California awards cities $10 million in social equity marijuana grants

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Ten cities in California will divide $10 million from the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control to help social equity programs in those municipalities.

Top grant recipients include Los Angeles and Oakland, which will get almost $3.5 million between them.

The grant awards, which were delayed from June, also includes Coachella and Palm Springs, which total $600,000 between them.

The social equity program in California is designed to help people or communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization by providing funding for assistance and services to local equity applicants and licensees.

The $10 million grant in California compares with the roughly $12 million being provided by Illinois, which is using a social equity program it hopes can be a blueprint for other marijuana markets.

Illinois, which currently has a medical marijuana program, will launch adult use Jan. 1.

For more on California’s grants, click here.