Denver Uses Cannabis Tax Revenue to Create Entrepreneurial Program for Social Equity Applicants

​Yesterday we spoke about social equity, what it means, and how it’s working. We learned about the difficulties some states like Arizona are having in truly helping social equity cases.

Colorado has just announced a new program to help social equity applicants get into the cannabis industry.

The city of Denver is using $500,000 from Denver’s retail cannabis sales tax revenue to fund the program. It’s being headed by the partnership of the Denver Economic Development & Opportunity department, and a group called The Color of Cannabis, who’s mission is to help more minorities get in the industry.

The new program, called the Social Equity Technical Assistance Program, will be a 10-week class that touches on the history and politics of the industry, along with covering issues like compliance, delivery, hospitality and the market.

Their goal is to do more than just offer social equity licenses… their goal is to actually make sure that those social equity licenses are beign used by those it’s intended for.

So, if you’re an aspiring cannabis business owner in Colorado, and you meet the criteria for a social equity license, then this program is for you.

​The deadline for the program is Friday, July 15, at 5 p.m. The initial training will begin July 23.

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