Category: Criminal Justice
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Quick Hit: What Happens When A Politician Gets Gifted a CBD Pen?
Last week, The Baltimore Brew revealed that Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who has been known as being particularly progressive when it comes to cannabis reform, received a number of gifts over the past few years including some cannabis-related products from Select Brands. “The Peripatetic Prosecutor: Marilyn Mosby took 23 trips in 2018 and…
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Enemy to Cannabis Andy Harris Goes After Shrooms
Republican Congressman Andy Harris is at it again. Almost immediately after it was announced that Decriminalize Nature D.C. succeeded in gathering enough signatures to get the decriminalization of psychedelics on the ballot, the well-known enemy to cannabis reform declared that he would try to stop Initiative 81 (the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of…
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For Many Advocates in Virginia, Decriminalization Is Not Enough
Just because Virginia’s cannabis decriminalization has gone into effect, it doesn’t mean the push for cannabis legalization for recreational adult-use has slowed. While passing decriminalization also included a provision to ensure a study about legalization would happen (two different reports on the topic are due later this year), many want legalization to happen sooner and…
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Virginia Cannabis Decriminalization: What It Is and What It Isn’t
On July 1, the state of Virginia decriminalized possession of cannabis of up to one ounce. This law, a few years in the making (it was ostensibly part of Governor Ralph Northam’s campaign in 2017), eliminates any criminal penalty for having small amounts of cannabis and also eliminates cannabis possession appearing on one’s criminal record…
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The 2018 Farm Bill Makes It Harder For Crime Labs To Test For THC
The 2018 Farm Bill was great news for hemp farmers across the country when it made the production of hemp for agricultural purposes legal. The 2018 Bill removed hemp from the federal list of controlled substances and defined it as any part of the plant with the botanical name Cannabis Sativa (the same name as…
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Amendment Would Allow Former Military To Reenlist Even If They Have Used Cannabis
Last week, Democratic Representative from Arizona Ruben Gallego’s amendment to the House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed. If approved by both the House and Senate, it would allow people who had formerly enlisted in the military to reenlist if they admit they used cannabis while they were not enlisted. The amendment also applies to…
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Embattled Cannabis Company MedMen Loses Its License In Virginia
California-based cannabis behemoths MedMen is teetering on the edge right now. What was not too long ago the largest and most valued cannabis company in the world, has been amid a public relations nightmare for months now and was recently kicked out of burgeoning medicinal cannabis state, Virginia. Earlier this month, the Virginia Board of…
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What Washington D.C. Statehood Could Mean For Cannabis Justice
Last week, the House of Representatives approved legislation to make Washington D.C. the country’s 51st state. The vote, which passed 232-180, would make the District and its 700,000 residents properly and fully represented (though it is very likely it will face serious opposition from the Republican-led Senate). Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton who sponsored H.R.51 (Washington,…
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Cannabis Reform And The Justice In Policing Act
Last week, in response to the ongoing uprisings against police violence, Democrats in Congress introduced The Justice In Policing Act. The police reform legislation intends to end racial profiling by police, bans chokeholds and no-knock warrants, reduces police use of military equipment, and pushes for greater transparency among police departments making it easier for more…
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Baltimore’s Next Mayor and City Council President Are Pro-Cannabis
The results of Baltimore’s June 2 primary election—mostly done via mail and then seriously mishandled by the Baltimore City Board of Elections—are finally in as of last week and they suggest some potential change in the city when it comes to cannabis (in Baltimore, winners of the Democratic primary are presumed General Election winners). Both…