Maryland
Md. legalizes recreational cannabis use
Twenty-three states and D.C. have legalized non-medicinal marijuana use
Maryland on July 1 officially legalized the recreational use of cannabis.
Marylanders 21 or older can legally purchase and possess cannabis for recreational use. Police are also no longer allowed to search a vehicle or person solely on the odor of cannabis.
Maryland is the 23rd state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, along with D.C. and three U.S. territories.
“Today, Maryland takes a significant step forward in rectifying past injustices,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a press release. “In legalizing cannabis, we are abandoning a failed criminal justice policy that perpetuated the over-policing, over-arrest, and over-incarceration of too many Marylanders, particularly Black and brown people.”
Dispensaries in the state saw record sales following the legalization, with the Maryland Cannabis Administration reporting $10.4 million in sales the following weekend.
Cannabis was legalized for medical use in Maryland in 2013, with decriminalization of possession of 10 grams or less coming in 2014. Virginia legalized recreational use of cannabis in 2021.
Possession of cannabis is legal in D.C., however there are restrictions on the sale of products, as its use is still illegal federally. Cannabis in D.C. operates under a gifting economy, where distributors exchange cannabis as a gift with the purchase of other goods such as art prints and stickers.
While smoking cannabis in Maryland is still illegal in public places, the new laws allow those incarcerated for cannabis possession or use to be re-sentenced.
Maryland in 2010 had the fifth highest arrest rate for cannabis possession in the country with cannabis arrests that year making up almost half of all Maryland’s drug possession arrests. Black people were almost three times more likely than white people to be arrested for cannabis possession.
“Marylanders overwhelmingly support this initiative, and it’s my commitment to honor the will of the people,” Brown said. “The cannabis industry that we stand up today must be rooted in fairness and equity. This means expunging the records of those targeted in the enforcement of cannabis laws, ensuring fair and equitable access to cannabis licensing and other business opportunities, and empowering disproportionately impacted communities through reinvestment.”
Maryland
Anne Arundel schools now need parent permission to call trans students by preferred names
Conservative groups challenged system’s policy
By JESSICA CALEFATI | Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff cannot use transgender students’ preferred names if their parents oppose it, according to an internal document reviewed by the Banner, a change that comes after conservative groups challenged the school system’s approach to gender identity.
Teachers union president Kristina Korona told members in an Aug. 20 email that the new guidance undermines district policy on acceptance and inclusivity and “will begin harming affected students immediately.”
Previously, the district didn’t require parental permission to use a high school student’s chosen name and pronouns corresponding to their gender identity, the internal document says. Now it does. The change comes as parents challenge the suburban school system’s gender identity policy and regulation in court and the Trump-Vance administration threatens the district’s funding.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Girlfriends charged with Silver Spring murder to go on trial in 2027
Prosecutors charged both women with killing mother of one of them
Two women identified as a couple who are charged with the May 22, 2026, murder of the mother one of them in her Silver Spring home and who were arrested three weeks later in Ohio are scheduled to go on trial for murder April 19, 2027.
According to online records filed with Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, 29, of Clarksburg, Md., and Samantha Raebel, 36, of Phoenix are being held without bond in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility until the time of their trial.
Statements from Montgomery County police show the two women were arrested June 10 in Genoa, Ohio, after fleeing from the scene of the murder in Silver Spring. Police statements and court records show they were extradited back to Maryland in July, where prosecutors with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office obtained indictments against them for murder.
Earlier statements from Montgomery County police say their investigation into the murder led to their decision to initially charge the two women with first-degree murder for the death of Hilde Henderson, 67, who was Tjongarero-Henderson’s mother.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Henderson’s daughter, Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, and Vanessa’s girlfriend, Raebel, as the suspects,” one of the police statements says. It says police obtained arrest warrants for both women and launched a nationwide search seeking help from the public in in locating them.
One of the police statements says an autopsy determined the cause of Hilde Henderson’s death was blunt-force trauma injuries brought about by a murder. Police and the State’s Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, have yet to disclose whether they have determined a motive for the murder.
Court records show that prior to the start of the April 19, 2027, trial a “motion” hearing was scheduled for Oct. 30, 2026, a pre-trail conference was scheduled for Feb. 12, 2027, and another motion hearing and a status hearing were scheduled for March 12, 2027.
Court records also show that Tjongarero-Henderson is being represented by attorneys with the Montgomery County court system’s public defender service. The records show that Raebel initially had been represented by a public defender service attorney, but updated records show Aug. 14 is listed as the “removal date” for that attorney.
The docket shows that on Aug. 20, two new attorneys with the prominent D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling made their official appearance as her attorneys in the murder case. One of them, Daniel Solomon, told the Washington Blade in response to an inquiry that the defense has no comment at this time on the case.
He confirmed that Covington & Burling is representing Raebel on a no-cost, pro bono bass.
The office of the Montgomery County public defender service didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from the Blade asking for a comment on the Tjongarero-Henderson case.
Congress
Chris Van Hollen says the Democratic Party needs change. Is he the one to lead it?
Senator is backing anti-establishment Democrats across the country
By LEE O. SANDERLIN | The Democratic Party is having something of an identity crisis — losing to President Donald Trump twice in three elections will do that.
Should the party embrace anti-establishment figures who espouse progressive policy ideas like Medicare for all and rhetoric about unrigging the economy for the 1 percent? Or should Democrats try to appeal to moderates who want to return to semi-normalcy in a time of political upheaval?
Although he’s been in Congress since 2002, with key leadership roles throughout his tenure, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, 67, counts himself firmly in the anti-establishment camp.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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