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Amidst a changing cannabis cultural landscape, Thai restaurants are re-discovering an innovative benefit of using ganja in the kitchen, PRI’s The World reports. Chef Amara Akamanon of rural restaurant Baan Lao Ruang (which translates to “The Storytelling House”) located in Prachinburi is employing glutamic acid-rich cannabis leaves for the umami mouthfeel they give to her dishes — an apt substitute, she says, for monosodium glutamate, or MSG. 

(It’s important to note that, while the return of global cannabis cooking heritage is rad, MSG-hate has largely been exposed as based on anti-Asian stereotypes more than any real health concerns.)

Baan Lao Ruang has an older customer base, who aren’t coming to get high — which is probably for the best, as THC-heavy cannabis is still illegal in the country, despite the limited medicinal marijuana regulations. But at the same time, the death penalty remains as a possible sentence for drug trafficking.

“You might feel uplifted by my food,” said Akamanon, who was able to get a license through an association with an herbal medicine-focused hospital. “Your mood might improve. Maybe you’ll get the giggles. You will relax, sleeping better that night.”

What’s weedy and on the menu? Akamanon serves, “stir-fries, rich curries, tom yum (a classic Thai sour soup) and even tempura-fried cannabis leaves,” according to The World. Some plates come garnished with the recognizable leaves themselves. You can even sip on a tea and passionfruit beverage at Baan Lao Ruang that includes juiced leaves. 

Thailand has a formidable legacy as a center of cannabis culture, as anyone familiar with the famous Thai Stick ganja from the 1970s and ‘80s can tell you. In fact, this tradition goes far beyond one particular cultivar. 

Cannabis has been used in traditional medicine for centuries — famously, in the kitchen of pork “boat noodle” vendors, who have been known to add cannabis leaves to their dishes. Bangkok noodle chain Rod Dee Ded now proudly adds the plant’s stems and roots to its broth in a nod to owner Sittichan Vuttipornkul’s familial cooking traditions. 

The plant shows up in the country’s first known cookbook, 1908’s Mae Krua Hua Pa, in the form of “tender ganja leaves." The drug became illegal in the country in 1934, mainly due to international pressure. 

The use of medical cannabis oil by licensed health facilities was legalized in the country in 2018, making it the first Asian country to do so. At the end of last year, the drug was rescheduled, and non-flower parts of the plant containing less than .2 percent THC became regulated. More guidelines around cannabis research and cosmetic and food manufacturing were announced in March, and six plants per household are now allowed for home cultivation. 

Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who hails from the Bhumjaithai Party that forms part of the political coalition currently in power, has made a habit of advocating for legalization and even posing with cannabis plants for photo ops. He calls the prospect of regulation, “a win-win for the Thai people because they will grow the plant, and it will benefit the economy.”

In April, the International Medical Cannabis Association Conference took place in Thai City Chiang Mai and Bangkok's Carlton Hotel. They held a 50-vendor cannabis fair to celebrate 4/20. 

Akamanon told The World that cannabis has gone from “medicine to some terrible narcotic and back to medicine again.” Time will tell where Thai marijuana history goes from here.  

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If you are looking for the most hypocritical outcome of cannabis legalization possible, look no further than Virginia’s new regulation. As Charlottesville newspaper the Virginia Mercury pointed out, the legalization bill that was signed into law last Wednesday does not provide a clear path to freedom for people currently in jail for a plant that’s now legal, nor does it reduce penalties. 

A provision that was previously considered to guarantee re-sentencing hearings to individuals incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes allegedly didn’t make the final cut of the legislation. Lawmakers were reportedly too busy talking about cannabis industry regulations to prioritize the human rights of those targeted by the War on Drugs. 

The Virginia Mercury reports that the Democrats who worked on the legislation, “were unable to reach an agreement on re-sentencing due to the complexity of the issue combined with the last-minute nature of the amendments that sped legalization to this summer.”

Figures offered by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission say that the number of people who have been left out to dry by this omission is significant. 500 people were sentenced to jail for distribution of more than a half ounce and less than five pounds of cannabis in the period between July of 2018 and 2020. Roughly 175 received a prison sentence averaging 1.7 years. Approximately 23 people were incarcerated for growing large amounts of cannabis in the state during the same timeframe. 

Governor Ralph Northam says that a delay is to be expected for these Virginians’ freedom. “We didn’t get that across the finish line this year, but we’ve got session coming up in 2022,” Northam says, “I suspect that’ll be an issue that’s on the table.”

The Virginia bill that was initially introduced did include resentencing hearings for all individuals incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes, excepting those that involve sale to a child or more than five pounds of the drug. Specifically, it allowed judges to consider “circumstances in mitigation of the offense, including the legalization of marijuana.”

But according to the Mercury, House and Senate lawmakers, “spent almost no time discussing it during the session, instead focusing on provisions governing how marijuana would eventually be sold, regulated and taxed.”

“The discussion didn’t arise until the very end of our conversations and at that point, we didn’t really have a lot of time to look into it,” said state Senator Scott Surovell. 

“Just given that it hadn’t really been publicly vetted very carefully, I think there was concern about pulling the trigger on it without knowing the full implications,” he continued.

Re-sentencing hearings are among the most time-consuming methods for freeing cannabis prisoners once a jurisdiction legalizes the drug. New York’s legalization legislation, which passed within days of Virginia’s, offers immediate petition eligibility to those currently incarcerated.

