The state of Washington is breaking new ground in righting old wrongs.
There seems to be a growing consensus that our approach to drug use during pregnancy is worse than wrongheaded.
If you're in the marijuana business or thinking about investing in the industry, you need to read this book.
It's all guards gone bad this week.
American truckers are fed up with marijuana prohibition and testing policies, Rhode Island expunges 23,000 pot possession records, and more.
Florida's attorney general has a couple more weeks to try to take down a marijuana legalization initiative, Jammu & Kashmir cracks down on opium cultivation, and more.
Missouri NORML is threatening recalcitrant rural counties with court orders over their failure to get expungements done, a pair of senators file a bill to fight Mexican cartels by increasing southbound inspections near the border, and more.
Alabama issues its first medical marijuana licenses, the British Home Office is messing with festival drug checking, and more.
Oklahoma's governor vetoes a medical marijuana regulation bill, Texas's governor signs into law a bill allowing murder prosecutions for fentanyl overdose deaths, and more.
There are signals that a federal marijuana rescheduling decision will be reached this year, a Senate bill to crack down on drug cartel use of social media wins a committee vote, and more.
The Washington Supreme Court's 2021 ruling in Washington v. Blake continues to reverberate. In Blake, the court threw out the state's drug possession law as unconstitutional because it did not require that defendants knew they were in possession of a controlled substance, overturning hundreds of thousands of drug convictions going back to the 1970s.
That left the state without a felony drug possession law until the legislature acted to replace it, which it did temporarily in 2021 and permanently this year, although it required a special session of the legislature to get it done. Lawmakers could have done nothing, effectively decriminalizing drug possession, or they could have fixed the flaws in the original statute and reinstated the felony drug possession charge. Instead, they found middle ground, making drug possession a gross misdemeanor and creating a new offense of public drug use. Both offenses carry maximum jail time of 180 days and a maximum fine of $1,000.
But while the politicians and the press were embroiled in the drug possession law dilemma, another aspect of the Blake decision is just beginning to be felt, and it's going to cost state taxpayers just about $100 million. All those people convicted under the drug possession law are eligible to have their sentences vacated -- tens of thousands have already done so -- and once those convictions are vacated, so are the fines and fees associated with them, meaning the state is going to owe those people money.
To reimburse convicted drug possession offenders of the Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) they paid, the Administrative Office of the Courts is launching what will be known as the Blake Refund Bureau. The legislature has allocated $50 million to make the refunds and another $47 million to administer the program.
"This is setting a precedent," said Robin Zimmermann, the Administrative Office of the Courts' Senior Communications Officer. "There aren't any other related cases of a state issuing hundreds, or thousands, of vacations [of convictions] and refunds at one time."
Roughly 200,000 felony drug possession convictions and tens of thousands of marijuana possession convictions could be eligible for compensation, although exact numbers are hard to come by because some people may have had more than one conviction and others may have died in the interim.
Municipal, district, and superior courts have already ordered the payment of roughly $8 million, and the Administrative Office of the Courts believes that millions more will be paid out in coming years, necessitating the creation of a specialized bureau to administer the payouts.
"The intent is to have a process that is easy to navigate and will provide for a timely response for individuals to receive their refunds," said Sharon Swanson, the Blake Implementation Manager for the Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Blake Refund Bureau, which is set to be up and running by next month, will create an online portal accessible to the public via a link on www.courts.wa.gov. The refund bureau will provide individuals who have had their Blake convictions vacated a self-navigable database to determine if they have refunds related to their convictions. Refund requests will be submitted through an online application. Once the application has been received and an amount of refund is confirmed by the court, a refund will be issued.
"The Administrative Office of the Courts is dedicated to working with our justice partners to help inform the vast and diverse Blake-impact population across Washington State about the potentially life-changing relief opportunities now available to them -- collectively working to foster fresh starts and make people whole again," said Dawn Marie Rubio, Washington State Court Administrator.
The Office of Public Defense is doing its part with a web site, State v. Blake (wa.gov), with resources and information about how to get drug possession convictions off your record, the first step in the process of getting compensation for LFOs you paid.
The state of Washington is breaking new ground in righting old wrongs. If that means taxpayers have to pay for the sins of their fathers, so be it.
