A Kentucky company used court-ordered urine tests to defraud Medicare, Secretary of State Blinken addresses synthetic drugs at a UN side event, and more.

Secretary of State Blinken addresses synthetic drugs as a side meeting of the UN General Assembly. (Creative Commons)

SAFE Banking Act Negotiations Find "Sweet Spot," Senator Says. Senate Banking Committee member Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) says senators have "probably found a sweet spot" in negotiations over the SAFE Banking Act (S.1323), which is set to have a committee vote, likely next week. Senators have reached an agreement to leave a key section favored by Republicans "intact, as it is," Cramer said.

That section deals with broad banking regulations, and Republicans have insisted that it remain in the bill.

Committee member Sen. Jack Reed (D-NV) had previously expressed concerns about the section—Section 10—but now says senators have "talked extensively about Section 10, and we’ve made some progress." However, he didn’t specify what that progress looks like. "I think we’ve resolved most of the issues we had—and I hope we have so we can get it out of the committee with a strong vote," he said.

Drug Policy

San Francisco Drug Crackdown Has Sparked Violent Turf Warfare in Center of City, Supervisor Says. Mayor London Breed's crackdown on drugs in the Tenderloin and South of Market (Soma) neighborhoods has resulted in hundreds of arrests and the seizure of hundreds of pounds of fentanyl, but is also generating violence in those neighborhoods, one city supervisor says.

"They’re poking a hornet’s nest," Supervisor Dan Preston said in an interview. "There are increased turf wars that are occurring because you have a raid here, and another group moves in. I mean, we’ve had gunfire and a murder during the middle of the day." 

Preston cited two shootings three days apart on Golden Gate Avenue, with the second shooting leaving one person dead.

Meanwhile, street-level drug activity remains undeterred, with overdose deaths on pace to exceed the number from last year.

Tenderloin resident and Public Defender's Office attorney Alexandra Pray said she would rather see more patrols than more arrests.

"I walk to work every day, and I walked through just groups of young men huddled around, and I know what they’re doing," Pray said. "And I just don’t know where the police are. It feels like the police are allowing this to happen, and then when they feel like it, they swoop in and pick people up, and we’re not really solving the problem."

Drug Testing

Kentucky Lab Owner, Exec Plead Guilty to $2.8M Lab Fraud Scheme That Billed Medicare for Non-Medical, Court Ordered Drug Testing. The owner

 and CEO of a Lexington, Kentucky-based lab and the lab's compliance officer have pleaded guilty to a $2.8 million healthcare fraud scheme in which they billed Medicare for court-ordered urine drug tests even though Medicare only pays for medical testing.

LabTox owner Ronald Coburn and LabTox compliance officer and director of operations Erica Baker copped the guilty pleas. Baker helped solicit urine test drug orders submitted by the company. The pair worked with a company Baker recruited, Blue Waters Assessment and Testing Services to refer court-ordered drug tests to LabTox. Despite being aware this was not medical testing, Coburn billed Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid, gaining payments of $1.9 million between June 2019 and March 2021.

Baker also sought out samples from nonmedical substance abuse treatment programs, putting some facility staff on the lab's payroll and compensating them based on the number of urine drug tests sent to the lab. LabTox billed Medicaid and Kentucky Medicare $937,594 for this testing.

Coburn has agreed to pay $3.6 million to the IRS, representing income tax he owed in 2017 through 2021. The pair will be sentenced in December and are looking at up to 10 years in federal prison.

Foreign Policy

US Secretary of State Addresses Global Synthetic Drug Threats at U.S.-Hosted Side Event at 78th United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, September 18, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted an event on the margins of the 78th United Nations General Assembly addressing the pressing issue of synthetic drug challenges worldwide.  The U.S.-sponsored side event, titled "Addressing the Public Health and Security Threats of Synthetic Drugs Through Global Cooperation," convened international leaders and representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society to discuss comprehensive strategies for combatting the public health and security threats posed by synthetic drugs and advance the work of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

As synthetic drugs continue to devastate communities at home and abroad, this discussion underscores the United States’ commitment to engaging with international partners to address this critical issue, including the provision of more than $100 million in assistance from the Department of State to build the capacity of partners across the world to detect, identify, and interdict synthetic drugs.  This assistance also includes providing vital treatment, prevention, and recovery initiatives, as well as supporting alternatives to incarceration systems development with a focus on drug treatment. 

The Global Coalition provides a platform for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and collaborative efforts aimed at dismantling the criminal networks responsible for the production and distribution of synthetic drugs and sharing universal best practices for substance use harm reduction and will continue expert-level engagement through monthly meetings launching in October.

Fentanyl in stimulants like meth and cocaine is driving a fourth wave of opioid overdoses, Vancouver's pioneering safe injection site marks 20 years in service, and more.

The InSite safe injection site in Vancouver, which marks 20 years of operation this week. (PCS Community Services Society)

Senate Banking Committee Set to Vote on SAFE Banking Act by Month's End. The Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on the SAFE Banking Act (S.1323) on September 27, "a Senate source familiar with the discussions" told Marijuana Moment Friday.

That source confirmed earlier media reports that the vote was coming. The date is not yet official, so it could change, but the expectation is that it will take place the week of September 25, the source said.

What amendments—if any—will be offered or adopted remains unclear, although there has been talk about revisions to a key section on broad banking regulations, as well as changes concerning Small Business Administration access and stock uplisting for the marijuana industry.

Drug Policy

Fentanyl-Adulterated Meth and Cocaine Is Driving a Fourth Wave of Drug Overdoses. A study published Thursday in the scientific journal Addiction finds that drug overdoses involving both fentanyl and cocaine or methamphetamine have increased 50-fold since 2010, now account for nearly one-third (32 percent) of all fatal overdoses and are responsible for some 35,000 deaths.

"We're now seeing that the use of fentanyl together with stimulants is rapidly becoming the dominant force in the U.S. overdose crisis," said Joseph Friedman, the lead author of the study and a researcher at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "Fentanyl has ushered in a polysubstance overdose crisis, meaning that people are mixing fentanyl with other drugs, like stimulants, but also countless other synthetic substances."

