NEWS
LEFT OUT?
Racial equity and NC’s budding hemp industry
BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Since 2015, when industrial hemp first gained limited legal status in North Carolina via a state-administered pilot program, the industry’s prospects have exploded. Despite significant regulatory confusion, hundreds of licensed Tar Heel farmers are now growing hemp. A processing center and milling operation in Spring Hope is said to be the largest such facility in the country. Closer to home, processor Abundant Labs has opened up shop in Canton. Industrial hemp, a strain of cannabis, has many uses, including rope, paper, textiles, plastics and — perhaps most notably — CBD oil, the surging popularity of which is helping drive the boom. Under federal law, hemp can contain no more than 0.3% THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Meanwhile, across the country, the broader cannabis industry (which includes both medical and recreational marijuana in states where they’re legal) has also shown dramatic growth. Not everyone is reaping the benefits, however. Although hard numbers are in short supply, a 2017 survey by the Marijuana Business Daily, a Colorado-based website, found that 81% of cannabis-related business owners nationwide were white. And while the scope of the overall cannabis sector far outstrips North Carolina’s budding hemp industry, the underlying concern is the same. “Not only are [people of color] bearing the burden of the war on drugs, but now — as cannabis reform is happening and there are people who are making money and creating careers and a whole industry — these same communities are being left out of this industry,” says Asheville attorney Rod Kight.
GREEN RUSH: While Western North Carolina farmers, hemp processors and CBD product distributors have hurried to get in on the ground floor of the state’s newly legalized hemp industry, some in the region are being left behind. People of color and members of other marginalized groups are finding it difficult to capitalize on the hot new business sector. A Jan. 9 panel discussion at The Mothlight will explore the problem and some possible solutions. Photo by Laura Hackett
RACIAL EQUITY Kight, whose specialty is the cannabis business, will be taking part in an upcoming presentation focused on precisely this issue. “Cannabis Culture: A Paneled Discussion About Equity in the Cannabis & Hemp Industry” will also feature panelists Danielle Adams, Honey Simone and Michael Hayes. Adams is a fellow in 8
JAN. 1 - 7, 2020
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the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s All for NC program; Simone owns Different Wrld, an Asheville-based clothing, accessory and lifestyle brand with a sustainability focus. Hayes, a community activist, founded the Urban Arts Institute. Hosted by Culture Club, a local discussion group, and Tarleton Walmsley, the event will consider the rapidly evolving industry in terms of racial diversity, criminal justice and economic impact. Local blogger and activist Ami Worthen will serve as moderator; Rob Thomas, community liaison with the Racial Justice Coalition, will also speak. Walmsley says she hopes the event will call attention to the industry’s lack of racial diversity while educating those considering hemp and CBDrelated work. “We wanted to reach out to our industry but also to people that are curious or have an interest in diversifying this industry,” says Walmsley, who is co-owner of Garden Party. The West Asheville boutique specializes in canna-
bis-related products. “People who are currently in the CBD industry or want to be in it — whether that’s a person of color or not — I think it’s a really important conversation that we should all be having,” she maintains. WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN Kight, who represents clients in all areas of the cannabis business, says the low participation by people of color is due, in part, to policies in the decadeslong war on drugs that have disproportionately targeted communities of color. A 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that between 2001 and 2010, 8.2 million people were arrested for cannabis — and people of color were nearly four times as likely to be arrested as whites, despite using marijuana at roughly the same rate. That’s left millions of people with criminal records that can block access to jobs, housing and educational opportunities.
Current federal law, notes Kight, also bars people with prior drug-related felony convictions from participating in the legal hemp industry for 10 years from their conviction date. A key component of needed cannabis reform, he says, is expunging those criminal records for marijuanarelated convictions. Some states that have legalized recreational use, such as Colorado and California, provide varying degrees of relief for those folks. “The other piece of that is when you have a felony conviction, in most states you can’t vote. I think having a voting push is also really important and should maybe even be in conjunction with expungement,” Kight explains. “Those are the two things that I am personally advocating for.” RACIAL BARRIERS Panelist Hayes, who is executive director of the Umoja Health, Wellness and Justice Collective, ascribes the low participation in the industry by people