When Illinois legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in 2020, Zack Bernard and two colleagues pooled thousands of dollars to apply for a license. Bernard, a Black man who owned 51 percent of the company, hoped to get licensed under a social-equity program the state offers to people whose communities have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. Bernard also took a sixteen-hour course to become a certified cannabis vendor.
“We did our research, we made sure we crossed our i’s and dotted our t’s,” Bernard said. “We got the mock application first, and then we got up with the people who said they’d help [us] understand the laws. It was supposed to be a real tedious application. We went through every detail of the application to get as many points as possible. We brought in enough people that covered all bases.”
Social-equity licenses are available to people who had a low-level cannabis conviction on their records, are victims of gun violence, or live in economically disadvantaged areas. For a $250 fee (lowered from $2,500 last year), applicants enter a lottery and hope they’re selected. Last year, 2,700 people applied; only twenty-seven got licenses.
Bernard didn’t get a license.
