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Catch-22 for Weed License Hopefuls Who Need Past Conviction — and Business Chops

When state officials first described the rollout of New York’s recreational marijuana industry last year, Shake, a weed dealer in Brooklyn of nearly 20 years, wanted to get in on it.

When state officials first described the rollout of New York’s recreational marijuana industry last year, Shake, a weed dealer in Brooklyn of nearly 20 years, wanted to get in on it.

With lawmakers promising to give a boost through social equity programs to New Yorkers with past marijuana convictions and people disproportionately affected by the drug war, she thought she could be first in the door of the fledgling legal industry.

“I was all happy in the beginning. Yes! You know, ‘Maybe things can fix themselves. Maybe I could right my wrongs. Maybe I could be a taxpaying citizen,’” recalled the 36-year-old from East New York who did not want her real name published. “And then the regulations came out.”




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