Author: Brandon Soderberg
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Lawsuit Against Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Calls Its Racial Equity Attempts “a Sham”
A lawsuit has been filed against the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission on behalf of MediGrow LLC, a Prince George’s County-based cannabis company. The lawsuit, filed late last month, demands Maryland’s federal court address the MMCC’s application for medicinal cannabis growers and processors—specifically its equity questions—and says that the questions “are arbitrary, capricious,…
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Maryland Hemp Farmers Come Out in Opposition to Buffer Bill
Maryland hemp farmers came out in opposition to two hemp-related bills that would limit where they can grow their crop all because of significant complaints by neighbors about a farm in Baltimore County. The two bills are House Bill 510, which would prevent a farm where hemp is grown to be within two miles of…
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Analysis Shows Medicinal Cannabis’ ‘Dramatic Effect’ on Maryland Economy
The Maryland Cannabis Wholesale Association recently released an economic impact analysis conducted by California-based independent research firm Beacon Economics that shows the wide-ranging economic impact of medicinal cannabis. According to the report, the industry has added 4,000 jobs to the state and generated 21.7 million dollars in tax revenue and overall, “contributed over $580 million…
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In Annapolis, a Debate About Medicinal Cannabis Licenses and the Free Market
According to Chairman of the African-American Cannabis Association Joe Gaskins, the white and moneyed performed a “heist” over the past few years, swiping all of Maryland’s medicinal cannabis licenses for themselves and leaving equally qualified black growers and processors with nothing. “In the beginning, it seemed to be a great idea,” Gaskins said last week…
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Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Meeting Awards Licenses, Skips Over Scandal
This year’s first full meeting of the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) was all about housekeeping, really—updates, a few words on the legislative session, operational deadlines for a few dispensaries extended, and the approval of a handful of dispensaries. MMCC Chairman Brian B. Lopez compared the commission’s recent efforts to “drinking from…
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Hemp and Cannabis a Headache for Residents, Great for Real Estate
Baltimore County residents are upset about the cannabis-ish smell wafting from Broadway Hemp Farm, and now a House Bill has been introduced to do something about it. As the Baltimore Sun reported last week, the smell coming from Broadway Hemp is bothering folks in the county because the residents—who were granted anonymity in the story—claimed,…
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‘Connor’s Courage’ Hearing Makes Case for Medicinal Cannabis in Schools
Last week, at a hearing for House Bill 331, which would allow medicinal cannabis to be provided to people in public school with legitimate medicinal needs, 15 year-old Connor Sheffield told his devastating story before a room of sympathetic legislators one more time. “My intestines don’t move or absorb properly,” Sheffield, who has the autoimmune…
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When It Comes To Hemp, Maryland Is Somewhat ‘Open For Business’
While Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia push for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speed up its review of Virginia’s Plan to Regulate Hemp Production, Maryland’s move into the world of industrialized hemp remains more circumspect. Maryland’s Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program is only now in its second year and…
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At Hearing, Maryland Law Enforcement Divided On Decriminalization Threshold Increase
A hearing last week for House Bill 550 brought out police and prosecutors for and against the bill, which would increase the decriminalization threshold for cannabis and prevent possession of an ounce as the sole reason to charge someone with intent to distribute. While statements from HB 550 sponsor Delegate Nick Mosby and representatives from…
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Trump Targets Medicinal Cannabis, Proposes Death Penalty for Drug Dealers
President Donald Trump began last week by suggesting the United States use the death penalty for people who use and deal drugs and proposing the removal of federal protections to states running medicinal cannabis programs. And that was all before we learned that former Trump advisor Roger Stone would have his prison sentencing recommendation reduced…
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House Bill 550 Wants to Increase Maryland Decriminalization Threshold
If legalization of cannabis for adult-use is ostensibly off the table in Maryland during the 2020 legislative session, then a House Bill sponsored by Delegate Nick Mosby will still lead to some incremental change: HB 550 increases the amount of cannabis categorized as a civil offense from 10 grams to one ounce and makes it…
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Maryland Cannabis Policy Coalition’s 2020 Goals—a Rundown
Last week, the Maryland Cannabis Policy Coalition offered up its “consensus policy goals” for the 2020 legislative session, according to Luke Jones of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Maryland (NORML), one of more than two dozen groups that make up the coalition. Those bills are House Bill 550, which would increase…