Category: Washington, D.C.
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Psychedelics Decriminalization Efforts in Washington D.C. Ramp Up
The Outlaw Report has been keeping an eye on cannabis-adjacent organizing within Washington D.C. having to do with Initiative 81, or the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, which would decriminalize psychedelics. The organization behind the effort, Decriminalize Nature D.C., has kept up its goal of getting an initiative to decriminalize psychedelics on…
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DEA Has Trump’s Permission To Surveil Protesters: What Does That Mean When Cannabis Remains Federally Illegal?
As first revealed by Buzzfeed, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been given additional policing powers under the Trump administration to surveil protesters. Generally, the DEA can only enforce drug-related crimes but this temporary adjustment means that the DEA’s resources and surveillance network can be used towards those marching in protest of the police killing…
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Washington D.C. Cannabis Arrest Data Finally Released, Reveals Racial Disparities
According to data released by Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), even into Washington D.C.’s era of cannabis legalization, racially disproportionate arrests continued. The data, which can be found here was released last month. According to the data, in total (excluding juvenile arrests, which do not reveal race) there were around 11,700 cannabis-related charges between…
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Cannabis and Washington D.C.’s Primary Election
Tuesday June 2 is Washington DC’s primary election. With ongoing concerns about COVID-19’s spread and now, what appears to be a growing uprising against police violence nearly at the door of the White House—President Trump is reportedly hiding in a bunker underground—it will surely be an especially complicated election. There are six council seats on…
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Proposed D.C. Budget Could Help Commercial Cannabis Happen Sooner
Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser released the 2021 budget plan last week and amid the hundreds of pages of adjustments, new investments, and proposed cuts about the proposed $16.7 billion budget is some language that as Marijuana Moment reported, “sets the stage” for the commercial cannabis industry that has eluded the District since legalization. Through…
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‘Cannabis’ 68 Times: Debunking a Republican Talking Point
Earlier this month, the expansive COVID-19 relief bill, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (or The HEROES Act) was approved by the House Of Representatives. For those in the cannabis industry, the HEROES Act was especially welcome because it included The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (or The SAFE Banking Act)…
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COVID-19 Relief Bill Passed By House Allows Cannabis Banking
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (or HEROES Act), the latest legislation to provide economic support during the COVID-19 pandemic, was approved by the House of Representatives last week. It provides $3 trillion for COVID-19 relief and includes local and state government funding in the billions, extended unemployment benefits, assistance for farmers…
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The Outlaw Report Podcast Episode 02: Cannabis in the DMV During COVID-19
In the second episode of The Outlaw Report podcast, Prohibited podcast founder Scott Cecil talks to reporter Brandon Soderberg about how Maryland, Washington DC, and Virgina are dealing with cannabis during COVID-19. They discuss responses to cannabis laws by police during the pandemic and how the medicinal cannabis industry in Maryland and DC are dealing…
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Anti-Cannabis Congressman Andy Harris Downplays COVID-19’s Impact
Maryland’s only Republican congressman and all-around enemy to cannabis reform Andy Harris has been in the news lately, battling with Maryland governor Larry Hogan regarding “stay at home” orders tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and it seems, expressing disappointment that the virus has only killed nearly 100,000 Americans. “They promised two million dead at the…
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Washington DC Dispensaries Respond to Cannabis Delivery Rule
On April 13, an emergency rulemaking announced by Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser and DC’s Health Department allowed the district’s medical marijuana dispensaries the ability to deliver for the first time. It was in response to COVID-19 which makes access to DC’s seven medicinal cannabis dispensaries extremely limited which means many patients cannot access the…
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Senators Harris, Sanders, Warren and More Request Federal Support for Cannabis Companies During COVID-19
Cannabis companies have been locked out of federal support due to cannabis remaining illegal under federal law, but 10 senators are working to change that. A letter signed by Senators Michael Bennet, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Jacky Rosen, Bernie Sanders, Ron Wyden, and Elizabeth Warren was sent to…
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Decriminalize Nature D.C Poll Shows 60% Support for Psychedelics Decriminalization
A poll from Washington D.C. advocacy group Decriminalize Nature D.C. suggests a majority of residents support the decriminalization of psilocybin mushrooms and other “entheogens”—or psychedelic substances—such as mescaline, ayahuasca, or DMT. This poll is the latest in a series of creative responses to COVID-19 that Decriminalize Nature D.C. has come up with as they continue…