Category: Criminal Justice
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Quick Hit: Trump Administration’s Anti-Cannabis Stance Goes Public With Hemp Rule
It has seemed, for quite some time, that President Donald Trump’s administration is out to get cannabis. Why exactly, is unclear. Trump, before he found his way to the White House, did not care about much or what anyone else did, unless it affected him—a sort of spoiled Democrat touched by super rich Libertarianism—and so…
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Virginia Decriminalized Cannabis, Now it Considers Legalization and Begins its Medicinal Program
In July, Virginia officially decriminalized cannabis possession of up to one ounce, a positive for cannabis reform and a benefit to the many residents of Virginia who are now a bit less apt to get jammed up in the system for using and possessing cannabis. Leading up to decriminalization, arrests for cannabis were actually increasing…
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Maryland Could Have Increased Its Decriminalization Threshold—And Didn’t
At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, Luke Jones of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Maryland (NORML) told The Outlaw Report that the “number one policy goal” for those pushing for cannabis reform in Maryland was House Bill 550, which would increase the decriminalization threshold in the state from 10…
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Quick Hit: In Preparation For D.C.’s Initiative 81, a Psychedelics Reading List
On August 5, as expected, the Washington D.C. Board of Elections announced that Initiative 81—the “Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020”—covered extensively by The Outlaw Report, will be on the November ballot putting the decriminalization of psychedelics up for vote. Melissa Lavasani of Decriminalize Nature D.C. released a statement celebrating the confirmation that…
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Commercial Cannabis and Decriminalized Psychedelics in Washington D.C. More Likely
Last week, The Outlaw Report discussed The Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton Amendment which would prevent interference from the federal government in states where cannabis is legal expanding the protections already given to states with medicinal cannabis programs. On Thursday July 30, the House of Representatives voted on The Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton Amendment which passed with a vote of 254-163 (222…
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Maryland’s Highest Court Rules Cops Can’t Search You Based On Cannabis Smell
Last week, Maryland’s Court of Appeals issued an important ruling for cannabis advocates and fourth amendment warriors: A police officer in Maryland can no longer use the smell of cannabis as a reason to search and arrest someone. “The mere odor of marijuana emanating from a person, without more, does not provide the police with…
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Racial Equity in Maryland’s Cannabis Industry Get More Complicated: Glenn Sentenced, MMCC Ponders Diversity
Last week’s sentencing of former delegate Cheryl Glenn—indicted at the end of 2019 for taking bribes tied to the medicinal cannabis industry—and the Maryland Medicinal Cannabis Commission committee meeting, which took public comment on increasing diversity within the industry, illustrate just how much more work is to be done for there to be a racially…
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Quick Hit: Weed Smell Not Enough For Cops To Search You, Says Maryland Court Of Appeals
Big cannabis news coming in on a Monday right as The Outlaw Report newsletter is wrapping up means we’ll have to unpack this more next week but we’d be remiss if we didn’t briefly mention that the smell of cannabis is no longer probable cause for police to search someone. The case, Rasherd Lewis v.…
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Congress To Vote On Bill Protecting States With Legal Cannabis; Democrats Reject Legalization As Part of 2020 Platform
This week, Congress is expected to vote on an amendment that would prevent interference from the federal government in states where cannabis is legal. Referred to as the Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton Amendment, after Earl Blumenauer (founding member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus), Tom McClintock, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, the amendment expands the protections already given to states…
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Cannabis and Shrooms Enemy Andy Harris Backs Down—For Now
Standing before the House Appropriations Committee, Maryland Congressional Representative Andy Harris, wearing a mask, hunched forward to speak into the microphone and announced he would withdraw his amendment opposing Initiative 81 (the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020), which would decriminalize psychedelics in the District of Columbia. Harris began by arguing for his…