By Takosha Murray
My name is Takosha Murray. I work graveyard shifts at Amazon to make ends meet. I have worked hard all my life. A marijuana dispensary license offered me a chance at a better life thanks to the efforts of people like Michael Halow, who partnered with me to navigate stacks of regulations and paperwork.
Unfortunately, some recent media coverage in Arizona and elsewhere is undermining my business and my friend Michael Halow. Those challenging Halow’s businesses seem to be doing so to help a dispensary owner in Tucson. As a result, my plans are threatened as are marijuana dispensary programs in Arizona and elsewhere.
I am at a point in my life where I want to help my two grown children and my first grandchild. The opportunity to open my own dispensary was a blessing, allowing me to help my family, and my community as a business owner.
When I was awarded a license in Missouri, I was very happy as I began to make plans to open my own business and enjoy new opportunities, and then the bureaucracy turned around and took away those opportunities. They say they want to protect people like me. From what? Success? Financial independence? Creating a better life for my grandchild? Valuable partnerships with experts?
I had all the paperwork and credentials submitted. I did so with help from people like Halow. The application process to open a marijuana dispensary is very complicated. Needlessly complicated in my opinion. And the paperwork involved in opening a cannabis business is also challenging. By forming a partnership with Halow, I was able to navigate my way through the process. Michael and his experienced team helped me in so many ways from who I needed to talk to, all the way through the application process. So I get punished for seeking help, partners, and the expertise to help me excel? And Michael gets punished in the media for trying to bring some equity into a complicated social equity system.
None of this makes any sense. Governments create all these complicated rules when you apply to open a marijuana dispensary. And then they take away your license when you partner with someone who understands the rules and all that paperwork. Someone who can actually help me succeed as I operate my business.
It is so hurtful to know that I had everything in order to proceed with a better life, and it was revoked by faceless bureaucrats, leaving me having to work extra hours for someone else with no real future in site. My dreams just got taken from me. I want them back. I hope Missouri decision makers carefully consider my point of view because this cannabis program still offers hope and dignity for me and others.