In 2020, the cannabis industry created a whole lot of green with a retail market worth $17.5 billion dollars in the United States. Right now there are 36 states that have legalized cannabis in some form-not including last week’s passing of a recreational marijuana use bill in New Mexico that is waiting for Governor Lujan Grisham’s signature. In New York alone it was reported that the recent passing of adult recreational marijuana use has the ability to generate $3.5 billion and help create 60 thousand jobs. The general consensus is any additional money is good for everyone. That is one of the driving reasons behind the launch of the National Hispanic Cannabis Council–to give Latinos a resource for this, ahem, growing business.
It’s been reported many times that Latinos are the fastest growing business owners. Yet, they are also the least likely to get the help they need during a pandemic. Last week, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellin spoke to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on this very issue. “If someone tried to design an economic crisis that would unduly target the Hispanic community, they’d probably come up with something that looks a lot like COVID-19,” she said.
The NHCC echoes this and adds that only 5.7% of cannabis business owners in the industry are Latino. They cite limited sources of investment and costly applications to start a business as being some of the reasons behind the low representation in the industry.
One of the primary goals of the National Hispanic Cannabis Council is to utilize the councils leadership and their knowledge to build a bridge for Latinos in the cannabis community. Additionally, the group will develop a framework for those interested in the cannabis business to learn about local policies and regulations as well as available jobs. It plans on doing this on a local and national level through networking opportunities. In other words, use those who are business savvy to teach those that are not.
