Cannabis Licensing Hub Opens in the Bronx

Let there be hubs like this throughout the country.” The Bronx Cannabis Hub will provide resources for residents of the Bronx who have endured decades of the harmful effects of cannabis prohibition policies and enforcement. In addition to Schumer, the weekend launch of the cannabis hub was attended by New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, Bronx community leaders and cannabis policy reform advocates. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined other New York policymakers and advocates on Sunday for the launch of the Bronx Cannabis Hub, a community center providing resources for residents interested in social equity opportunities in the legal cannabis industry. The center is a project of The Bronx Defenders, a public defender non-profit that is transforming how low-income people in the Bronx are represented in the legal system, in partnership with The Bronx Community Foundation. The New York Office of Cannabis Management is currently drafting regulations for the program and state officials have announced that the first 100 to 200 licenses for cannabis retailers will go to businesses that qualify as social equity applicants. “Communities of color in The Bronx have suffered disproportionately from the harms of cannabis prohibition, from arrest and incarceration to job loss and eviction,” said Desmon Lewis, co-founder of the Bronx Community Foundation. “The Bronx Community Foundation is proud to partner with The Bronx Defenders on The Bronx Cannabis Hub, a first-of-its-kind initiative that will right some of these historic wrongs, by helping our communities to participate in the new, legal cannabis industry.