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How to deal with substance abuse during pregnancy is a fraught issue, generating harsh sanctions against pregnant women who use drugs or who lose their fetuses before birth and are drug users. According to data compiled by Pregnancy Justice, the advocacy group formerly known as National Advocates for Pregnant Women, prosecutors filed more than 1,300 criminal cases against pregnant women between 2006 and 2020, a rate of more than a hundred a year. They are almost always poor women of color.
Hardnosed prosecutors and child protection agencies enabled by state and federal laws use a number of techniques and statutes to go after pregnant women who use drugs. As compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, they include:
- Making drug use during pregnancy a crime. Such laws have been upheld by state Supreme Courts in Alabama and South Carolina.
- Several states have expanded their civil child-welfare requirements to include prenatal substance use, so that prenatal drug exposure can provide grounds for terminating parental rights because of child abuse or neglect.
- Some states, under the rubric of protecting the fetus, authorize civil commitment (such as forced admission to an inpatient treatment program) of pregnant people who use drugs; these policies sometimes also apply to alcohol use or other behaviors.
- A number of states require health care professionals to report or test for prenatal drug exposure, which can be used as evidence in child-welfare proceedings.
- To receive federal child abuse prevention funds, states must require health care providers to notify child protective services when the provider cares for an infant affected by illegal substance use.
But now, a growing number of experts, including maternal/fetal specialists, federal health officials and people who treat addiction, are saying that such responses are counterproductive. Women who feel subject to prosecution may avoid health care entirely or may shy away from interventions such as a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with opioids such as methadone or buprenorphine, increasing their likelihood of fatal overdoses. Overdoses are a eading cause of preventable death among pregnant women.
A study published this week in the Maternal and Child Health Journal of 26 pregnant Massachusetts women found that the decision whether or not to use MAT "was entirely wrapped up in what happened with respect to mandated reporting to Child Protective Services at the time of delivery," according to Dr. Davida Schiff, the study author and an addiction medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The women underwent "intense anxiety and stress" about the threat they would be reported to child protective services.
"This has led to many women either deciding to not start life-saving medication during pregnancy or to wean off of that life-saving medication during pregnancy and really risk poor outcomes for themselves and their babies," Schiff said.
That someone is using drugs while pregnant "does not diagnose anyone's ability to parent," said Dr. Hendrée Jones, executive director of the University of North Carolina's Horizons Program, a drug treatment program. "I have a woman getting ready to deliver, and she is terrified that somehow they're going to find drugs in her system and Child Protective Services is going to be called and her baby's going to be snatched away," Jones said.
"Across the entire country, we're seeing a general trend toward more punitive policies, and those are kind of the policies that consider substance use during pregnancy to be child abuse or neglect," said Laura Faherty, a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.
The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Dr. Nora Volkow, also thinks things have gone too far.
"We should remove criminalization of women who are pregnant and taking drugs," she said. "That needs to stop. We know that mortality from overdoses is greater in women that are pregnant than counterparts of the same age that are not pregnant. This is extraordinarily important because it's telling us that there's something that is making these pregnant women more vulnerable."
The need for change from punitive prohibitionist policies is urgent. A 2019 study found that the rate of opioid-related diagnoses among pregnant women more than doubled between 2010 and 2017, with ongoing research suggesting another big increase after 2017. And a 2022 study found that the number of pregnant women and new mothers dying of drug overdoses reached a record high in 2020, nearly doubling to11.85 per 100,000 from 6.56 per 100,000 in 2017.
Punitive prohibitionist policies are not working. It is time for another approach.
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Can Legal Weed Win? The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economicsby Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner (2022, University of California Press, 211 pp., $24.95 HB)
California has the world's largest legal marijuana market -- and it's in trouble. The Prop 64 initiative that legalized weed in the Golden State in 2016 was written without serious input from people already in what was a thriving gray market and, along with a very high tax and regulatory burden and a local opt-out option, its structure wreaked havoc on players in the already-existing industry.
Now, seven years later, the gray market has largely gone away, but the black market still dominates, accounting for 60 to 70 percent of all marijuana sold in the state. Can California's legal marijuana industry survive, let alone thrive? And can the legal market ever drive out the black market?
