PG County

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Maryland Lawmakers’ Agenda to Include Enhancing State’s Legal Cannabis Industry

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

Iesha Epps admits she made mistakes as young adult when charged with minor marijuana and alcohol offenses that remained on her criminal record for about seven years.

Thanks to a recent expungement clinic at Mary & Main in Capitol Heights, the 29-year-old from neigh-

Ford/The Washington Informer)

By William J. Ford

WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

Ava DuVernay’s four-year-old, award-winning documentary “13th” influenced viewers to discuss and assess on how the 13th Amendment started mass incarceration in the

United States and how it affected the

Black community.

Tamara McKinney of Lanham said the film prompted her and Beverly John to establish Concerned Citboring Waldorf in Charles County received legal assistance to erase those offenses. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and Maryland courts gradually reopening this summer, she said it could take up to 90 days to formally clean her record.

“If I want to have my own home, or need a loan for a business, [there’s no] fear of getting denied for certain things because of my record,” she said. “I’m just glad I have relief.” izens for Bail Reform in Prince George’s County two years ago.

“We saw how bail reform is in this country and it continues to hurt Black people. It’s ridiculous,” said McKinney, a human resource specialist for the federal government. “Although I have family members who were in law enforcement like my father, but police reform is needed in the county and state of Maryland.”

McKinney will join criminal justice advocates and loved ones either killed or abused by police during a police re-

Now Epps wants to be an owner in Maryland’s medical cannabis industry. The state’s Medical Cannabis Commission reported last month that retail sales exceeded $240 million. The amount surpassed all of last year’s total sales.

Nearly $41 million in sales came from dispensaries, a major retail source of cannabis products such as topical creams, fruit drinks and oils.

Hope Wiseman, 28, co-founder of Mary & Main that became the first Black-owned dispensary in the country, said the clinic ensures more Blacks receive opportunities in the medical cannabis industry. Out of nearly 100 dispensaries in Maryland, only five are Black-owned, including Wiseman’s and two others in Prince George’s County.

As the firm hosted the clinic to allow Epps and 39 other people to receive free legal assistance to remove criminal history, Mary & Main celebrated its second anniversary Sept. 26. Wiseman said the business, which has 20 employees (15 are part-time), is considering holding another clinic early next year.

“We feel it was only right to give back,” she said. “Diversity in this business is very important.”

Police Reform Rally Planned in Forestville

5 Tracy Shand, right, whose brother, Leonard Shand, was killed while in police custody in Hyattsville, will help lead a police reform rally Oct. 17 in Forestville. (File: William J.

Lack of Black ownership in the form protest Saturday, Oct. 17 outside the Centre at Forestville.

The rally will be two days before a work group comprised of state delegates possibly hold its last meeting on police reform recommendations and craft into legislation when the General Assembly session begins in January.

The group, chaired by Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Montgomery County), met last week with a recommendation that requires every law enforcement agency in the state have body cameras by 2025. In addition, ensure police officers receive routine mental and physical health assessments.

Although the lawmakers recommended approval for a statewide use of force policy, specific guidelines within the policy will be reviewed Thursday such as a ban shooting at moving vehicles unless used as a weapon; police departments using military-style equipment; and require an officer to intervene “who see another officer using force beyond what is objectively reasonable under the circumstances.”

Lawmakers also plan to discuss whether an independent agency or appointed prosecutor from the state attor-

5 Iesha Epps, right, and Paloma Lehfeldt from Vireo Health on Sept. 26 outside Mary & Main medical cannabis dispensary in Capitol Heights. (Courtesy photo)

medical cannabis industry remains a problem.

According to Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Blacks own less than 2 percent of the grower, processor and dispensary licenses nationwide.

That’s why Roz McCarthy, executive director of the nonprofit organization known as M4MM based in Orlando, Fla., said states must ensure equality in the medical marijuana industry at a time when federal law still declare marijuana use illegal.

ney general’s office should handle local cases that may involve police shootings, especially when a person dies.

Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) said he “has deep concerns” about police investigating themselves and local prosecutors, or state’s attorneys, work closely with police. He said assessments are needed to why a prosecutor declines to bring charges against a police officer such as the officer-involved death of Anton Black, 19, in Caroline County.

Del. Debra Davis (D-Charles County) said local state’s attorneys should prosecute local cases since they are elected officials.

“If we let them off the hook, we’ll never have any other indication of how the prosecutor’s office handle other cases and how equitable they are in other cases,” she said. “It’s an important measure I don’t want removed.”

Atterbeary, a mother of two boys and one girl, read a quote to summarize this topic.

“Real justice and safety for Black communities will require a complete overhaul of the prosecutor/police relationship,” she said. “That is what I think

REFORM Page 44

“We are looking for funding to help their business. We are looking for mentors,” said McCarthy, whose company helped organize last month’s clinic in Maryland. “We’re creating these accelerator programs so that we can take this really infant business and really breathe life into it and help them grow and help them become sustainable.”

