At the beginning of June 2022 the board of directors took a vote to change the mission statement for The Cannabis Alliance.  Previously, our mission statement read: Dedicated to the Advancement of a Vital, Ethical, and Sustainable cannabis industry (DAVES).  However, as an organization, we have always focused on social equity and believe that part of our mission was to right the wrongs of the racist war on drugs.  To do what we can to mitigate the impacts of an economic structure that was designed to omit BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and women has always been at the core of our work, but we realized that our mission statement did not expressly identify equity as a core value.  As our organization continues to grow and broaden in membership diversity we must re-evaluate established standards to ensure we say who we are and we are true to that vision.  We are committed to recruiting people of color for positions of leadership, we have formed committees dedicated to Equity and Justice as well women’s issues, while standing in support of community organizations with strong voices for communities of color.  As a result, multiple targeted initiatives are underway to address funding for minority business development, arrest protocol, new I502 license categories for social equity, patient access and education for communities of color and spanish speakers, as well as collaborative support for initiatives from partner organizations.  We can still do better.  It is our goal to demonstrate what a powerful, intersectional industry organization can look like.  

As a result, we are announcing today that we have added an “E” to our mission statement.  Our mission now reads: Dedicated to the Advancement of a Vital, Ethical, Equitable, and Sustainable cannabis industry (DAVEES).