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Industry Demographics

The initial adult use cannabis industry began as a transition of medical cannabis companies into the adult use marketplace on January 1, 2020.  Those initial businesses were 100% majority White owned and only one majority woman-owned business. 

Since 2021, the State issued hundreds of new licenses under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA) to Social Equity Applicants.  These new Social Equity businesses are extremely diverse—roughly two-thirds of the new licenses are owned by Black, Latino/a, and other groups of people. 

The Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer (CROO) has conducted five diversity surveys to assess the extent of diversity in the medical and adult use cannabis industry and reviewed methods for reducing or eliminating any identified barriers to entry, including access to capital.  The first survey was from November 2020 to April 2021, the second from December 2021 to August 2022, the third from December 2022 to August 2023, the fourth survey from May 2024 to September 2024, and the fifth survey from September 2025 to January 2026.

Highlights from the 2025 Diversity Survey:

  • Over 3,000 employees participated in the employee survey.
  • 20% of Board of Directors were black. Up from 16% in the 2024 survey.
  • 21% of Majority Owners were women. Up from 17% in 2024.
  • 31% of firms were majority black owned.

Cannabis companies are complicated: one operates as a non-profit, several others are publicly traded companies with the majority equity held by stockholders, and others established as small corporations or partnerships with complex funding and management arrangements.  Further, companies may own multiple licenses, collaborate with national brands, or hire management companies.  Often, but not always, one company is owned by a coalition of people.  Race/ethnicity and gender of owners is analyzed to describe the majority equity of the companies.

The industry demographics can be found in 2025 Diversity Survey Results summarizing the results or in the graphs below.  Click here for the graphs in a separate window.