The Terrapin State is about to enter the age of legal cannabis.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court uses an outdated precedent to rule that the odor of marijuana is enough for a police search, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wants to clean up the streets by criminalizing public drug use, and more.
A marijuana legalization bill is rolled out in three Australian states, Donald Trump reiterates his call for the death penalty for drug dealers, and more.
A House committee has approved a defense spending bill with a pair of drug provisions, the Maine Senate kills a safe injection site bill but offers a study substitute, and more.
A pair of senators file a bill to allow Mexican troops to be trained by the US military to fight drug cartels, the FDA issues its first draft guidance on psychedelics, and more.
The UN drug agency's annual report says cocaine is surging and meth is expanding worldwide, Peru's drug agency reports record levels of coca leaf production, and more.
A bill in play in Guam would end the ban on SNAP benefits for drug felons, Ukraine's president calls for the legalization of medical marijuana, and more.
On Saturday, the era of legal recreational use marijuana in Maryland begins. Here are the key things to know:
The possession of up to 1.5 ounces is legal. Possession of more than 1.5 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces is subject to a $250 fine. Possession of more than 2.5 ounces could subject you to criminal charges. You can grow up to two plants at home.
You can either supply yourself from your own grow or buy legal marijuana in a licensed retail outlet, You must be at least 21 to partake in legal marijuana.
It is illegal to smoke in public places, with the exception of shops with licenses to allow for on-site consumption. Smoking weed in public can net you a $50 fine for a first offense. People who rent or lease their housing space will want to check their leases to make sure you don't run afoul of your landlord.
There are already 94 medical marijuana dispensaries ready to sell recreationally as of Saturday because they have already paid a one-time fee to convert from medical to general adult use sales. That high number of retail outlets means opening day lines should not be too bad.
But supply may be short. Some analysts put the current state of supply at only 20 to 30 percent of expected demand.
Supply will be varied. In addition to buds to smoke or vape, there are also lollipops, gummies, milkshakes, cookies, chocolates, sodas, oils, creams, vapes, waxes, tinctures, dermal patches, salves and even suppositories.
Current medical marijuana patients will have some accommodations. Stores must allot certain hours to medical marijuana-only sales or set up a fast lane for patients and they must set aside some high-potency products for patients.
Welcome to world of legal cannabis, Maryland.
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court uses an outdated precedent to rule that the odor of marijuana is enough for a police search, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wants to clean up the streets by criminalizing public drug use, and more.
Marijuana Policy
NCAA Panel Recommends Dropping Marijuana from Banned Drugs List. The NCAA's Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport proposed Friday that marijuana should be removed from the group's list of banned drugs and that drug testing should be limited to performance enhancing drugs.
The NCAA has conducted drug tests at championship events since 1986, but the committee recommended halting marijuana testing at such events until a final decision is made, probably in the fall.
After the committee's recommendation, all three of the NCAA's divisions will have to approve the move. Divisions II and III had sought a committee decision on the issue.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court, Holds that Odor of Marijuana is Sufficient to Justify Police Searches. Even though the state has legalized CBD products with an odor indistinguishable from that of marijuana, the state's conservative Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the odor of marijuana in a vehicle is probable cause for police to search a person in that vehicle.
In so doing, the Supreme Court cited a 1999 court decision that held police were justified in searching a driver because of the smell of marijuana, but dissenting justices in the 4-3 decision, saying the 1999 decision was outdated because it did not account for the legalization of substances that smelled like marijuana. "Officers who believe they smell marijuana coming from a vehicle may just as likely be smelling raw or smoked hemp, which is not criminal activity," Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet wrote in the dissent.
Drug Policy
Portland, Oregon, Mayor Has Plans to Criminalize Public Drug Use. Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) is drafting a municipal ordinance to make the public consumption of hard drugs a crime. After voters decriminalized drug possession statewide in 2020, public drug use on the city's streets has exploded, angering downtown businesses and property owners.
Under decriminalization, the biggest penalty for drug possession is a $100 fine. Portland police initially tended not to act against people with drugs, but have begun handing out more of those fines to drug users downtown. How Wheeler can criminalize drug use under decriminalization is unclear. A spokesman for Wheeler said more details would be released "mid-next week."
International
British Policing Minister Calls for Free Daily Heroin Injections for Addicts. Tory Policing Commissioner Chris Philip is backing calls to provide heroin to addicts, saying the move would be "cost effective" and cut drug-related crime. He is supporting injectable opioid treatment (IOT), under which treatment-resistant addicts are given twice daily injections of heroin. In a pilot program in Middlesbrough, a 98 percent reduction in street drug use was observed, albeit at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"The cost-effectiveness of IOT programs, despite high up-front costs, has been demonstrated," Philip said.
But the Home Office does not appear to be listening to the policing minister, responding to his remarks by saying, "We published a ten-year drugs strategy last month which will support recovery, as well as a tougher response to criminal supply chains."
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A marijuana legalization bill is rolled out in three Australian states, Donald Trump reiterates his call for the death penalty for drug dealers, and more.
Psychedelics
Largest Psychedelic Conference Ever Is On In Denver This Week. This year's Psychedelic Science conference is happening this week in downtown Denver. Sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and soap maker Dr. Bronner's, it is being billed as the "largest psychedelic conference in history." Some 10,000 people are expected to attend, as well as 300 exhibitors. guests include New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, musical artist Melissa Etheridge, co-founder of Whole Foods John Mackey, and National Institute of Mental Health director Joshua Gordon.
The five-day event includes dozens of panels pondering everything from the possibilities of psychedelics on mental health to new business opportunities, greater community impacts and how these substances fit into religion. Some researchers will announce results from their clinical trials.