The authors described the phenomenon as a "fourth wave" of the ongoing opioid crisis that began with the rise in prescription opioids around the turn of the century, followed by the rise of heroin around 2010 as authorities tightened the screws on prescription opioid prescribing and the arrival of fentanyl around 2013.

International

Vancouver's Safe Injection Marks 20 Years in Operation This Week. Vancouver Coastal Health and the PHS Community Services Society, the two groups that run InSite, the city's pioneering safe injection site—the first one in North America—are celebrating 20 years of operation this week. On Friday, they met in front of the East Hastings Street location to commemorate the occasion.

"Insite was a really important step forward in terms of drug policy and harm reduction, and to be here 20 years after we opened, it just feels incredible," said Jeff West, manager of harm reduction for Vancouver Coastal Health. "Not only was Insite important to the community as a safe space, a symbol of a more progressive drug policy, it also is a really important public health intervention," said West.

PHS first set up InSite as an unsanctioned site and only later got permission from Health Canada to operate, but it has been there ever since. And it has done so with the approval of local, provincial, and federal authorities, as well as Vancouver Police and the Coastal Health Authority. It survived a challenge from the Conservative national government of Stephen Harper, which was slapped down by the Supreme Court.

"Insite saves lives. Its benefits have been proven," wrote Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin in her decision.

British Columbia to Ban Drug Use Near Parks and Playgrounds. The province has decriminalized the possession of personal use amounts of illicit drugs in a bid to get a grip on the overdose crisis, but now British Columbia Premier David Eby legislation is being drafted to ban drug use near parks and playgrounds.

The provincial Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said Thursday that the federal government had approved the changes expanding the are where drug possession remains illegal.

Drug possession was already prohibited on school grounds and at child care facilities, but as of next Monday, it will also be prohibited within 15 meters of playgrounds, water parks, and skate parks.

Public intoxication remains a crime.

"I hope and expect that people, even when struggling with addiction, will understand the importance that we've all got to live in the community together, and if there's a place that's funded and safe and appropriate to use, that you should be going to that health-care site rather than to a site that's used by children," Premier Ebe said.

Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Population and Public Health, said in an interview Thursday that the province is "tweaking" its decriminalization policy "in response to some pushback from mayors who are saying 'this isn't working particularly well for us because it's disempowering the police.'"

Haden said the province's move is not "dealing with the real problem of prohibition." "We have a supply-chain problem that decriminalization isn't resolving," he said. "It's the supply-chain problem that's actually killing people."

There seems to be a problem in the Mobile Metro Jail, a San Diego deputy who was ripping off drug give-back boxes gets probation, and more. Let's get to it:

In Mobile, Alabama, a Mobile County corrections officer was arrested Tuesday on charges she smuggled drugs into the jail. Kimberly Henderson, 32, has been fired and charged with promoting prison contraband in the first degree. There is no information on which drugs were involved.

In Ironton, Ohio, a former Ironton police officer was sentenced last Wednesday to a year in prison after being caught up in a domestic violence incident and found with 19 grams of methamphetamine—more than what is commonly considered a personal use amount. Bradley Spoljaric, 30, was originally charged with domestic violence, aggravated drug possession, and tampering with evidence but pleaded down to a single count of aggravated drug possession. In addition to the year behind bars, he faces two years of supervised release.

In Baltimore, a former Baltimore police officer pleaded guilty Monday to selling marijuana to a confidential informant and was sentenced to a year of home detention. Former Officer Cejus Watson had already been suspended from the job when he sold weed to a snitch an a tattoo shop in Pikesville. Prosecutors in the case argued for home detention over time behind bars, saying Watson's live could be in danger and his presence in a local jail could cause disruptions.

In San Diego, a San Diego County sheriff's deputy was sentenced Monday to two years' probation after being arrested in January for drug possession and 13 counts of burglary. Deputy Cory Richey stole prescription medications from public drop boxes to feed an addiction to opioid pain relievers. He was looking at up to 13 years in prison before copping a plea. In the meantime, he completed drug rehabilitation.

Nebraska advocates kicked off their third campaign for a medical marijuana initiative on Wednesday, a pair of psychedelic amendments to the defense spending bill will get a House floor vote, and more.

The odor of marijuana alone is not probable cause for a vehicle search, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled. (Creative Commons

Minnesota Supreme Court Rules Weed Odor Alone Does Not Justify a Vehicle Search. The state Supreme Court has ruled that that the mere odor of marijuana does not establish probable cause for police to search a vehicle. The state now becomes the latest marijuana legalization state to see such a ruling.

The ruling came in the case of a Litchfield man was pulled over in 2021 for having "too many auxiliary lights on his grill." Two police officers claimed they smelled marijuana coming from an open car window. The man denied having marijuana and police search of the vehicle turned none up, but it did turn up a small amount of methamphetamine, for which the man was charged.

The trial court noted that the man was not driving erratically, nor was there any evidence of a crime in plain view when police approached the car and ruled the search inadmissible. (Even though the state did not legalize marijuana until this year, at the time of the search, medical marijuana was legal and pot possession was decriminalized.

The state appealed the decision to the appeals court and lost and then to the state Supreme Court, where it has now lost again.

Medical Marijuana

Nebrasksa Medical Marijuana Proponents Hope Third Time Is the Charm. Backers of a proposed 2024 medical marijuana ballot initiative kicks off their campaign in Lincoln Wednesday. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is hoping the third time is the charm after a first effort was sidelined by the state Supreme Court and a second effort ran short on signatures after losing a major donor.

The group’s co-chairs, State Senator Anna Wishart and former State Senator Adam Morfeld, are meeting with patients, families, caregivers, and volunteers in an initial fundraiser.

To qualify for the 2024 ballot, campaigners will need to come up with 87,000 valid voter signatures by the first week of July 2024.