Maybe not, the authors Can Legal Weed Win? argue in a brisk and cheeky tome that throws gallons of cold water on projections that legal marijuana is going to be a gold mine, either in California or nationally. Economists Robin Goldstein, director of the UC Davis Cannabis Economics Group and Daniel Sumner, a Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics apply the cold, hard principles of the dismal science to the effervescent economics of marijuana market prognostication, and the results are sobering indeed.
Using a multitude of data points from the Weedmaps dispensary and product tracker to great effect, the pair of pot economists are able to come up with figures on nationwide average retail prices ($40 an eighth ounce before taxes), the cheapest retail states (Washington, Oregon, Colorado) and a panoply of other fascinating figures. They also examine costs of doing business, such as complying with regulatory requirements and the cost of energy (especially relevant for indoor and greenhouse operations that account for the majority of legal weed).
It's bad news for the California legal marijuana industry, especially once federal legalization occurs and, presumably, a national marijuana market emerges. That is because California has high regulatory and energy costs, making it uncompetitive with lower-cost states, such as Oklahoma and, once legalization arrives in them, other Plains States.
Where there may be a place for California weed is in the high-end, location-driven market, where labels like Humboldt-grown or Sonoma sun-grown can provide the cachet to hold onto some premium market share. But if you're going to go boutique, you've got to have some mystique. Kern County Colas probably are not going to cut it.
Goldstein and Sumner also share some deflationary thoughts about the potential size of a legal national market -- especially the amount of dollars it can generate. In contrast to industry touts and giddy prognosticators who have projected that the current national legal market of about $20 billion a year will grow to $85 billion or even $130 billion by 2030, the pot economists look further out -- to 2050 -- and project that the dollar size of the market then will most likely be smaller than it is now.
That is because even though the size of the consumer market will dramatically increase, the price of weed will even more dramatically decrease. They attribute that prediction to four factors: the impact of national legalization, a legal national and even international weed trade, technical innovation, and the application of agribusiness techniques (scale, specialization, financing, and management improvements). Trade and efficiency are going to drive prices into the ground, maybe not as low as the $20 a pound producers can get for dried organic parsley or the $10 a pound that fancy tea fetches but much closer to $100 a pound than the much higher pound prices used to make those rosy projections.
As Goldstein and Sumner sum up: "Prices will fall. Be ready."
As for winning over the black market, that may be the only way to do it -- with prices so low there is not enough profit for black marketeers to compete. Because otherwise, if legal prices remain higher than black market prices (as they are now), most consumers are going to stick with that guy they've been getting weed from for years.
This is a fun book. It is irreverent and breezy but based on hard numbers and the laws of economics, and it is full of strategems to try to survive what is going to be a turbulent industry. If you are interested in how legal marijuana works, you want to read this book; if you are in the marijuana business or thinking about investing in it, you need to read this book.
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It's all guards gone bad this week. Let's get to it:
In Indianapolis, Indiana, a Marion County Jail guard was arrested last Thursday after a search by coworkers turned up drugs on her person. Guard Njell Holmes, 25, faces preliminary charges of drug dealing and drug trafficking, both of which are level four felonies with maximum sentences of 12 years. She is now a former guard.
In Montgomery, Alabama, a state prison guard was arrested last Saturday after confessing to smuggling in methamphetamine and possibly other drugs for an inmate. Guard Charlie Townsend, 28, was to receive $1,500 for bringing 88 grams of meth. He is suspected of also brining fentanyl, marijuana, and Xanax into the prison. He is charged with trafficking methamphetamine, use of position for personal gain and promoting prison contraband.
In Lisbon, Ohio, a former Columbiana County jail guard was sentenced last Friday to three years' probation and 90 days of house arrest for smuggling crack cocaine, methamphetamine and suboxone into the jail. Keith McCoy, 53, was caught red-handed bringing the dope into the lock-up. He pleaded guilty in March to illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified government facility, possession of fentanyl-related compound and two counts aggravated possession of drugs and misdemeanor possession of drugs.
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American truckers are fed up with marijuana prohibition and testing policies, Rhode Island expunges 23,000 pot possession records, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Amid Industry Labor Shortage Worsened by Marijuana Drug Testing, Truckers Say Legalize It. An analysis of marijuana testing policies in the trucking industry conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) finds that a strong majority of truckers say federal marijuana laws need to change and most say that current marijuana testing policies are driving truckers out of the industry.
