DIVISION MANDATE
Pursuant to the Cannabis Regulation Act, Paragraphs (7) and (8) of Subsection B of Section 26-2C-3 NMSA 1978, the division will adopt procedures to promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry of representatives of communities that have been disproportionately harmed by rates or arrest through the enforcement of cannabis prohibitions, and encourage racial, ethic, gender, geographic diversity and New Mexico residency among license applications, licensees, and cannabis industry employees. Policies must also encourage representatives from rural communities that are likely to be impacted by cannabis production, including agricultural producers from economically disadvantaged communities.
GOAL
The Greenery Room has established (4) ways to promote and encourage participation in the cannabis industry by people from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition and enforcement: They include:
- Commitment to hiring at least 25% of workforce of individuals that have been disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition and enforcement;
- Effort to purchase product from facilities operating under a Social Equity Program;
- Donations to charitable projects in those communities disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition and enforcement;
- Sponsorship of facilities operating under a Social Equity Program.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY PLAN
The division, with the advice of the cannabis regulatory advisory committee, shall solicit public input to create and implement a social and economic equity plan. A plan shall be created no later than [DATE] and will include guidelines to determine how to assess which communities have been disproportionately impacted, how to asses if a person is member of a community disproportionately impacted, and proposed incentives to promote social and economic equity for applicants, licensees and cannabis industry employees.
HIRING & EMPLOYEMENT
The Greenery Room LLC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The company prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within the organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship.
We are determined in emphasizing on local hiring of company personnel so as to in cooperate the locals around the location of our company. This is aimed towards boosting the livelihoods of the locals and in understanding the needs of the locals.
The company is committed to equal opportunity hiring practices and strives to build diversity in its initial workforce and during its future growth. To ensure the organization maintains its commitment to diversity, the Greenery Room LLC will interview at least twenty five percent (25%) of candidates that represent at least one disproportionately social or economically affected person mandated for every available position in the company. This company policy will ensure at least twenty five percent (25 %) of the organization’s background comes from representatives of communities that have been disproportionately harmed from cannabis prohibition, and will encourage racial, ethic, gender, geographic diversity, including New Mexico residency among all associates and employees. These metrics will be tracked with the HR Manager using best business practices to ensure all procedures of data collection are ethical and incompliance with local, state, and federal employment laws.
We have efforts in place to purchase products from facilities operating under a Social Equity Program and are committed towards working on establishing incubator programs. This implies creating fund to provide annual grants to deserving licensees by putting 1% of annual net profits into the fund annually.
The Greenery Room LLC utilizes broad employment search engines, such as JazzHR.com which posts available job openings across multiple platforms, such as Indeed.com and ZipRecuriter.com, which can reach individuals from those negatively affected communities. Outside of adhering to the division’s employment requirements including age restriction, The Greenery Room LLC does not have any policy or procedure restricting who can apply or from where.
To ensure all affected communities have fair access to career opportunities, including those without internet access due to economic hardship or ruralness of location, the Greenery Room LLC will host unscheduled, walk-in interviews for any open and available positions the first (1st) Thursday of each month from 10:00 A.M. through 12:00 P.M. located at the hiring facility. This open forum will allow qualified candidates to apply onsite, eliminating the need for the use of a computer or internet.
PHILANTHROPY
American communities from all over the nation that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition are, unfortunately, more likely to have increased addiction problems among community members. It is The Greenery Room LLC firm belief that the declassification of cannabis from a Scheduled 1 narcotic in the Controlled Substance Act to a lower-level classification, would allow for more authenticated scientific studies on the plant for medical purposes and to eliminate most of the jail or prison sentences that are still being issued to cannabis consumers in restrictive states, which further hurts the public by jeopardizing employment with cannabis criminal records.
Americans for Safe Access is a cannabis advocacy group that has brought reclassification legislation to the courts. Because of this advocacy group’s history of action, The Greenery Room strongly supports Americans for Safe Access with monthly reoccurring donations to be decided by the company accountant or controller. Americans for Safe Access is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists, and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. The group works to overcome political, social, and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, research, grassroots empowerment, advocacy and services for patients, governments, medical professionals, and medical cannabis providers.
