California Cannabis Equity Accountability Report

Since its inception in 2013, the California Cannabis Industry Association has had a mission to promote the growth of a responsible legal cannabis industry. To do this, the association was founded on the "principle of strength in numbers". In line with this mission, CCIA formed the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Equity (DISE) committee in 2018 to help establish fair policy and regulation for equity applicants, and foster an industry that is diverse and socially responsible.

The DISE committee's first white paper , published in 2019, shed light on America's long history of racially-driven cannabis prohibition, how language impacts social bias, and offered recommended language alternatives in the “DISE Preferred Language Document”.

Recognizing the need for greater oversight of the local equity programs throughout California, DISE came together over the last year to create the following “California Cannabis Equity Accountability Report”. This comprehensive report offers a breakdown of data in order to better understand the health and success of these programs, uplifts the direct voices of impacted individuals in the social equity community, and provides recommendations for policymakers to consider.

Driven by the principle of “strength in numbers”, this report is the collective collaboration of several CCIA members and partner organizations, including Headset, the USC Marshall Cannabis Association, the United CORE Alliance, the Social Equity Owners and Workers Association (SEOWA), and the Success Centers. Under the common goal of promoting greater transparency and accountability in California’s cannabis equity framework, these organizations came together and pulled resources to create a comprehensive analysis of what’s working and what isn’t.

The goal of the report is to help local programs strengthen the impact and success of their programs, and to inform state lawmakers on ways California can more directly address social equity in the cannabis industry.