At 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon, the Yes We Cannabis RI Coalition will kick off the first in a series of three online educational panels focused on cannabis legalization and social equity. Today’s event, titled “Seeds of Hope: Repairing the Harm,” will feature a discussion about automatic record clearance for past cannabis offenses and other reforms to the criminal legal system. The event will be moderated by Cherie Cruz of the Formerly Incarcerated Union of Rhode Island. Panelists include:

• Steven Brown – American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island

• Juan Cuthbert – Directly impacted leader

• Evan Rosin-Pritchard – Former community liaison for the RI Public Defender

• Carly Wolf – National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

The online panel series will be streamed live on the Yes We Cannabis RI Facebook page, with recordings available afterwards. There will be an open question and answer session after each discussion with questions from the online audience (submitted to the Facebook page).

Other upcoming online panels hosted by Yes We Cannabis include:

Monday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m. ET — “Seeds of Hope: Remembering the Patients”

• Patient advocates will discuss how Rhode Island can protect those who need cannabis for medical reasons and ensure they are not left behind as the state moves forward with legalizing, regulating, and taxing adult-use cannabis.

Monday, March 21 (time TBD) — “Seeds of Hope: Building an Inclusive Industry”

• Legalization laws passed in other states have included policies to create a diverse and inclusive cannabis industry — but the results have been disappointing. Advocates will discuss lessons learned and how Rhode Island can be a leader in establishing a more equitable cannabis economy.

Get informed about equitable cannabis policies so that you can be an effective advocate!

If you miss any of the online events, you can watch a recording on the Yes We Cannabis RI Facebook page! 

Now is the time to let your legislators know you support medical cannabis!

State Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has stated that he will not get “in the way” if a medical cannabis bill has sufficient Republican support for a vote in the Senate. HB 136 is a solid bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes (R), who has been a champion for medical cannabis for years. Now is the time to engage with your legislators to support this bill!

Please write your state legislators in support of medical cannabis!

There are other cannabis bills that have been submitted, including legalization bills, but their chances to gain traction are limited. HB 136 is the best bet to move cannabis reform forward in 2022. Time is running out for this year’s session, so your voice is critical.

Help spread the word on this historic bill by forwarding this message to your friends and family in Kentucky!

Legislative leaders in the House and Senate have found common ground on a plan to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults

Exciting news! 

Yesterday, Rep. Scott Slater and Sen. Josh Miller, along with many cosponsors in the House and Senate, formally introduced a pair of identical bills (S 2430 and H 7593) to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults 21 and older in Rhode Island. 

The long-awaited legislation is the product of many months of discussions among top lawmakers in the state, including Senate President Dominic Ruggerio and Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi, who have both indicated they believe this to be the year Rhode Island joins 18 other states with adult-use cannabis legalization laws. The first committee hearing on the bill is expected to be scheduled toward the end of this month.

The legislation would:

• Allow adults to possess and purchase up to one ounce of cannabis (and up to 10 ounces in a person’s residence) and cultivate up to three cannabis plants in their homes;
• Establish a three-member commission appointed by the governor and leaders of the General Assembly to oversee the regulation and licensing of cannabis businesses;
• Impose a cannabis retail excise tax of 10%, in addition to the normal sales tax rate of 7%, with another 3% local sales tax;
• Require that a quarter of all new retail licenses be awarded to applicants that qualify as social equity businesses and another quarter of new licenses to worker-owned cooperatives; and
• Create a social equity assistance fund to provide grants, job training programs, and social services for communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization.

A comprehensive summary of the proposal can be found here, while the full text of the measure can be found here.

Stay tuned for more updates as the pair of bills progress through the legislative process!

Be sure to get out and vote if you live in the 4th House district! 

A special election is being held on Saturday, March 5 to fill a vacancy to replace former Representative Gerald Brady in the 4th House District (Wilmington).

The outcome of the special election is critical in determining the fate of legalization. HB 305 — a bill to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults — is currently waiting to be considered by the full House of Representatives. The winner of the special election will be a key vote on the bill on the House floor.   

Democratic candidate Bud Freel has pledged to support HB 305, while Republican candidate Ted Kittila has said he does not plan to vote for the bill.

Early voting is already underway and will continue through Thursday, March 3, 2022 at the Carvel State Office Building from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Address:
Carvel State Office Building
820 North French Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
Voting Area: Mezzanine (Floor 2)

If you plan to vote on Election Day, you can do so from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. at your assigned polling place.

