Xin chuyển đến Quý Vị, Quý NT và CH…
Đặc biệt là cư dân Thủ đô, Maryland và Virginia…
Những luật mới áp dụng kể từ ngày 1/7/2023…
Xin mời Quý Vị xem qua để tường và khỏi phải “đáo tụng đình”,
vừa mất thì giờ, và tiền bac..
** France đang bị bọn rệp đốt cháy…
Chúng nó đang trả ơn cho Pháp Quốc..
Buồn thay !
BMH ///
Washington, D.C
Here’s what to know about new laws taking effect in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia on July 1.
D.C.
Minimum wage increase: Starting Saturday, minimum wage for non-tipped workers in the District will rise from $16.10 per hour to $17.00 per hour. For tipped employees, minimum wage will jump from $6 to $8 per hour. The increase follows the passage of the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act passed in 2016, championed by the “Fight for $15” campaign.
Cap on rent increases: The D.C. Council passed an emergency bill in June that will cap many new rent increases at 6% starting on Saturday. The limit applies to rent-stabilized apartments, which are most multifamily buildings constructed before 1976. While there’s no accurate count of rent-stabilized apartments in D.C., estimates suggest it could be between 70,000-80,0000. Lawmakers also included a provision that bans property owners from raising prices by more than 12% over two years, in addition to more aggressive protections for senior citizens; for elderly residents, rent increases are capped at 4% this year, and 8% total over the next few years.
Maryland
Legal recreational weed: A long-time coming, recreational, adult-use cannabis will be fully legal for purchasing, sale, and possession starting Saturday. During this spring’s General Assembly session, lawmakers successfully raced against the clock to pass legislation that would create a framework for regulating recreational sales, after voters overwhelmingly approved recreational cannabis legislation via a ballot referendum in the 2022 election. Tomorrow, it will be legal for adults 21 and over to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis, up to 12 grams of concentrated cannabis, or cannabis products containing up to 750 milligrams of delta-9-THC. Adults can also grow up to two plants in their home. As of July 1, nearly all of the state’s current medical dispensaries will begin selling recreational cannabis — a provision made possible under the General Assembly’s Cannabis Reform Act. (You can see a list of locations here, but expect long lines.)
Gas tax increase: Starting July 1, the state’s gas tax will increase to 47 cents per gallon, a jump of 10% from the current rate. The gas tax in Maryland has increased by 30% in two years, due to inflation and rising fuel costs. The diesel tax will increase from nearly 43.5 cents per gallon to 47.8 cents per gallon on July 1.
Virginia
Prohibiting the use of solitary confinement: Virginia prisons will no longer be allowed to use so-called “restorative housing” — essentially solitary confinement, except in some narrow circumstances. The new law is the product of a rare bipartisan partnership between Republican Del. Glenn Davis and House Minority Leader Don Scott, a Democrat who spent several years in prison on federal drug charges in the 1990s and has since had his rights restored. State corrections officials had already ended the practice of solitary confinement, but have still maintained “restorative housing” as an option for separating incarcerated people from the general population over safety concerns or as the result of requests. The new bill requires that people in restorative housing receive a minimum of four hours of out-of-cell activities to help address behavior or promote personal growth. Prison officials will also be required to have an outlined policy for how to transition people out of restorative housing.
NDAs and sexual harassment: A new Virginia law, originally introduced by Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, bans employers in the state from creating or renewing nondisclosure agreements that prevent people from speaking up about claims of sexual harassment. NDAs have been a focal point of the #MeToo movement because of their widespread use by powerful companies seeking to prevent employees or former employees from discussing their experiences.
A new name and new penalties for fentanyl: The drug fentanyl will now be designated a “weapon of terrorism” per a new Virginia statute, which layers on an additional two to 10 years in prison on top of the existing five-to-40-year penalty for manufacturing or distributing the deadly substance. The Virginia Department of Health says fentanyl is responsible for the state’s ongoing uptick in fatal overdoses since 2013.
Porn and age verification: A new law requires porn websites to use age verification and identification to prevent children from accessing explicit content. It’s already making waves in Virginia, with Pornhub deciding to end access to the site from within the commonwealth in advance of the new rules taking effect, the Virginia Mercury reports. Porn websites that don’t comply could be sued by citizens for damages. The new law also deletes “homosexuality” from the state’s legal definition of “sexual conduct.”