"More than half of all positive trucking industry drug tests are for marijuana metabolite," which can stay in a person's systems for weeks after consuming, the report, published on Monday, says. Federal prohibition "has been highlighted as a potential disincentive for drivers to stay in the industry, and it has even been argued that loosening the restrictions on marijuana use would make the industry more attractive and widen the potential labor pool."
The report found that 72.4 percent of licensed drivers support "loosening" cannabis laws and testing policies, while another 66.5 percent said that marijuana should be federally legalized. Also, 65.4 percent of motor carriers believe that current marijuana testing procedures should be replaced with methods that measure active impairment -- not the presence of metabolites, which stay in the system long after any impairment has ceased.
New York Attempts Crackdown on Unlicensed Weed Sales. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Thursday the launch of a multi-agency initiative to stop the sale of marijuana at unlicensed storefronts. They have popped up by the hundreds in the interregnum between the state legalizing weed and the still extremely limited advent of licensed adult use marijuana sales.
The state Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance conducted inspections of storefront businesses not licensed to sell marijuana and issued notices of violation and orders to cease unlicensed activity.
"New York is proud to have undertaken the most equitable legal cannabis roll-out in the nation and the State will not stand idle as unlicensed operators break the law and sell untested products to underage New Yorkers," Gov. Hochul said. "These enforcement actions are critical steps to protect and help those individuals who were promised a shot to start a legal business and be successful. Additionally, these unlicensed operators undermine the State's efforts to generate substantial funds for a social equity fund that will go into the communities that have been hardest hit by over-prosecution of the cannabis laws in the past."
Hochul signed legislation allowing for these expanded enforcement actions against unlicensed marijuana businesses to take place. The legislation allows the Office of Cannabis Management to give out civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses with fines of up to $20,000 a day. It also makes it a crime to sell cannabis and cannabis products without a license.
Rhode Island Expunges 23,000 Pot Possession Charges. State court officials announced Thursday that they had complied with the state's new marijuana legalization law by expunging more than 23,000 pot possession cases. That law not only legalized marijuana, it provided for the automatic expungement of pot possession charges -- but not charges for growing or selling weed.
"The automatic expungement of marijuana charges has been an organizational feat," said State Court Administrator Julie P. Hamil. "There has been coordination at every level of the Judiciary to execute this process in a timely and holistic fashion."
International
Video of Mexican Army Executing Drug Suspects Sparks Investigation. After a video posted on social media showed a group of soldiers pulling five men from a vehicle in Nuevo Laredo, then beating them before fatally shooting them, and then staging an apparently fake shoot-out and placing weapons near the bodies of the slain men in a bid to cover their tracks, Mexican authorities are now investigating the extrajudicial execution.
The military has been accused in numerous cases of kidnapping, torturing, or killing drug suspects, especially as it plays an ever greater role in prosecuting the country's war against violent drug cartels. But it has also had an aura of impunity, with soldiers rarely facing any consequences for brutal and illegal actions.
Now, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has weighed in, saying: "Apparently, there was an execution, which cannot be allowed. We are not the same as the previous governments. So, when there is abuse, when there is an excess, when human rights are violated, those responsible must be punished. And the process to deepen the investigation has already begun. There is no cover-up because we do not tolerate the violation of human rights."
Time will tell about that.
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Florida's attorney general has a couple more weeks to try to take down a marijuana legalization initiative, Jammu & Kashmir cracks down on opium cultivation, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Florida Supreme Court Grants Attorney General Two-Week Extension to Submit Brief Opposing Marijuana Legalization Initiative. The state Supreme Court last Friday granted Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) a two-week extension to submit her brief opposing the marijuana legalization constitutional amendment from Smart & Safe Florida. The initiative campaign has already gathered enough valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2024 ballot, but Moody will argue that it violates the state's constitution's single-subject rule for ballot measures.
Clemency and Pardon
Faith and Justice Organizations Urge Biden to Grant Clemency for People Sentenced Under Crack Cocaine Guidelines. Thirteen faith and justice organizations have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to grant clemency to people convicted of federal crack cocaine offenses. The signers include the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and Drug Policy Alliance, while faith organizations include the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration and the National Council of Churches.
