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Does legalizing marijuana help Black communities?

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ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) – When Washington state opened among the nation’s first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. he was under electronic house arrest in Spokane, where he faced federal drug charges. He would soon be sent to prison to serve the lion’s share of his four-year sentence.

Ten years later, Ward, who’s black, recently posed on a blue and gold throne used for photos at his recent cannabis store, Cloud 9 Cannabis. He welcomed customers coming in for the early 4/20 deal. He also thought of being one in every of the primary beneficiaries of a Washington program to make the mostly white industry more accessible to those harmed by the war on drugs.

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“It’s great to know that I’m the general manager of the store and the employees, the people, rely on me,” Ward said. “Just being a part of something makes you feel good.”

Operations manager Willie Morrow stockes shelves at Cloud 9 Cannabis as the shop prepares to open, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

The essential argument for legalizing adult use of cannabis was to stem the harm attributable to disproportionate enforcement of drug laws, which has thrown hundreds of thousands of black, Latino, and other minority Americans into prison and perpetuated cycles of violence and poverty. Studies have shown that minorities were more more likely to be incarcerated than whites, despite similar rates of cannabis use.

However, efforts to help those most affected take part in and make the most of the legal marijuana industry have been stalled.

Since 2012, when voters in Washington and Colorado approved the primary ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana, legal adult use has spread to 24 states and the District of Columbia. Almost all have “social equity” laws geared toward undoing the harm attributable to the drug war.

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These provisions include expungement of criminal records for certain marijuana convictions, granting cannabis business licenses and financial assistance to those convicted of cannabis crimes, and directing marijuana tax revenues to impacted communities.

“Social equity programs are an attempt to reverse the harm done to Black and Brown communities that are over-policed ​​and disproportionately impacted,” said Kaliko Castille, former president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association.

States have alternative ways of defining who can apply for marijuana licenses on a social equity basis, and so they will not be necessarily based on race.

In Washington, an applicant must own greater than half of the business and meet other criteria, resembling having lived for at the very least five years between 1980 and 2010 in an area with high rates of poverty, unemployment or cannabis arrests; you will have been arrested for a cannabis offense; or whose household income is below average.

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Legal challenges to the permitting process in states like New York have slowed implementation.

With other cases resolved, New York — which regulators say issued 60% of all cannabis licenses to social equity applicants — faces one other lawsuit. Last month, the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation alleged that it favored women- and minority-owned candidates along with those that could show the harm attributable to the drug war.

“These are the kinds of general racial and gender preferences that the Constitution prohibits,” said Pacific Legal attorney David Hoffa.

CEO and co-owner of Cloud 9 Cannabis Sam Ward Jr. she smiles as she poses for a photograph during a photograph session on a throne for clients, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

In other countries, deep-pocketed corporations operating in multiple states have obtained equity licenses, which can defeat the intent of the regulations. This 12 months, Arizona lawmakers expressed concern that predatory corporations were pressuring licensees to relinquish control.

Difficulty finding locations because of local prohibitions on cannabis businesses or obtaining bank loans because of ongoing federal prohibition also prevents applicants from opening stores. In some cases, the very aspects that qualified them for licenses – living in poor neighborhoods, criminal records and lack of assets – made it difficult to secure the cash needed to open cannabis businesses.

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The framers of Washington’s pioneering law were busy stopping the U.S. Department of Justice from shutting down the market. They required background checks to maintain criminals away.

“In many early states, social equity was simply not an issue,” said Jana Hrdinova, administrative director of the Center for Law Enforcement and Drug Policy at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

Many states which have legalized recently – including Arizona, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland and Missouri – have had social equity initiatives from the start.

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Washington launched its program in 2020. However, it was only in the previous couple of months that it issued its first social equity retail licenses. Only two have been opened, including Ward’s.

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Washington Liquor and Cannabis board member Ollie Garrett called progress up to now disappointing, but said officials are working with applicants and calling on some cities to waive zoning bans so social cannabis businesses can open.

The state, which collects about half a billion dollars a 12 months from marijuana taxes, is making $8 million in grants available to social equity licensees to help cover expenses resembling security systems and renovations, in addition to business coaching.

It also directs $250 million to communities harmed by the drug war – including housing assistance, small business loans, job training and violence prevention programs.

Ward’s turnaround is one officials hope to repeat.

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He testified that he began dealing marijuana as an adolescent. In 2006, a customer pulled a gun on him and Ward was shot within the hand.

Marijuana plants seen in a secured grow facility in Washington County, New York, May 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

He claims to be a single father of seven children and continued to deal drugs to support them until he was charged in 2014 – together with 30 others – in an oxycodone distribution conspiracy. He served almost three years in prison.

Ward, now 39, spent that point taking classes, exercising and training other inmates. After his release, he began a private training business, got a job at a restaurant and joined the semi-professional Spokane Wolfpack football team.

