Union Jobs for New Yorkers in the Legal Cannabis Industry

A legal, strongly-regulated, and unionized cannabis industry will be a step forward for New York.

Our communities of color have been criminalized through drug enforcement for decades. Workers from these communities should be the first to benefit from legalization, and they deserve union jobs. By strongly controlling the production, distribution, and transportation of cannabis, New York can ensure that the industry will create good jobs in addition to much-needed tax revenue.

In other states that have created legal cannabis markets, third-party distributors have prevented corporations from forming monopolies and dominating the market. This is the distribution system that New York uses for alcohol, which has allowed for workers to establish strong unions and professionalize their jobs. Independent and licensed distributors also safeguard the tax revenue and integrity of this emerging industry.

New York elected officials can right decades of wrongs by legalizing cannabis and creating an industry of good jobs for our communities. Don’t let this opportunity pass us by.