The cannabis equity study commissioned by Council to review and evaluate the City’s cannabis program and the effectiveness of the Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) Program in achieving the City's goal of increasing equity in the cannabis space is now underway.
Following a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the contract was awarded to Applied Memetics, LLC (AM), a health and research informatics firm certified in the areas of equity-based research, consultative services and public policy recommendations for state and municipal clients. AM will be supported by Drs. William Armaline and Edith Kinney, active researchers, authors, and experts in equity and equity research.
Dr. Armaline is the founding Director of the Human Rights Program and an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences [SISS] at San José State University. Dr. Kinney is an Assistant Professor of Justice Studies at San Jose State University and her research focuses on social movement organizations' role in criminal justice reform.
The study , which is anticipated to be completed at the end of November is expected to result in policy recommendations to further the City's goal in promoting equity in the cannabis space and increasing opportunities for program participants.
As part of the study, the team will examine data and reports on the War on Drugs and its impacts to the Sacramento communities and analyze the local cannabis industry through information gathering and utilizing the recently-completed comprehensive study on Sacramento's cannabis industry. Through interviews with participants, the study aims to identify barriers to entry and evaluate the program's effectiveness in addressing them. The team's final report will also contain a side by side comparison of equity programs with other jurisdictions, lessons learned and best and emerging practices.
More information on the study and the team will be made available at the August CORE stakeholder meeting. (Updated 8.1.22)
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