Psychedelics

House Committee Clears Psychedelic Amendments to Defense Bill for Floor Vote. The House Rules Committee on Tuesday declared that two psychedelic amendments to the defense spending bill are in order, meaning they can advance to House floor votes. But the committee also blocked separate marijuana-related amendments from advancing.

One of the psychedelic amendments, from Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), would allow active-duty service members suffering from PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury to participate in clinical trials of the efficacy of psychedelic substances. The second, from Crenshaw and Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), would appropriate $15 million in funding for the Pentagon's Psychedelic Medical Clinical Trials.

While Republican-led committee advanced the psychedelic amendments sponsored by fellow Republicans, it blocked the marijuana amendments that came from Democrats. One would have ended the disqualification of potential enlistees for THC; the other would have barred federal funds for marijuana testing upon enlistment.

International

Scottish Safe Injection Site Could Be Approved Within Weeks. After Scotland's Lord Advocate, the Scottish government's highest legal official, confirmed that users of a proposed safe injection would not be prosecuted, the proposed pilot scheme is set to be approved by local officials—the next step toward its realization.

Scottish drugs minister Elena Whitman told members of the Scottish Parliament Tuesday that the plan would go before the city’s integrated joint board of council and health officials on 27 September, where it is expected to be approved and put out to public consultation.

While the Conservative government in London sets drug policy for the United Kingdom, it is the Scottish Lord Advocate who decides whether to prosecute.

Lord Advocate Bain said she believed it would "not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot safer drugs consumption facility."

The Scottish government and the Glasgow city council, both of which are led by the Scottish National Party, have been supportive of a pilot project for years, but now Scottish Labor, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish Greens are all on board, and the Scottish Tories have agreed not to try to block the proposal.

You could soon be able to get some munchies when you buy your weed in California, Afghanistan is the world's fastest-growing meth producer, and more.

Colombia continues to crank out cocaine. (Creative Commons)

California Senate Approves Marijuana Café Bill. The Senate has approved Assembly Bill 374, which would allow marijuana retailers to offer food and drinks in they get local approval. The bill has already passed the Assembly, but because it was slightly amended in the Senate, it must return to the Assemly for a final concurrence vote before heading to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

The bill would let local governments authorize the preparation and sell of non-marijuana food and drinks. Sale of alcohol would continue to be prohibited, as would the smoking of tobacco.

The bill would also authorize "live musical or other performances on the premises of a retailer or microbusiness licensed under this division in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed, and the sale of tickets for those performances."

Psychedelics

California Natural Psychedelic Legalization Bill Heads to Governor's Desk. A bill that legalize the possession of personal use amounts of natural psychedelics, including ibogaine and psilocybin (magic mushrooms)—but not peyote—has won final passage in the legislature and now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Senate Bill 58, filed by Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), was first introduced in 2021 but was pulled by Weiner after it was heavily amended in the Assembly during the last session. But it came back this session and has now made its way through the legislative process.

The bill would allow people 21 and over to possess up to four grams of mescaline, one gram of DMT, and one gram each of psilocybin and psilocyn.

Newsom has until Oct. 14 to make a decision on the bill becoming law. If approved, it would go into effect in 2025.

International

UNODC Says Afghanistan is World's Faster-Growing Meth Producer. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOD C) reported Sunday that Afghanistan has became the world's fastest-growing manufacturer of methamphetamine. The report comes as the Taliban are busily prosecuting a crackdown on opium production.

Afghan meth production derives largely from legally available substances or the ephedra plants, which grows in the wild in the region, UNODC said. It said Afghan meth production could disrupt the synthetic drug market and fuel addiction. Afghan meth has been seized in Europe and East Africa.

Afghan meth seizures rose from less than 100 pounds in 2019 to nearly 6,000 pounds in 2021.

Annual meth seizure totals from inside the country rose from less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in 2019 to nearly 2,700 kilograms (6,000 pounds) in 2021, suggesting increased production, the report said. But it couldn’t give a value for the country’s meth supply, the quantities being produced, nor its domestic usage, because it doesn’t have the data.

Angela Me, the chief of the UNODC’s Research and Trend Analysis Branch, said  that making meth, especially in Afghanistan, had several advantages over heroin or cocaine production. "You don’t need to wait for something to grow," said Me. "You don’t need land. You just need the cooks and the know-how. Meth labs are mobile, they’re hidden. Afghanistan also has the ephedra plant, which is not found in the biggest meth-producing countries, Myanmar and Mexico. It’s legal in Afghanistan and it grows everywhere. But you need a lot of it."

UNODC Says Colombia Coca Cultivation at All-Time High. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported Sunday that coca leaf cultivation in Colombia last year was at the highest level recorded since the agency started monitoring the crop in 2001. Coca cultivation was up 13 percent over 2021, and that generated 1,400 tons of cocaine, up from 1,738 in 2021.

Most Colombian cocaine is destined for markets in the US and Europe.

Key coca growing areas, accounting for two-thirds of national production, are the southern departments of Narino and Puumayo on the Ecuadorian border and North Santander on the Venezuelan border. Nearly half of Colombia's coca production is located on indigenous lands or in parks and nature reserves.

Scottish Lord Advocate Endorses Safe Injection Sites. The senior law enforcement officer in the Scottish government, the Lord Advocate, has issued a position statement on safe injection sites saying it would not recommend the prosecution of people using a safe injection site. The Lord Advocate provides legal advice on the full range of the government's responsibilities, policies, and legislation, including advice on the legal implications of government proposals. : 

"On the basis of the information I have been provided, I would be prepared to publish a prosecution policy that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot safer drugs consumption facility," Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said.

"I have not been asked to sign-off or approve any facility and it would not be appropriate for me to do so. However, prosecution policy is for me alone to set and this policy, and the consequences which flow from it, have been considered deeply and thoroughly. 

"The requested statement will not extend to any criminal offences other than possession of controlled substances, contrary to section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It does not amount to an exclusion zone whereby a range of criminality is tolerated. 

