Illinois will be the 11th state to legalize marijuana.
On the medical marijuana front, the Garden State is where it's at this week.
A Denver sheriff's deputy had the wrong boyfriend, a Los Angeles narc blacmails his secretary over a sexual encounter, and more.
Colorado could soon see pot cafes and tasting rooms, Illinois is a House vote or two away from freeing the weed, Oakland has almost decriminalized magic mushrooms, and more.
Illinois is set to be the next legal marijuana state, a federal appeal court has ordered the DEA to move promptly on marijuana rescheduling, the Honduran president is the target of a federal drug and money laundering probe, and more.
A Treasury department appropriations bill includes language to protect banks doing marijuana business and allow DC to tax and regulate its legal marijuana, the USDA warns states against blocking hemp shipments, and more.
Tensions over the fate of marijuana legalization in New York are heating up as the legislative clock ticks down, Nevada becomes the latest state to enact an expungement law, a Vermont bid to decriminalize buprenorphine gets sidetracked, and more.
Two big stories from the San Francisco Bay area, governors call for federal marijuana reform, and more.
Illinois is poised to become the 11th state to legalize marijuana, as soon as Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs into law a legalization bill passed with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate last week. Pritzker pushed for the bill's passage.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker
(photo courtesy Chi Hack Night via Wikimedia)
When he signs, Illinois will become the first state to get a legalization bill all the way through the legislative process this year, and the first ever to create a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce through the legislative process rather than through a voter initiative. (Vermont's legislature legalized possession and cultivation but not sales in early 2018.)
The Senate approved the bill last Wednesday and the House concurred on Friday, the last day of the legislative session.
"The state of Illinois just made history, legalizing adult-use cannabis with the most equity-centric approach in the nation," Pritzker said in a statement upon passage of the bill. "This will have a transformational impact on our state, creating opportunity in the communities that need it most and giving so many a second chance."
Once the law goes into effect on January 1, Illinois residents 21 and over will be able to legally possess 30 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of concentrate, or 500 milligrams of THC in a marijuana-infused product. Out-of-staters will only be able to possess up to 15 grams of marijuana.
The right to grow one's own plants, however, was sacrificed in a bid to assuage critics and get the bill over the hump. The bill originally allowed for the home cultivation of up to five plants, but the loud opposition of law enforcement, who worried that it would make it more difficult to find illegal growers, along with Republican lawmakers and other interests, got that taken out.
Washington is the only other legal adult-use marijuana state that does not allow home cultivation.
It also took weakening of the expungement provision in the bill to bring some needed Republicans on board. When the bill was rolled out in the first week of May, it included language that would have created automatic expungement of criminal records for marijuana offenses that will no longer be a crime, but Republicans objected. Instead, bill sponsors agreed to language that removed automatic expungement and replaced it with language allowing the governor to pardon past offenses "with permission to expunge," but that will then require the filing of a petition to get it done, making it likely that many people with past marijuana convictions will not get their records expunged.
Excluding home grows and scaling back expungement was enough to get Republicans such as Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) on board, and that handful of GOP votes ensured passage of the bill.
"I'm a father of three from a rural district, and I'm standing before you supporting this bill because I do not believe the current policy that we have out there right now is working," Welter said during House debate. "Prohibition doesn't work, and we see that. Putting safeguards in place, taxing, regulating it, I believe provides a better market and a safer market."
The new law creates a system of licensed commercial cultivation operations and retail shops, while also setting up a social equity program to help minority businesses enter the emerging industry. That program will deploy grants and loans to such businesses, as well as establishing a grant fund to aid the communities most disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
Legal marijuana is expected to generate some $87 million in tax revenues for the coming budget year, with $30 million going for a marijuana business development fund and $57 million headed for general revenues. That money will first pay for regulatory expenses and costs related to expungement. After that, the pot dollars will be divided among the general fund (35 percent), community grants (25 percent), mental health and substance abuse programs (20 percent, paying down the state's budget deficit (10 percent), supporting law enforcement (8 percent), and public education (2 percent).
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx cheered the passage of the bill even though the expungement provisions were weakened, and vowed to fight
"I applaud the Illinois General Assembly for passing legislation that legalizes recreational cannabis and provides conviction relief to hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans with low-level charges of cannabis possession," she said in a statement. As prosecutors who implemented these convictions, we must own our role in the harm they have caused and we should play a role in reversing them. The failed war on drugs has disproportionately impacted communities of color, and my office will continue to explore ways to provide the broadest relief possible, beyond that provided by this legislation."
This year has been something of a disappointment for marijuana reformers, with much-touted legalization efforts in states such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York stalling out. Illinois was considered something of a dark horse, but now it has beat everyone else across the finish line.
