Category: Outlaw Report
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Marilyn Mosby’s Cannabis Possession Policy One Year Later
On January 29, 2019, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced a major shift in cannabis policy: The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) would no longer be prosecuting cannabis possession cases in Baltimore, regardless of weight or past criminal record. “We need to get serious about prioritizing what actually makes us safe,” Mosby said…
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Lance Lucas Pleads Guilty to Medicinal Cannabis License Bribes
On Monday, Lance Lucas, the former president of Maryland’s Black Chamber of Commerce and the head of a nonprofit promoting digital literacy, pleaded guilty to paying disgraced Delegate Cheryl Glenn $42,500 in bribes relating to, among other things, medicinal cannabis licenses. This comes after Glenn, who was the former chair of the Black Legislative Caucus…
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Coronavirus Threatens D.C.’s Success for Decriminalizing Psychedelics
The Decriminalize Nature D.C. organization has asked the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser to develop and sponsor emergency legislation to authorize the Board of Elections to provide for online collection of signatures, citing the coronavirus. The organization will need to collect more than 35,000 signatures from D.C. voters to get their initiative that hopes…
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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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New Documentary Features Virginia Family’s Need for Medicinal Cannabis
An upcoming documentary, titled, “Buying Time,” focuses on more than access to affordable medicine, but about a family’s struggle to survive—and do so pain-free. Madison Davis is a 9-year-old girl from Virginia—where cannabis was just recently decriminalized—who relies on medicinal cannabis to treat symptoms of severe pain and seizures brought on by brain cancer. To…
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Virginia Lawmakers Approve Smokable Hemp Bill, Need Gov. Signature
A proposal to allow smokable hemp sales to those aged 21 and over is making its way to the desk of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Sponsored by Del. Daniel Marshall, HB 962 cleared the House of Delegates earlier this month and was approved by the Senate in a 37-3 vote this past week. “Over the…
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Elizabeth Warren’s Cannabis Plan, Revealed
Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a new plan for cannabis reform that is sure to excite those who have been clamoring for the federal government’s outdated policies to be updated. The plan, titled, “A Just and Equitable Cannabis Industry,” has an introduction that reads, “It’s long past time to legalize marijuana and create a cannabis industry…
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Legalization of Virginia’s Medical Cannabis Program Soon to Be a Reality
Virginia lawmakers in the Senate and House of Delegates approved a bill that would ensure that no person is arrested, persecuted, or denied any right or privilege in participating in the state’s medical cannabis program. Sen. David Marsden’s legislation, SB 1015, now heads to Governor Ralph Northam’s desk for signature. Marsden told The Associated Press,…
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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…