via Wikimedia
When Maryland regulators conducted a disparity study to determine whether there was adequate diversity in the early stages of their medical marijuana licensing program, the results caused major concern.
A new application process was created to court Black-owned industry players, but white-owned Curio Wellness refuses to let them in.
Curio’s owner Michael Bronfein - mad that more competition would enter the market that currently generates $96.3 million in sales - filed a lawsuit against Maryland’s licensing program.
The problem is, Curio already had a huge head start.
Regulators had exclusively licensed just 15 companies - including Curio - which holds THREE separate licenses for growing, processing, and dispensing operations - but too few were granted to minority-owned companies.
To correct the disparity, regulators opened up the application process to accept a mere 4 more companies.
Curio’s lawsuit greedily claims that the added suppliers would saturate the market and jeopardize their recent $10 million investment.
Well if only 4 more competitors are bad for business, I don’t know what to tell you bruh.
Nationally, only 1% of all medical cannabis licenses were awarded to Black-owned suppliers. Such a low number is insulting considering how much our community has suffered behind criminal marijuana charges.
Opening the door and stepping aside for us to get a fair cut of the now booming industry is the least Curio can do.