"It is unacceptable that we know of glaring injustices in our criminal legal system, but see little action from those with the responsibility to change the law," the organizations wrote. "[Y]ou have the power of executive clemency to grant pardons and commutations to thousands of people impacted by unjustly punitive crack cocaine sentencing guidelines."
Under the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, enacted in a moral panic after the cocaine overdose death of basketball star Len Bias, a person found with five grams of crack faced the same sentence as one found with 500 grams of powder cocaine, a 100:1 sentencing disparity, even though there is no chemical difference between the two forms of the drug. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity to 18:1 and under President Biden's direction, and prosecutors were instructed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to not automatically charge crack and powder cocaine offenses differently.
Still, "[t]housands of people are serving out harsh, unjustifiable sentences because of the crack disparity, while thousands of others still face legal discrimination from governments, landlords, and employers because of a criminal record for a federal crack conviction."
Foreign Policy
US Musician Arrested on Drug Charges in Russia. Travis Michael Leake, a US citizen long resident in Moscow who has been involved in the music scene in the Russian capital, has been arrested on drug charges as the US and Russia face their deepest diplomatic crisis in a generation. He appeared in court Saturday on drug trafficking charges "involving young people" and will be held behind bars at least until August 6, when he faces his next court appearance.
The State Department said officials were aware of reports that a US citizen was detained in Moscow, adding that the department "has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad." The agency declined to provide further details, citing privacy considerations.
Leake becomes at least the third US national to be arrested in Russia since the Russian military invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was released in a prisoner swap after serving nearly a year in a Russian prison, while Gershkovich remains behind bars awaiting trial.
International
Jammu and Kashmir in Crackdown on Opium Cultivation. Law enforcement authorities have destroyed 150 acres of opium poppy crops since April 2023 as part of the government's "act tough policy" against a rising "drug menace."
"On a vast scale, we have damaged the poppy crop. Eighteen FIRs [investigative files] have been recorded thus far this year. Majority of the poppy is grown in Kulgam and other districts of south Kashmir, where our teams are constantly monitoring the situation," said Excise Commissioner Pankaj Sharma. "We are taking action as well as destroying the poppy wherever it is being cultivated to send a deterrent to people indulging in this thing."
The law enforcement agencies continue to combat the problem of illegal marijuana and opium growing at a local level. "Under the NDPS Act [drug law], we are arresting people found indulging in drug trafficking as well as cultivation of poppy," a Police official said. "Drug traffickers will be dealt with harshly, and no one will be spared. According to the NDPS Act, we will begin attaching the property of drug traffickers."
Mexican Soldiers Caught on Video Executing Five Alleged Cartel Members Will Face Military Justice, Defense Department Says. Mexico's defense department announced Saturday that 16 soldiers will face military charges in the killing of five men in the border city of Nuevo Laredo last month. They are being held in a military prison in Mexico City and face charges of violating "military discipline" in the executions, which were caught on security camera video.
The military trial is independent of any charges that could be brought by civilian prosecutors. Under Mexican law, soldiers accused of abusing civilians must be tried in civilian courts, but can also be tried in military tribunals.
"Apparently this was an execution, and that cannot be permitted," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday during his daily news briefing. "Those responsible are about to be turned over to the appropriate authorities. "This incident is the second mass killing of civilians by the military in Nuevo Laredo this year. On February 26, soldiers shot and killed five young men riding in a vehicle who were unarmed. Angry neighbors then attacked the soldiers, beating some of them. Federal prosecutors have filed homicide against four soldiers in that case."
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Missouri NORML is threatening recalcitrant rural counties with court orders over their failure to get expungements done, a pair of senators file a bill to fight Mexican cartels by increasing southbound inspections near the border, and more.
Missouri NORML Threatens Court Order Against Counties for Failing to Meet Expungement Deadline. Last Thursday was the deadline for counties to expunge all misdemeanor marijuana cases, but several rural counties failed to meet that deadline, and now Missouri NORML is threatening to seek a court order to force them do so.