And the Drug Policy Alliance, which has been working hard to get that New York bill passed, has taken notice.
"Illinois state representatives had the courage to pass comprehensive marijuana justice -- and made it their priority before the close of their legislative session," said DPA New York deputy director Melissa Moore. "As we enter the final three weeks of New York's session, our elected officials have a tremendous opportunity to show bold leadership and pass responsible regulation that will serve all New Yorkers and address the harms of marijuana prohibition. The time to act is now and the game plan is clear: Pass the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act immediately."
Whether New York or any other state can still get it done this year or not, the fabric of marijuana prohibition grows increasingly frayed. Thoroughly shredded on the West Coast and tattered in the Northeast, it now has a big hole in the heart of the Midwest with Illinois joining Michigan as a legal weed state.
And there's always next year, where voters in initiative states will have an opportunity to get it done themselves -- without having to deal with cumbersome legislative processes where a single committee chairman can kill a bill, or with recalcitrant lawmakers still stuck in the last century.
(Disclosure: Drug Policy Alliance is a financial supporter of Drug War Chronicle.)
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On the medical marijuana front, the Garden State is where it's at this week.
New JerseyNew Jersey Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill. The Senate on Thursday passed a medical marijuana expansion bill that increases the number of cultivators, sets up a regulatory commission, and gets rid of taxes on medicinal marijuana by 2025. Although the bill has already passed the House, it was amended in the Senate, so the House will have to approve those changes.
New Jersey Announces Massive Dispensary Expansion. The state Department of Health announced Monday plans to dramatically increase the number of dispensaries in the state -- from the currently existing six to more than a hundred! The move comes as the legislature is nearing passage of its own measure to expand the medical marijuana system.
[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visit MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]
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A Denver sheriff's deputy had the wrong boyfriend, a Los Angeles narc blackmails his secretary over a sexual encounter, and more. Let's get to it:
In Los Angeles,
a former state drug agent was fired Tuesday for having sex with a female subordinate and then blackmailing her into covering it up. William Telish, the former director of an LA-based regional task force, had an affair with a secretary and then threatened to send nude photos of her to her son if she tried to tell a supervisor.
In Denver, a Denver sheriff's deputy was indicted last Friday on drug possession and distribution charges. Deputy Sylvia Montoya was arrested on April 2 along with a known gang member who is her boyfriend. During that arrest, police recovered drugs, cash and multiple cell phones, and arrested the boyfriend but not Montoya. Now she's been indicted on four counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, meth, and heroin.
In Philadelphia, a former state narcotics agent was sentenced last Friday to three years in federal prison for accepting $48,000 from his cousin and another man involved in the bust of a drug carrying $1.7 million in cash from a marijuana smuggling ring. Timothy Riley was a member of the Mobile Street Crimes Unit and helped his cousin, the truck driver, turn himself in at a truck stop. Riley seized the $1.7 million, but let his brother keep an additional $800,000 in return for the bribe.
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Colorado could soon see pot cafes and tasting rooms, Illinois is a House vote or two away from freeing the weed, Oakland has almost decriminalized magic mushrooms, and more.
magic mushrooms
Colorado Governor Signs Bill Allowing Pot Cafes, Other Social Use Areas.Gov. Jared Polis (D) has signed into law HB 19-1230, which will allow for marijuana cafes, lounges, dispensary tasting rooms, and other social-use enterprises. "Colorado has many tourists and residents who choose to participate [in legal cannabis use]. Up until this bill, there's been no way to have safe public consumption," Polis said before signing the bill Wednesday. "I've smelled it walking my dog. For many of us with kids, we want to make sure we don't have that in our neighborhoods." Local governments will have to opt in to the new law, and can ban social-use establishments just as they can ban dispensaries.
Illinois Senate Votes to Legalize Marijuana. The state Senate on Wednesday voted to approve Senate Amendment 2 to HB 1438, which would legalize marijuana and create a system of taxed and regulated commerce. The vote came after lawmakers removed a provision allowing for personal cultivation and weakened a provision regarding expungement. The House has two days to pass the bill before the session ends.
Cops Shut Down Wisconsin's First Pot Shop. With assistance from Madison police, the Dane County Narcotics Task Force sent 30 heavily armed officers to shut down Lion of Judah House of Rastafari, which has been selling marijuana products since March, even though neither medical nor recreational marijuana is legal in the state. The two owners of the shop were arrested on marijuana trafficking charges. The shop filed a federal religious freedom lawsuit against the city in April after an earlier police visit where the cops took all their stock.
