When Fernando Peña was arrested in 2003 at age 35 for criminal possession of marijuana and sent to Rikers Island, he could see his own apartment in the distance when he was tasked with cleaning the outside of New York’s largest jail.
“I would wonder who could see me, sweeping,” said Peña, now 53. “You know, the loss of your freedom is a big thing. … I’m still very happy to this day to be free. Every day.”
Twenty years later, Peña and his wife, Suzanne Furboter, were able to obtain a license to become cannabis dispensary owners through New York’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensing program, known as CAURD.
The CAURD license allows justice-involved people — those who were previously convicted of marijuana-related offenses — and who have business experience, as well as their family members, to apply. Furboter applied for the license, and Peña is listed as a contributor.
“We said, all right, let’s give it a shot. Who knows if it’s true? It’s almost like a $2,000 lottery ticket,” Peña said about the application process and the licensing fee. “Now I feel like the door’s open. … Who knows what I can do?”
After New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, the CAURD program was created to address the fallout for those most affected by the war on drugs, according to New York’s Office of Cannabis Management.
Just a year before recreational marijuana was legalized, New Yorkers of color — mostly Black and Latino — accounted for 94% of pot-related arrests and summonses in the city in 2020, according to an analysis of New York City police data by the Legal Aid Society.
After a one-month application window last September, Peña and Furboter were among the first to receive licenses out of over 900 applicants.
Before New York legalized recreational pot, many people of color had to deal with the fallout of marijuana-related arrests and incarcerations, said Patrice Edwards, the director of the Bronx Cannabis Hub at the Bronx…
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