Reparative Entrepreneurship

Cannabis social equity programs are sub-policies within a larger state marijuana regulatory scheme that are geared towards prioritizing War on Drugs survivors when allocating market space and cannabis sales revenue. Of the over 20 states that have legalized recreational marijuana, many include some version of a cannabis social equity program. The idea of repairing past harm through cannabis entrepreneurship gives a sense of “reparations-ish” policymaking. Through a case study of both the intent and implementation of New York’s Social and Economic Equity (SEE) Plan, this Article examines whether the ideological crux of these programs, the belief that entrepreneurship leads to positive economic outcomes for individuals and communities, can fix decades of discriminatory drug policy rooted in systemic racism. Ultimately, the Article argues that these cannabis social equity programs are more likely to sustain barriers to entry, especially for Black entrepreneurs, whether legal, systemic or political. In this moment of reckoning for the War on Drugs, policies must course-correct and experiment with a new concept of “reparative entrepreneurship.” If the reparations framework advanced in this Article were used, the remedies would be more effective in utilizing entrepreneurship to address the harm of the War on Drugs.