Category: Washington, D.C.
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ACLU Report Reveals Racial Disparities For Cannabis Arrests Remain Amid Reform
For this year’s 4/20 celebration, the American Civil Liberties Union released a sobering report. Titled “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” the in-depth report illustrates how black people are 3.6 times more likely than white people to be arrested for cannabis possession. This is similar, the ACLU…
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Washington D.C. Medicinal Cannabis Dispensaries Can Now Deliver During COVID-19
Washington, D.C. is allowing the delivery and curbside pick-up of medicinal cannabis during COVID-19. D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Health made the announcement on Monday, April 13: “This…is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the District’s residents reducing the spread of COVID-19 by enabling District of Columbia residents registered…
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D.C. Effort To Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms Gets Creative; Baltimore Psychedelics Info Online
COVID-19 won’t stop Decriminalize Nature D.C.’s goal of getting an initiative to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms on the ballot in 2020. After unsuccessfully asking Washington D.C. City Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser to allow online signatures due to the pandemic (which makes it impossible to gather signatures “IRL”), Decriminalize Nature D.C is now floating the possibility…
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Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton Pushes For Commercial Cannabis in Washington D.C.
On Friday, April 3, Democratic Congresswoman for Washington, D.C. Eleanor Holmes Norton demanded Congress remove the rider that prevents D.C. from using local funds to establish a commercial recreational cannabis industry in the district. “At this moment of unparalleled need, D.C. should be able to collect tax revenue from all available sources, like every other…
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Maryland and D.C. Dispensaries Cannot Receive Federal Stimulus Funds
As The Outlaw Report noted last week, cannabis companies are not eligible for federal support from the Small Business Administration (SBA) mostly because the federal government also doesn’t view cannabis as medicine. It remains a Schedule I drug under federal guidelines. That also means the industry which like all other industries, is entering into a…
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Changes to Cannabis Charges in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia Amid Coronavirus
Last week, a statement released by the Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), an organization focused on progressive change among prosecutors, recommended that amid the spread of Coronavirus, older and other especially vulnerable inmates be released and overall, law enforcement reduce the number of arrests and “stop admitting people to jail absent a serious risk to…
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Coronavirus Reveals Cannabis Law Contradictions in DMV
The Coronavirus has made it clear that critiques directed towards many of the systems in the United States are no longer up for debate. Suddenly, even some Republicans are suggesting socialism-tinged policies to address the pandemic and the need to get people out of jail, to put a pause on evictions, and hand over thousands…
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Petitioning for Decriminalizing Psychedelics Gets Delayed Due to Coronavirus
Last Thursday, the D.C. Board of Elections voted 2-0 to allow the Decriminalize Nature D.C. organization to postpone petitioning for Initiative 81, otherwise known as the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020. According to Marijuana Moment, the tentative new date for circulation approval is April 1. The board has not authorized a deadline…
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Catharsis on the Mall 2020: Innovative Projects Worth Seeing
Since its inception in 2015, the annual Burning Man-like event held on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall, known as Catharsis on the Mall, has fostered safe spaces focused on the arts and community healing. The event features workshops, panels, interactive art, as well as an effigy that is set aflame. This past week, it was announced…
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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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D.C. Council Candidate Christina Henderson’s Vision for Cannabis
After two terms as At-Large Councilmember, David Grosso is not running for reelection, but has instead chosen to endorse one of his former staff members: Christina Henderson. This Brooklyn-born candidate has a weighty past in the District, having influenced legislation on a variety of issues, ranging from D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) facilities to reproductive health…
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Police Raids Persist Amid D.C.’s Gray Market
Police raids in the nation’s capital continue to be a problem for cannabis-focused business owners and event planners as the gray market persists throughout the city. D.C. Metropolitan Police Department policy states that it is legal for those at or above the age of 21 in D.C. to possess two ounces or less of cannabis,…