"Police Scotland have operational independence and it has been of the utmost importance to me to ensure that Police Scotland retain the ability to effectively police the facility and ensure that the wider community, those operating the site and

The Lord Advocate's decision has been shared with the Scottish Parliament cross-committee on tackling drug deaths and drug harm on September 11. 

Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in Americaby Helena Hansen, David Herzberg, and Jules Netherland (2023, University of California Press, 369 pp., $29.95 HB)

Republican lawmakers in statehouses around the country who had built careers as fierce drug warriors now sponsored Good Samaritan bills (so that people overdosing and those seeking to help them did not face drug charges), the availability of medicine-assisted treatment (methadone and buprenorphine) spread—and went upscale, with bupe acting as white people's methadone.

While methadone, associated with the Black and Brown heroin addicts of the 1970s, remains heavily stigmatized, its administration heavily authoritarian, and its dispensing locations almost always deep within poor minority neighborhoods, buprenorphine –a drug for treating white opioid users of the 21st Century—is much more easily accessible, available in doctors' offices instead of grim industrial buildings, but also more expensive, limiting its access for people with little money or insurance.

In Whiteout, an addiction psychiatrist (Hansen), a drug historian (Herzberg), and a policy advocate (Netherland) tease apart the structures of Whiteness (the unspoken ideology of white virtue, purity, and superiority) and demonstrate how racial disparities have been cooked into American drug policies from the beginning—and how not only Black populations but white ones, too, have suffered for it.

In the first great wave of opioid addiction in the late 19th Century, it was middle class white women who suffered the grip of the poppy, and they were largely treated in the doctor's office. As relatively well-off people, they had the ability to access the health care system of the time, to be prescribed the pills they wanted, and to be helped off them if necessary.

Meanwhile, Black Americans more often lacked the money to gain access to the health care system, and once drug prohibition fell into place in the 1910s, they were shunted into the black market, criminalized, and stigmatized. Their neighborhoods became epicenters of the illicit drug trade. Black market drugs in the ghetto, white market drugs at the doctor's office and the drugstore.

But white privilege had its price—a price that hundreds of thousands of white opioid users have paid since the turn of the century as overdose deaths quintupled in 20 years. Affluent white drug consumers would be provided their drugs by a lightly regulated pharmaceutical industry that the authors demonstrate portrayed the users of its products as white people and marketed their products directly at white people. The poster child for this behavior is Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, which zeroed in on mostly white Appalachia as its force of zealous sales reps went to work. This is the racial capitalism of the title.

Anyone who is uncomfortable with terms like "racial capitalism" is really going to be squirming when Critical Race Theory makes its entrance. Unlike the case with the moral panic around Critical Race Theory in children's schoolbooks (which it isn't), the academic tool is actually applied here and, indeed, is central to the argument the authors make.

It also colors their recommendations for what is to be done. In line with the critique of capitalism, a little more harm reduction here or a little more criminal justice reform there are not going to solve the social problems that give rise to the current opioid crisis. It is going to require real social change, things like universal health care and a real social safety net. And an ongoing interrogation of Whiteness.

A pair of Massachusetts psychedelic initiatives are cleared for signature-gathering, new research finds marijuana legalization is driving down youth pot treatment admissions, and more.

Illinois pot shop workers organized by the Teamsters win a labor victory. (Teamsters.org)

Court-Mandated Marijuana Treatment Admissions for Young People Declined Significantly Following Legalization.Far fewer young people are referred by the criminal courts to attend marijuana-specific treatment programs following the adoption of statewide adult-use legalization laws, acording to data published in the journal Addiction Medicine. 

Researchers with Temple University in Philadelphia analyzed ten years (2008 to 2019) of admissions data from the US government’s Treatment Episode Data Sets (TEDS). They reported that the total number of marijuana-related drug treatment admissions declined significantly among adolescents (ages 12 to 17) and young adults (ages 18 to 24) during this time period. Much of this decline was the result of fewer court-mandated admissions. 

"Our results indicate that the proportion of referrals to CUD [cannabis use disorder] treatment from the criminal justice system fell following recreational legalization in the United States among young adults, likely due to post-legalization declines in cannabis-related arrests," the study’s authors concluded. 

In 2010, courts ordered nearly 60,000 teens and another 70,000 young adults to attend marijuana treatment. Those totals fell to fewer than 20,000 adolescents and approximately 30,000 young adults in 2019.

"In addition to ending tens of thousands of needless low-level marijuana arrests, cannabis legalization is also freeing up space in drug treatment centers for those people who truly need it," said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. "Most people arrested for violating marijuana possession laws do not require mandatory drug treatment, and historically, these referrals were provided primarily to divert people away from the criminal justice system."

Illinois Teamsters Ratify Contracts with Rise Dispensaries. Teamsters Local 777 members at three dispensaries operated by Rise – a subsidiary of Green Thumb Industries (GTI) – have ratified their first collective bargaining agreements with the multi-state cannabis operator. The contract will cover workers at two locations in Joliet and another in Niles. This victory marks the end of a protracted fight with GTI that included a 13-day work stoppage that ended back in May – the longest Unfair Labor Practice strike at a cannabis retailer in U.S. history.

"This fight should be a lesson to cannabis companies all across the country and not just Illinois – Teamsters don’t back down," said Jim Glimco, Local 777 President. "A lot of people who went through what these men and women went through would’ve thrown in the towel. Not this group. They’re young, energetic, tough, smart; they look out for one another, and they embody what being a part of this union is all about."

The strong contracts not only codify a number of benefits, but also include significant improvements. Improvements include wage increases of 18 percent over the lifetime of the agreement, attendance bonuses, a scheduling policy based on seniority, guaranteed tips and discounts, improved safety standards, and protection against unjust termination or discipline.

Psychedelics

California Assembly Approves Amended Psychedelic Legalization Bill, Sending it Back to Senate for Final Passage. The Assembly on Wednesday approved Senate Bill 58, which would legalize the possession of small amounts of certain plant- and fungi-based psychedelic substances, but not without first amending it so it has to go back to the Senate for a final vote.

