Equity in Marijuana Policy to be Subject of Public Forum

Socio-Economic and Health Equity in Marijuana Policy is the focus of a State Capitol forum on March 15, as the legislature prepares to consider legalization of marijuana in the coming weeks of the legislative session. Topics to be covered include “equity in the cannabis industry, expungements and community reinvestment.   The session, open to the public free of charge, is to be held in Room 2A of the Legislative Office Building.

Co-sponsoring organizations are the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children and Seniors, the Commission on Equity and Opportunity, Connecticut United for Reform & Equity, the legislature’s Black & Puerto Rican Caucus, and Students Against Mass Incarceration.

Featured speakers will be Steven Hernandez, Director of the Commission on Equity and Opportunity, State Representative Brandon McGee, and Shaleen Title, one of five commissioners serving on the Massachusetts Cannibis Control Commission.

Shaleen Title was jointly appointed in 2017 by the Massachusetts governor, treasurer, and attorney general to serve in the social justice seat on the Commission. Named to the Boston Business Journal’s 2018 list of the 50 most powerful people in Boston, she has won several awards for her advocacy work and her efforts to bring more women and people of color into drug policy reform and the cannabis industry.

Before her appointment, she co-authored the Massachusetts marijuana legalization referendum and has consulted on state and local marijuana policy around the country. As an attorney specializing in marijuana regulations, she has provided regulatory expertise for leading marijuana consulting firms.