Has any brigade done Civic Tech work for CannaBusiness and Government locally?

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It’s no secret that Cannabis is a growing business. It’s legal recreationally in 10 states and medically in about 33. Still, governments state to state all operate differently and what I have found is lack of Open Data and Civic Tech projects geared towards advocating for accessible and accountability in this space.

Overview
What are some ways Civic Engagement & Technology can impact Medical Marijuana? I am working on a project at Code for Miami to grow this area of Civic Tech which can push local leaders in different sectors to become more informed.

What I’m looking for is?

  • Have any examples of open data work done in this space?
  • What problems do you in your brigade or city find in this space?
  • Who are some leaders I should reach out too or follow doing interesting work?

(Assumptions) What are some people being impacted and affected?

  • Low-Income Populations lack tools to be informed and engaged with Marijuana laws locally.
  • Business owners have to keep up with rapidly changing regulations at the state and local level.
  • Government in some states and even cities are not opening up or tracking data related to Cannabis Dispensaries or other forms of business.

Have someone I should reach out too? Click here.

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@HiGregory

(Disclaimer: I serve on the board of ReformGeorgia, a statewide criminal justice reform nonprofit, with cannabis reform as one of its first round enabling conditions in its Theory of Change. I also do paid consulting work for Savannah-based e-commerce platform SmokeCartel, which was founded by a Brigade member and which sells accessories for the cannabis industry)

Cannabis-related discovery work with police data

At OpenSavannah, we’ve done discovery work in this field after City Council found a loophole in state law that allows municipalities to decriminalize marijuana possession. Upon its unanimous passage by Council, all police stops for less than 1 ounce possession are subject a penalty of no more than a $150 ticket per offense, instead of treating the incident as a felony. Savannah is the first and only Georgia city to take this measure.

But policy is only part of the battle (justice is in getting the implementation right!). What the headlines failed to mention is that the enforcement of the new policy is left to the discretion of the officer. So, if the officer deems appropriate, he/she/they can treat possession as a felony.

While issues with the city’s crime data vendor have prevented us from getting to a granular enough level thus far (sidenote: LexisNexis Community Crime Mapping is an evil govtech vendor In my view that is not looking out for its clients’ best interest; they have essentially claimed their contract with the city prevents anyone else from having raw data of police reports, for commercial or noncommercial purposes. Silly, I know… ugh). It’s public data!

Hope that helps!

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Thanks for sharing this. It’s super helpful.