We need a supermajority (25 votes) for HB 305 to clear the House of Representatives. Don’t miss this opportunity to help get legalization across the finish line this year!  Then, spread the news to friends and family in Wilmington!

State legislative special elections tend to have very small turnouts, so it’s crucial to turn out.

Ask your legislators to call for amendments to HB 1598.

On Thursday, March 3, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on HB 1598, which would  legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older and create a state-run monopoly to sell cannabis. (The full House approved the bill once, but then re-referred it to Ways and Means due to its fiscal impact.)

While MPP’s mission is to legalize cannabis, we are concerned that this approach to legalization will result in a costly boondoggle that will never get off the ground — at least until federal law changes, which could be years away.

States can license and regulate private cannabis businesses, but they cannot direct their own workers to break federal law by selling cannabis. Doing so creates a “direct and positive conflict” and is preempted.

We also have a number of other concerns, including that the bill would re-criminalize cannabis-infused products. You can check out my written testimony on the bill here and our bill summary here. I won’t be able to make it to New Hampshire to testify in person. But perhaps you can?

What: N.H. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on HB 1598 (The committee is required to focus on the fiscal aspects of the bill.)

Where: Legislative Office Building, Room 202-204, 33 N State St., Concord, NH 03301

When: Thursday, March 3, 1:00 p.m.

How: Fill out a sign-up card (they're pink) and submit it to the committee. It is advisable to limit testimony to three minutes.

Please ask your lawmakers to fix HB 1598 and spread the word! It’s past time New Hampshire end its status as an “island of prohibition” — but it needs to do so in a way that actually works.

Ask your state senator to oppose changes to Florida’s democracy!

Alarming news! Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., the Florida Senate Rules Committee will hear SJR 1412. If enacted, SJR 1412 would severely limit the rights of citizens to participate in democracy through the ballot initiative process! If the proposal becomes law, it will prevent a ballot measure on cannabis legalization.

SJR 1412 proposes a constitutional amendment limiting the scope of future citizen initiatives to only government structure or procedural subjects, effectively ending the citizen initiative process in Florida. Ballot initiatives are typically a last resort policy option when lawmakers refuse to act on the will of the people. Floridians were only able to obtain medical cannabis access through the ballot initiative process in 2016.  And direct democracy is Florida’s best hope for adult-use cannabis legalization, given the legislature’s inaction.

SJR1412 and its counterpart, HJR 1127, are the latest in a string of bills to radically change the citizen initiative process. In 2019 and 2020, legislators passed two laws making the citizen initiative process more cumbersome. In 2021, lawmakers passed a bill to cap donations Floridians can give to ballot initiative campaigns they support. That’s why it's critically important to stop SJR 1412 dead in its tracks.

We’re urging everyone to contact their state senator and tell them to preserve the constitutional rights of Florida voters. After you do, please consider urging a friend or family member to do the same.

Ask your senator to support legalizing cannabis this year!

Today, the House of Delegates approved a pair of bills that would allow voters to decide whether to legalize cannabis for adults’ use in November 2022. This historic vote marks the first time either chamber in Maryland’s legislature has voted on a bill that would legalize cannabis.

HB 1, the bill to refer the question of cannabis legalization for adults’ use to Maryland voters on the November 2022 ballot, passed the House in a vote of 96-34. HB 837, the companion bill that would be contingent on voter approval of HB 1, passed the House in a vote of 92-37.

HB 837 includes details for initial steps of cannabis legalization, such as possession limits, limited expungement, and funding for minority- and women-owned businesses. It does not set up a licensing or regulatory system, and simple possession and limited home cultivation would not become legal until July 2023. You can check out our summary of HB 837 here.

Meanwhile, the Senate is set to begin taking up their own bills to legalize and regulate cannabis for adults next week. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing for Sen. Jill Carter’s SB 692 and Sen. Brian Feldman’s SB 833 on Thursday, March 3 at 1 p.m.

The hearing will be held in person and streamed live on YouTube. To provide written and/or oral testimony at the hearing, you must sign up using an MGA account. A tutorial on how to do so is available here. All oral testimony is limited to two minutes.

In addition to legalizing simple possession and home cultivation, both Senate bills would also establish a regulatory framework for an equitable adult-use market—which is not included in the House package. You can check out our summary of SB 692 here, and a summary of SB 833 here. Our feedback on SB 833 is available here.  