"California’s veterans, first responders, and others struggling with PTSD, depression, and addiction deserve access to these promising plant medicines," said bill sponsor Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). "SB 58 has prudent safeguards in place after we incorporated feedback from three years of deep engagement with a broad array of stakeholders. We know these substances are not addictive, and they show tremendous promise in treating many of the most intractable conditions driving our nation’s mental health crisis," he said. It’s time to stop criminalizing people who use psychedelics for healing or personal well-being."

But whether Weiner and the rest of the Senate can live with the Assembly's amendments remains to be seen. The Assembly stripped ibogaine from the list of legalized substances, lowered possession limits, eliminated sharing provisions, and pushed back the effective date to 2025.

Massachusetts Attorney General Certifies Two Psychedelic Decriminalization Initiatives for Signature-Gathering. Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D) has certified two nearly identical ballot proposals to decriminalize psychedelic substances. The proposals are coming from Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, which aims "to expand mental health treatment options in Massachusetts by providing new pathways to access natural psychedelic medicine therapy."

The two proposals are the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act (Version A) and the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act (Version B).

The certification clears the way for signature-gathering to place the measures on the November 2024 ballot. Organizers will need to file 74,574 valid voter signatures by December 6 to qualify for nest year's ballot.

The proposals would create the Natural Psychedelic Substances Commission, a five-member body appointed by the governor, attorney general and treasurer, that would administer the law around the use and distribution of psychedelics.

Adults at least 21 years old would be able to purchase psychedelics like psilocybin, ibogaine and mescaline at an "approved location," according to the ballot petition.

A North Carolina Republican congressman files a bill to punish localities that legalize marijuana, Peruvian Shining Path remnants tied to the cocaine trade clash with Peruvian army troops, and more 

Magic mushrooms and other natural psychedelics would be decriminalized under a California bill that heads for a final vote. (CC)

North Carolina Congressman Files Bill to Punish Legal Weed States. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) has filed a bill that would punish states or reservations where marijuana is legal by withholding 10 percent of highway funding to them. Edward's Stop Pot Act, filed last Friday, targets jurisdictions "in which the purchase or public possession of marijuana for recreational purposes is lawful."

It was spurred by his ire at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which will vote on whether to legalize marijuana this week. He argues that such laws are an affront to federal law.

"The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law," he said in a press release. "During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin."

The tribe does not think much of Edwards' move. Principal Chief Richard Sneed noted that Edwards is "a non-Indian, elected official telling a sovereign tribal nation how they ought to handle their business" and that he "overstepped his authority."

Psychedelics

California Psychedelic Decriminalization Bill Heads for Assembly Floor Vote. A bill to decriminalize certain plant- and fungi-based psychedelics is heading for a final Assembly floor vote after clearing a final committee vote last Friday. Senate Bill 58 , from Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) has already passed the Senate and cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday.

The bill would decriminalize plant-based and other natural hallucinogens such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline, but in deference to the Native American Church, not peyote. Police would be unable to charge those in possession of personal use amounts of those substances, which range from two grams for psilocybin to 15 grams for ibogaine. The substances would remain illegal for minors.

The bill is a scaled back version of a bill first filed by Weiner in January 21 that would also have decriminalized synthetic psychedelics, such as ketamine, LSD, and MDMA. And as doubts lingered over whether the bill could pass this year, Weiner amended it to add a provision requiring the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to create a workgroup tasked with studying and making recommendations on the establishment of a framework for the therapeutic use of psychedelics.

"I’m particularly excited to see that a vote will be held for decriminalizing psychedelics, an idea whose time has come I," said Weiner."I look forward to working with my colleagues and a wide array of stakeholders to deliver these bills to the governor."

But whether Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will sign the bill remains an open question.

"The bill does have a good shot of passing the Assembly," said former police officer and current drug counselor Marty Ribera. "But Newsom is the big one. He’s looking to run for president either next year or in 2028, and being the Governor who legalized a bunch of drugs would not be a good look."

Harm Reduction

Colorado Legislative Opioid Study Committee Calls for Safe Injection Sites. Lawmakers last year tried and failed to clear the way for safe injection sites last year, and this year they will be back again. The legislature's opioid study committee has called for a bill to be drafted to allow cities to create "overdose prevention centers" or safe injection sites.

The committee vote followed party lines, with Republicans opposed.

The need is evident. Opioid overdose deaths, most implicating fentanyl, rose 50 percent from 2019 to 2020 and another 27 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Safe injection sites are arguably illegal under federal law, specifically the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which forbids the use of premises for illicit drug use—the crack house act. The Trump administration Justice Department sued to block a Philadelphia safe injection site, but the Biden Justice Department is now in negotiations that could clear the way for it to open.

Rhode Island has authorized safe injection sites, but the only locally-authorized sites opened in New York City in late 2021. And now, the US attorney there is making noises calling into question whether they can remain.

International

Peru Clashes Between Military and Shining Path Leave Six Dead. Remnants of the Shining Path, a Maoist insurgency from the 1980s that left tens of thousands dead and has since devolved into players in the coca and cocaine trade, clashed with an army patrol Monday, leaving four soldiers and two Shining Path members dead.

The early morning attack by the rebel traffickers came in the province of Huanta in the Ayacucho region—the historic Shining Path stronghold.

"During the confrontation, the security forces managed to kill two terrorist criminals, who fell with their long-range weapons," the army said in a press release. "Unfortunately, during this action, four brave members of the armed forces died, whose remains will be transferred shortly to the city of Huamanga." The army said three wounded soldiers were also transferred to a nearby hospital.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte paid tribute to the soldiers shortly afterwards on social media, referring to the Shining Path as "narcoterrorists."

The violence occurred in the Valley of Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM), a center of coca cultivation and cocaine production. In 2021, the government estimated that 70 percent of the country's total coca leaf production came from the VRAEM. The VRAEM is also the last outpost of the Shining Path. 

