Boston, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/11/2019 --The community gathered at the Democracy Center last week to boycott Revolutionary Clinics for filing a lawsuit against the City of Cambridge regarding the recent passing of the Cambridge social equity ordinance. Read reflections from local entrepreneurs, cultivators, equity proponents including Councilor Zondervan, co-author of the Cambridge Equity Ordinance, as they stood in solidarity for the lawsuit to be dropped and equity placed before profits :

Quinton Zondervan, Cambridge City Councilor, Co-author of the Cambridge Equity Ordinance
"It's really inspiring what you all are doing here. I'm just honored that I got to play a small part in that. But we did our part and passed the law, now the rest is up to you to keep fighting for it, right?...And we'll be there at city hall supporting you every step of the way."

Joseph Gilmore, President of Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council
"Rev Clinics acts as if this social equity ordinance holding them up for two years is going to devastate them, but we see how much money these dispensaries are making, millions and millions of dollars. We are drawing the line with anyone that is going to put their profits over equity. And that goes for the rest and every other dispensary. This conversation doesn't stop with Rev Clinics. We need to see some real tangible commitments towards social equity from organizations like "Commonwealth Dispensary Association."

Richard Harding, Co-Founder of R.A.C.E
"I respect so much the work of Councilor Zondervan and Siddiqui. Cambridge has become ground zero in the fight for equity across the country. It is the biggest civil rights issue of our lifetime. It is an opportunity to create generational and institutional wealth within the black community. The outcome of the suit will become case law and will set a spark that will be felt throughout the industry. We need moratoriums to be imposed across the country in every community that was affected by the war on drugs."

Kate Phillips, Director of Education C3RN
"I'm really tired of seeing the demographic of people who consume not represented in the people who own these companies. Working with a lot of these old white men who own all these companies can be really hard to get them to care about education to get them to care about why it's important. Education is important because it gives empowerment. It takes power away from people that try to hold all of this and make it seem like you can't learn what they do. Yeah, you can!"

Grant Smith, Disabled Medical Patient
"Now that Cambridge has gone forward with this period, and now that they've won the first and what will hopefully be the first of many legal victories upholding the legitimacy of this ordinance, it sets the groundwork to take these kind of priority periods statewide into every other local city and town. And it is absolutely a revolutionary step that Cambridge took."

Viondy Merisma, CEO of The Green Torch
"The state said that Waltham wasn't destroyed by the war on drugs...You can't tell me that I wasn't impacted. The best about it is that the (Waltham) city council agreed and voted yes on the ordinance with a 12-2 vote...And I really do want to thank Cambridge for sure, Councilor Kathleen McMenimen…was the one saying "hey Cambridge is doing this, perhaps we should be looking at this."

Joseph Raymond, Founder/Director of NECCA
"Let's remember one thing: they only care about their bottom line. So the equity that they tout is only promotion to get them what they need and then it's back to the drawing board: what's best for the stockholders/shareholders. These are predators that smell blood."

Ed DeSousa, CEO of RiverRun Gardens
"Let's face it, hundreds of millions of dollars have been made from the legal Massachusetts market and this will continue to increase as stigma fades. Stand with small businesses, stand with equity applicants and vote with your dollars."

Mike Crawford, Radio Host of Young Jurks/Former President of MASSCANN
"You'll never see Young Jurks (interview them), unless they drop this lawsuit, unless they fund the social equity, they need to step up. But long term, we got long memory. I've been here 20yrs and I'm going to be here another 20 yrs. And we're not going to forget. We want to have craft. I want to support good (local) business. I don't want to have to go to big business."

Saskia James, Cambridge Resident, Equity Advocate
"We have to think more radical on how we want the industry to look like and how we want it to feel and to honor that. And people like Revolutionary Clinics are not doing that. That's not the plant that's being sold to you, that's not the treatment that the patients are saying they are receiving when they go, that they can barely afford/have access to it . That's hoarding!"

Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council is a consumer advocacy and education group whose platform connects consumers to growers, policy makers, local brands. We integrate culture into policy through a neighborhood approach by sharing best practices and models for cooperative growth. Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council amplifies the voice of consumers on a state and municipal level by providing educational opportunities, mobilize constituents to lobby for equity, and link potential business owners with consumers.