Ownership and executive positions in the cannabis industry held by racial minorities reached new lows in 2022 and those held by women continue to be well below pre-pandemic levels, according to the 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Cannabis Industry report from MJBizDaily.
Non-white ownership fell substantially in the past year, shrinking from 20.7% in 2021 to 15.4% in 2022. Women now make up 22.2% of owners, up from 19.9% in 2021.
Minorities now make up only 12.1% of executive positions in the cannabis industry, down from 13.1% in 2021 and well off the pre-pandemic high of 28% in 2019.
Executive positions held by women actually rose to 23.1% from 22.1% in the 2021 report, but that is still well below the 2019 high water mark of 36.8%.
Both numbers are below the U.S. average for all businesses, a reversal from before COVID-19.
“Both groups have experienced steep declines from pre-pandemic highs, when they outpaced their cohorts in mainstream business,” reads the report, noting that nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 29.1% of executives are women and 20.1% are minorities.
The report also takes a closer look at Colorado and Illinois, two states it describes as “at very different points” in the development of their cannabis markets. Colorado is celebrated for its social equity program, which set a goal to increase minority ownership to 16.8% by summer 2022 and then surpassed its goal, reaching 18%, though women are still underrepresented, owning only 19% of licenses and 38% of employee permits.
In Illinois, only 11% of ownership permits are majority owned by minorities and only 18% are majority owned by women, though the report notes the state’s social equity program, which has faced numerous lawsuits and delays, allotted 48 craft grower licenses and 185 retail licenses to social equity applicants.
— Brian Beckley