Not all state lawmakers are feeling OK about the fact that potentially innocent people will sit in jail for another year. 

“That was urgent to me, because now we’re going to be in a situation where you’ve got people still sitting in jail for the very thing that we’ve already legalized,” said one of the bill’s co-sponsors, state Senator Louise Lucas. “It makes no sense to me.”

“How ‘complicated and expensive’ is it to continue the incarceration of these individuals for a substance the state has decided is now legal?” asked Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform Marijuana Laws.

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4/20 is primetime for Joseph Edgar Foreman, the Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and rapper-songwriter, known as “Afroman” to legions of cannabis enthusiasts. True to the nature of his decades-long career, Foreman spent the week bopping from Oklahoma to Michigan to perform for weed-loving crowds anxious for his now-classic ode to the things that marijuana makes you forget to do. 

(Did we mention that when we saw him live back in 2002 [we’re old] he played “Because I Got High” twice in the same set? This man deserves all the high-holiday gigs.)

Not all was smooth smoking during the legend’s 4/20 week. Organizers of Afroman’s Tuesday concert at Cass County, Michigan’s M-40 Speedway failed to get a permit to allow cannabis consumption at the event. 

Fans left angry Facebook comments and then organizers got scolded and low-key accused of selling illegal drugs by law enforcement.  

“Those requirements are very basic,” Cass County prosecutor Victor Fitz told a local news site. “It’s basic grown-up stuff. You need to have a license and make sure that you have expressed permission from the township if you are planning to have marijuana use. And if you comply with that, you will be fine, and if you don’t then there are potential criminal consequences...Some of the organizers have been active in the marijuana promotion, as far as recreational meth...So I think there are some logical inferences that were made. That’s why communication is sometimes a good thing.”

“We never wanted to give the wrong impression,” said one of the event’s organizers Justin Smith. “This is strictly a music concert.”

Nevertheless, according to a highly inappropriate IG post from Afroman himself, the show was sold out at the racetrack.

Which only seems right, given that Foreman took a chance with his own safety when he penned “Because I Got High.” In 2014, when he remade the single, he wrote an essay for Vibe Magazine on the song’s origin story: 

“I wanted to write a pro-weed song but still feel the police will hassle me even more. They could exaggerate and say I’m disturbing the peace and inciting a riot. You know like the classic crooked cops on TV that hit your head light with their nightstick then tell you that your head is busted. Those types of cops do exist.”

That 2014 “Because I Got High” Positive Remix further established Afroman’s status as a cannabis hero. He released a video in collaboration with NORML’s Smoke the Vote campaign and Weedmaps — and most importantly, switched up the lyrics to reflect the positive benefits of cannabis consumption, from glaucoma relief to tax windfalls for state governments: 

“They built a school or two/Because I got high/Now the state can fund drug treatment/And I know why,” went the re-do.

So it was a relief to get a sign that Foreman’s gusto was hardly dimmed by the racetrack snafu. He posted a photo of himself surrounded by women in a floor-length white coat, purple “mudflap woman” print suit, and a matching goblet yesterday, its caption calling this year the “best 4/20 I’ve ever had.” 

Surely, that’s saying something. 

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Amidst serious delays in legalization, protests and celebrations took place across Mexico yesterday in honor of 4/20, the international day of weed. 

For many, the day was far from a celebration of cannabis freedom, however. National newspaper El Universal reports that in Hermosillo, Sonora, four young people were arrested for selling marijuana-infused brownies on social media. The Sonora Attorney General’s office carried out the investigation, announcing the apprehension of the brownie bakers on April 18 on the agency’s Facebook page. 

And now, according to the paper, the brownie team is facing three years in jail on charges of crimes against public health, drug trafficking, and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. Reportedly, on April 11, they accepted the charges against them and a jail sentence of three years for each individual.

The young people allegedly sold their baked goods via Facebook and Instagram accounts with names like “Brownies”, “Pasteles Mágicos” [“Magic Cakes”] or “Pasteles Espaciales” [“Special Cakes”]. They live in the Hermosillo neighborhoods of Urbi Villas del Rey, Renacimiento, and Estanz Solare, where their homes were raided at the behest of the attorney general. 

The Attorney General’s office says they were initially tipped off to the case by an anonymous citizen’s call. 

The state Attorney General’s office used the opportunity to alert parents to the dangers of marijuana. This is an actual quote from the agency’s Facebook post, which was reprinted without comment by El Universal: 

“The Attorney General of Sonora alerts mothers and fathers of this kind of conduct, as consuming [cannabis] doesn’t only cause addiction, it can also seriously affect one’s health for life. Those who are exposed to it can also become involved not only in the crime of drug trafficking, they can also be responsible even for homicide, given the toxic nature of foods combined with marijuana.”

Great. 

Many say that one of the key issues in ending prohibition is educating the general public on drugs. (Clearly, law enforcement needs a 101 as well.) On top of a decades-long Drug War that has left cannabis associated with violence in the minds of many Mexicans, the country has been home to ignorant media coverage and several hysteric pop-culture representations of the drug, such as the long-running, moralizing Catholic TV series, Rosa de Guadalupe. 

A 2020 poll found that 58 percent of respondents were opposed to the legalization of marijuana consumption.