Tax credits for safe gun storage: The split General Assembly has pretty much failed to agree on questions of gun safety and gun rights in recent years. But this year, lawmakers came to one very small bipartisan agreement. With Arlington Democrat Del. Alfonso Lopez’s backing, both chambers approved a nonrefundable tax credit for people who purchase safety devices for their firearms. Gun owners can receive up to $300 in reimbursement from the state for buying a gun safe or lockbox. The credit is good through 2027.
*********************************************************
** Luật mới của Virginia: THE MOVE OVER LAW.
Trước đây khi đang di chuyển trên xa lộ Virginia, các tài xế yêu cầu chuyển lane (tránh xa) hay chạy chậm lại khi thấy xe cứu cấp hay xe cảnh sát đang ngừng bên đường..
Nay kể từ 1/7/2023, cư dân Virginia hay những ai di chuyển xuyên bang qua Virginia, phải nhớ tránh xa, đỏi lane hay chạy chậm lại, khi thấy có một xe ngừng lại bên đường, vì bất cứ lý do gì…xin hãy giữ khoảng cách an toàn cho họ…
Nếu không tuân hành, chẳng may bị Virginia State Police “chụp được”, sẽ mang nhiều phiền toái, tốn kém thì giờ và tiền phạt…
New Virginia legislation expands current ‘move over’ law to protect highway drivers
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — We’re used to switching lanes when we see law enforcement or emergency vehicles on the side of the highway, but a new law expands that rule. Starting July 1, if at all possible, drivers must move over, or slow down, on the highway for any car parked on the side of the road, regardless of its markings.
Whether you’ve run out of gas, are having a medical crisis, or are experiencing car trouble, pulling over on the side of a highway can be scary — and dangerous.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Bottom of Form
Janet Brooking has spent years working with groups like “Drive Smart Virginia” to encourage people to be safer drivers.
“Sometimes [drivers] don’t want to do things that may inconvenience them,” Brooking said. “But generally they want to be safe.”
She’s hopeful a recent law will help people do just that. It’s an expansion of Virginia’s current “Move over” law which, originally, only mandated drivers switch lanes or slow down on the highway if they see an emergency or law enforcement vehicle parked on the side of the road.
“Clearly we want to keep our emergency response folks safe on the roadways,” Brooking said. “But we want to keep all drivers safe.”
$50K in vandalism damage reported at Chesterfield flood project site
The new law strives to protect the everyday driver who comes across a roadside emergency and has to pull over. Now, regardless of a car’s status or markings, drivers are legally obligated to move aside and be cautious whenever those hazard lights are flashing on the highway’s shoulder.
“If it’s safe to do so,” Brooking said.
As cars race by, it can feel like you see parked cars along the highway every few minutes. Any one of them is vulnerable. In July 2022, near Ashland, 49-year-old Angela Hurley was killed along I-95 when another driver ran into the shoulder and hit Hurley as she waited inside her broken-down car for mechanical help.
“You hear story after story,” Brooking remarked. “And once you learn a little bit more, you realize that a lot of these crashes are preventable and that’s what makes it so sad.”
It’s all about safety. According to the insurance institute for highway safety, 300 people are killed every year after stopping on the side of the road and that number only continues to grow. It’s already up 25% since 2014.
“It’s so easy to just move over one lane and give them the space that they need to do what they’re doing,” Brooking said.
Failure to follow the move-over law counts as reckless driving and can warrant punishments like fines, license suspension, or even jail. Under the recent amendment, you’re also committing a traffic violation and are subject to those fines as well. This updated legislation goes into effect on July 1, 2023.
*********************************************************
4 things you need to know about marijuana retail sales in Maryland
jdomen
June 28, 2023, 4:45 AM
On July 1, Maryland joins D.C. and Virginia in legalizing recreational marijuana — but unlike those other jurisdictions, a regulated and functional retail market for marijuana will also open up.
“It’s going to be extremely busy,” said Brandon Barksdale, the co-CEO of Remedy, a marijuana dispensary with locations in Columbia, Maryland, and Baltimore County. “We’re bracing for a huge influx of traffic.”
D.C., Maryland and Virginia all have medical marijuana systems already up and running, and Virginia and D.C. have also already legalized small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
But have you tried to legally buy marijuana — or cannabis — without a medical marijuana card in those places?
In Virginia, you can’t. In D.C., it’s more murky, with the unlicensed “gifting” of cannabis products used to get around D.C.’s inability to have a licensed retail market.
