Category: Washington, D.C.
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Unpacking Racially Disproportionate Cannabis Arrests in D.C. and Baltimore
Earlier this month, The Washington Post published “D.C. legalized marijuana, but one thing didn’t change: Almost everyone arrested on pot charges is Black,” a lengthy report that crunched cannabis arrest numbers in the District and spoke to some of those affected by those arrests, which are occurring after D.C. legalized cannabis, has a medicinal cannabis…
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The Outlaw Report Podcast Episode 07: Anacostia Organics’ Linda Mercado Greene and MORE Act Fallout
We have an especially in-depth episode of The Outlaw Report this week, featuring host Scott Cecil in conversation with Linda Mercado Greene of Anacostia Organics. But before that, The Outlaw Report’s Brandon Soderberg talks—and rants—about the Democrats kicking the can on the The MORE Act and after the talk with Greene, Scott and Brandon also…
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House Vote on MORE Act Postponed Until After the Election
The House of Representatives decided to delay a planned vote on landmark cannabis legislation The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE) until after the election, citing the need to pass a Covid-19 relief package beforehand and concern that voting on a cannabis bill could be a political liability before the November election. Under the…
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Op-Ed: National Expungement Week of Action in the DMV
by Ray Dixon National Expungement Week (N.E.W.) is a non-cannabis specific awareness movement that facilitates expungement relief and wrap-around services to communities affected by the War on Drugs. The American Bar Association describes “expungement” as “the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from state or federal record.” An expungement…
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One Tent Health Provides HIV Screening, Voter Registration—and CBD Gummies
“I was kind of always looking for ways to help people whenever I can,” said Mackenzie Copley, who founded One Tent Health, a nonprofit that provides free and easy access to HIV testing, after observing the difficulties that many people experience when they are tested for HIV. To start, there is getting the test itself,…
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Op-Ed: Do Banking and Digital Payments Solutions Exist in the Cannabis Industry?
It is no secret that having reliable banking partners in the cannabis industry is difficult, however, the adage that cannabis banking access is near impossible is no longer the case. The majority of the cannabis industry is underbanked, but not unbanked. There are a limited number of financial institutions that are willing to open business…
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The Outlaw Report Podcast Episode 06: Virginia Cannabis Reform with NORML’s Jenn Michelle Pedini
In the latest episode of The Outlaw Report podcast, Scott Cecil talks to NORML Development Director and NORML Virginia Executive Director Jenn Michelle Pedini about Virginia’s recent cannabis reforms, the special legislative session, and possible cannabis legalization in the state. And The Outlaw Report’s Brandon Soderberg discusses the new ballot initiative in Washington, D.C. to…
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Quick Hit: The National Cannabis Policy Summit Is On September 10
On Thursday, September 10, the National Cannabis Policy Summit will be held. The third annual event is virtual this year and is also free to attend (you just have to register) giving those anywhere in the country who are interested in cannabis reform a chance to be part of the summit. The ability to attend…
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House of Representatives Will Vote on The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (The MORE Act)
The week of September 21, the House of Representatives will vote on The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (MORE Act). The vote on this potentially historic bill which would expunge many people’s criminal records for cannabis, develop a grant program for those who have been harmed by the criminalization of cannabis, and facilitate nationwide…
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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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Ballot Initiative in Washington D.C. Pushes For Cannabis Industry in the District
Back in 2014, when Washington D.C. residents took to the voting booth to declare that indeed they wanted cannabis legal in the District (through home growing and the decriminalization of low-level possession), most didn’t think that a regulated cannabis industry, the messier second half of legalization, would be this far behind. Yet here D.C. is…