Mexico has been caught in legal limbo when it comes to cannabis legalization ever since the country’s Supreme Court declared the consumption and cultivation of cannabis protected under the constitution’s right to develop one’s own personality in 2018.

Unfortunately, in the Mexican legal system, that means that legislators needed to flesh out the regulations behind ending cannabis prohibition. The process has stalled repeatedly, and this month senators asked the Supreme Court for a fourth extension on the deadline they have to pass the legalization legislation. 

The extended delay has frustrated many cannabis consumers and advocates, who say that while the politicians delay, Mexicans continue to be extorted by police for cannabis possession, and drug cartels continue to make profit off the country’s — reduced — but still existent unlicensed cannabis industry.

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The planet’s air may well contain higher than average levels of THC due to 4/20 celebrations, but let’s not forget that cannabis is far from out of the woods when it comes to arbitrary government surveillance. On Monday, the US Postal Service published a notice stating that people can’t use its services to ship CBD vapes, Marijuana Moment reports. 

USPS clarified it was still considering whether hemp-derived products would qualify for the restriction. But didn’t hemp become federally legal with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill? What gives?

While it’s true that President Donald Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act (also known as the Farm Bill) in December of 2018, the law did not make hemp as fancy-free, legally speaking, as corn or tomatoes. 

And the law certainly does not exempt hemp from any controlled substance laws that individual states might have. Many states have their own drug schedules, although some do automatically follow federal guidelines in the matter. As of last year, 10 states still prohibit the use of cannabis-based CBD products: Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.

So basically, even if your cannabis product contains less than .3 percent THC, which is necessary under federal law to be considered hemp, you could be subject to certain restrictions. In fact, even if your product doesn’t contain any cannabis at all, but is a vaporizer that falls under the definition of, “any electronic device that, through an aerosolized solution, delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance to the user inhaling from the device,” federal law suggests it might be subject to certain limitations on how it's able to be shipped. 

That means companies whose business models rely on regularly shipping hemp or hemp-related products may need to pivot — or deal with sharp increases in the cost of getting products to customers. It’s uncertain whether the USPS will go down this CBD-free route. The postal service says it’s giving producers a heads up just in case it determines that these federally legal products cannot be shipped using the federal postal agency. Should it come to that conclusion, the moratorium would go into effect immediately, which means punishments will, too.

The notice underlines the fact that THC products may not be shipped by USPS, as they continue to be subject to federal prohibition.

There were even shots fired over the practice of shipping say, your old copies of High Times Magazine. The notice says that it is, “unlawful to mail advertisements for, or to advertise the mailing of, federally controlled substances or drug paraphernalia.” In 2015, a USPS office in Portland, Oregon published a memo suggesting that even straight newspapers with cannabis ads in them could be a violation of federal law if people used the government postal service to send them.

It advises that should such a ban come to pass, companies may be able to apply for an exemption on the grounds that they are a legal business. Required documentation could include, “laboratory test results, licenses, and compliance reports.”

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"Revolución Con Flores" contingent (Image courtesy: Heidy Alexis Sancen)

Mexico City’s Women’s Day March saw a smaller turnout this year due to the pandemic, with officials pegging attendance at 20,000 compared to last year’s 80,000. But the passion of those who marched still flamed, stoked by the COVID-era’s surge in domestic violence, spike in femicide rates, and the president’s support of a rapist for the state of Guerrero’s gubernatorial seat. Women came to the march to make their voices heard. 

In the midst of this panorama, Mexico seemed to hover on the brink of its legalization age (the march took place nearly a month before senators asked for yet another delay to the cannabis regulation process.) A contingent of some 60 cannabis industry professionals and supporters — including Mexico City legislator Alessandra Rojo de la Vega — were determined to include drug reform justice in this complex-era of politics. They marched with signs bearing the slogan “revolución con flores” (meaning, “revolution with flowers”) as they inhaled tokes of the plant.

“At the end of the day, women have a closer relationship to the plant,” says Heidy Alexis Sancen, co-founder of Mexican glass supplier Don Pipa Dom, who organized the march along with Mexican cannabis industry advocates Lorena Beltrán and Cannaboss. “The plant is female, the plant is a mother.”

“We decided that this March 8th, it was important for Mexico to learn about what is happening in the cannabis industry and that it's being led by women,” continues Sancen, who also emphasized the importance that solidarity among women cannabis professionals has played in her career.

Women marihuaneras have traditionally been viewed with disrespect in Mexico, seen as lazy layabouts, or — worse — criminals, thanks to propaganda like the fearmongering Catholic television show, Rosa de Guadalupe. But as legalization in Mexico inches closer, the public face of the woman cannabis consumer and advocate is changing across the country. The social stigma is fading, which is giving more women an opportunity to be open about their use.

Women-focused educational platforms like Chicks vs. Estigma and Mujer Cannábica are helping in this respect, as is Mexican television show Tiempo de Cannabis, hosted by intrepid drug policy expert Zara Snapp. They’ve provided vital health information on the benefits and effects of cannabis, kept followers up to date on how cannabis culture is evolving, and visibilized responsible consumption and users of the plant — all of which are essential in combating mainstream media’s deleterious and criminal portrayal of weed.

