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FACING LEGAL CHALLENGE, WASHINGTON WEED REGULATORS LIFT BAN ON CANNABUSINESS SIGNS AT SEATTLE HEMPFEST Liquor and Cannabis Board changed its policy after Hempfest and two marijuana retailers challenged it on constitutional grounds.
By JACOB SULLUM Washington regulators have lifted a ban on signs referring to state-licensed marijuana businesses at Hempfest, the massive summer "protestival" that has been held in Seattle every summer for the last 27 years. The decision by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) came three weeks after Hempfest and two cannabis retailers filed a lawsuit arguing that the ban violated their rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition for redress of grievances under both the First Amendment and the state constitution. The Seattle Times reports that the WSLCB consulted with the state Attorney General's Office before announcing that Hempfest sponsors may, as usual, display their names and distribute information at the event, provided they limit themselves to "noncommercial" activity. Instead of acknowledging the reversal, the board is framing it as a clarification of the policy described in an April 17 bulletin that said "a marijuana licensee in the state of Washington cannot have any sign or advertisement at any event, if the event is located at or within 1,000 feet of one of the listed restricted areas," which include public parks. Hempfest, which is scheduled for August 16 through 18 and in recent years has attracted about 100,000 people annually, is held in Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park and Centennial Park. In their June 4 lawsuit challenging the WSLCB's decree, the event's organizers complained that the new sign rule had made cannabusinesses reluctant to participate in Hempfest. "After hearing from and working with stakeholders in the licensee community, WSLCB understood that Bulletin 19-01 did not fully answer all of the licensees' questions and raised some additional concerns," the board says in a bulletin, "Accordingly, this Bulletin clarifies and supersedes Bulletin 19-01." The WSLCB now wants licensees to know that "educational, informational or advocacy literature and/or signs which
PHOTO BY GREG SHAW
Seattle Hempfest happens at Myrtle Edwards Park on Friday, Aug. 16 from noon to 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 18 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. incorporate a licensee's business trade name at events held within 1000 feet of restricted entities will not be considered advertising, so long as that signage, sponsorship, and literature is non-commercial in nature, e.g., does not involve the solicitation of business, descriptions of products sold at stores, [or] lists of products sold, or refer to prices of products." Seattle Hempfest director Vivian McPeak welcomed the board's shift. "We applaud the Attorney General's Office for observing the free speech of licensed cannabis businesses to engage in noncommercial messaging at public events," he told the Times. "We look forward to hosting those businesses as sponsors or vendors at Hempfest this year, and we invite their participation at the festival." Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason. Original post:
https://reason.com/2019/06/27/facing-a-legal-challenge-washington-weed-regulators-lift-ban-on-cannabusiness-signs-at-seattle-hempfest.
PHOTO BY DANIEL BERNSTEIN
Women and Weed: Why Marijuana Legalization is a Feminist Cause
Smoking weed to smash the patriarchy? By Emily Rose Thorne Smoking weed to smash the patriarchy? Well, common-sense drug reform isn’t just about letting Bay Area stoners light up whenever they please. It’s rooted in undoing decades of social inequality that led to nationwide pot prohibition in the first place. Marijuana legalization typically finds support in women because its medicinal properties can treat conditions that disproportionately affect AFAB (assigned female at
birth) people, but there are plenty of other reasons why legal pot is a feminist issue. Marijuana could become the first billion-dollar industry in the U.S. dominated by women. Pot could bring in a projected $11 billion in 2019 alone, and women are at the forefront of the industry’s growth. They’re not just working in dispensaries, either, so forget the stereotypical hot budtender. More women hold executive positions in the marijuana sector than in most other industries. In general, less than a quarter of executives are women, but they fill between 27% and 36% of
exec seats in the legal pot business. Female attorneys, doctors, nurses, chemists, chefs, investors, teachers, and other professionals have found a more welcoming space to practice in the world of weed. Cannabis science is taking off as a field of study, too, and most of its students are – you guessed it – women, especially Black women and femmes. Many already have advanced science degrees, and they’re learning to apply that knowledge to the marijuana industry. In fact, here’s a list of some of the most badass women and femmes in
cannabusiness from The High Times: https://hightimes.com/business/five-cannabusiness-women-female-fronted-cannabusinesses-you-should-know.
Women and LGBTQIA+ activists pioneered modern marijuana reform – especially activists of color. Most pro-legalization activists in Colorado and Washington State were women between the ages of 30 and 50, and we owe medical marijuana legislation to the LGBTQIA+ community. During the throes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the early 1990s, they advocated pot’s medical value. It helped alleviate some of the unpleasant
u See WOMEN / page 5