A British parliamentary committee is calling on the government to reinstate festival drug checking, Texas harm reduction activists protest Gov. Greg Abbott's regressive drug policies, and more.

More than a thousand Mexican soldiers are being deployed to the cartel-ridden state of Michoacan. (Creative Commons)

Reform Groups Respond to HHS Recommendation to Reschedule Marijuana. The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) announcement that it was formally recommending moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act has excited considerable commentary and varied reactions from the reform community. Here, thanks to Marijuana Moment, are the reactions from several groups. For more, as well as reaction from political figures, click on the link above:

NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano

"The goal of federal cannabis policy reform ought to be to address the existing, untenable chasm between federal marijuana policy and the cannabis laws of the majority of U.S. states," Armentano told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday.

"Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III of the US Controlled Substances Act fails to adequately address this conflict, as existing state legalization laws—both adult use and medical—will continue to be in conflict with federal regulations, thereby perpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies," he said.

US Cannabis Council (USCC) Executive Director Edward Conklin

"The US Cannabis Council enthusiastically welcomes today’s news. President Biden and his Administration recognized that cannabis was wrongly classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, and they are delivering on their promise to change it," Conklin said. "We believe that rescheduling to Schedule III will mark the most significant federal cannabis reform in modern history. President Biden is effectively declaring an end to Nixon’s failed war on cannabis and placing the nation on a trajectory to end prohibition.

"Rescheduling will have a broad range of benefits, including signaling to the criminal justice system that cannabis is a lower priority and providing a crucial economic lifeline to the cannabis industry by lifting the 280E tax burden. State licensed cannabis businesses of all shapes and sizes will benefit from this historic reform," he said. "We urge the DEA to proceed with rescheduling cannabis with all reasonable speed."

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Director of State Policies Karen O’Keefe

"We are encouraged by the recommendation made by the Dept. of Health and Human Services for a more sensible and realistic scheduling for cannabis," O’Keefe said. "Given that over half the US population lives in medical cannabis states and millions of Americans are finding relief with cannabis products, it is long past due for the federal government to acknowledge cannabis’ medical value."

"Unfortunately, moving cannabis to Schedule III will still leave many of the harms of federal prohibition in place," she said. "However, today’s news is a step in the right direction and will deliver real benefits, including facilitating increased research and reducing burdens on medical cannabis patients and the businesses that serve them."

Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and Parabola Center’s Cat Packer

we recognize that a shift to schedule III would be significant in a number of ways," Packer told Marijuana Moment, noting how the reform would remove research barriers and allow marijuana businesses to "make normal business deductions."

However, she said that the rescheduling action "would fall woefully short of the promises made by President Biden during his 2020 presidential election campaign, especially promises made to Black and Brown communities."

"It does not address the underlying criminalization of marijuana, even just for personal use and possession—which President Biden has already acknowledged as a failure that disproportionately impacts Black and Latino communities," Packer said. "If the Biden Administration is seriously committed to ending the Country’s failed approach on marijuana and righting the wrongs of marijuana criminalization including addressing the disproportionate impacts of criminalization on Black and Latino communities, Biden should support decriminalization and a new approach to federal cannabis policy that actually promotes fairness and justice."

National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) CEO Aaron Smith

"Moving cannabis to schedule III could have some limited benefit but does nothing to align federal law with the 38 U.S. states which have already effectively regulated cannabis for medical or adult use," Smith said. "The only way to fully resolve the myriad of issues stemming from the federal conflict with state law is to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and regulate the product in a manner similar to alcohol.""The vast majority of Americans live in states with laws that depart from federal law on this issue and where thousands of regulated Main Street businesses are serving the legal cannabis market safely and responsibly," he said. "It’s long past time for Congress to truly harmonize federal policy with those states."

Harm Reduction

Texas Activists Rally Outside Governor's Mansion to Protest Abbott's Harm Reduction and Overdose Policies. Texas activists marked International Overdose Awareness Day Wednesday by rallying in front of the governor's mansion in downtown Austin to call out Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his regressive policies around harm reduction and overdose prevention.

The state has seen a 30 percent increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths from 2021 to 2022, but Abbott has failed to push for measures that could alleviate the crisis, such as House Bill 362, which would have legalized fentanyl test strips. While that bill passed the House, it failed to advance out of the Senate.

Instead of taking up harm reduction and overdose prevention measures, Abbott has urged the legislature to crack down on trafficking, including a February move declaring fentanyl an emergency. He also directed lawmakers to label fentanyl overdoses "poisonings" and prosecute them as murder.

The protest was organized by VOCAL-TX, an activist and harm reduction organization.

International

UK Home Office Urged to Reinstate Festival Drug Checking. The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee issued a report Thursday urging the Home Office to reinstate music festival drug checking, which had been a regular part of the festival scene in recent years until the Tory government suddenly demanded drug checkers be licensed earlier this summer. The Home Affairs Committee report also urged members of Parliament to grant necessary licenses to local authorities to allow drug checking to go forward in a bid to reduce overdoses.

A licensing plan should be in effect by next summer, the report urged. This summer, festival organizers were hit with last-minute notices that they needed licenses only hours before festivals began. Those licenses came with a $3,500 fee and could take months to process.

"Back of house testing has been operating at festivals for a number of years through memorandums of understanding between local stakeholders, including the police and local authorities," the report said. "The primary aim of drug checking is to reduce drug-related harms. This is done through the provision of healthcare advice from medical professionals to the individuals who have submitted samples and/or via the dissemination of health warnings to the wider public— for example, to festival-goers. Countries, such as, the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Canada, Austria and Australia have established drug checking services."

But the Tory Home Office is having none of it: "There is no safe way to take illegal drugs, which devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities, and we have no plans to consider this," it said in response to the report. "Our 10-year drugs strategy set out ambitious plans, backed with a record £3 billion funding over three years to tackle the supply of illicit drugs through relentless policing action and building a world-class system of treatment and recovery to turn people’s lives around and prevent crime."