Although more funding for verified researched is needed for an accepted consensus, initial reports for treating PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are promising. A new study 1 even promotes participants who consumed cannabis were 2.57 times more likely to recover from PTSD. Because of cannabis’ potential to reduce PTSD suffering, The Greenery Room LLC will also donate monthly to The Green Beret Foundation, a highly rated, non-profit organization that specializes in the rehabilitation and post-military transitions of our nation’s Special Forces soldiers and families, who are often plagued with PTSD. Currently, Green Berets are deployed in over 80 countries securing America’s strategic interests. The heavy deployment rotations come at a price: Green Berets continually sustain the highest casualty rate in the Special Operations community. The Greenery Room LLC’s monthly donations will assist this non-profit organization to support some of our nation’s greatest warriors and promote the benefits of cannabis through collaborated efforts.
Because of the possible medical benefits in cannabis for treating some ailments in veterans and even aging consumers, The Greenery Room LLC will offer a ten percent (10%) Military Discount for veterans and a ten percent (10%) Wisdom Discount for senior citizens for all products in the retail stores. The goal is to promote access, safe consumption, and relief for not only veterans, but seniors as well. Often, senior citizens are retired or on fixed incomes. The 10% discount will increase access by lowering the overall retail price for the consumer.
Additionally, The Greenery Room LLC pledges to Improve physical surroundings for each location, to give back to the local community. The Company will not only maintain the immediate property of the facility but will extend its influence on sidewalks and adjoining areas. The Greenery room will also pursue a community “clean-up” initiative, which will consist of an annual event chosen by the residing city with the goal to clear our community of trash and pollutants. If successful, the organization will consider making the clean-up a quarterly event.
SAFETY
The Greenery Room LLC is committed to provide safe, quality products to the community it serves. It provides laboratory testing results on cannabis and cannabis-related products for pesticides, potency, heavy metals, residual solvents (gases), microbials (yeast/mold), among others through the retention of Certificate of Analysis (COA) results on all products its carries from its licensed vendors. The Greenery Room LLC will allow unlimited access to its COAs on all products it carries from licensed distributors to customers, or any member of the public that requests testing records. This transparency ensures public trust with the knowledge the customer is consuming safe, quality products that are free from all contaminants through access to COAs.
We strive to ensure that the products from our company are secure and tested and in addition, affordable to all groups of persons in particular the low-income communities. Safe products which have undergone testing are more often expensive therefore causing economic discrimination. At Greenery Room LLC, we strive to bring to consumers wide range of products with varied prices to cater for all.
This will ensure that the community not only have safe products but also affordable products.
EDUCATION
The fledgling cannabis industry is continuously changing. With newly passed legislation to medical studies, it’s important to stay knowledgeable not only for compliance, but also for public awareness and transparency. Communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition are often communities with limited resources, where quality information can be hard to come by. The Greenery Room LLC pledges to maintain open communications with the public, free of charge. The company will answer all inquiries and provide free consultation to educate the public on healthy consumption standards and product questions.
The Greenery Room LLC has a robust, internal cannabis training program for all associates. The completion and passage of this mandatory Cannabis 101 training program is required during the associates’ initial on-boarding phase. This training helps ensure The Greenery Room LLC maintains well-informed employees who offer the most current expertise in the cannabis industry.
The cannabis 101 training program includes an introduction to cannabis, the history of cannabis, New Mexico’s cannabis legislation, and general cannabis use. This will encompass everything from the synergistic relationship between terpenes and cannabinoids causing the Entourage Effect to the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, New Mexico Legislature SB 253.
Further education is mandated yearly for all associates and employees through training programs decided by the executive controlling persons. These will either be conducted through online tutorials, or onsite presentations. Records of completion of training will be held and stored properly for the length of time required by the division. All associates and employees are encouraged to stay current on local, state, and national cannabis industry updates and discoveries by subscribing to trusted cannabis organization websites that foster accurate reporting for the industry, which includes MgRetailer.com, LeafWire.com, and Ganjapreneur.com.
By fostering education and accurate cannabis knowledge, communities with sufficient, up-to-date knowledge on cannabis and safety will be more encouraged to participate in New Mexico’s blooming cannabis industry.
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Works Cited
- Earlenbaugh, E. (2020, December 22). PTSD Sufferers Who Used Cannabis Were 2.5 Times More Likely To Recover In A Recent Study. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlenbaugh/2020/12/22/ptsd-sufferers-who-used-cannabis-were-25-times-more-likely-to-recover-in-a-recent-study/?sh=4809129d4321
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