The expungement provision was part of last November's Amendment 3 marijuana legalization initiative, but some of those counties have made little or no effort to comply, said Missouri NORML spokesman Dan Viets. "Many rural counties did not have a majority in favor of Article 14. In some cases, I think we are seeing a reflection of that fact in the reluctance of county officials to follow the constitution. Once the deadline has passed, there certainly is a basis for seeking a court order that the lower courts comply with the constitution. This is not a discretionary matter. It's not a matter of choice. It's a matter of mandate."
Nevada Legislature Approves Omnibus Marijuana Reform Bill. Lawmakers last week gave final approval to an omnibus marijuana law reform bill, Senate Bill 277, and sent it to the desk of Gov. Joe Lombardo (R). The bill revises upward the amount of weed a person can buy or possess from one ounce to 2.5 ounces and doubles the amount of allowable concentrates from one-eighth ounce to one-quarter ounce. The bill also gives medical marijuana dispensaries new flexibility to serve adult use customers.
Drug Policy
Senators Hassan, Lankford Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Combat Drug Cartels by Increasing Southbound Border Inspections US Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK), both members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation to increase inspections of traffic going from the US to Mexico, which would help combat the flow of illicit firearms and money that fuel drug cartels.
"Shutting down drug cartels requires disrupting the supply chains that bring illicit guns and cartel profits from the US to Mexico," Senator Hassan said. "By significantly increasing inspections of southbound traffic at the Southern border, this bipartisan legislation will crack down on fentanyl and other drug trafficking and help save lives. I will continue working to address the opioid crisis that is devastating New Hampshire and urge my colleagues to join this important legislation."
Specifically, the bipartisan Enhancing Southbound Inspections to Combat Cartels Act would:
1. Require that at least 20 percent of southbound vehicles are inspected, to the extent practicable.
2. Authorize at least 500 additional Customs and Border Protection officers to assist with southbound inspections.
3. Authorize at least 100 additional Homeland Security Investigations agents.
4. Authorize 50 additional x-ray inspection systems for southbound inspections.
International
Peru Blows Up Clandestine Air Strips Used in Cocaine Trade. The government of embattled President Dina Boluarte continues to wage the war on drugs, proudly reporting that authorities have destroyed 18 clandestine air strips used to move coca leaf and cocaine from the Peruvian jungle into neighboring countries and Europe. The Peruvian National Police say their goal is destroy 30 air strips by year's end.
"The majority of these airstrips are located in very remote places and are guarded by heavily armed men. They generally extent more than 1 kilometer," said Pedro Yaranga, a Peruvian narcotrafficking and terrorism expert. "Most of the narco planes come from Bolivia. They also send drugs to Paraguay and some border areas of Brazil, with Europe as the final destination."
The strips were destroyed in the departments of Pasco, Huánuco, and Ucayali, where authorities also deployed monitoring and intelligence operations.
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Alabama issues its first medical marijuana licenses, the British Home Office is messing with festival drug checking, and more.
Medical Marijuana
Alabama Awards First Medical Marijuana Licenses. The state Medical Cannabis Commission on Monday awarded 16 licenses for the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, leaving four out of five applicants out of luck. But there are more licenses to come.
The commission can grant up to 12 licenses for cultivation, four for processing, and four for retail sales. It can also grant up to five licenses for integrated facilities (combined cultivation, processing, and distribution operations), each of which can operate up to five dispensaries.
"To the recipients, let me say that we look forward to working with you in a partnership manner in which all you know what lies ahead," said John McMillan, the Commission's director.
The legislature approved medical marijuana in 2021, but a bill authorizing the program did not allow for licenses to be issued until September 2022. But the Medical Cannabis Commission only began accepting applications late last year.
Psychedelics
Massachusetts Psychedelic Reform Bills Get Hearing. The Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing Tuesday on several psychedelic reform bills.
House Bill 3589, from Rep. Nicholas Boldyga (R), would legalize plant medicines for people 21 and over, while House Bill 1754 and Senate Bill 1009, from Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D) and Sen. Pat Jehlen (D), respectively, would expand the use of plant medicines to people 18 and over.
"Massachusetts has the opportunity to lead the way in the mental health revolution," Boldyga said. "It's been said an idea whose time has arrived cannot be stopped... I believe that time is now for these life-saving plant medicines as a new paradigm in how we view, and understand, and treat mental health is upon us."