There he met Dennis Turner, a black entrepreneur who briefly owned the team. Turner worked as a restaurant manager on cruise ships, on the post office and as a corrections officer before investing his savings – $6,000 – into growing a friend’s medical marijuana. They used the proceeds to open a medical dispensary in Cheney, a small college town southwest of Spokane, that eventually became an adult-use marijuana retailer.

In Washington’s social equity program, Turner saw a possibility to make Ward a business executive. The two joined Rashel Palmer, whose husband co-owns the soccer team, in launching Cloud 9 for about $400,000. They selected Arlington, Washington – 515 kilometers away – because they are saying it’s a fast-growing city with limited competition in cannabis.

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Ward “saw me as a guy he admired, who was in good business, self-made and out of the trenches, and he just wanted to beat my brains out,” Turner said.

Turner is working to open cannabis stores in New Mexico and Ohio as a part of social equity programs in those states. He hopes to sell them in the future for tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the meantime, he plans to make use of his business to support local charities resembling the Boys and Girls Club of Arlington and the Carl Maxey Center, which give services to Spokane’s black community.

Another recent social equity licensee is David Penn Jr., 47, who helped persuade Pasco in South Central Washington to rescind its ban. Penn, who’s black, was arrested as an adolescent on crack charges. In 2011, he was kicked out of his apartment after stealing marijuana.

A friend who owns two other cannabis stores is financing the Penna store. Its location – a grimy constructing next to a gas station – still needs work. State subsidies will help, but they may not be enough.

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“It’s like giving you a carriage, but you need horses to move it,” Penn said.


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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Business and Finance

Annual women’s salaries narrow the gap. But men are still ahead of women with an average of USD 547 per week

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Women’s annual earnings are closed to men, and the difference in sex salaries in the Australian private sector decreases from 14.5% to 13.6% last yr.

This everlasting improvement, in comparison with 15.4% gap two years ago.

While women work and earn greater than ever before, they are now entitled to much more information to barter wages and judge which firms.

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This information is especially helpful on the tight labor market, z unemployment rate On just 4.1%, because firms are fighting for the best talents.

This is the second yr Gender Equality Agency in the workplace (WGEA) published the company Differences in gender salaries, responding to fears that progress in the scope of gender equality stuck.

Transparency in payments solves the problem of “asymmetrical information”, wherein employers know where every worker sits on a salary scale, but employees don’t.

Data from 7,800 private firms

Typical full -time women’s salaries amounted to USD 72,638 in 2023–24, in comparison with USD 84,048.

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Although narrowing, it’s still a niche of USD 11,410 per yr, i.e. about USD 220 per week.

The difference is far higher after bonuses, time beyond regulation and pension are included: USD 18,835 or a complete salary gap of 18.3%.

All private firms in Australia from at the very least 100 employees must report their data of the Federal Agency. This includes 5.3 million employees in 7,800 firms, which is a fantastic expansion in comparison with 5000 firms last yr, because more firms will improve data reporting.

Employees can Look at the Agency’s website To discover a difference in the gender salary of your employer from the private sector – or one they give thought to joining.

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This yr’s calculations of the company’s differences in the company’s salary also include salaries of the highest management staff.

When general directors and business bosses participate, the difference in the average salary of men and women rises to USD 28,435, i.e. 21.8%.

All this consists of men overtaking women by an average of $ 547 per week.


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A more in-depth take a look at the gaps in the genital wages at the company level

In all firms, the average gender difference in total salary is 13.0%. But size differs significantly in numerous firms.

About 2,200 firms (a couple of quarter) have a niche exceeding 20%. Of these, about 250 firms have a niche exceeding 40%.

On the other hand, a couple of quarter of firms has a niche that’s either zero or negative, which implies in favor of women.

The agency considers the difference in gender salary in the negative scope of 5% to a positive 5% as a legitimate measure to which it needs to be sought.

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WITH The largest organizations (Out of 5,000 or more employees) Airlines are amongst the worst contractors. Virgin has an average gender difference in total salary of 41.7%, while Qantas reports a niche of 39.2%.

Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac report an average difference in sex salaries of 22.4%. GAP Suncorp is nineteen.3%, the NAP is nineteen.0%, and Anz has a niche of 18.8%.

Progress happens

The purpose of the Pay Gap publishing home is given to drive progress in the field of gender equality in Australian workplaces.

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He follows in accordance with prescribed reforms to motivate employers to listen to their difference in gender salaries and have taken more actions.

Comparisons with last yr’s data suggest that this is occurring. The agency informs that just over half of all employers (56%) reduced the difference in gender salaries. And 68% conducted an evaluation of its difference in gender salaries, which is an vital first step in making progress.

Greater transparency makes the employer more liable for improving working conditions.

It can also be a technique to recognize firms that improve with time and learn from their success.

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Correct interpretation is crucial

The difference in sex salaries, measured as the difference between the earnings of men and women, is just not the same as the equal remuneration for equal or comparable work. For over 50 years, he has been contrary to the law in Australia to pay for men and women otherwise for performing equal value.

Luki at the employer’s level In earnings, the combination of aspects, including gender patterns in various types of professions, wherein men and women are in the company. But these gender patterns in the types of tasks don’t explain the entire image.

