ST. LOUIS — Former Saint Louis University and NBA basketball star Larry Hughes has joined a partnership to open two medical marijuana dispensaries and a cultivation and processing center in St. Louis.
Viola Missouri is a partnership involving Hughes and his former NBA teammate Al Harrington, CEO of Viola Brands, a medical marijuana company he formed in 2011, according to a Forbes report. It is the only Black-owned and operated cannabis company in Missouri.
Details about the exact locations of the businesses were not immediately provided. A formal announcement with Hughes and Harrington is scheduled for noon today at 2001 Olive St.
Viola Brands was launched in Colorado and expanded to California, Oregon and Michigan. Its mission is "to empower minority ownership by creating a coalition of minority investors who own and operate Viola," according to its website. It also created Viola Cares to provide education, expungement and other services in an effort to create more than 10,000 jobs. For example, it produces a toolkit, "A New Leaf: A 'How-To Guide' for Successful Reentry After A Cannabis Conviction," designed for people with cannabis-related convictions.
Fewer than one in five cannabis businesses nationwide is minority owned, and only 17% of cannabis executives were minorities, according to a 2017 report.
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