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Those impacted by the War on Drugs are meant to benefit from a new round of cannabis retail licenses.

Washington’s Cannabis Social Equity Program is looking for applicants for a new round of licenses to be issued later this year.

Established by the Legislature in 2020, and updated in 2023, the program aims to address systemic flaws in the state’s legal cannabis market in an effort to right historical wrongs.

“We know that certain communities were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs and are underrepresented in legal cannabis spaces, and so this program specifically seeks to award retail cannabis licenses to those who qualify for the program,” says Samantha Guter, communications consultant with the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Under the provisions of the program, 52 new retail cannabis licenses will be awarded to qualifying applicants. The window to apply for one of the new licenses opens on June 2 and runs through July 1.

To qualify, applicants must have a majority ownership share in the proposed business and meet at least two of the following four criteria:

Have lived in a specified area of Washington disproportionately impacted by previous drug policy for at least five years between 1980 and 2010.

Has been arrested or convicted, or is a family member of someone arrested for or convicted of a cannabis offense.

Have a household income below Washington’s median household income.

Be classified as socially and economically disadvantaged as defined by the state in chapter 39.19 of the Revised Code of Washington.

When the state opened its legal marketplace in 2014, members of these groups were underrepresented. For example, LCB data from 2021 showed that just 4% of legal cannabis businesses in the state were Black-owned.

These criteria were specifically selected to direct the new round of licenses to members of those underrepresented communities.

A previous round of the Social Equity Program awarded 45 licenses in 2023. However, those were existing licenses that had been either forfeited or revoked. The 52 licenses available in this round are all new, marking the largest expansion of the state’s legal market since its establishment over a decade ago.

Senate Bill 5080, passed in 2023, expanded the program and opened up this second window. The 52 licenses made available this time around are exclusively retail, but Guter says that the Legislature’s action allows for new producer and processor licenses to be issued as well, though LCB is still working out those details.

Overall, the most visible impact of this round of the Social Equity Program will be the creation of new businesses owned by members of communities that took the brunt of previous drug policy.