Such justice has been a long time coming, particularly given that since President Felipe Calderón’s 2006 initiation of the War on Drugs — and even before — dissent against the government’s militarization and support for cannabis legalization has been led by the most valiant women in the political arena. And it’s mostly happened out of necessity, some of these leaders say.

“During wars, women suffer,” Senator Patricia Mercado says. “We're losing children, our partners, we're even losing our daughters.”

Presidential candidate Patricia Mercado, 2006 (Image courtesy: Patricia Mercado)

In 2006, Mercado became the first Mexican presidential candidate to include cannabis legalization in a campaign platform. Her race took place nearly six years after the first Mexico City cannabis legalization march and led up to her opponent President Felipe Calderon’s official launch of the country’s horrific War on Drugs upon taking office, which caused the disappearance of at least 62,000 people. In 2019 alone, Drug War violence killed 31,000 Mexicans. 

Mercado wound up receiving more votes than any woman who previously ran for office, finding the most support among women between 18- and 29-years-old.

“Certain politicians told me, 'This is an issue for European countries, what does it have to do with Mexico?’ even though Mexico was already all the way inserted into the issue of drugs,” Mercado told MERRY JANE in a phone interview.

In November 2007, Elsa Conde, the Chamber of Deputies legislator, introduced the first federal bill to regulate medicinal cannabis. The bill sought to defend cannabis consumers from criminalization, replacing prison sentences with educational programs and legalizing home cultivation for qualified individuals. The Chamber’s Health Committee rejected the proposed legislation unanimously, with its president saying, “There is no scientific evidence that [cannabis’] use is superior to existing medications.” 

Conde’s bill would become one of 22 cannabis legalization initiatives over the next 11 years that would go nowhere.

Legalization activists became optimistic when President André Manuel López Obrador (popularly known as AMLO) and his progressive Morena Party swept the presidency and both legislative houses in 2018. Drug regulation champion and former Supreme Court judge Olga Sánchez Cordero was in his inner circle. In the Senate, a month after Morena came to power, she introduced a cannabis legalization bill that would have approved home cultivation of 20 plants per individual, the establishment of a federal regulatory agency for cannabis, and cannabis consumption clubs with up to 150 members. 

Alas, the bill did not advance. 

Federal legislator Lucía Riojas and Minister of Interior Olga Sánchez Cordero, 2019 (Image via)

In 2019, another Mexican woman held the president and other high-up government officials to the anti-prohibition stances they had previously espoused. Ana Lucía Riojas Martínez, independent federal legislator, made headlines when she handed Sánchez Cordero — by then, the Minister of the Interior, the first woman to hold the position — a joint during a Chamber of Deputies session. Riojas says it was “a sign of memory, to say that we remember what you said, that you must remember that this is an unresolved issue, that there is a debt that has to be made right.” (Riojas says that Sánchez Cordero framed the jay, which now hangs in the minister’s office.)

Sánchez Cordero continued to push for the end of prohibition. In February, she advocated for the decriminalization of the opium poppy while substituting in for a quarantined AMLO at his daily morning conference. Mexican farmers in states like Sinaloa and Guerrero often have no other financial option but to grow opium for cartels, providing primary material that ultimately helps fuel the opioid crisis in the US.

Guerrero local legislator candidate Yuritizia López Gómez (Image via)

She is part of a growing chorus for poppy decriminalization that has included leaders like Dr. Yuritzia López Gómez, who spent time during her campaign for local legislator in Guerrero in 2018 calling for the legalization of the flower’s agriculture — she was once from a field full of the orange-red blooms. 

In modern times, women leaders have been some of the boldest advocates for legalization. True to her roots as a queer cabaret owner, Senator Jesusa Rodríguez has staged several compelling political moments, from bringing a leafy cannabis plant to her desk on the Senate floor to donning a weed mask for a rousing and educational music video in 2020 that urged “the smoke to come out of the closet.”

Senator Jesusa Rodríguez (Image via)

Martha Tagle, a Citizen’s Movement Party (known in Mexico as Movimiento Ciudadano) member of the Chamber of Deputies who sits on the lower legislative house's health committee, has also been a strident voice for cannabis justice. She believes that the legalization bill on the brink of being signed prioritizes private industry over repairing damages caused by the Drug War. 

Two years after Riojas famously passed a joint in an official government meeting, she abstained from voting on the cannabis legalization bill for similar reasons.

Such refusals to accept compromise may speak to some women’s motivations for getting involved in the drug legalization movement in the first place. “I think many men come from a more machista perspective of 'you have to use force against force, weapons against weapons,’” Mercado says. “That's another kind of politics, a kind in which violence is strength.”

A gender-based approach to analyzing the War on Drugs has gained traction throughout Latin America, where women are often forced into low-paying, dangerous jobs in the drug trade, such as transporting product as a mule. Collectives like the Latin American Network of Anti-Prohibitionist Cannabis Women [RELAMUCA], Brazil’s National Network of Anti-Prohibitionist Feminists [RENFA], and Chile’s Cannábicas Latinas have been building solidarity around these issues and providing women cannabis activists with mutual support for years. In February, a coalition of these groups released the Cannábicas documentary, which collects testimonials from hundreds of individuals from over 30 countries. (Check out Mary Janes and Lady Buds for examples of similar projects in the US.) 