Psychedelics
Oakland Magic Mushroom Decriminalization Ordinance Advances. An Oakland City Council committee voted to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms and other such plant-based drugs on Tuesday night. The ordinance now goes to the full City Council, which could vote on it as early as next week. If approved, Oakland would become the second city in America, after Denver, to free the 'shrooms.
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Illinois is set to be the next legal marijuana state, a federal appeal court has ordered the DEA to move promptly on marijuana rescheduling, the Honduran president is the target of a federal drug and money laundering probe, and more.
Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
Federal Court Orders DEA to 'Promptly' Consider Marijuana Rescheduling. The US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled a district court that threw out a case brought by medical marijuana patients and drug reformers seeking to overturn marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug. While the appeals court agreed with the lower court that plaintiffs had not exhausted all administrative remedies, it held that the circumstances of the case were unique. "[W]e are troubled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)'s history of dilatory proceedings," US Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi wrote for the majority. "Accordingly, while we concur with the District Court's ruling, we do not dismiss the case, but rather hold it in abeyance and retain jurisdiction in this panel to take whatever action might become appropriate if the DEA does not act with adequate dispatch."
Illinois Will Be the Next State to Legalize Marijuana. The House today approved the legalization bill, Amendment 2 to HB 1438, Friday afternoon. The Senate approved it on Wednesday. Gov. JB Pritzker pushed the bill and said he will sign it into law. "The state of Illinois just made history, legalizing adult-use cannabis with the most equity-centric approach in the nation," he said in a Twitter post. "This will have a transformational impact on our state, creating opportunity in the communities that need it most and giving so many a second chance."
Medical Marijuana
New Jersey Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill. The Senate on Thursday passed a medical marijuana expansion bill that increases the number of cultivators, sets up a regulatory commission, and gets rid of taxes on medicinal marijuana by 2025. Although the bill has already passed the House, it was amended in the Senate, so the House will have to approve those changes.
Asset Forfeiture
Alabama Legislature Passes Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill. With a final vote in the House on Thursday, the legislature has approved SB 191, which would impose mandatory reporting requirements on civil asset forfeitures in the state. The measure now goes to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey (R).
Drug Testing
Louisiana Traffic Wreck Drug Testing Law Advances. The House on Thursday approved HB 138, which would allow police officers to seek drug tests in crashes involving serious bodily injury. Current law only allows drug testing in wrecks that result in fatalities. The bill now heads to the Senate for final approval.
Law Enforcement
Honduran President Targeted by US Prosecutors in Drug Trafficking Probe. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have targeted Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering, according to court documents. The president's brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, has been charged in the case, and the court documents show prosecutors won email search warrants against the president and several people close to him.
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A Treasury department appropriations bill includes language to protect banks doing marijuana business and allow DC to tax and regulate its legal marijuana, the USDA warns states against blocking hemp shipments, and more.
The sun is rising on industrial hemp. (VoteHemp.org)
Congressional Funding Bill Protects Cannabis Banking and Lets DC Legalize Marijuana Sales. Congressional Democratic leaders released on Sunday an annual Treasury spending bill to block federal officials from targeting banks for working with marijuana businesses. It would only impact Treasury enforcement; the Justice Department is covered in a separate spending bill. The bill would also remove a rider that blocks the city of Washington, DC, from using its own funds to tax and regulate marijuana sales. The bill is set for a committee hearing Monday.
Medical Marijuana
Louisiana Senate Kills Bill to Let Patients Inhale Their Medicine. The Senate voted Saturday to kill HB 358, which would have allowed medical marijuana patients to use an inhaler to take their medicine. Republican senators complained the language in the bill wasn't tight enough, even though it had won overwhelming approval in the House.
Hemp
USDA Says States Can't Block Hemp Transports. The US Department of Agriculture released a memo last week saying states cannot block interstate shipments of hemp, because hemp was legalized under the 2018 farm bill. The memo comes after officers in Oklahoma and Idaho seized hemp shipments because they contained trace amounts of THC. Idaho, however, says it won't follow those guidelines.
Louisiana Senate Approves Hemp Bill. The Senate on Saturday voted to approve a heavily-amended bill to allow the production of industrial hemp, HB 491. The bill had already passed the House, but because the Senate added 16 amendments, it must now go back to the House for a concurrence vote on Monday.
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Tensions over the fate of marijuana legalization in New York are heating up as the legislative clock ticks down, Nevada becomes the latest state to enact an expungement law, a Vermont bid to decriminalize buprenorphine gets sidetracked, and more.
