Category: Washington, D.C.
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Bipartisan Bill From Congress Would Legalize CBD Supplements
Earlier this month, United States Representatives Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon, and Morgan Griffith, a Republican from Virginia, introduced HR 841 or the Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act to the House. HR 841 would, the bill says, “make hemp, cannabidiol derived from hemp, and any other ingredient derived from…
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Psychedelic Reform Movement Goes Federal, Spurred By D.C. Success
Among many changes underway in the nation’s capital, a new nonprofit seeks to increase understanding of and access to natural and synthetic psychedelic medicines at the federal level. The Plant Medicine Coalition (PMC) was co-founded and will be led by local advocate Melissa Lavasani. As chairwoman of Decriminalize Nature D.C., she proposed the successful Ballot…
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Quick Hit: The Outlaw Report Turns One Year Old
Allow us all to boast a little bit: The Outlaw Report has been at it for a full year now. Across more than 50 newsletters, plenty of podcasts, and quite a few of these pithy quick hits (and probably to some readers, a little too many Andy Harris jokes), myself and our small, scrappy team…
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Senate Democrats Announce Plans To Legalize Cannabis
On Monday Feb. 1, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden announced that they would soon be releasing “a draft discussion bill outlining how best to legalize and regulate cannabis and cannabis commerce in a post-prohibition America.” The announcement arrived months after the House voted on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment…
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Quick Hit: Anti-Cannabis Andy Harris Brought a Gun Into the Capitol Last Week?
On Thursday Jan. 21, the day after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Maryland Representative Andy Harris—who as we’re saying here at The Outlaw Report just about every week, is the main reason why there’s no regulated, commercial cannabis in Washington D.C.—set off the Capitol building metal detector because he had a gun on him. According to…
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Episode 13: What’s Next for Cannabis Reform in the DMV?
For the Season One finale, Scott and Brandon reflect on cannabis reform in 2020 and the recent coup attempt at the Capitol. They go on to discuss what’s next for cannabis reform in 2021 in the DMV, including the implications of potential DC statehood and the legalization bills working their ways through the legislatures in…
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Clemency For 12 Cannabis Prisoners Thanks To Trump’s Last-Minute Pardons
President Donald Trump’s last-minute pardons of 143 people included 12 people currently or formerly incarcerated for cannabis. Primarily of course, the pardons made news for the numerous Trump associates who received clemency (such as Steve Bannon) and for the pop culture oddballs who did not receive clemency (such as Tiger King’s Joe Exotic)—all of which…
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Joints for Jabs: Get Some Pot With Your Shot at D.C. Vaccination Sites
Advocacy group DC Marijuana Justice (DCMJ) will hand out baggies of weed to people who receive coronavirus vaccines as part of its recently-announced “Joints for Jabs” program. Cannabis treat bags will be provided by masked and gloved DCMJ volunteers, and will contain pot homegrown by DCMJ members that is pesticide and synthetic fertilizer-free. The organization…
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Quick Hit: Move Over Andy Harris, Idaho’s Scott Grow is the New Enemy to Cannabis Reform
The Outlaw Report has spent plenty of time reflecting the general consensus among cannabis advocates when it comes to Maryland Representative Andy Harris: He is an enemy of cannabis reform. Harris, as we’ve discussed plenty of times, is why cannabis is legal in Washington D.C. but there is no regulated, commercial industry, has opposed to…
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Quick Hit: In Praise Of John Fetterman
Amid the months of bogus claims of election fraud from President Donald Trump and his fanatical supporters which escalated further last week during the attack on the Capitol, one of the beacons of progressive politics and just downright reasonability has been Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania John Fetterman. Amid an endless sea of bloviating wrinkled-up Republicans…
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The Complexities of Cannabis in the Consolidated Appropriations Act
It was down to the wire last week as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which would among other things—and perhaps most importantly—give millions of Americans some much-needed (if modest) economic relief was finally signed by President Donald Trump. The massive spending bill was passed by both the House and the Senate on Dec. 21 and then…
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The Year in Cannabis: Washington D.C.
The year in cannabis in Washington D.C. was one of incremental change with a number of policies and initiatives put forth that will likely lead to major reforms later on. It was appropriate for 2020, a year in which due to COVID-19 and widespread mismanagement of the pandemic, the District was in emergency mode much…