Cannabis feminism in Mexico does run the risk of being co-opted by the capitalist hyperdrive of legalization, however. Pot isn’t even legal yet, but there’s already reason to be wary of appropriation. Mexico has seen surprising political forces hoist the feminist flag over the past few years — conveniently timed with the rise of the women’s movement. 

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that enjoyed hegemonic rule of the country for 71 years and the far-right’s National Action Party (PAN) maintain staunch sexist views. Yet, during AMLO’s administration, both conservative parties launched “feminist” campaigns that were not only geared toward stopping gender-based violence, both parties also lambasted their ostensibly leftist political opponent. (AMLO makes for an easy target in this respect — he has largely ignored or gaslit the women’s movement while in office.)

Cannabis feminism faces other, internal threats to its power as well. So-called trans-exclusionary feminism is on the rise in Mexico, typified by groups such as the Veracruz-based collective Brujas del Mar. Online campaigns led by these anti-transgender activists have successfully caused the censorship of much-needed trans voices in the mainstream media, such as Mileno’s Laurel Miranda, who saw three of her articles removed from a publication’s website under pressure from trans-exclusionary feminists. 

The disturbing trend makes it essential to question “biological” arguments — often centered around cisgender womanhood — for cannabis feminism. Voices for Mexican cannabis transfeminism include the long-running marijuana educational platform Cannativa, which premiered a 2020 short film called Jardín de las Hembras. The film presents a nuanced approach to cannabis cultivation and gender, starring trans actress and cannabis media professional, Eddan Salas.

But regardless of where the revolución con flores and other strains of Mexican women’s anti-prohibition activism leads in the future, its past and present are full of heroines fighting through a long, difficult struggle for peace and freedom. Riojas asserted that women’s leadership has been a major factor "for legalization and many other transformational issues.”

“I think it’s because we are the ones who historically have lived under oppression and disadvantage,” she says. “From there, the world looks different and you're able to see different possibilities for change and actions that those who have always been in power cannot.”

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A new federally-recognized certification program will give cannabis consumers an easy way to determine if their weed purchases are supporting entrepreneurs from underrepresented and Drug War-impacted communities. 

The Original Equity Group, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, devised the Equity Trademark after the company’s members noticed that even when BIPOC cannabis equity business owners got their projects up and running, they were still having issues getting the product on local cannabis retailers’ shelves. 

Now, cannabis companies from across the country are eligible to apply for the certification to help give them more visibility within the industry (as in B2B) and to the public. 

OEG’s three-member board includes longtime equity advocates like Nina Parks, vice president and prominent Bay Area cannabis consultant; and Ramon Garcia, the company’s chief equity officer and founder of delivery service, Padre Mu. The group decided to work with a law firm on developing the Equity Trademark so that equity-made products would be easily identifiable on retail shelves, giving cannabis consumers the opportunity to make conscious buying decisions more fluidly.

OEG is an ideal group to build this type of certification program. Not only are they embedded in the social equity community, but they’re also well versed in the complicated world of equity in cannabis — and they’ve even hosted effective workshop training sessions for San Francisco equity candidates. (You can check out their extremely useful resources on the War on Drugs and other structural racism issues here.)

According to the federal intellectual property protection registration, here are the specifications on who qualifies for the Equity Trade certification mark: 

“The certification mark [confirms] that the goods provided have been produced by a business that meets the standards set by a U.S. state, county, or city social equity program that seeks to address social inequalities and policy concerns related to gender and sexuality, race, age, mental or physical disability, class, ethnicity, language, education, civil rights, socioeconomic status or religion, by requiring that a business's ownership structure, operations, employment practices or charitable contributions demonstrate a commitment to justice and equality.”

In a press release announcing the Equity Trademark, OEG also announced that they were, “building strategic partnerships with local retailers (‘allies’), who will dedicate 20-40 percent of their shelf space to equity brands.”

“We reached out to our network of equity applicants and relayed the information and told them to start hitting up retailers,” Edward Brown, OEG’s co-founder, tells MERRY JANE. He adds that local brands like SF Roots and Kingston Royal were some of the first to highlight their equity status into shelf space at new retailers.

For California cannabis customers looking to shop Equity Trade products, Brown recommends fellow Original Equity Group member Garcia’s Bay Area delivery service Padre Mu, who “probably carries the most equity brands out of any retailers in the state,” and SF brands SPARC, Mission Organic, and Berner’s on Haight. In Southern California, he namechecked Long Beach’s Culture Cannabis Club, which stocks Kingston Royal and other equity brands.

According to Lauren Mendelsohn, an attorney that helped develop the certification program from the NorCal-based Omar Figueroa cannabis law firm, “the Equity Trade Certification program is significant because it is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time a certification mark indicating that a particular product has been produced by an equity business and, not only created, but also officially recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).”

Of course, as great as a handy logo is in helping identify who’s making your weed product, no one is saying it will be enough to ensure that cannabis equity candidates are being properly supported in a post-War-on-Drugs-era (whenever that comes.) 

Perhaps the bigger issue in ensuring equity within cannabis, says Brown, is licensing opportunities. Though social equity programs are built into the cannabis regulatory systems of many jurisdictions (many are the subject of serious criticism) Brown says that too many cities rely on what he calls a "multi-round beauty contest.” Such application processes prioritize lip service to equity causes rather than underrepresented candidates whose success would help ensure that diversity is being valued in the cannabis space. 