Governor Cuomo is getting some heat over stalled marijuana legalization. (Creative Commons)
Nevada Governor Signs Measure Sealing Past Marijuana Convictions. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) has signed into law a bill helping those with past marijuana convictions get their records sealed. Assembly Bill 192 permits those convicted of marijuana-specific activities which have since been decriminalized or legalized to submit a written request to the court to have those records sealed. Petitioners may not be charged a fee for submitting such a request, and any objections to the request must be filed within ten judicial days. The new law takes effect on July 1.
New York Governor Says Marijuana Legalization Unlikely This Year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday he doesn't think there is sufficient support in the state Senate to pass a pending marijuana legalization bill. But Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said legislators are still working to find a compromise. While there is broad support for legalization, there is disagreement over regulatory details and expunging past low-level marijuana convictions. The session ends June 19.
New York Reform Groups Say Governor Failing to Deliver on Marijuana Legalization. In a joint statement released Monday, organizations including the Drug Policy Alliance, Citizen Action and New York Communities for Change blamed Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for blocking proposals that he claims to support, such as legalizing marijuana. "Governor Cuomo, we demand that you cease your reckless efforts to block and water down these issues," the groups wrote in their statement. Other organizations signing on to the statement included VOCAL-NY, the Alliance for Quality Education, the Long Island Progressive Coalition and Make the Road New York. "Move. Act. Lead," suggested Kassandra Frederique, New York state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Do what we as the voters asked you to do."
Medical Marijuana
New Jersey Announces Massive Dispensary Expansion. The state Department of Health announced Monday plans to dramatically increase the number of dispensaries in the state -- from the currently existing six to more than a hundred! The move comes as the legislature is nearing passage of its own measure to expand the medical marijuana system.
Heroin and Prescription Opioids
Vermont Bid to Decriminalize Buprenorphine Stalled. A bill that would have decriminalized the possession of the opioid treatment drug buprenorphine, HB 162, has stalled in the statehouse. While proponents argued that it would save lives by making the medication more available to users and deter them from using deadlier substances, the bill was opposed by Gov. Phil Scott (R) and US Attorney Christina Nolan. It passed out of the House Judiciary Committee, but the chair of the House Human Services Committee, Rep. Ann Pugh (D-Burlington) refused to move it, so it sits there until next year.
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Two big stories from the San Francisco Bay area, governors call for federal marijuana reform, and more.
magic mushrooms (Creative Commons)
Bipartisan Governors Team Up to Demand Federal Marijuana Reform. Twelve state governors from both parties have signed onto a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass bipartisan legislation to let states set their own marijuana policies without fear of federal interference. They called for passage of the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, H.R. 2093. "The STATES Act is a logical step for Congress because it honors state action by codifying protection at the federal level for those businesses and consumers operating in accordance with state law," they wrote. "The STATES Act is not about whether marijuana should be legal or illegal; it is about respecting the authority of states to act, lead and respond to the evolving needs and attitudes of their citizens."
Oregon Legislature Approves Expungement Bill. The House has approved a bill, SB 420, easing bureaucratic hurdles for people wanting to expunge old marijuana convictions. The Senate had already approved the measure, so it now heads to the governor's desk. Once the bill is signed, those seeking expungement will no longer have to pay a fee nor will they have to provide fingerprints or undergo a background check.
Delaware Legalization Bill Gets Initial Committee Hearing. The House Revenue and Finance Committee is taking up a marijuana legalization bill, HB 110, today. The bill would establish a state-licensed industry but would bar home cultivation. The bill calls for the state to collect a 15% tax on retail sales price of marijuana, as well as licensing fees.
Hemp
Ohio Hemp, CBD Bill Heading for House Floor Vote. A bill that would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp and stores to sell CBD products passed the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee Tuesday. SB 57 has already passed the Senate and now heads for a final House floor vote. The bill distinguishes hemp from marijuana and specified that CBD from hemp cannot contain more than 0.3% THC.
Psychedelics
Oakland Decriminalizes Magic Mushrooms, Other Natural Psychedelics. The city council voted Tuesday to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other plant-based psychedelics. The ordinance approved makes arresting people for possessing or using such substances the lowest law enforcement priority. Oakland now joins Denver in having made such a move.
Drug Treatment
San Francisco to Try Forced Drug Treatment for Problematic Mentally Ill Drug Users. The city Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 Tuesday to force some people with serious mental illness and addiction issues into drug treatment. Mayor London Breed (D) and other supporters said the move was necessary to help such people, who are a danger to themselves, they said. "Allowing people to continue to suffer on our streets is not acceptable or humane, and I am glad the Board of Supervisors supported our approach to finally make a change," Breed said in a statement after the vote. The measure would apply to a handful of people, the city's department of public health estimated, although the number would grow under legislation pending at the state level.
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