N.Y.C. Cannabis Boss Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Investigation
An official in charge of helping people start cannabis businesses in New York City resigned abruptly last week as her agency was investigating an accusation that she tried to pressure another woman into a polyamorous relationship in exchange for a city contract.
The official, Dasheeda Dawson, who stepped down last Tuesday from a program called Cannabis NYC, denied the accusation and said in a statement that her 'decision to resign is unrelated and was not made lightly.'
City officials have not named a replacement, and the mayor's office declined to comment about her departure.
Ms. Dawson, 46, said she was informed of a complaint last July and cooperated with Equal Employment Opportunity investigators through September, but had not heard anything of it since.
The complaint was filed by Jamila Washington and Monifa Foluke, co-owners of Repot Box, an app that helps dispensaries reward consumers for recycling packaging like empty vape hardware.
In an interview on Sunday, Ms. Washington accused Ms. Dawson of blacklisting the company after she rebuffed her advances for a relationship, including using her influence to have Repot removed from conference panels and events.
'She killed our small business intentionally,' Ms. Washington said. She added, 'If it was a man, people would understand what the problem was.'
Ms. Washington said the proposed relationship also involved a former business partner, a woman whom she and Ms. Dawson were both dating.
An investigator planned to interview Ms. Dawson about the complaint, according to Memphis Washington, Ms. Washington's sibling and a partner in Repot Box, who was interviewed by the investigator on March 10.
In her statement, Ms. Dawson said she 'carried out my role with integrity.'
'The allegations were fabricated and contradict everything I stand for and the professional reputation I've built over many years,' she said.
Her departure was reported by Politico.
Ms. Washington said she initially filed a complaint last spring with the city's Department of Investigation, but it was referred to the Department of Small Business Services, which oversees Cannabis NYC.
The current status of the case is unclear. Small Business Services declined to confirm or deny that there had been an E.E.O. complaint, citing confidentiality, but said it takes all allegations seriously. The agency also thanked Ms. Dawson 'for her service to the city's community of cannabis entrepreneurs.'
Ms. Dawson was the first director of Cannabis NYC, which was created in 2022 to streamline city services to help people find jobs and open businesses in the nascent legal industry. In her resignation letter, Ms. Dawson listed the program's achievements.
'We've shared a common goal: to build a new cannabis market that is equitable, accessible, sustainable and safe,' she said. 'Together, we have not only laid the groundwork for a thriving legal industry in New York City, but also implemented groundbreaking and impactful initiatives that have set a new precedent for cannabis policy and practice nationwide.'
She stepped into the role in October 2022 to fight stigma against cannabis that she said was stifling dialogue about how it could be used safely and to empower communities battered in the war on drugs. In office, she led an educational tour through the five boroughs, helped to start a cannabis job-training program for people who have been arrested and oversaw the creation of an $8 million business loan program for the first wave of licensed dispensaries opening in the city.
Though she was a city official, Ms. Dawson was a vociferous defender of the state's rollout of recreational cannabis. She said it had come together as quickly as those of other states in the Northeast that had not prioritized small businesses and Black and brown neighborhoods where arrests for marijuana were disproportionately high. When lawsuits held up dispensary openings, she helped to organize cannabis farmers' markets in the city that helped to sell off some of the state's harvest.
Ms. Dawson did not disclose what she plans to do next, but said in her resignation letter that she wanted to expand her impact at the state and federal level.
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CNN
36 minutes ago
- CNN
How a Supreme Court decision backing the NRA is thwarting Trump's retribution campaign
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Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Morning Bid: Trump-Musk bust-up smolders
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Reuters Francois Murphy and John Irish report on key blind spots that include not knowing how many centrifuges Iran possesses or where the machines and their parts are produced and stored. * OCEAN ECONOMY: Trade in the global 'ocean economy' hit as much as $2.2 trillion in 2023, about 7% of total world trade, but this trade is increasingly threatened by climate change and environmental problems, the United Nations trade and development arm UNCTAD showed in a report this week. The ocean economy grew faster than the world economy at large in the five years to 2020 and an estimated 100 million jobs depend on it. * 'TRUMP DOCTRINE': The emerging foreign policy under President Donald Trump resembles a 'look the other way' doctrine or a 'none of our business' doctrine, argues former George W. Bush State Department official Richard Haass on Project Syndicate. "The U.S. sought to change the world, annoying some and inspiring others. Those days are gone, in some ways for better, but mostly for worse. The US has changed. It is coming to resemble many of the countries and governments it once criticized." * MAGNETIC FEW: A small team in China's Ministry of Commerce decides the fate of the global auto industry, one rare earth magnet export permit at a time. China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a key component in electric vehicle motors, and it added them to an export control list in April as part of its trade war with the United States. Reuters' Laurie Chen and Lewis Jackson show how it falls to the Bureau of Industrial Security and Import and Export Control, part of China's Ministry of Commerce, to review export permits for the rare earth magnets, vital for car motors, wind turbines and even U.S. F-35 fighter jets. * FINANCE AND AI: Artificial intelligence advances in the financial sector offer enhanced data analysis, risk management and capital allocation, but there are problems too, according to a paper on CEPR's VoxEU website. As AI systems become more widespread, they introduce challenges for regulators tasked with balancing the benefits of innovation with the need for financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection and fair competition. * DRONE ATTACK: Ukraine's 'Operation Spider's Web' last weekend used smuggled drones to attack bomber aircraft deep inside Russia, and the 'remarkable event' could affect the future of conflict, argues Council on Foreign Relations fellow Michael Horowitz. 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Chart of the day Supply chain stress ticked up in May, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday. The bank noted that its Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for May rose to 0.19 from -0.28 in April, only the second time it stood in positive territory this year and the highest reading since the 0.20 seen in August of last year. Although the index remains subdued compared to the post-pandemic surge, growing concerns about the impact of the tariff war - particularly the impact of China's restrictions on rare earth and minerals exports on the global auto industry - will ensure policymakers keep a close eye on these pressures for any signs of re-emerging inflation. Today's events to watch * U.S. May employment report (8:30 AM EDT), April consumer credit (3:00 PM EDT); Canada May employment report (8:30 AM EDT) Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. (By Mike Dolan; Editing by Anna Szymanski)
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Inside the battles that shattered Trump and Musk's alliance
President Donald Trump was dejected, processing his very public split with the world's richest man. Rattled in the wake of Elon Musk's public attacks and apparent call for his impeachment, Trump worked the phones, debriefing close confidants and casual acquaintances alike. His former ally was 'a big-time drug addict,' Trump said at one point as he tried to make sense of Musk's behavior, according to a person with knowledge of the call, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