Thank you to everyone who advocated to improve the House bills and to achieve today’s historic milestone! Next stop is the Senate. Please consider testifying at the Senate Finance hearing next week in support of equitable legalization without delay and reach out to your senators ahead of the hearing.

Together, we can end prohibition in the Free State!

Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed the "Medical Marijuana Patient Access Extension Emergency Amendment Act of 2022" into law! The emergency legislation lowers barriers to the District’s medical cannabis program.

Here are the provisions included:

• Until September 30, 2022, senior citizens over age 65 will be able to self-certify their own eligibility for medical cannabis without having to get a recommendation from a doctor. The self-certification form is available online here.
• Allows patients whose registrations expired on or after March 1, 2020 to continue to purchase medical cannabis until September 30, 2022.
• Creates a “4/20 Medical Cannabis Sales Tax Holiday Week.” From April 15 through April 24, 2022, patients will not have to pay the six percent sales tax on medical cannabis.

In response to the legislation becoming law, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) announced that it would be hosting a “Senior Week” from February 22-25 to help assist seniors in the self-certification process.

What: “Senior Week.” Walk-in applicants with completed applications will receive a digital and physical registration during their visit. Assistance completing applications will also be provided as needed.

When: From today, Tuesday, February 22 through Friday, February 25 between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Where: ABRA’s office is located at 2000 14^th Street NW, Suite 400 South, Washington, D.C. 20009.

More information on D.C.’s medical cannabis program can be found here, and you can find a list of licensed dispensaries in D.C. here.

Help spread the word on these improvements and opportunities by forwarding this message to your friends and family in the District!

Ask your lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year without delay!

The Maryland House Judiciary Committee just approved HB 1, legislation that would refer the question of legalization to voters on the ballot in November, and its companion, HB 837! The bills will now head to the full House for consideration.

HB 837 includes details for initial steps of cannabis legalization — such as possession limits, limited expungement, and funding for minority- and women-owned businesses — that would be contingent on voter approval of HB 1. It does not set up a licensing or regulatory system. Simple possession would not become legal until July 2023.

The committee approved several amendments to improve HB 837, including:

• an amendment allowing adults to share personal-use amounts;
• an amendment to lower the maximum fine for public smoking from $500 to $50 for a first offense and $150 for a second offense;
• an amendment to allow possession of 12 grams of cannabis concentrates and infused products containing no more than 750 milligrams of THC, in addition to 1.5 ounces of flower; and
• an amendment allowing adults to securely and discreetly cultivate up to two plants.

You can check out our full summary of HB 837, as amended, here.

While these amendments are certainly improvements, there are still improvements we’d like to see. Notably, possession would still not become legal until eight months after voter approval of the referendum. To further reduce police interactions and citations for cannabis, possession should become legal immediately upon voter approval. In addition, we would like the implementing law to include equity-focused legalization of sales.

Please reach out to your lawmakers and ask them legalize cannabis this year without delay!

Thank you to everyone who testified at Monday’s hearing on HB 1 and HB 837 and to those who participated in our lobby days this week! Our advocacy efforts are proving successful.

­­Tell your lawmakers to vote “NO” on HB 95!

Alarming news. A bill that would harm cannabis consumers and communities of color could get a vote in the Florida House of Representatives as soon as Tuesday!

Let your states legislators know they should be rolling back — not increasing — cannabis penalties.

Last year, Rep. Scott Plakon (R) and Rep. Webster Barnaby (R) authored HB 95, which would 1) charge a person who illegally distributes a controlled substance to someone who later dies with murder, and 2) enhance the penalties to 10-15 years in prison for possession with intent to sell a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a number of healthcare and substance abuse facilities.

Despite adopting medical cannabis in 2016, cannabis is still considered a controlled substance under Florida law. Cannabis doesn’t cause fatal overdoses, but HB 95 could potentially result in a person who shared a joint with a friend being convicted of murder if their friend irresponsibly drove while impaired and died as a result.

More troubling is the second goal of HB 95, which would disproportionately impact densely populated, urban centers that many of Florida’s health facilities and communities of color call home.

HB 95 was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee last month on a 14-6 vote and has been added to the House special calendar for Tuesday, February 22. It could receive a vote that day. 

That’s why we’re urging you to contact your state representative and tell them to vote “NO” on HB 95. Alternatively, we’re also asking lawmakers to amend HB 95 to exempt cannabis. After emailing your state representative, consider urging your friends and family to do the same.