Maryland’s move this weekend will make it the first jurisdiction in the region to introduce a legal retail market for adults 21 and over. WTOP breaks down what you can expect — and what the change means both for Maryland and the region.
How big will Maryland’s market be?
Maryland’s 160,000 medical marijuana patients generated sales in the range of $500 million last year, said Andrew Garrison, who is the chief of the office of policy and government affairs with the Maryland Cannabis Administration, the agency that oversees and regulates the sale and use of cannabis in the state.
“There’s about four million Marylanders who are over 21,” Garrison noted. Adding the people in surrounding jurisdictions who are interested in accessing Maryland’s new retail sales and “we think this is going to be a really robust market,” he said.
“Estimates for the first year of sales range from $400 million to $600 million,” Garrison said. That’s because while there might be more recreational users, they’re likely to buy smaller amounts of recreational products compared to medical users. A legislative estimate suggested recreational marijuana sales could total about $1.5 billion in the coming years.
Barksdale said he believes recreational buyers could spend between $80 and $100 per trip to their local dispensary, depending on how much they buy, what they buy and how potent it is.
Plans are well underway for the first day of sales at Remedy’s stores, where food and other vendors are expected to be on site, along with music and a festive atmosphere. But he expects every dispensary to have long lines early on, since the only other state in the region that allows retail sales is New Jersey.
That means some of the 94 dispensaries that operate in Maryland from Cumberland to West Ocean City will be easily accessible to those who live in neighboring states, such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware (which is likely to have retail sales starting in the fall of 2024).
“I do think we’ll get cross-border traffic,” Barksdale said.
Dispensary owners see a wide base of support.
An overwhelming two-thirds of the state’s voters approved the referendum legalizing cannabis last year. And Barksdale said the medical patients who order from Remedy represent a wide cross-section of the state, both men and women of all races ranging in age anywhere from 21 to 70.
“That’s starting to change … the understanding and the acceptance of this particular commodity in the world,” Barksdale said. “I think people are starting to, slowly but surely, try little things.”
Edibles, such as gummies and other snacks that have tetrahydrocannabinol — or THC — baked in, have helped, he said.
“The popularity of edibles is helping people kind of shy away from ‘This has to be something that you smoke,’” he said. “Everyone loves chocolate, everyone loves gummies, and to be able to take part in the experience in a form that you’re more comfortable with has also lightened that tone a little bit.”
Down the line, Barksdale predicts that even someone who may have voted against the referendum in 2022 may end up exploring cannabis products at some point.
“Whether they shout that from the mountaintops or whether it’s their little dark secret, I think we’re still seeing people kind of jump into the realm of cannabis and trying it out,” said Barksdale.
A retail experience you’re probably not used to
If your perception of marijuana products hasn’t changed much over the years, these new laws are likely to do that. Sketchy sellers, mystery products and all-cash transactions are the exact opposite of what’s happening here.
“Dispensaries are going to be required to check IDs,” explained Garrison, with the Maryland Cannabis Administration. You have to be 21-years-old to go inside, and if you’re not of age, it’s not going to be like getting past a bouncer with a good fake ID — a computer will verify you’re legitimate.
“They also have to secure the premises,” Garrison said. “So a lot of dispensaries, you walk in and there’s sort of a lobby, pre-service area, and then you get past that to a more secure facility.”
Barksdale described it as if you’re waiting for your name to be called at the DMV or for your table to be ready at a restaurant.
The more secure area is where you’ll actually be in the same room with whatever you intend to buy, with most of what’s available to purchase behind counters. In the medicinal marijuana era, the people working behind the counters were called “patient advisers.” Going forward, Barksdale said they’ll also be known as “budtenders.”
“They’ll be able to help people explore the menu, answer questions, provide guidance, and hopefully provide an expedited experience,” said Barksdale.
Inside Remedy there are arcade games and other activities that will help someone bide their time, and for those who reach a certain loyalty level, a VIP room where customers will be able to expect to be doted on, complete with a separate entrance for even faster convenience.
Safety and security doesn’t just end inside the building though. Maryland will have some of the strictest oversight of the actual cannabis product being sold at every one of its dispensaries.
“We have a single supply chain throughout the entire process, really, until the point of sale,” Garrison said. “The plants that are being grown in the state, there’s not a medical or adult use plant, just a cannabis plant that’s regulated.
“So one thing we really want to highlight is that these are safe products, because they’re being tested,” added Garrison, who said every batch is tested ahead of time. “We know they’re safe. We know they’re free of heavy metals, and they’ve went through a safe process.”