Prejudices and barriers Stay, including unconscious favors, sex imbalance in life duties and consolidating sex stereotypes.

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It can also be not a niche that will be explained by women working lower than men. Calculations include part -time employees, whose remuneration is transformed into an annual full -time equivalent.

Every employer He has a probability to present a deeper evaluation and explanation of their differences in genital salaries and their actions of their official statements of employers, which are also available on the Agnece website.

This information will strengthen not only current employees, but in addition potential employees, clients, business partners and a wider community of their elections, wherein firms should work, do business and support – which are not.



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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Business and Finance

Hot Girl Spirl

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Megan Thee Stallion just isn’t only the lover of Tequila – he’s now a tycoon of Tequila. The three -time Grammy winner and licensed Hot Girl adds further flexibility to his CV with launch Funny girlsThe Premium Tequila brand designed to bring an event. Is there a greater option to rejoice 30 years than with a bottle (or two) of your personal alcohol?

Chicas Divertidas, which translates into “Fun Girls” in Spanish, hopes that he’ll bring all of the fun to the subsequent meeting. Star tequila is Apparently fabricated from simultaneous100% Agave Blue Weber, collected in the highest maturity from the red volcanic highlands in Mexico. Available in each Blanco and Reposado styles, Megan describes the recipe Chicas Divertidas as “light”, making it ideal for sipping, shooting and making memories.

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“As someone who values ​​good vibrations and wonderful memories, I knew that I wanted to create a tequila, which was designed to share and enjoy my hottia,” said Megan Thee Stallion in a press release. “Smooth, stuffy and premium. This process lasted many years and I am very proud that I can take another step as an entrepreneur. I know that hotties are ready – it’s time to give them a drink made by me! “

For the rapper “Hot Girl Summer” the standard of the brand shines through the product and its packaging. Inspired Angel’s trumpet flower – beautifully alive but fatal– Each bottle has sharp cuts and grooves resembling agave plant with shades of orange, pink, red and purple. The heart pierced with a dagger is on top, embodding the brand’s energy: sweet, elegant and the correct amount of cutting.

“The bottle is beautiful. It looks almost like a mixture or potion. This is a very high quality bottle; Has nice color gradients; My heart with a dagger upstairs; Golden accents. I think quality looks like. “She said Forbes.

This just isn’t just one other alcohol supported by a star. The star says that Chicas Divertidas is its extension.

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“I’m not a brand ambassador for alcohol. I don’t only put my face on someone’s brand. This is my tequila – she explained. “I devoted time to making a liquid and a bottle. Everything on this represents me. This is my business; This is my company. And this distinguishes me from other alcohols with endowed celebrities. “

She continued: “Everyone knows that I am a culture of a hot girl. I like to play. I am a curator. When you go to parties, my experience shows that the drinker is tequila. It seems to me that this is only a universal happy drink. And I’ve always loved good reposado. This is my favorite. So I decided that I had to bring a climate for parties – with gifts. That’s how I came up with Chicas. “

And when you are wondering the right way to sustain, it has one easy advice: “Drink water after each shot. Stay hydrated. “
Funny white girls ($ 70.00) and Resto Chicasdivertidastapila.com AND Respertbar.com. It can be expected that the brand will soon start with chosen American retail sellers.

(Tagstransate) Megan thee stallion (T) Business

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Business and Finance

Unemployed claims reach the largest weekly

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The variety of unemployment claims increased greater than expected last week, because more candidates for the first time applied for unemployment profit.

According to CNN, It is estimated that 242,000 unemployment claims were made last weekAn increase of twenty-two,000 in comparison with the previous week. Apparently, economists expected about 220,000 claims to land.

The variety of unemployment claims submitted last week has been the largest weekly for over 4 months. Weekly claims have also been at the highest level since December.

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Despite the growth, the American Department of Work The aforementioned snowstorms in some parts of the country and holidays on the occasion of the Presidential Day are guiltyWhich could cause some variability, informs.

“Extreme winter weather was mainly responsible for receiving in the initial claims last week,” said Samuel Tombs, the most important economist of the USA at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

How mass exemptions at federal level affect unemployment

It stays unclear how mass exemptions at federal level, directed by billionaire technology Elon Musk, who supervises the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (dog), will affect claims. According to Reuters, federal employees submit a separate compensation of unemployment, which, as stated, has a weekly delay. The latest data from February 15 show 614 people submitted to acquire advantages, which is barely one among the previous week.

“We will have to wait another week for details exactly how many initial claims were made throughout the country by former federal civilian employees, but this number was 614 in the week ending on February 15, only one – this is not a mistake – last week” – wrote Tombs in a note for investors on February 27. “It will take another week or two so that work reductions in the middle of the month will fully go into the given claims.”

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The work report in February is to be published on March 7. Economists reportedly expect a rise in employment, predicting that the USA adds about 160,000 jobs in February.

(Tagstranslat) feet of unemployment

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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