Mexico Deploys 1,200 More Troops to Conflict-Ridden Michoacan. The Mexican government said Monday it sent 1,200 more troops to the cartel-dominated western state of Michoacan after a weekend of violence. State prosecutors said three convenience stores and five trucks and cars had been set afire, a tactic often used by drug cartels in the state to block roads and enforce extortion demands. Prosecutors said three men and three youths aged 16 and 17 were arrested in the attacks.

The soldiers are being deployed to the cities of Apatzingan, Buenavista, and Uruapan. In Buenavista, lime growers and farmers are complaining of extortion by the cartels, and in Apatzingan, cartel extortion has nearly doubled the price of basic goods. Similar conditions a decade ago sparked the rise of civilian vigilante groups, but those have since faded away or been infiltrated by the cartels themselves. 

Garden State Democrats take flak for voting for a harsh fentanyl analog bill, a clandestine San Francisco safe injection site saved lives, and more. 

Nitazines. (Delaware Psychological Services)

New Synthetic Opioids Raising Alarms. A group of new synthetic opioids called nitazenes are emerging in illicit drug markets and may be more powerful than fentanyl, a thousand times more potent that morphine, and may require even greater doses of opioid overdose reversal drugs to reverse overdoses, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Researchers found most patients who overdosed on nitazenes required two doses of the overdose reversal drug naloxone to recover, while most patients overdosing on fentanyl required only a single dose.

"Clinicians should be aware of these opioids in the drug supply so they are adequately prepared to care for these patients and anticipate needing to use multiple doses of naloxone," the researchers, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, Lehigh Valley Health Network based in Pennsylvania, and other US institutions, wrote in the study. "In addition, to date there has been a lack of bystander education on repeat naloxone dosing."

The data came from a small study of 537 adults admitted to emergency rooms between 2020 and 2022, 11 of which tested positive only for fentanyl and nine who tested positive only for nitazenes. The researchers found that two-thirds of patients overdosing on nitazenes required two or more doses of naloxone, compared with only one-third of those overdosing on fentanyl.

Among the nitazenes are brorphine, isotonitazene, metonitazene, or N-piperidinyl etonitazene. Metonitazene appears to be the most dangerous.

"In the present study, metonitazene appears to have the most severe clinical toxicity given that both patients in which metonitazene was detected presented in cardiac arrest," the researchers wrote. Among those two patients who were found to have metonitazene, one patient died despite receiving six milligrams of naloxone in three separate doses. The other patient survived after receiving a total of 10 milligrams of naloxone in three doses.

New Jersey Congressional Democrats Take Flak for Voting for Mandatory Minimums for Fentanyl Analogs. Three New Jersey Democrats joined with three New Jersey Republicans to vote for the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (HALT) Act (HR 467), which ramped up mandatory minimum sentences for fentanyl analogs, and now they are facing bitter criticism for doing so. The bill assumes that fentanyl analogs are harmful and criminalizes people despite a lack of scientific evidence.

Supported the drug war legislations were conservative Democrats Josh Gottheimer, Mikie Sherrill, and Donald Norcross, as well as Republicans Jeff Van Drew, Chris Smith, and Thomas Kean Jr.

"This shoot-first, ask-questions-later legislation would permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I without first testing them for benefits or harm," said civil rights advocate Lisa McCormick. "By putting fentanyl-related substances on that list, they are among the most harshly criminalized drugs regardless of the science."

"This bill also imposes mandatory minimum sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison for fentanyl analog cases, hearkening back to failed drug war strategies of the past that have led to a stronger, more potent illicit drug supply," said McCormick. "Yet, Republican members of Congress and their corporate-controlled Democratic allies continue to double down on the disproven, failed approach of drug prohibition at the expense of people’s lives. "Of the nearly two million people incarcerated in the U.S. today, one in five is locked up for a drug offense," said McCormick, who said the legislation was strongly condemned by a variety of non-partisan civil rights, public health, drug policy, faith, law enforcement, criminal legal reform, and public policy research organizations.

"Our communities deserve real health solutions to the overdose crisis, not political grandstanding that is going to cost us more lives," said Maritza Perex Medina, director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. "Yet, sadly, in passing the HALT Fentanyl Act, the House seems intent on doubling down on the same failed strategies that got us here to begin with."

"It’s sad to see lawmakers revert to over-criminalization once again when we have 50 years of evidence that the war on drugs has been an abject failure," said Laura Pitter, deputy director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch. "A vote for this bill was a vote against evidence and science."

Advocates are calling on Congress to reject drug war-style legislation and instead support public health approaches like the Support, Treatment, and Overdose Prevention of Fentanyl (STOP Fentanyl) Act of 2021 (HR 2366) and the Test Act (SB 1950). The former proposes increased access to harm reduction services and substance use disorder treatment, improved data collection, and other evidence-based methods to reduce overdose, while the latter would require the federal government to test all fentanyl-related substances that are currently classified as Schedule I substances and remove those that are proven medically beneficial or otherwise unharmful.

Harm Reduction

San Francisco's Clandestine Safe Injection Site Saved Hundreds of Lives. According to a study published Tuesday in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the Tenderloin Center, a clandestine safe injection site that operated throughout 2022 saw 333 overdoses—with no fatalities and every single one of them reversed. That was out of 124,000 visits.

The Tenderloin Center was "an effective harm-reduction strategy to save lives," wrote lead author Dr. Leslie Suen of the University of California, San Francisco. " 

The site has since shuttered, with neither City Attorney David Chiu nor Mayor London Breed willing to keep it open against federal law. Now, the city is on track for its highest recorded number of drug overdoses yet. 

New Hampshire is one of seven states where alcohol sales take place through state-owned liquor stores (another 10 states feature a state monopoly on wholesale alcohol sales to private vendors), and now, it is embarking on a close look at applying that model to legal marijuana sales.

A state-operated liquor store in Utah. Could this be a model for marijuana sales? (Creative Commons/Tony Roberts)

That is in large part because that is what Gov. Chris Sununu (R) wants. Sununu had for years been an opponent of marijuana legalization, and his threats of vetoes and actual vetoes (like this year) helped torpedo bills, but earlier this year, he declared that legalization is "inevitable" and signaled support for the state liquor store model.

