National Cannabis Roundtable releases first Corporate Social Responsibility report

Report highlights member efforts in criminal justice reform, other areas.

The National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR) has released its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report for 2022-2023, highlighting the efforts of its member companies in the areas of criminal justice reform, equity in business opportunity, workforce utilization and health disparities.

"We named this report ‘Better Tomorrow Than Today’ to not only celebrate the great work of our members, but to serve as an acknowledgment of the existing gaps within the U.S. cannabis market and our concentrated efforts to address these challenges,” said NCR Executive Director Saphira Galoob. “Looking ahead, we will continue to create initiatives and programs to contribute to the overall growth of the industry. We remain steadfast in setting new benchmarks for corporate social responsibility and call for others to join us on this transformative journey.”

Among the highlights included in the report are:

National Cannabis Roundtable: Hosted a symposium on Capitol Hill on clemency policies and criminal justice reforms, resulting in the introduction of bipartisan federal legislation to create an expungement mechanism for low-level violations of marijuana law and provide an expedited, orderly process that clears the deck of non-felony cannabis offenses lingering in the federal system. Since the symposium, NCR also partnered with The Weldon Project and Oklahoma Appleseed to prepare petitions for the expedited release of more than a dozen individuals currently incarcerated because of cannabis convictions.
Cresco Labs: Provided over $735,000 in direct support of restorative justice organizations and sponsored more than 60 community and resource fairs across nine states, assisting more than 8,000 individuals as part of the “Summer of Social Justice” initiative.
Mana Supply Co.: Played an active role in local community events throughout Maryland, Colorado and Missouri, conducting frequent community events with more than a dozen local and national charitable partners to raise funds and bring light to each of their missions.
TILT Holdings: Partnered with the Shinnecock Indian Nation by providing financial investment, training and mentoring to help establish Little Beach Harvest, the first tribally-owned, operated, and tax-free cannabis dispensary in Eastern Long Island.
Trulieve: Launched its nationwide supplier diversity initiative providing education and professional development resources while also creating mutually beneficial business relationships with a supplier base that is reflective of the customers and communities that Trulieve serves, encouraging diverse suppliers who bring innovation and value to its supply chain.
Verano: Launched its Round Up for Cannabis Reform dispensary donation program benefitting The Weldon Project’s MISSION [GREEN] and the non-profit organization’s advocacy for cannabis-related criminal justice reform. With the support of the company, Verano team members and its dispensary visitors donated $140,715 to MISSION [GREEN] in support of cannabis clemency.

Alyse Thompson-Richards has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry Magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served on Cannabis Products Insider since March 2019. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.