“In the age of corporate cannabis, 420 can feel a bit like Black Friday or President’s Day,” writes Baynard Woods in this issue. “An excuse for marketing, sales, and gimmicks, making it all about the wrong kind of green.”
The consumption of weed for people aged 21 and over has been legal in this state for about three years now. That doesn’t mean that issues and points of conversation surrounding its use have stopped or slowed in any way.
Here, we try to maneuver through some of this multi-faceted subject, with reflections on budtending, our recommendations about the best local strains, and some good ways to soothe your munchies. Dominic Griffin writes about “Newlyweeds,” a 2013 film about a love triangle with weed at its center.
Jaisal Noor reports that although Baltimore has $35 million in cannabis reparations money, the people for whom it’s intended have yet to see a dime.
“At the center of the delay is an escalating dispute over who controls the money: City Hall or the Baltimore Community Reinvestment and Reparations Commission, the 17-member body established in November 2024 to oversee how the funds are distributed,” he writes.
Noor also writes about controversy at WJZ-TV. Some former and current Black journalists there, along with the Baltimore Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists, have alleged patterns of mistreatment inside the newsroom.
“BABJ says multiple Black employees were let go or pushed out in 2025, but that things escalated in October when CBS News announced major layoffs across the country,” Noor writes. “In Baltimore, the network laid off four people, all of them Black, including the station’s first Black chief meteorologist, Derek Beasley.”
Darcy Costello writes about the February death of Samuel E. Brown Jr.
Brown died 11 days after a confrontation with Baltimore County officer Derek Hadel.
“In the weeks since, a movement has grown calling for ‘Justice for Big Sam,’ amid lingering questions and an ongoing investigation into the fatal interaction by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office’s Independent Investigations Division,” Costello writes.
In arts news, we have suggestions about what to do around town, including what movies will be screened at the upcoming Maryland Film Festival that you won’t want to miss.
Our photostory pages capture you all in your Orioles orange finest on Opening Day.
We are going on a break for spring and will be back with a brand new issue on May 20, 2026. See you then!