"I’ve never been a big believer in terms of legalizing recreational marijuana, but the legislature is there," he said. "We’re surrounded by I think 1,000 miles by states who have done it. Not only would the bill pass to let it happen, it probably would pass with the ability to override my veto. Even though I might not like it, my responsibility is to set up a model that, long-term, is better than all the other states around us—that has the protections" through the state’s existing state-controlled liquor sales system," the governor said.

"With us controlling the retail on the marketing and the branding side, we would be able to control all that and we do it really well," he said. "Our New Hampshire liquor stores are ranked one of the top five retailers in the country. So we have a model that works. Other states don’t really have that, and so we can build off of that."

Legalization is "inevitable" and "it's going to happen," he added.

"So let’s provide it with protection," Sununu said. "There’ll be some revenue from it—but you should never be legalizing more drugs for revenue. That has ethical and moral problems wrapped all around it. Other states did that we’re not going down that path. So I think if they can do it, we can get it done."

Legislation he signed into law earlier this month, House Bill 611, sets the state on the path toward the state liquor store model. It establishes a commission to study how to implement that model with marijuana. The commission will include five senators and five House representatives, as well as representatives from Attorney General’s Office, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, the New Hampshire Bankers Association, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New Hampshire Medical Society, and Communities for Alcohol and Drug-Free Youth.

The commission must report its findings by December 1, so that the legislature can move once the second half of the biennial session begins after the new year.

According to the bill text, "the commission shall study with the purpose of proposing legislation, the feasibility of establishing a state-controlled system to sell marijuana to adults 21 years and older that also: allows the state to control distribution and access, keeps marijuana away from kids and out of schools, controls the marketing and messaging of the sale of marijuana, prohibits  "marijuana miles "or the over-saturation of marijuana retail establishments, empowers municipalities to choose to limit or prohibit marijuana retail establishments, reduces instances of multi-drug use, and does not impose an additional tax so as to remain competitive."

Next year, New Hampshire could pioneer a new model for legal marijuana sales. After all, there's more than one way to sell a reefer. 

Mexican drug cartels are increasingly resorting to IEDs, a push for marijuana legalization is underway in Costa Rica, and more. 

Medical marijuana could be coming soon to Uganda. (Creative Commons)

Ohio Health Departments Join Opposition to Marijuana Legalization Initiative. The Ohio Association of Health Commissioners, which represents the state's 112 local health departments, has joined the opposition to the marijuana legalization initiative from the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol that will appear on the November ballot.         

The measure would allow people 21 and over to possess up to 2.5 ounces of pot and grow up to six plants, as well as setting up a system of taxed and regulated legal marijuana commerce.

An association representing Ohio’s 112 local health departments is opposing a marijuana legalization ballot measure set to go to voters in November, claiming the policy change would only contribute to drug-related problems in the state.

"Making marijuana more accessible through legal recreational use and retail sales hurts Ohio, creates serious new risks for children’s health and makes our workplaces and highways less safe," the association warned in a statement Tuesday. "With Ohio’s rates of opiate abuse and overdoses still among the highest in the country, we need to be helping Ohio find solutions to addiction, not facilitating it or the interests of an industry that profits from it."

The association joins with Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and the state's Republican political establishment in opposing the initiative, but a poll last month suggests they are out of touch with Buckeye state voters. That poll, from Suffolk University, had support for legalization at 59 percent.

International

Costa Rica Lawmakers Divided on Revised Recreational Marijuana Bill. A bill to legalize marijuana lost a vote in the Assembly's Environmental Commission, but will proceed to an Assembly floor vote anyway.

After several months on hold, the Environmental Commission of the Legislative Assembly will resume discussions this week on the bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the Costa Rica.

The proposal was rejected by the majority of the commission members, which includes three from the PLN  and two from the New Republic parties. This was confirmed by Manuel Morales, a member of the ruling party.

"There are five votes against," said Manuel Morales, a member of the ruling party.  "We have already prepared the minority report to be presented to the Plenary. Some of the substitute text includes their suggestions, but they are going to vote against it," he added. "When it reaches the Plenary, I believe it can be approved. It may be tight, but I think some members of the National Liberation party will support it," Morales stated.

The bill would legalize adult use marijuana, with regulations similar to those governing tobacco smoking, including no smoking in public. The revised bill would reallocate tax revenues from the legal marijuana market upon request of the ministries of health and security or the Drug Control Institute.

Mexican Army Says Drug Cartels Are Increasing Use of Roadside Bombs. The Army said Tuesday that drug trafficking organizations have increased their use of roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) this year, with at least 5 security force members killed and 42 police, soldiers, and suspects wounded.

The five members of the security forces killed included four state police officers and one National Guard officer.

The Army noted that the use of bomb-carrying drones has also increased. Before 2020, there were no drone attacks; this year there have been 260 so far.

The number of car bombs has also increased, from one last year to six so far this year.

So far, 556 IEDs of all types—roadside, drone-borne, and car bombs—have been found this year. More than 2,000 have been discovered since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2018, with more than half of those in the state of Michoacan, which has been the scene of continuing violence between the rival Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

Uganda Parliament Passes Drug Law That Legalizes Medical Marijuana. The parliament on Tuesday approved the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control Bill, which will now allow for the licensed cultivation and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The bill also legalizes the medicinal use of  khat, a plant native to Yemen and East Africa that acts as a mild stimulant.

"Under a highly controlled legal regime, the international obligations notwithstanding, the two plants (cannabis and Khat should only be allowed for cultivation and usage strictly for medical purposes and research," said Hon Kajwengye.

"The committee posits that all licences and permits to be issued under this Act should centrally be issued by the Ministry responsible for Health since the permission to use narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is restricted to only medical purposes; the Ministry of Internal Affairs should remain the enforcement arm of the Government," said Hon. Kajwengye.