Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says his city is taking “proactive steps” to making sure the recreational marijuana industry is equitable.

In a recent letter to The New York Times in response to its story “Leaders Urging Fairness in Pot Industry,” Walsh said that Boston is ensuring that new recreational marijuana retail businesses are spread throughout the city and “that the communities that suffered the most in the war on drugs have access to the new economic opportunities presented by legalization.”

“We are fostering partnerships between established cannabis companies and entrepreneurs of color from local communities,” the mayor said. “We have called on well-funded operators to create a pool of resources that would support work force training for local minority- and women-owned small businesses and ownership opportunities.”


Walsh added that five of the six retail marijuana businesses the city has formed agreements with “have diverse ownership and leadership.”

Read Walsh’s full letter over at the Times.