Cannabis MSOs Control Most of Arizona's Social Equity Licenses

And there’s not much state regulators can do to help.

Arizona’s social equity license program has apparently fallen short of helping communities most impacted by old cannabis laws.

According to the Arizona Republic, only one of the 26 social equity license holders in the state actually own and control their dispensary.

Abel Ochoa and Diana Pineda told the publication that they received offers of “crazy amounts of money” for their license but decided to hang onto it.

All the other social equity licenses in the state are controlled or owned by multi-state cannabis operators.

License winners were subject to strict rules and regulations and many of them sold their licenses for much less than they were worth.

Some of the license holders told the publication that they were victims of “predatory financial schemes.”

And there’s not much state regulators can do to help.

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