Category: Maryland
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Curaleaf Cannabis Industry Shake-Ups in Maryland
In early November, cannabis company Curaleaf, which is currently in 23 states, announced it had sold $31.5 million in proceeds in an attempt to expand its Maryland cannabis operations. Namely, Curaleaf sold its interest in Frederick, MD-based HMS Health, a cultivator and processor for $27.5 million, to TerrAscend Corp. which currently has vertically integrated operations…
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The MORE Act, Explained
It was about a year ago that The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act—The MORE Act—first passed the House Judiciary Committee with a vote of 24-10. Introduced on July 23, 2019, the MORE Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively decriminalizing it nationwide and make it much easier for states to legalize…
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Episode 11: The 2020 Election—Drugs Won
In this episode of The Outlaw Report, Scott Cecil is joined by The Outlaw Report’s Brandon Soderberg to discuss the role of cannabis and drug reform in the recent election. They review the results of the 2020 election and how those results impacted drug policy in D.C. and across the United States. They also take…
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Regulations To Expand Hemp Growing in Maryland Adopted
At the end of October, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced that it has adopted regulations to expand the state’s industrial hemp program. These regulations, first introduced over the summer, move Maryland’s Hemp Program into compliance with the 2018 Farm Bill and will allow farmers to begin to farm industrial hemp “as an agricultural…
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Quick Hit: 68% of Americans Now Support Cannabis Legalization
In news to no one who reads The Outlaw Report but worth noting anyway: The majority of people support cannabis legalization. See, according to the most recent Gallup poll, a whopping 68% of Americans support the legalization of cannabis. That is up slightly from last year’s polling results where 66% of Americans supported legalization and…
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Lawsuit From White, Women-owned Cannabis Company Argues Black and Indigenous Cannabis Entrepreneurs Not “More Disadvantaged”
A cannabis company has filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) and a number of minority-owned cannabis companies arguing that the process for scoring minority businesses is unfair to white women. Hippocratic Growth, who applied for grower and processor licenses and were ranked 21st as a grower and 50th as a processor,…
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Episode 09: ABRAcadabra: Dank Deliveries and Cannabis for Cops
Scott, Shabnam, and Brandon discuss the continued easing of restrictions for cannabis delivery in the District, a new law in Virginia preventing the alleged smell of cannabis from leading to a vehicle search, and Maryland’s recommendation to ease restrictions of prior cannabis use for law enforcement recruits.
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Maryland Now Has Proposed Regulations For Edibles
During the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission’s October meeting, the MMCC finally awarded a number of grower and processor approvals and announced that in the coming weeks, they would release its annual report and the drafted regulations for edibles. While the annual report has not yet arrived, the October 23 edition of the Maryland Register contained…
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Quick Hit: Dispensaries and Their Effect on Crime, Explored
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) recently released a memo titled, “Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Their Effect on Crime” which explored the claims “that medical marijuana dispensaries will lead to increased crime rates in surrounding areas.” What the report shows is that dispensaries do not correlate with increases in crime: “These studies suggest that dispensaries are…
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Ocean City, MD Councilperson Proposes Council ‘Attack Pot’
During a Ocean City Council meeting last week that was ostensibly about expanding the city’s police force by funding 10 additional full-time officers, the council took some time to figure out how they can curtail cannabis use on the boardwalk and beach. In Maryland, cannabis is decriminalized up to 10 grams which is punishable only…
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Maryland Police Reform Workgroup Votes Loosen Cannabis-Use Restrictions For Cops
Maryland’s House Workgroup to Address Police Reform and Accountability, established after the police killing of George Floyd, voted on a number of measures last week including one that would not disqualify people who have used cannabis in the past from applying to be police officers. This was one of the 11 initial measures the workgroup…
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Episode 08: Outdoor Grows, Racial Woes, and Congressional Nos
In the latest episode of The Outlaw Report podcast, host Scott Cecil talks to Outlaw Report writers Brandon Soderberg and for the first time, newcomer to the site Shabnam Danesh. The three discuss the latest developments (or lack thereof) pertaining to the MORE Act, Shabnam’s fascinating article about the environmental benefits to outdoor cannabis growing,…