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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2019)
Not on Board DON’T FORGET TO SPRING FORWARD ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVIII • Number 9 REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD 1 HOUR SATURDAY NIGHT www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • March 6, 2019 Groups align against I-5 expansion See Local New, page 3 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver Nicole Kennedy brings diversity to the new legal cannabis industry by running the Green Hop marijuana dispensary on Northeast Killingsworth Street with her business partner Karanja Crews (not pictured). The hip-hop themed weed shop is one of two African-American owned businesses in Portland operating with support from the city’s cannabis tax specifically meant to bolster cannabis entrepreneurs from communities of color that were disproportionately and negatively affected by the criminalization of marijuana in the past. of A Reversal Fortunes Making sure the new business side of pot is diverse by D anny p eterson t he p ortlanD o bserver The rise and support for two black- owned Portland businesses in the new legal cannabis industry shows how the city is fulfilling its restorative justice and repara- tions goals to mitigate past harms done in communities of color from America’s his- toric war on pot. In the first year that Portland’s trail blaz- ing cannabis tax revenue policy has been in effect, two African American-owned mar- ijuana businesses have received financial support for specific programs that can help them get a leg up in a new industry that is overwhelmingly dominated by whites. Green Hop, a dispensary in northeast Portland and incubator for cannabis pro- fessionals of color; and Green Box, the first legal cannabis subscription box delivery service to get officially licensed in Port- land, each received $30,000 grants from the tax revenue. It’s a move City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly called “just one step toward tangi- ble restorative justice.” Nicole Kennedy, the co-owner of Green Hop, told the Portland Observer the grant C ontinueD on p age 6