No votes were taken.
Dramatic Rise in Hallucinogen Use Among Young Adults. Based on the results of the annual Monitoring the Future survey of young adults, researchers are reporting that the use of psychedelics other than LSD had nearly doubled between 2018 and 2021. Past-year use of psychedelics was 3.4 percent in 2018, jumping to 6.6 percent in 2021. During the same period, LSD use was fairly stable, rising from 3.7 percent in 2018 to 4.2 percent in 2021.
"While non-LSD hallucinogen use remains substantially less prevalent than use of substances such as alcohol and cannabis, a doubling of prevalence in just three years is a dramatic increase and raises possible public health concerns," coauthor Megan Patrick, PhD, with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, said in a news release.
International
British Home Office Blocked Festival Drug Checking Last Weekend. British festival organizers are raising cries of alarm after the Home Office blocked drug checking at the Parklife festival in Manchester last weekend because it said festival organizers needed to apply for a special license to provide drug checking services, a proven harm reduction intervention.
It was the first time drug checking did not take place at the festival since 2014 and it happened because the Home Office suddenly introduced the separate licensing requirement.
"Events at this year's Parklife are extremely worrying for everyone in the industry, and even more importantly festivalgoers," said Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which runs Leeds and Reading festivals. "If festival organizers fear their safeguarding measures will be pulled at the 11th hour, then how can we guarantee the wellbeing of our guests?"
In a terse response to criticism, the Home Office said: "Anyone interested in undertaking lawful activities involving the possession, supply or production of controlled drugs, including those who wish to provide drug testing services, need to apply for a Home Office license. Festival organizers in consultation with local partners are responsible for decisions relating to drug testing at festivals. We will continue an open dialogue with prospective licensees throughout the festival season."
But festival organizers say it can take more than three months and more than $3,000 to get a Home Office license.
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Oklahoma's governor vetoes a medical marijuana regulation bill, Texas's governor signs into law a bill allowing murder prosecutions for fentanyl overdose deaths, and more.
Medical Marijuana
Oklahoma Governor Vetoes Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has vetoed a bill that would have imposed more regulations on the state's medical marijuana industry, Senate Bill 437. Among other provisions, the bill would have required the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to maintain a registry of physicians recommending medical marijuana and would have required dispensary workers to comply with continuing education requirements. Stitt did not issue a veto message or give any other indication of why he vetoed the bill.
Opiates and Opioids
Texas Governor Signs into Law Bill Allowing Murder Charges for Fentanyl-Related Overdose Deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday signed into law House Bill 6, which increases penalties for selling and distributing fentanyl and allows prosecutors to seek murder charges for fentanyl makers or sellers if someone dies as a result of a fentanyl overdose.
"Fentanyl is an epidemic that very simply, is taking too many lives," Abbott said during the bill signing ceremony. "Because of the courageous partnership of grieving family members Texas legislators and our office, we are enshrining into law today new protections that will save lives in Texas."
The legislature's commitment to saving lives of fentanyl users only goes so far, though. A bill that would have legalized fentanyl test strips died in the Senate after passing the House.
Psychedelics
Rhode Island House Approves Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill. The House on Monday approved House Bill 5923, which would decriminalize the possession of personal use amounts of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms. The bill would also allow for the therapeutic use of psilocybin to treat chronic mental disorders if the Food & Drug Administration approves it.
"This is a step toward addressing mental health treatment in a modern way based on evidence and research," said bill sponsor Rep. Brandon Potter (D). "Psilocybin can be used safely, both recreationally and therapeutically, and for our veterans and neighbors who are struggling with chronic PTSD, depression and addiction, it can be a valuable treatment tool. Adults in our state deserve the freedom to decide for themselves and have access to every treatment possible, rather than have our state criminalize a natural, non-addictive, effective remedy."
The bill would allow people to possess up to one ounce of psychedelic mushrooms or grow mushrooms containing psilocybin at home for personal use. It would also require the Rhode Island Department of Health to create rules for the use of psychedelic mushrooms.
Companion legislation, Senate Bill 0806, awaits action in the Senate.
Asset Forfeiture
House Judiciary Committee Approves Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved HR 1525, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, clearing the way for a House floor vote on the measure.
