Dear Fine Fettle Fam,
We don’t say “Fine Fettle Fam” just because it rolls off the tongue. When we say “Fam,” we mean it. We care deeply for our patients, staff, and community. We strive to build a genuine relationship with each and every patient regardless of sexuality, race, gender, or ethnicity.
We’re privileged to play a role in Connecticut’s Medical Marijuana Program. Every day, we help hundreds of patients access medical cannabis in a manner that has become routine for us. Meanwhile, each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are arrested for marijuana-related offenses. Even though Americans use and sell marijuana at similar rates across all races, a Black person is nearly four times more likely than a white person to be arrested for marijuana possession. Many Black citizens are sitting in prison for selling less marijuana than we do each hour. The racial inequality enacted via the criminalization of marijuana both disturbs and angers us.
While widespread recognition of systemic racism is a start, we can’t just resign ourselves to social media posts. Change takes action. Change takes time. We must all consciously choose to participate as arbiters of progress. At Fine Fettle, maintaining an environment where employees aren’t afraid to make change is a core value. We must live by our values.
So, this is what Fine Fettle commits to:
We will be donating to the ACLU for Marijuana Law Reform and the Last Prisoner Project.
Continue to push for social equity in further rounds of licensing and employment in Connecticut’s marijuana industry through our lobbying efforts and personal actions:
a. When we speak to politicians in CT we advocate for 33% of dispensary licenses to be minority owned and led, 50% of manufacturing licenses to be minority-owned and led, and for the creation of "craft cultivation" licenses to lower barriers to entry.
b. We offer to be personal and professional mentors and resources for dispensary license applications.Serve as a resource for all who are trying to break into the cannabis industry. If you, or anyone you know wants help, please reach out by emailing me at help@finefettle.com.
If you have thoughts or ideas that you’d like to share, please feel free to reach out. We don’t have all of the answers, but we promise to continue to use our platform to support justice in any way that we can.
Thank you for the time and for being a member of the #FineFettleFam. We appreciate you.
-Ben Zachs
Chief Operating Officer
Fine Fettle Dispensary