What’s legal and what isn’t?
These rules come straight from the Maryland Cannabis Administration’s list of frequently asked questions: You can “possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis flower, up to 12 grams of concentrated cannabis; or a total amount of cannabis products that does not exceed 750 mg of THC. This is known as the ‘personal use amount.’”
You can use it at home, or in private settings, though product that’s used through smoking or vaping might be subject to further restrictions based on the rules of a particular venue. You cannot consume it in public.
Likewise, “you don’t want to mail to your friend in another state, you don’t want to bring it across state lines, you don’t want to sell it to your friend who is underage,” warned Garrison. And if your job requires a federal security clearance, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, so you could lose that job even if it’s legal at the state level.
In addition, none of the retail venues will allow you to consume any of the products on site.
“Consumption lounges,” which would offer a venue to use cannabis products — the same way you are able to consume alcohol at a bar — might be legal sometime later in 2024. But right now, the Maryland Cannabis Administration has not been authorized to come up with rules and regulations for such venues.
There’s a belief that could change in the next legislative session, but for now, everything you buy will be considered “to go.”
What about medicinal marijuana?
Other states that have legalized recreational marijuana have seen medicinal usage decline, but things could be different in Maryland.
“We’ve worked really hard to ensure protections for an access for the medical patients,” Garrison said. That means ordering dispensaries to provide special accommodations and services to the medical patients.
“So they either have to set aside time that their dispensary is only serving our medical patients, or they have to have a dedicated service line, sort of like a fast track for those medical patients, to make sure that those folks who have been accessing cannabis products through their medical card are still able to do so,” he said.
Medical marijuana cards are also good for six years, and so those who are enrolled in the program won’t be kicked off anytime soon.
“We do anticipate a lot of folks who are currently in the program staying in the program for some of those benefits for their kind of use and relative familiarity with the program itself,” Garrison said.
But not only that, the cannabis products you buy recreationally will be different from what you can get if you have a medical card.
“The major difference is just potency availability for certain products,” explained Barksdale, the dispensary CEO. “Medical patients typically have different needs. And so there’s definitely higher dosage availability in the medical side.
But “on the retail side, there’ll be a cap, and the cap and specific dosage will pretty much align with what a recreational or adult use would likely need to see compared to other markets,” he added.
He said a medicinal grade dosage “may be a little too strong” for somebody who’s new to cannabis or trying it for the first time.
Medical users will also see a tax savings, Barksdale said, since recreational users will pay a 9% sales tax, in line with the state sales tax for alcohol.
“The recreational consumer that doesn’t need it for medicinal purposes won’t mind, you know, paying the tax that’s associated with the purchase,” predicted Barksdale.
Barksdale predicted Maryland’s medical program will remain strong and could even be aided by the recreational market.
“I think there are people who are going to be exploring cannabis for the first time and realize that it does help and aid in some things that might be going on in their lives,” he added. “Pain management, anxiety, whatever it may be, and, and having an option to go a medical route, if you see that is benefiting you in a medicinal way to save on the taxes and actually be a medical patient versus just an adult use patient.”
The new law will also impact law enforcement, as well as concerns about impaired driving. WTOP will be exploring the issue with perspective from police and safety advocates in an upcoming online article.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2023 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
France đang bị bọn rệp đốt cháy…
Chúng nó đang trả ơn cho Pháp Quốc..Buồn thay !
College Victor Hugo, a middle school in Noisy-le-Grand, France outside of Paris was set on fire by race rioters during the riots that started on Monday when a 17-year-old Algerian was shot by the police. A library was also set ablaze. Violence has erupted in Amiens, Toulouse, Essone, and other cities.
The events follow the shooting of an Algerian teen, Nael M., during a traffic check after Nael allegedly rammed the police vehicle. The shooting happened around the town of Nanterre.
Since the shooting on Monday, protests have erupted across several cities with cars and buildings being set ablaze by rioters.
Footage of College Victor Hugo being burned shows masked rioters throwing objects into the burning building.
https://humanevents.com/2023/06/30/paris-race-rioters-torch-middle-school-library-after-algerian-teen-killed-at-traffic-stop
Paris race rioters torch middle school, library after Algerian teen killed at traffic stop
|
PSG coach Galtier in police custody as part of discrimination probe
Christophe Galtier is being detained with his son John Valovic-Galtier as part of an investigation into racism allegations at his former club, according to a justice official on Friday.
