Marijuana legalization may not be dead this year in the Garden State after all.
StoptheDrugWar.org needs your support to help us stay on the move at a time of both opportunity and crisis in drug policy.
A California police department pays for its crooked cops' misbehavior, a former Rio Grande Valley cop heads to prison for escorting drug shipments, and more.
Bernie Sanders rolls out a radical criminal justice reform package, marijuana legalization initiatives get moving in Arizona and South Dakota, Atlanta rejects expansion of drug-free commercial zones, and more.
A federal financial institution has given the thumbs up to banking services for the hemp industry, a potential Philadelphia safe injection site is the subject of a court battle, and more.
Elizabeth Warren rolls out her criminal justice and drug policy platform, a Mexico City court rules that two petitioners can legally possess and use cocaine, and more.
The Defense Department makes it crystal clear that service members can't use CBD products, Hawaii's governor fails to veto a decriminalization bill -- thus allowing it to become law -- and more.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said he wanted marijuana legalized. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he wanted it, too, and Assembly Leader Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) was also on board. But the state's most powerful politicians couldn't get their act together enough to actually get marijuana legalization passed earlier this year, and despite all the initial excitement, it seemed like New Jersey was doomed to endure another year of pot prohibition.
Now, though, it's looking like Garden Staters may end up enjoying an unexpected Christmas present after all. Last week, both Sweeney and Murphy were making noises about reviving the stalled legalization effort before year's end.
"I'm not going to give up trying. I would love to do it. We'll make one more run at it," Sweeney told NJ.com last Wednesday. He added that he believed an agreement among himself, Coughlin, and Murphy on the language in the bill would be enough to get it through the legislature.
That prompted a quick expression of support from Murphy, who campaigned on marijuana legalization in 2017 and once vowed to get it done by the end of 2018.
Last Thursday, Murphy told the PhillyVoice that he was "happy to hear" Sweeney wanted to move again on legalization. "I was encouraged to see that, and count me all in to try and work toward that," he said. "Getting something to happen sooner if we have a real shot at it, I'd be all in for that."
Sources close to Sweeney said the renewed push to get legalization through would come after the November elections, most likely during the lame duck session between Election Day and January.
That's a real turnaround for Sweeney, who announced in May that he was ending efforts to pass the bill because he didn't have the votes for it. At the time, he said the most likely path to legalization was for the state's voters to decide the issue in a November 2020 ballot referendum. But that would mean another year of prohibition.
Sweeney and Murphy were also at odds over investigations by the administration into whether corporations misused tax breaks in the past. One of the companies being scrutinized is owned by state Democratic powerbroker George Norcross, a Sweeney ally. Once the investigations got underway, negotiations between Sweeney and Murphy over the pot bill stalled.
What has prompted Sweeney to change his mind now and whether he has the five votes he lacked in May remains unclear, but the Senate leader is definitely signaling he's ready to try to push the bill though.
It would be the popular thing to do. A February Monmouth University poll had support for legalization at 62 percent, with just 32 percent opposed. The people of New Jersey are ready; now, it's up to the politicians to get it done.
If New Jersey does legalize it this year, it will become the 11th state to do so and the second one to do so this year, after Illinois. And it will beat neighboring New York across the finish line.
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Dear reader,
David Borden
As I wrote last week, this is a good time and a bad time in drug policy. Marijuana reform continues to have
2019 momentum. Presidential candidates are debating criminal justice and drug policy
more than ever. But politicians are still ready to file new and bad sentencing bills -- so quickly forgetting lessons they claimed to have learned -- and
international human rights in the drug war are in full blown crisis.
We need your help to stay on the move at this important time. Can you make a generous donation for our work at this time? Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org/donate, and click on the tax-deductible donation link or the non-deductible donation link, whichever kind you wish to make. Our donation form accepts credit card, PayPal, and bank ACH.
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Can you make a non-deductible donation to sustain our newsletter through the campaign season? Or a tax-deductible donation for our campaign to stop Duterte's drug war killings in the Philippines? Our web site supports both one-time donations and recurring ones, on cycles including monthly, quarterly, annually, and other options. Visit our Candidates archive page and our Philippines campaign page to see why this is important.
Donations can also be sent by mail. For a non-deductible donation, make your check payable to Drug Reform Coordination Network, and send to P.O. Box 9853, Washington, DC 20016. Tax-deductible donation checks should be payable to DRCNet Foundation, same address.
Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org/about#donations for information on other donation options like stock shares, or to read more about our work. Also visit https://stopthedrugwar.org/global and https://stopthedrugwar.org/philippines for more about what we're doing.
Thank you for your support, and enjoy the rest of your summer.
Sincerely,
David Borden
StoptheDrugWar.org
Washington, DC
"US and UN Drug Policy Reform"
https://stopthedrugwar.org
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A California police department pays for its crooked cops' misbehavior, a former Rio Grande Valley cop heads to prison for escorting drug shipments, and more.
