FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact Information:

Maryland Black Mayors Inc.

Post Office Box 4731

Capitol Heights, MD. 20791

 

Release Date: August 10, 2023 Maryland Black Mayors, Inc., and Hispanic Mayors Attend Maryland Municipal League Symposium on Cannabis ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Black Mayors President Petrella Robinson, Mayor Kayce Munyeneh of Cheverly and fellow Hispanic Mayors, Celina Benitez of Mount Rainier and Monica Casañas of Colmar Manor, attend the Cannabis Symposium to learn more about the future of now passed, cannabis legislation in the state of Maryland.

 

President Robinson states, “We’re here to learn about the new cannabis industry and the effects this will have in our communities. As representatives of communities that have been significantly disproportionately affected by the prohibition on cannabis, we are looking to learn about the opportunities available to residents of color as we advocate for equitable distribution of wealth as the industry grows in Maryland.”

 

Back in 2020, the ACLU released a research report, A Tale of Two Countries, chronicling marijuana arrests from 2010 to 2018 and examined the extreme racial disparities. According to the ACLU, Black people were more than 2.1 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people in Maryland.

 

“We thank the Maryland Municipal League for presenting the cannabis symposium. As Black and Hispanic leaders, we need to make sure the cannabis movement in Maryland is grounded in equity to address the unjust over penalization of black and brown communities through the war on drugs. We want to ensure that opportunities in the cannabis industry is accessible to marginalized communities and information is available in multiple languages. We are excited about the opportunities for entrepreneurs to create a legacy of wealth in our communities of color” says Mayor Benitez.

​

​

​