“Once these stores open in these cities, what motives do they have to support social equity?” Brown asks. “None, honestly. If our government doesn't recognize the issue and importance of social equity, then why would they?”

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National Cannabis Awareness Month, indeed — the last week has been a banner moment for cannabis legalization, with New Mexico becoming the third state in mere days to legalize the use of recreational cannabis for adults 21 years and older. It is the 18th US state to do so. 

“New Mexico can ‘finally exhale,’” trumpeted the state’s largest newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal.

“Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better – our workforce, our economy, our future,” tweeted Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham after signing the bill on Monday. Lujan is a major advocate for the positive benefits legalization could have for the state’s oil and gas-dependent economy, even calling a special legislative session in March to get the bill passed. 

New Mexico voters also had to work to make this moment happen. Last year, they voted out two anti-legalization Democrat state Senate leaders in their primary elections.

Two other states have legalized recreational cannabis during the last few days. At the end of March, New York managed to pass legislation after years of lawmaker debate over Drug War restitution and appropriate use of cannabis tax dollars. Virginia became the first Southern state to do so, with its law taking effect on July 1st. 

Financial estimates for the plant’s sale in New Mexico are rosy, with some public finance experts predicting the state could rake in $318 million in just the first year of sales. That would result in $20 million from excise taxes — set at 12 percent of retail sales, set to rise over the next few years to 18 percent, in addition to 5 to 9 percent local and state taxes — in the first fiscal year alone, and 11,000 jobs. 

The law takes effect — guaranteeing the right to possess cannabis for state residents — on June 29, though retail sales may not take place until April 1, 2022. Many finer points of the state’s new regulatory system need to be locked down by the beginning of the next, from product safety rules to requirements for cannabis business licenses.

New Mexicans will be able to grow six cannabis plants per person and up to 12 plants per household — important, given the lag likely to occur with retail sales. The legal possession limit outside one’s home is two ounces, or 28 grams. Police will no longer be able to use the scent of marijuana as justification for searches, and cannabis-related offenses that are no longer illegal under the new law will be expunged from individuals’ criminal records. 

Towns and cities will not be allowed to ban cannabis businesses from their jurisdictions, but they will have the final say when it comes to hours and location density. There are special allowances to facilitate the participation of Native communities in the new industry.

Governor Lujan has even suggested that cannabis legalization could help her state bounce back from an emotionally challenging year. 

“We’re all still feeling like we’ve been shell-shocked,” she told the Albuquerque Journal. “People need something to hang on to and believe in.”

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Many were hoping for a historic 4/20 celebration in Mexico, where legislators seemed to be on the brink of legalizing recreational cannabis. But word that the party may have gone up in smoke — in a bad way — broke Wednesday, when Senator Ricardo Monreal said that his peers are considering asking for yet another extension on the April 30th deadline the Supreme Court set for lawmakers to make weed legal across the country. 

“It’s not easy, and the Senate has a big dilemma; to accept the lower house’s bill so that it can take effect and comply with the judicial mandate, or ask for another deadline extension,” Monreal said, as reported by El Universal. 

Monreal, who’s also the president of ruling party Morena’s Senate political coordination board, warned of the problems that may arise by asking for an extension, including the possibility that the Court will declare the current prohibition of adult-use cannabis unconstitutional, “which could create chaos,” he said. 

The Mexican Senate approved a version of the legalization bill back in November, but it was modified by the lower legislative house, a.k.a. the Chamber of Deputies. But now, the Senate’s displeased about the changes made by the deputies, particularly regarding the removal of social justice-oriented requirements, such as quotas for cannabis business permits intended to prioritize individuals from Indigenous communities.  

In fact, legislators have voiced concern over a variety of topics included in the legislation, from a registry that would be required for those growing cannabis in their home, to what some see as extreme limitations on cannabis clubs, to the ability to consume cannabis in public areas.

The deputies’ version of the bill has already been approved by the Senate’s justice and second legislative studies committees. It only lacks the go-ahead from the health committee to be eligible for a Senate floor vote. If approved by the Senate, the legislation would head to the desk of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has indicated in the past that he is inclined to sign the bill. 

Over the two years since Mexico’s Supreme Court declared the prohibition on cannabis unconstitutional, there have been several deadline extensions granted to legislators to work out the drug’s regulation. The most recent extension, which was announced in December, allowed for four extra months of deliberations.

“We should not make imperfect laws,” said Monreal. “We should legislate with the utmost coherence and with the aim of solving social problems that are taking place. Neither economic concerns, profit-making, nor fundraising concerns should take priority over social interest.” 

In a country that has been wracked by a bloody War on Drugs, not all anti-prohibition activists are convinced by Monreal’s position. Drug policy coalition Regulación por la Paz tweeted on Wednesday, “We believe that an imperfect law is better than a perpetual prohibition.” 

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California is getting closer to becoming the next state to pass legislation that would loosen the prohibitionist stronghold against psychedelics. State senators on the Golden State’s public safety committee voted to advance a bill that would decriminalize the possession of many mind-expanding substances by 4 to 1 on Tuesday. 

SB 519 would decriminalize both the possession and use of psilocybin, psilocyn, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, DMT, mescaline, and ibogaine. Peyote is not included in the bill, whose text explains that the endangered plant is of too much significance to Native American communities — who are already allowed limited access to the drug under federal law — to open up its scarce supply to the wider market. 

