Election day brought five new states with cannabis legislation, and in the week since, Democrats have promised to vote on the MORE act, which would quote remove cannabis as a scheduled substance, as well as offer banking protections for the industry. And while some of that is worth getting excited about, the devil of course is in the details. In this case, the details are pretty slim language about systems for expunging cannabis convictions, but no details about how that expensive process will actually be handled financially. A vague mention of a process by which people currently serving time for cannabis convictions could appeal their convictions, even though in California, a state that legalized years ago, there are still people sitting in jail for something that is no longer a crime.

Marie Montmarquet is a co-founder and managing partner of the MD Numbers Family of Brands, a vertically integrated cannabis business in California. She's watched a small businesses have been overtaken by large corporate style players to the point that she fears it's no longer possible potentially for someone like her to even get into the industry. Jesse Betend talked to her shortly after election day about all of this, as well as two recent controversies with both Illinois and California’s social equity programs that both mirror each other, and might mean quite a lot for the future of cannabis regulation from the MORE act onward.

MD Numbers, Inc. Website

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