Pro-marijuana advocates have a major supporter: Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

“We will decriminalize marijuana and we will expunge the records of those who have been convicted of marijuana,” she said during last week’s presidential debate in Salt Lake City.

EXPAND BLACK REPRESENTATION

Minorities for Medical Marijuana’s website at https://bit.ly/2FbGijo has posted an 80-page report entitled “Understanding Social Equity” compiled by Chris Nani, an attorney and founder of Endo Insider, a newsletter that follows the cannabis industry. It calls for states to incorporate programs that restore the rights of formerly incarcerated individuals, serve as a bridge for people interested in the cannabis industry and assist in the licensing process.

The document also mentions institutional challenges facing minorities. For example, when Maryland lawmakers passed a law in 2018 for the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission to conduct a disparity study, the study found minorities are at a disadvantage in the industry.

A year later, the application process got delayed with conflicts of inter-

CANNABIS Page 44

School Board Candidates Debate Mental Health, School Construction

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

Less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 general election, around seven dozen people listened to five candidates tout their platforms on why they should serve on the Prince George’s County school board and represent Maryland’s second largest public school system.

The county’s Young Democrats hosted a virtual debate Monday, Oct. 12 on topics that included COVID-19, school resource officers, virtual learning and even a candidate’s favorite dish.

Although board vice chair Edward Burroughs III has a challenger for his District 8 seat, he gave a reminder to those listening.

“I am a Democrat and my opponent [Gary Falls] is a Republican. Just thought I would mention that,” he said. “I think your party says a lot about your values and I think it’s important where people stand.”

Martin Mitchell, president of the Young Democrats, said Falls declined to participate in the debate.

Voters could choose up to three new members on the 14-member board to craft policies, approve budgets and establish curriculum for a jurisdiction with more than 136,000 students. A student member also serves on the board, but isn’t allowed to vote on personnel matters, budgetary items and school closings.

Monday’s two-hour debate expressed a few lively exchanges on several topics such as mental health.

All the candidates agree students need more mental health support, but Burroughs brought up a June 11 vote that pushed a proposed plan from happening sooner.

The board voted 8-6 to hold a discussion in September on whether to cancel a contract for police departments to hire and place school resource officers (SROs) in the schools.

Within the discussion item on SROs, board member David Murray proposed school administrators assess the SRO training and reallocate $5 million to hire more social workers, mental health professionals and counselors.

Incumbent Bryan Swann, who represents District 4, voted with the majority. He works as deputy director of the Office of Financial Management for the U.S. Department of Treasury. He formerly worked for the Obama administration.

In regards to SROs, Swann said they aren’t needed in the schools. However, he said some people believe they do.

“I’ve had students call me crying about their relationship and not to remove them,” he said. “It needs to be a very thoughtful approach.”

His opponent, Shayla Adams-Stafford, doesn’t support SROs and said mental health services are needed now.

“When [Swann] had the opportunity to amend the budget to add more supports for our students given this time of crisis that we’re in, he did not make any amendment,” said Adams-Stafford, an instructional coach training teachers who also runs a nonprofit organization called “RemixEducation,” which seeks to provide resources for first-generation college students.

Another topic focused on school officials continue to review a $1 billion proposed public-private partnership school construction plan, also known as P3.

5 Construction at Forest Heights Elementary School (WI File Photo/Anthony Tilghman)

The goal would be to build six new schools by July 2023. The schools are Adelphia Area, Drew Freeman, Hyattsville, Kenmoor and Walker Mill middle schools and Southern Area K-8 school.

The two candidates seeking to become the new District 7 board member had slightly different views.

Kenneth Harris II, who works as a mechanical engineer at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, said the plan could work depending how much the county may need to spend.

“New housing developments are going up which could help [alleviate] overcrowding, but what are we are the hook for and how quick would we need to run around this money,” he said.

Alexis Branch, 22, a 2019 graduate from Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., and a current graduate student at Bowie State University, said P3 could cause future tax increases.

“P3 is signing on for a bunch of credit that we’re eventually, meaning the public, will have to pay back,” she said. “Our pockets have been hit enough.”

WI

STAY SAFE. VOTE EARLY.

Confirm your voting location ahead of time; official locations have changed due to COVID-19 safety precautions.

Vote Early Monday, October 26–Monday, November 2

7am–8pm

Stay safe and avoid the lines; vote in-person at an early vote center near you.

oct 26nov 2 Vote on election day tuesday, november 3

7am–8pm

Vote in-person at a vote center near you.

nov 3

Find an early vote center, Election Day vote center, or official election drop box near you: ELECTIONS.MARYLAND.GOV/2020

If you are voting by mail, return your completed ballot to a drop box by 8pm on November 3 or postmark by November 3.