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 four 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, and the fourth survey from May 2024 to September 2024.

Highlights from the 2024 Diversity Survey:

• More companies participated (204 firms responding vs. 134 in 2023)
• 30% of companies were majority-owned by Black owners (up from 27% in 2023 and 0% in 2020)
• 17% of companies were majority-owned by women (up from 16% in 2023 and 3% in 2020)
• 41% of people with 5% or more equity in cannabis businesses were minorities (25% Black, 6% Hispanic, 6% Asian, and 3% additional or 2+ races)
• 23% of C-Suite executives (CEO, CFO, etc.) were identified as Black (up from 19% in 2023 and 1% in 2020)
• 7% of C-Suite executives were identified as Hispanic (up from 5% in 2023 and 2020)

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 the CROO Diversity Survey report summarizing the results or in the graphs below.  Click here for the graphs in a separate window.