In Rohnert Park, California, the Rohnert Park Police Department settled a lawsuit Monday against it by paying out $415,000 to a man who was stopped and had pounds of legal marijuana seized by city police operating well outside their jurisdiction. A second lawsuit alleging similar corrupt activities by Rohnert Park police was filed on Tuesday. A number of drivers have come forward to say that those officers stopped and threatened them and unlawfully seized their legal marijuana.
In Charleston, West Virginia, a former state prison guard pleaded guilty last Wednesday in a scheme to smuggle methamphetamine into jail. John Edward Roach II entered the plea in federal court to possession with intent to distribute meth. Roach was paid $2,000 and given four ounces of meth by an undercover agent posing as a drug trafficker and was arrested before the meth was taken to the jail.
In Rio Grande City, Texas, a former Rio Grande City police officer was sentenced last Monday to 14 years in federal prison for assisting drug traffickers. Ramon De La Cruz was convicted of escorting drug shipments while on duty in an investigation that lasted six years and resulted in the convictions of 23 people.
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Bernie Sanders rolls out a radical criminal justice reform package, marijuana legalization initiatives get moving in Arizona and South Dakota, Atlanta rejects expansion of drug-free commercial zones, and more.
Marijuana PolicyArizona Legalization Initiative Details Released. The Arizona Dispensaries Association last Friday released details of their proposed marijuana legalization initiative, the Smart and Safe Act. Supporters will need 237,645 valid voter signatures by July 2, 2020, to qualify for the November 2020 ballot. The act would legalize the possession of up to an ounce by people 21 and over, allow adults to grow up to six plants each (with a maximum of 12 per home), and provide for expungement of past pot convictions. Employers and property owners would have the right to forbid use at their workplaces and on their property. Marijuana sales would carry a 16% excise tax.
South Dakota Legalization Initiative Advances One Step. State Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) last Friday filed an official explanation of a proposed initiative to legalize marijuana. The initiative would legalize adult use through a constitutional amendment and require the legislature to pass legislation creating rules for medical cannabis and hemp. Organizers will have until November 3 to come up with16,961 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2020 ballot.
Medical Marijuana
Idaho Medical Marijuana Initiative Approved for Signature Gathering. Secretary of State Lawrence Denney (R) announced last Friday that an initiative to legalize medical marijuana has been approved for signature gathering. The measure would allow qualified patients to possess up to four ounces and grow up to six plants. It also would protect medical marijuana production facilities and medical marijuana dispensaries from civil forfeitures and penalties under state law and make it illegal to discriminate against registered medical marijuana users in education, housing or employment. Organizers have until April 30, 2020, to gather some 55,000 valid voter signatures, with at least 6% of voters from all 18 state legislative districts signing on.
Criminal Justice
Bernie Sanders Unveils Proposal for Massive Overhaul of Criminal Justice System. Democratic presidential contender Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) on Sunday unveiled a sweeping plan aimed at cutting the country's prison population in half and eliminating "institutional racism and corporate profiteering" in the criminal justice system. The proposal seeks to reform the nation's prisons, police departments, courts, drug laws and treatment of people who have mental illnesses. Sanders is calling for an end to cash bail, solitary confinement, the death penalty, and civil asset forfeiture while at the same time looking to legalize marijuana and safe injection sites for hard drug users, among other proposals.
Atlanta Kills Expansion of Drug-Free Commercial Zones. The city council's Public Safety/Legal Administration Committee voted last Tuesday to kill an ordinance that would expand the geographic boundaries of Atlanta's Drug-Free Commercial Zones. Those are areas where there are heightened penalties for drug crimes and where drug offenders can be banished from returning. Opponents of the expansion cited research showing the zones exacerbate racial disparities in drug policing.
International
England, Wales Drug Overdose Deaths Hit All-Time High. The British Office of National Statistics has released drug-related death numbers for 2018 and reports there were 4,359 drug-related deaths in England and Wales last year, the highest number and the highest percentage increase (16%) since the series started in 1993. Between 2017 and 2018, there were increases in the number of deaths involving a wide range of substances, though opiates, such as heroin and morphine, continued to be the most frequently mentioned type of drug. Deaths involving cocaine doubled between 2015 and 2018 to their highest ever level, while the numbers involving new psychoactive substances (NPS) returned to their previous levels after halving in 2017.
Mexico's Top Court Demands Action on Medical Marijuana Regulation. After months of delays, the country's supreme court last week ordered the health ministry to issue regulations within six months on medical marijuana use. The court said the government's failure to act had put rights at risk for patients, including children. The health ministry said it would comply with the court order. The ruling comes as the country is moving toward recreational marijuana legalization.
(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)
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A federal financial institution has given the thumbs up to banking services for the hemp industry, a potential Philadelphia safe injection site is the subject of a court battle, and more.
