Protection of Cannabis Workers

WHEREAS, The NAACP reaffirms its cannabis Resolutions of 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022; and

WHEREAS, The majority of people in the cannabis industry will be workers rather than owners; and the workers who grow, process, test, distribute, and sell cannabis deserve a fair and safe workplace and family-sustaining job like every other worker; and

WHEREAS, Access to union representation, training and apprenticeship will help ensure that a broad range of workers can benefit from the cannabis industry, especially workers from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition in the past; and

WHEREAS, Unions have consistently led the way in organizing workers, including cannabis workers, and unions currently represent thousands of workers in the United States and Canada; and

WHEREAS, Unions have a long history of establishing hiring centers, workforce development programs, training and apprenticeships that ensure diverse, skilled, and long-tenured workforces and have led the way in creating an apprenticeship program that raise the standards for jobs and create pathways for equitable opportunity for work and career advancement;

WHEREAS, A well-constructed cannabis training or apprenticeship program will help ensure that cannabis jobs go to the formerly incarcerated and communities most affected by the War on Drugs.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls for the legalization and de-scheduling of cannabis at the federal level and reaffirms its past resolutions on cannabis, the cannabis industries, decriminalization, and equity, and expresses an intent to advocate for federal, state, and local medical and adult-use cannabis legislation that includes labor peace agreements as a condition of licensure and ensures that all cannabis workers from cultivation to sale to delivery are treated as employees under the National Labor Relations Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and Occupational Safety and Health Administration; including the right to join, form or organize a union.