit from a product that was once used to persecute them. New York, which legalized recreational cannabis in March 2021 and expects to launch its recreational cannabis industry by the end of the year, has now selected companies to handle the construction of social equity marijuana premises.
Officials announced late last week that they had chosen 10 teams that would be tasked with constructing close to 150 facilities for social equity applicants to open and run their businesses once New York launches legal sales. The announcement came just a few days before the state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) holds a meeting to approve the first social equity cannabis retailer licenses and advance regulations for the new industry.
A recent notice from the dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) stated that several agencies were involved in the approval of the 10 firms. The notice, titled “Firms Selected to Design & Build New York Adult-Use Retail Cannabis Dispensaries,” reported that the teams would build storefront facilities for entrepreneurs who had secured a Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license via the NY State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
The team of 10 firms includes AOW Construction LLC, Anderson Porter Design, SEI Design Group Architects, DPC/Bette & Cring and the Pike Company.
The Social Equity Servicing Corporation (SESC) has already begun looking for sites to house the first dispensaries. The agency has around $200 million in funding from the Social Equity Cannabis Fund, and the process of finding sites is projected to go on through the next year.
Meanwhile, the New York OCM met last Monday to discuss potentially approving the state’s first set of CAURD licenses. The OCM has also provided a preview of regulations that it had developed to govern the state’s recreational cannabis industry. The regulations involve licenses that cover cultivation, processing, distribution and retail.
As patients permitted to use medical marijuana start growing their own cannabis, many of them may experiment with cultivation options offered by a variety of companies, such as Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), that are touted to help boost yields for indoor growers.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
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