Women-led nonprofit brings the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia cannabis markets together at Higher Ground Cannabis Dispensary on October 29 to advance equity, education and women in cannabis STEM
Tea Pad Foundation LTD, a Maryland nonprofit that advances women in cannabis science and policy, will host “Tea Pad – After 90 Years, We’re Legal in D.C.!” on Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. EDT at Higher Ground, a licensed cannabis consumption lounge in Washington, D.C. The evening pairs live jazz, product specific medical cannabis education, and policy conversation, with no alcohol served. The event brings three neighboring cannabis markets together around one shared focus: equity, education and the advancement of women in the industry. The evening raises money to fully fund a Tea Pad Fellow.
Washington, D.C.-based and international touring singer, songwriter and bassist Eric Scott will perform. Guests must be 21 or older with a valid government-issued photo ID, and a valid medical cannabis card from D.C. or any U.S. state is required for entry. Consumption is optional, and non-consuming guests are welcome but do need a valid D.C. medical cannabis registration. Patient registration video shared on Tea Pad Instagram, _teapad. Tickets are available at bit.ly/teapaddctickets, with student pricing available. Sponsorship and vendor-table inquiries: Jacquie@CannabizMD.com.
The name Tea Pad comes from the jazz clubs of the 1920s and 1930s, when cannabis was woven into the music scene of New York City. As the federal government launched an aggressive campaign of marijuana prohibition including effectively criminalized cannabis in 1937, with catastrophic, decades-long consequences for Black and Brown communities, tea pads became speakeasy-style gathering places where people of every racial and ethnic background could listen, talk and be together, free from the violence of that campaign. Tea Pad’s Founder/CEO Jacquie Cohen Roth recognizes the role that the music and lyrics of those rooms play as part of the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement.
Tea Pad Foundation LTD, a 501(c)(3) organization, revived that tradition first in Maryland in 2019 soon after in D.C., Atlanta, Boston, and New Jersey with unique events devoted to equity, education and the advancement of women in the legal cannabis industry. Every Tea Pad provides unique industry networking with key legislators and industry leaders. All events support the Foundation as a fundraiser for the Tea Pad Fellowship.
The Tea Pad Fellowship gives qualified candidates a path into the industry. Fellows commit 15 hours a week at $17 an hour over twelve weeks: one week of onboarding, three weeks of cannabis science and policy education delivered by sister social enterprise CannabizMD> Then eight weeks of mentored work with a cannabis business matched to their skills. The goal is permanent employment with that partner. Fully funding one Fellow costs $15,000, and proceeds from October 29 support that goal.
Higher Ground, at 1135 Okie St NE, is a licensed medical cannabis dispensary which changes what the name means. Earlier Tea Pads borrowed the term as a metaphor for a networking evening. This one takes place in a venue where consumption is lawful on site, so for the first time the name describes the room. The event is alcohol-free by design, because a cannabis organization’s networking room should look like the industry it serves. Product activations and sampling are conducted through the venue’s licensed operations and with the unique D.C. regulated “Medical Cannabis Education Tasting Endorsement.”
The venue also puts the conversation in the right place. Higher Ground is three miles from the Capitol, in the room where federal cannabis policy gets argued and made, and the evening is built around a single idea: one room, three markets. Maryland has an established adult-use market, the District operates under its own distinct framework, and Virginia’s regulated retail market is slated to open January 1, 2027. Each market is working through different licensing rules and equity programs, yet they seldom share a room, and the women and equity applicants entering the industry feel that gap most. The program includes a brief segment on Virginia’s impact-license framework, which reserves early licensing opportunities. Tea Pad DC brings the three markets together to keep equity, education and women’s advancement at the center of how the DMV’s industry grows.
“Tea pads were rooms where people of every background could gather safely while the country was criminalizing the plant,” said Jacquie Cohen Roth, MS, founder and CEO of Tea Pad Foundation LTD and of CannabizMD. “Ninety years later, we can hold that same room lawfully, educating folks about medical cananbis and while empowering women to lead this industry. A single event opens a door. Funding a Fellow keeps it open.”
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About Jacquie Cohen Roth, MS
Jacquie Cohen Roth, MS is an award-winning cannabis industry entrepreneur, educator and advocate for medical cannabis science, policy and equity in plant-based STEM. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the inaugural cohort of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics program (2021), where she is now an adjunct professor teaching cannabis law and policy. She is also Vice President of Education and Strategic Relationships at CannaWorkforce, Inc., a partner on the nation’s first state-funded cannabis industry workforce development grant, delivered by the Maryland Department of Labor. She has numerous awards recognizing her entrepreneurial achievements and leadership first in conventional healthcare, now in cannabis science and policy while focused on empowering equity in the cannabis industry.
About CannabizMD, LLC
Founded in 2017 and based in Annapolis, Maryland, CannabizMD is a certified minority- and small-business enterprise (MBE/SBE) that educates, builds and engages an ecosystem of stakeholders committed to optimal patient and product outcomes. It was the first cannabis industry business to receive funding from the Maryland Department of Commerce’s MSBDFA and ExportMD programs, and it is the Founding Sponsor of Tea Pad. CannabizMD.com
About Tea Pad Foundation LTD
Tea Pad Foundation LTD is a Maryland 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to empowering women in the cannabis industry through skill-based education and professional development in cannabis STEM. Its flagship program is the Tea Pad Fellowship. TeaPad.co · @_teapad · #IgniteChange
