Photo credit: Ohio All-Star Statewide Cannabis Experience on Eventbrite.
In honor of Black History Month, the Ohio All-Star Statewide Cannabis Experience is taking place from February 16th-18th. The experience will include a career fair, and a fundraiser.
The Career Fair and Expungement Clinic will take place on February 16th in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. However the All-Star Pre-Game Fundraiser will be on February 18th in Cleveland. The fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the fundraiser in Cleveland runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Post from @midwestcannawomen on Instagram.
Noohra Labs is collaborating with Midwest CannaWomen – both Black-owned businesses – to produce the event.
Noohra Labs is a majority minority-owned cannabis processing lab in Dayton, Ohio, according to the company. Midwest CannaWomen is a small business that advocates for minority communities and provides women opportunities in the cannabis industry.
Post from @noorhalabs in Instagram
Career Fair and Expungement Clinic
The fair and fundraising events both offer ways for Ohio medical patients and residents to apply for employment; expunge their records for cannabis offenses; and learn more about the cannabis industry. Additionally, the fair is free and open to the public. Tickets for the fundraising event are $20 each.
There will be job opportunities at the fair. Companies that will be involved and hiring are Time Well Spent, Athletes & Cannabis Co, Green Tree Alternatives, Pothead Genius and Cannabis Workers Rising.
Noohra Labs founder and COO Nickole Ross recommends that job seekers bring their resumes to the event.
“The [cannabis] industry has a lot of open opportunities for areas like compliance and marketing,” Ross told Emerald. “But there are skill jobs that are going to be required.”
The fair will offer options for those with cannabis convictions to clear their record and find job opportunities in the cannabis industry, Reaves said.
Legal professionals will also attend to assist in expungement, according to Evenbrite.
“We are a state-operated company and we cannot hire those that have a criminal background,” said Ross. “So it’s important for Ally [Reaves] and I to be able to come together to not only educate the community but provide career opportunities in the cannabis industry.”
This is the second event that state officials approved for Ross, and Midwest CannaWomen founder Ally Reaves. Their first was the Midwest Cannafest in August of 2021. Over 40 vendors came together to “celebrate inclusion, diversity, and business partnerships, while educating and connecting to patients about medical marijuana,” said Reaves.
“We’re just really excited that the state is supporting us in the efforts that we’re doing to be able to create the impact that’s important for our communities, and also creating that pathway for careers and jobs,” Ross explained.
All-Star Pre-Game Fundraiser
Noohra Labs’ and Midwest CannaWomen’s Ohio All-Star Statewide Cannabis Experience will take place February 16th-18th. Noohra Labs CEO Nickole Ross (left) and Midwest CannaWomen founder Ally Reaves (right) are looking forward to the opportunities these events will bring for the Black community. Photos from: Ally Reaves and Nickole Ross.
All proceeds from ticket sales and raffles at the fundraising event will go to nonprofit organizations. These include Life is Good No Matter What and The City Mission/Laura’s Home Crisis Women’s Center.
Laura’s Home Crisis Women’s Center is a home that offers services to men, women and children in crisis. Their mission is to help these individuals overcome homelessness. They also create programs to help clients build an independent future.
Reaves is a board member of Life is Good No Matter What, a charity dedicated to helping adults with cancer. Specifically, the organization plans getaway trips, or “escapes,” for those with cancer.
Additionally, cancer is an ailment that allows patients to receive medical cannabis help, so Ross and Reaves are excited to tie in these fundraisers with their career fair and expungement clinic event.
“Nickole [Ross] and I have definitely supported both organizations for our fundraising forum and are very excited to donate 100% of proceeds raised at the event to the nonprofit organizations,” Reaves told Emerald.
Providing More Opportunities for Minorities in Cannabis
Ohio legalized medical cannabis in 2016, reports Gleam Law.
Since then, the state has sold around 78,000 pounds of cannabis material and over 7 million units of cannabis products. Additionally, it has also received approximately $690 million in revenue from medical cannabis sales, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Due to Ohio’s large medical cannabis community, Reaves and Ross are both excited for the opportunities these events will offer for minorities. Officials target minorities disproportionately on the basis of cannabis convictions, Emerald previously reported.
According to a press release about the events, African-Americans make up less than 20% of Montgomery County’s (where Dayton is located) population. Yet they are jailed for cannabis-related offenses four times more than non-Black residents.
In fact, officials are four times more likely to arrest Black Americans for cannabis possession than white Americans nationwide, reports the ACLU.
Additionally, by 2028 the cannabis industry will be worth $70.6 billion globally. But as of 2017, Black ownership only accounts for less than 4% of cannabis companies, according to CNBC.
With this in mind, Reaves and Ross are hoping to change this statistic. More specifically, they aim to provide more opportunities in the cannabis industry and community for minorities specifically.
Paying it Forward
Cities involved in the experience will also have team captains that lead and host the career fair.
“It took a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication to create to this magnitude across Ohio with our beautiful collaborating city captains and our amazing sponsors for our communities,” said Reaves.
Ross also shared how she hopes to make an impact for those victimized by the War on Drugs.
“It’s our responsibility as a cannabis community to really pay it forward to those who created the pathways and the advocacy resources that some are not able to have,” Ross added. “We want to make sure we create opportunities for them to get the justice they need based on the War on Drugs.”
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