Who Owns the License? Disparity by the Numbers
A state-by-state look at cannabis license data reveals that Black applicants face approval rates far below the industry average — regardless of market size or regulatory framework.
Read the reportIndependent Media
The record of Black cannabis ownership in America.
Black In Canna documents founders, operators, advocates, and the structural forces that determine who builds wealth in one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. No advertorials. No pay-to-profile. The record, without resolution it hasn’t earned.
Cannabis legalization has generated billions in taxable revenue. Black communities, disproportionately targeted by enforcement for decades, remain peripheral to the ownership class this industry is creating. That is not an accident. It is a structure. This platform documents it.
Recent Coverage
All reportingThe Financing Gap That Licensing Reform Won’t Fix
Social equity licenses reduce one barrier. Without access to startup capital, real estate, and banking, a license alone rarely converts to a viable business.
Read the analysisThree Operators, Three States, One Shared Obstacle
We spoke with three Black cannabis founders across Illinois, California, and Massachusetts about what social equity policy looks like in practice — and what it still fails to address.
Read the profilesWhat we cover
Three lenses. One subject.
Voices
Working profiles of Black founders, operators, and advocates — documented in full context, with the complexity intact. Not success stories. Records.
Read the profilesData
Licensing rates, capital access gaps, state equity program performance — analyzed with the rigor of financial journalism, sourced from named public data.
Explore the dataResources
A curated directory of grants, CDFIs, advocacy organizations, and educational programs — verified as substantively active, not just nominally existing.
Browse resourcesBy the numbers
The structural picture
$250K+
Estimated average startup cost to open a single-location cannabis retail operation
38%
Share of Black-owned small businesses denied financing at rates double that of white-owned businesses (Federal Reserve)
3+ yrs
Average wait from application to operational license for Black social equity applicants in high-demand state markets
↑ MSOs
Multistate operators acquiring social equity licensees at increasing rates, raising long-term consolidation risk
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We work with mission-aligned organizations, foundations, and brands that want to support substantive coverage of Black cannabis entrepreneurship. No advertorials. No pay-to-play profiles. Partnerships are structured to support editorial work — not to direct it.