Individuals with prior criminal charges associated with these drugs would have their records expunged. SB 519 also calls for the creation of a Department of Health taskforce to research best practices for a regulatory system and ways to encourage equitable access, to be reported back to the Senate by the beginning of 2024. 

Though the bill decriminalizes all kinds of usages of the substances, its text clearly articulates the medicinal value of the drugs that are included and eschews the notion of prioritizing for-profit psychedelics retail. The bill “does not imagine a ‘cannabis model’ or lay a foundation for retail trade in psychedelics,” according to comments made by the office of the bill’s main sponsor, State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, to Marijuana Moment.

Depending on who you ask, SB 519 could actually be a step towards legalizing the drugs included in its scope. 

“While the bill is being described by lawmakers and advocates as simple ‘decriminalization,’ the official legislative analysis of the proposal states that it would ‘make lawful’ the personal possession and social sharing of these substances,” writes Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jaeger. 

Regardless of legal interpretation, the Wiener hopes that its passage will spur further dismantling of prohibition. 

“People should not be going to jail for possessing or using drugs,” Wiener told the Guardian upon introducing the legislation in February. “It’s a health issue, not a criminal issue, and I hope that we get all the way there.”

The proposed law is not the only effort underway to expand access to psychedelics in California. Led by Decriminalize California, advocates are gathering signatures to get a ballot measure in front of voters in 2022. (A prior attempt last year was scuttled by COVID-era limitations on face-to-face politicking.)

On Tuesday, the California Senate committee also approved a bill that will enable the implementation of safe consumption sites for users of Schedule I drugs.

Oregon voters approved a pair of ballot measures to legalize medicinal mushrooms and decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs last fall. New Jersey also signed a bill into effect in February that downgraded possession of small amounts of psilocybin to a disorderly person's offense.

Several cities across the US have already decriminalized magic mushrooms and other psychedelics. Denver and Oakland both have rules on the books doing so, and Washington D.C. passed such legislation in the fall elections. Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, and the Massachusetts towns of Somerville and Cambridge have also passed legislation to reduce criminal penalties associated with the plants. 

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New York’s monumental legalization of adult-use cannabis this week has at least one federal politician thinking about when the United States will regulate the plant. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Wednesday that, "I support decriminalization at the federal level, and we'll be introducing legislation with a few of my colleagues shortly." 

With Mexico hovering on the brink of legalization, the United States is close to becoming the only North American country to uphold archaic cannabis prohibition laws. 

The Senate majority leader dodged questions of whether he personally was in favor of federally legalizing the drug. “Decriminalization, legalization,” Schumer said when asked. 

“At the federal level, you call it ‘decriminalization’ because that lets the states legalize,” he followed up. 

Schumer's obviously dodging the question. First of all, decriminalization and legalization mean two very different things to law enforcement — and the DEA — who will still likely arrest someone if they’re caught moving pounds of weed in a decriminalized landscape. We’ve seen this happen throughout recent history (even with psilocybin mushrooms in Denver after the city passed a decriminalization measure), even though “decriminalization” technically implies the removal of jail time. Arrests don’t always translate to jail bookings, however, but it’s never a positive thing when the cops know who you are or what you’re up to. 

Further, legalization bars the possibility of pretty much any penalty, as long as purchases, sales, and cultivation are within the legal limits or done with proper licensing. Legalization also opens the door to a legal commercial industry. So, no — the terms are not interchangeable like that, Schumer.

Despite dancing around the question, Schumer wrote in a March fundraising email that cannabis legalization is a top priority. 

"Voters in four more states this election voted to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana,” he wrote. “And that proves once again it’s past time to work to undo the harm done by misplaced priorities, particularly in Black and brown communities. It’s time to decriminalize marijuana nationally.”

In February, Schumer and Senators Ron Wyden and Cory Booker staged a meeting of cannabis advocates and industry folk to ponder what their federal legalization bill would look like.

The senators would like to avoid a repeat of last year, when the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act failed to gain momentum in the Republican-controlled Senate after being approved by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. 

Despite Democratic control of both houses, it is unclear if cannabis legalization will pass this year. On Tuesday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that President Joe Biden’s opinion on marijuana legalization “has not changed.” 

In the past, Biden has indicated support for rescheduling of marijuana, and the removal of penalties for the drug’s possession. 

His Vice President Kamala Harris was a co-sponsor of the MORE Act, and in September promised in a town hall meeting that, “Under a Biden-Harris administration, we will decriminalize the use of marijuana and automatically expunge all marijuana-use convictions and end incarceration for drug use alone. This is no time for half-stepping, this is no time for incrementalism. We need to deal with the system.” 

The White House courted ire in March when it announced that five staff members had lost their jobs when they admitted to consuming cannabis in the past. The president has indicated that his administration acted in accordance with policy — one that he’s not inclined to change until federal legalization becomes a fact. 

Schumer’s similar declaration of support for advancing cannabis legalization in February caused cannabis stocks to rise. Analysts said they fell again in March due to apprehension over a legislative process that appeared to be stalling. 

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Seven law enforcement officials have been fired after allegedly killing 26-year-old Texan Marvin Scott III, a Black man whose family said he was likely suffering from a mental health crisis when he was picked up for marijuana possession on March 14. 

