The Washington Metropolitan area NORML chapters gathered in Silver Spring, Maryland Monday night to honor three politicians making a difference in cannabis reform. Compromised of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., the Washington Metropolitan area has come a long way in supporting marijuana reform over the past few election cycles.
This year, Maryland honored Delegate David Moon (D- District 20), D.C. awarded D.C. Councilmember David Grosso (I-At large), and Virginia’s Delegate Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) was also recognized.
Keynote speaker and @MarylandNORML celebrating the #cannabis DMV area vanguard awards for cannabis policy reform pic.twitter.com/4hirfmdJF5
— Chloe Sommers (@ChloeCannaNews) May 17, 2016
“We are in a culture war,” began Moon, “with every Seth Rogen movie and Wiz Khalifa album, we are getting closer…we are gaining steam.”
In a surprising turn of events, the scheduled keynote speaker, Howard Wooldridge, co-founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) was unable to make it. However, Jamie Raskin, the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s 8th district, was in-house to give a passionate and impromptu speech on the state of cannabis. The Harvard Law School educated professor and politician, co-sponsored Maryland’s medical marijuana bill with then-state Sen. David Brinkley (R).
Executive Director of D.C. NORML, Alex Jeffrey praised his hometown politician. “Even without a regulated system, our [D.C.] local government has stood by our voters thanks to leaders like David Grosso. Cannabis has been integrated into our city with no issue and with great success.”
“Maryland NORML was honored to present Delegate David Moon with the 2016 DMVCC Vanguard Award,” said John Mello, Executive Director of MD NORML. “Moon displayed exemplary leadership this past session with his effort to put marijuana on the ballot. While not successful, this initiative demonstrates the progressive common sense approach to Cannabis policy that Maryland NORML supports. We applaud Delegate Moon and look forward to working with him and his colleagues to legalize and regulate Cannabis in Maryland.”
“These honorees are champions of reason,” said Raskin in his closing remarks. As a result of the area’s unwavering dedication to cannabis reform, “2016 will be a monumental year for the cannabis industry for the entire nation,” added Jeffrey.
