Happy MLK Day! Time to catastrophize just a bit. Last year at this time, I kicked off this post by writing: If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he would almost certainly advocate to end the War on Drugs. Dr. King never spoke publicly about drugs or cannabis in particular: he was assassinated in
Yesterday, January 13, 2023, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“LCB”) released an interactive mapping tool for determining whether people meet have lived in Disproportionately Impacted Areas (“DIA”)–one of three eligibility criteria for the forthcoming Social Equity in Cannabis (“SEIC”) program licensing. The map can be found by a link on the LCB’s website,
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) voted and approved the Social Equity in Cannabis rule proposal yesterday morning, October 11. The Board’s approval will add section “570” to Washington Annotated Code Chapter 314-55. There was hope that the public comment period would yield some meaningful alterations to section 570, but the rule remains
During a little advertised Cannabis Control Board (CCB) meeting, the CCB announced and approved a Limited Partnership Agreement for New York’s Social Equity Fund. As a brief refresher, the Social Equity Fund was mandated by the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). On January 5, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the fund would be,
As part of New York Cannabis Control Board’s (CCB) meeting on August 15, 2022, the CCB proposed and approved John Kagia as the Office of Cannabis Management’s Director of Policy. Given the expansive and stratified plans for New York’s adult-use cannabis industry (with the general ban on vertical integration, emphasis on social equity and advanced
People in the cannabis industry know that marijuana is federally classified as a schedule I controlled substance. Schedule I means the drug has no recognized medical value, has a high potential for abuse, and cannot be safely administered even under a doctor’s supervision. Other schedule I drugs include heroin, methamphetamine, and several psychedelic substances including
Proposed social equity rule Following Washington’s creation of the Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force during the 2020 legislative session, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“LCB”) approved draft social equity licensing rules for cannabis licensees on August 3. The proposed rules would add section “570 Social Equity in Cannabis Program” to Washington Annotated
In all of the news about New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) starting to accept applications for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license applications, one glaring piece of information was missing: will the OCM review applications on a rolling basis starting on August 25, 2022? Or, will OCM review applications all together when the
In May 2021, we wrote about the injustice of the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirming a life sentence without eligibility for probation or parole in the case of Allen Russell. Mr. Russell was found in possession of 43 grams (1.5 ounces) of marijuana. A legal basis for Mr. Russell’s brutal sentence was the fact that
After many delays, controversies, and changes to the regulations, Los Angeles is getting closer to opening its second (and last) round of retail licensing. Based on the timeline laid out by the LA Cannabis Regulations, Retail Round Two will open either around the end of 2022 or sometime in early 2023. This round will be