Sponsored by Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Tim Walberg (R-MI), the act would increase the burden of proof on law enforcement and prosecutors to show that the seized property is related to criminal activity. It would also shorten the time authorities have to return seized goods. And it eliminates administrative forfeiture, forcing law enforcement to seek a court order before seizing property.
"This can create a perverse incentive to seize and sell the private property of potentially innocent citizens to increase agency revenues, despite some states' efforts to protect property rights," Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said. "The result is a system that unjustly infringes on the liberties of innocent American citizens."
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There are signals that a federal marijuana rescheduling decision will be reached this year, a Senate bill to crack down on drug cartel use of social media wins a committee vote, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Top Biden Official Says Marijuana Rescheduling Decision Will Go to President This Year. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday that the department is working to present a marijuana rescheduling decision to President Biden "this year." Agencies are working "as quickly as we can" to complete the administrative review, Becerra added.
"What I can tell you is that the president instructed us at HHS -- FDA in particular -- to take a look at how we treat marijuana to see if we can update our review of marijuana as a drug and how we can make sure how we treat it going forward on the federal level," Becerra told Marijuana Moment. "Places like California have already changed the laws, the federal government has not, and so we've been instructed and we're underway with that review as we speak."
The administration is under pressure from lawmakers as well as activists and the industry to get the job done even as Congress works on incremental marijuana law reforms, such as giving marijuana businesses access to the banking history.
Medical Marijuana
Arkansas Judge Throws Out Slew of Laws Modifying Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Law. Pulaski County Judge Morgan "Chip" Welch on Wednesday threw out 27 laws adopted by the legislature to modify the Amendment 98 medical marijuana initiative approved by voters in 2016. Welch deemed the laws unconstitutional because they made changes to Amendment 98 without letting residents vote on them, which is required by state law.
The voided laws include one barring the use of telemedicine for patients to get a written certification, one prohibiting National Guard members from being caregivers, one that added criminal background checks and changed "excluded felony offenses," one that regulated advertising, one that allowed for the transfer of licenses among dispensaries and cultivation companies, and many, many more.
Drug Policy
Senate Homeland Security Committee Approves Bill to Crack Down on Cartel Recruitment and Smuggling on Social Media. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved bipartisan legislation offered by the Border Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Chair Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). The Combating Cartels on Social Media Act (S. 61) aims to crack down on cartels that recruit teenagers through social media to conduct smuggling and trafficking.
Lankford accused big social media companies of "pick[ing] and choos[ing] which illegal activities they like and which they do not like, and clearly, they like people illegally crossing the US border. Social media companies need to be held accountable for turning their heads to human trafficking at the cost of human lives."
Sinema accused the companies of effectively helping the cartels recruit teenagers on both sides of the border.
The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to analyze cartels' illicit usage of social media and establishes a process for technology companies to voluntarily report cartel recruitment efforts in the US to DHS and state and local partners.
International
European Union Drug Report Finds Continent Exposed to More Drugs Than Ever. In its annual report released Friday, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) finds that the availability of illicit drugs remains high and that people on the continent are being exposed "to a wider range of psychoactive substances."
The report noted massive increases in drug seizures between 2011 and 2021, led by cocaine (up 416 percent), marijuana (up 260 percent), meth (up 135 percent) and MDMA ( up 123 percent).
The report found that, though there is demand for these drugs within the EU, "it is likely that increases in quantities seized reflect, at least partially, the larger role played by Europe as a place of production, export and transit for these drugs."
"Almost everything with psychoactive properties can appear on the drug market, often mislabeled or in mixtures. This is why illicit drugs can affect everyone, whether directly through use, or indirectly, through their impact on families, communities, institutions and businesses," EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel said in a statement.
"While western and southern Europe remain the main markets for cocaine, there are signs of cocaine consumption becoming increasingly more common in cities in eastern Europe -- indicating that the cocaine retail market is also developing in other regions. In terms of high-risk opioid use, the countries with the highest number of users per 1,000 inhabitants are Italy, Austria, France, Greece, Spain and Germany," wrote Teodora Groshkova, principal scientific analyst at EMCDDA and Gregorio Planchuelo, database management development officer at EMCDDA.
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