"Evidence I have seen confirms that these detention officers violated well-established Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures,” said Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner in a press statement. 

“Everyone in Collin County deserves safe and fair treatment, including those in custody at our jail. I will not tolerate less.”

An eighth officer resigned during an investigation into his conduct. The identities of the officers involved have not been released.

The Texas Rangers are now conducting a criminal investigation of the fired officers’ actions. 

For more than two weeks, Scott’s family has been protesting outside the county jail every evening in pursuit of justice. They want the officers arrested and security footage from the night of their son’s death to be released.

"We want to know, how did my son die?,” asked his mother, LaSandra Scott. “We want answers.” 

Scott was arrested on misdemeanor cannabis possession charges when he was found sitting next to a single joint at the Allen Premium Outlets Mall in Allen, Texas. The cops apparently had received a disturbance call that Scott had been acting irregularly.  

In a 2020 ACLU report, it was found that Black people are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested on marijuana possession charges than white people, and are arrested at higher rates in every state. Legalization has not corrected racial disparities in drug policing, and in some places, has made them worse. 

Some Texas law enforcement agencies have taken steps to divert police resources to such low-level drug arrests. Recently, a Dallas police chief announced that they'd arrest fewer people for possession of small amounts of cannabis.

Scott’s mother says that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia two years ago, but had not had an attack since his diagnosis. She says that he began using marijuana to deal with his symptoms.

Police first took Scott to an emergency room due to erratic behavior, and upon his release, transferred him to the Collin County Jail. 

"Why, why, why was he given medical clearance?” asked Scott’s mother at one of the family’s protests in front of the jail where he eventually died. 

A report states that once he arrived at the jail, Scott began to “exhibit some strange behavior” in the jail’s booking area — strange enough that it led the police to tie him to a bed, pepper spray him (with a substance known as OC spray, or oleoresin capsicum), and cover his face with a spit hood. 

The hood was left on Scott’s head for hours. He became unresponsive, and by the time an ambulance arrived, he was dead. 

A spit hood, according to a New York Times article from last year, is “a loose, breathable fabric sack that can be placed over a person’s head to prevent them from biting or spitting.”

The same NYT article, published after the asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude at the hands of Rochester, New York police, mentions that some jurisdictions have rules against putting a spit hood on someone who has been pepper sprayed. That lethal combination has likely claimed many lives, including that of Floridian Lloyd Edwards in 2018.

Results from an independent autopsy by a forensic pathologist hired by Scott’s family show that he probably died from asphyxiation and restraint. His official autopsy from the Collin County medical examiner has yet to be released. 

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A Detroit steakhouse has fired shots against people coming into the eatery smelling... loud. Last week, Caucus Club made a Facebook post that specified that the scent of cannabis is not what it considers “business attire.” 

“Seriously people, hoodies and jerseys are not business attire. Neither are ball caps and sneakers,” the post said, going on to draw blood over the green. “Most importantly, if you smell like marijuana don’t even think of stepping inside the Caucus Club.”

The restaurant describes itself as a “modern take on the classic dining experience perfect for Detroit's revitalization.”

The post went mildly viral, drawing applause from diners who have apparently had a lot of problems with other patrons in the restaurant smelling like weed. Others called out the post for the inconsistency in its messaging and coded racism in the kind of wardrobe it cited as unacceptable.

“The marijuana today .. is not the smell back in the day .. believe me I know,” wrote one Facebook user. 

“What about bad breath from drinking Alcoholic [sic] beverages?” asked another. 

“Could have left it at business attire, ‘cause we all know what the description sounds like or is trying to say lol,” wrote another. 

When interviewed by a local news station, the Caucus Club’s owner George Sboukis said that the restaurant has fielded complaints from customers about people wearing more casual outfits to the steakhouse, and showing up for their porterhouses reeking of bud. 

“We’ve had people celebrating their 50th [anniversary] last week, the week before that,” he said. “They’re getting dressed up, they're putting on an evening gown, their earrings, their best suit. They’re coming out to celebrate and they expect to be surrounded by like-minded guests.”

Apparently, that like-mindedness hinges on fellow diners’ pre-meal consumption habits. 

“It’s so pungent, some of the guests have commented, ‘It smells like you’re seated next to a dead skunk,’” Sboukis said. 

But marijuana consumers failed to see the point in the restaurant being rude to the plant’s users on Facebook. 

“‘Don’t even think about stepping inside’ lmao,” wrote one Facebook user. “Who talks to their clientele this way? You couldn’t have worded it a little more professionally at the very least? For someone that’s trying to ask for more professionalism from their patrons, you sure are doing a poor job of acting that way yourself.”

It’s not entirely clear that the steakhouse owner heard these concerns. 

"It was a reminder with a little bit of sauce just to get people’s attention,” Sboukis said. “I don’t mean any harm by it.” 

Certainly, it seems as though he’s not planning on changing his social media tune anytime soon. Yesterday the Caucus Club Facebook page had a new post, “When you think smelling like skunk is sweet, you’re the one who’s out of touch ...” it said. The rumination was accompanied by a clip of cancelled cartoon star Pepe Le Pew doing his thing and non-consensually kissing Penelope Pussycat. Clearly, they’re not over-concerned with offending everyone at the Caucus Club — just the well-dressed and under-stoned. 

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