Could a safe injection site like Vancouver's InSite be coming to Philadelphia? (vch.ca)
Feds Give Guidance on Hemp Banking. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released updated guidelines Monday for banking in the hemp industry. The NCUA said that providing financial services to hemp businesses is allowable because the crop and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 federal farm bill. The NCUA also cheered the new guidelines: "Lawful hemp businesses provide exciting new opportunities for rural communities," NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood said. "I believe today's interim guidance keeps with the mission of the nation's cooperative credit system to serve people who have been overlooked and underserved."
South Dakota Governor Submits More Than 300 Questions to Panel Studying Hemp. Gov. Kristi Noem (R) vetoed a hemp bill earlier this year, and she apparently still has a lot of questions -- more than 300 of them. On Monday, her office submitted 315 questions to the state House and Senate leaders who are doing a study of hemp legalization this summer. "As leaders, we must have answers to how any new law will be implemented effectively and how it will impact our state," Noem said. She added that it "could be reckless to introduce a product that has serious implications on the health and safety of the next generation."
Harm Reduction
Court Hearing on Philadelphia Safe Injection Site Underway. The legal battle over a potential safe injection site in Philadelphia has begun with a federal judge presiding over the opening salvos Monday. The judge is hearing a request from US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bill McSwain for a preliminary injunction to prevent the nonprofit group Safehouse from opening a site on the grounds that it would violate federal law. No ruling has been issued.
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Elizabeth Warren rolls out her criminal justice and drug policy platform, a Mexico City court rules that two petitioners can legally possess and use cocaine, and more.
A court in Mexico City has ruled that two petitioners can legally use cocaine, but it's not a done deal yet. (Pixabay)
Elizabeth Warren Unveils Criminal Justice Platform. Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren has rolled out her criminal justice platform aimed at rethinking public safety to reduce mass incarceration and strengthen communities. She is calling for the repeal of the 1994 crime bill, investments in diversion programs for people with substance abuse issues, as well as supporting safe injection sites and needle exchange programs. Warren would also legalize marijuana and expunge past convictions and eliminate the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity. In planks aimed at the decriminalization of poverty, she would end cash bail, restrict pre-trial fines and fees, and eliminate expensive fees for prisoners, such as for phone calls and bank transfers.
Harm Reduction
Illinois Governor Signs Bill Legalizing Needle Exchanges Statewide. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has signed into law a bill that legalizes needle exchange programs throughout the state. The state currently only has six exchanges, three of which are in Chicago. Under the new law, individuals and groups that meet state criteria can establish needle exchange programs under the supervision of the Department of Public Health.
International
Mexico Court Allows Personal Cocaine Use in Landmark Decision. A judge in Mexico City has ruled in favor of two people seeking permission to use cocaine non-medically. The decision is now being reviewed by a higher court at the government's request. The ruling allows the petitioners to "possess, transport, and use cocaine" but not sell it. The case was backed by Mexico United Against Crime, which is dedicated to ending drug prohibition in the country. The ruling actually came in May, but only came to light after the country's national health regulator, which was ordered to authorize the use, instead moved to block it, saying such an authorization would be outside its legal remit. If upheld, the ruling would only apply to the two petitioners, but Mexico United said it would be a building block toward proving that "prohibition has failed and alternative approaches can work better."
(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)
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The Defense Department makes it crystal clear that service members can't use CBD products, Hawaii's governor fails to veto a decriminalization bill -- thus allowing it to become law -- and more.
The drug czar's office has announced new moves against fentanyl. (Creative Commons)
Hawaii Decriminalizes as Governor Fails to Veto Bill. A decriminalization bill passed earlier this year by the legislature became law on Tuesday without the signature of Gov. David Ige (D). Ige didn't sign the bill, but neither did he veto it, so now it has become law. The bill decriminalizes the possession of up three grams of marijuana with a fine of up to $130. The new law will go into effect on January 11, 2020.
Hemp
Defense Department Bars Service Members from Using Hemp-Derived CBD. The Defense Department is making crystal clear that members of the armed forces are not allowed to use cannibidiol (CBD). "It's completely forbidden for use by any service member in any of the services at this point of time," said Patricia Deuster, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
Heroin and Prescription Opioids
White House Announces Actions to Crack Down on Trafficking of Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) announced Wednesday that it had sent a series of advisories to help domestic and foreign businesses protect themselves from being used to traffic illicit fentanyl and "foster deeper public-private collaboration to curb the production and sale of illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic opioids." The advisories are focused on four facets of the trafficking of illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and synthetic opioids destined for the United States: manufacturing, marketing, movement and money. It also announced that it is "identifying two Chinese nationals and a China-based Drug Trafficking Organization as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) and designated one associate and a China-based entity for being owned or controlled by one of the Chinese nationals."
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