MAPS founder and president Rick Doblin said Denver was a natural fit for the event. "Denver has been a pioneer in this whole area," he said, alluding to the city's status as the first major city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in 2019 and Colorado's status as the second state (behind Oregon) to decriminalize them. "We felt mainly that the political environment and facilities were ideal."
Drug Policy
Trump Again Calls for Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Is Reminded it Would Have Applied to Woman He Pardoned. Former president and current criminal defendant and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reiterated his call for the death penalty for drug dealers in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier. Baier noted that the policy would have applied to Alice Johnson, who Trump granted clemency as she served a long sentence on cocaine distribution charges.
"But she'd be killed under your plan," Baier noted.
"Huh?" Trump responded.
"As a drug dealer," Baier replied.
"No, no, no. Oh, under that? It would depend on the severity," Trump added.
Trump also suggested that Johnson would not have committed her crime if the death penalty had been hanging over her.
"She wouldn't have done it, if it was death penalty," Trump said. "In other words, if it was death penalty, she wouldn't have been on that phone call."
International
Australia Sees Marijuana Legalization Bills Pushed Simultaneously in Three States. A marijuana legalization bill, the Regulation of Personal Adult Use of Cannabis Bill 2023, was introduced simultaneously in the state parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia on Tuesday. It was a nationally coordinated move by the Legalize Cannabis Party.
The bill is modeled on the law in the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), which decriminalized pot possession and allowed adults to grow up to two plants in 2020, but are a bit more expansive.
"The Bill… will allow households to grow up to six plants, for that cannabis to be (gifted and) shared, and for the trade in seeds," said Legalize Cannabis NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham. It also allows for the possession of up to 50 grams of marijuana.
The bills will not pass in any of the states without major party support, which has so far been lacking.
Colombia Senate Rejects Marijuana Legalization in Final Vote. The Senate on Tuesday defeated a marijuana legalization bill on its final vote just as the legislative session came to an end. The bill won a majority of votes cast -- 47 to 43 -- but fell short of the 54 votes needed for final passage.
Bill backers vowed to bring it back: "I don't consider this a defeat; we have taken a giant step, four years of putting such a controversial issue at the top of the public agenda, of the public debate," Liberal Party Senator Juan Carlos Losada, who presented the bill, said, adding that it would be introduced again in the next legislative session. "Continuing to leave a substance that is legal in the hands of the drug traffickers and drug dealers is detrimental to the children of Colombia and detrimental to the country's democracy," Losada said.
Colombia decriminalized the possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana and the cultivation of up to 20 plants in 1986 and legalized the use of medical marijuana more recently, but former President Alvaro Uribe put marijuana prohibition in the Constitution, which is why it needed eight debates over two years instead of the normal four. It got through seven of them this time.
(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 House committee has approved a defense spending bill with a pair of drug provisions, the Maine Senate kills a safe injection site bill but offers a study substitute, and more.
Medical Marijuana
House Committee Approves Medical Marijuana, Psychedelic Study Amendments to Military Appropriations Bill. The House Armed Services Committee approved the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday after first accepting amendments to create a medical marijuana pilot program and mandate a study into the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for active-duty military members.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) offered the medical marijuana amendment, which would create a pilot program studying the health impacts of marijuana use by veterans and service members who are Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients. The program would be limited to VA patients suffering from PTSD, depression or anxiety, or who have been prescribed pain management.
Rep Morgan Luttrell (R-TX offered the therapeutic psychedelic amendment.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill Package Advances. The Senate Law and Justice Committee has approved a package of bills that would broaden the state's medical marijuana program, including permitting the sale of edibles and removing the need to have a specified qualifying condition. The package won on a near-unanimous vote. The package now heads for a Senate floor vote.
Psychedelics
At Psychedelic Science Conference, NFL Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Calls for Psychedelic Legalization. NFL quarterback and ayahuasca aficionado Aaron Rodgers advocated for psychedelic legalization as he addressed the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver Wednesday.
"Is it not ironic that the things that actually expand your mind are illegal and the things that keep you in the lower chakras and dumb you down have been legal for centuries?" said Rodgers.
He also discussed his use of ayahuasca, calling it "radically life-changing" and said many pro athletes had reached out to him after he spoke out earlier about his experiences. "The response from other people in the sports industry has been incredible. To see basketball players and baseball players and surfers, entertainers and my own teammates and colleagues across the league reach out and either share their story about their own medicine journey or ask to be a part of an upcoming one was pretty special."
Harm Reduction
Maine Senate Kills Safe Injection Site Bill. The Senate on Wednesday killed a bill that would have allowed for safe injection sites, but advanced a different version of the bill that would require Gov. Janet Mills (D) to create a study group the issue before deciding on whether to allow them. Gov. Mills has opposed safe injection sites.
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A pair of senators file a bill to allow Mexican troops to be trained by the US military to fight drug cartels, the FDA issues its first draft guidance on psychedelics, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Federal Ban on DC Weed Sales Advancing Again in This Congress. A Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill that includes a ban on legal marijuana sales within the District of Columbia advanced in Congress last week. The spending bill was approved last Thursday by the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. The ban on DC weed sales was included as a rider to the spending bill, a move Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) denounced as "outrageous."
DC voters approved marijuana legalization in 2014, but Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) has used riders ever since to block the District from allowing sales by barring the use of any federal funds to do so. The riders survived even when Democrats controlled the House and now, under Republican control of the House, is included in the base spending bill.
Ron DeSantis Says He Would Not Decriminalize Marijuana if Elected President. President Ron DeSantis would not decriminalize marijuana, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said at a campaign event last Thursday. DeSantis was responding to a question from a person representing wounded veterans who asked him to "please" decriminalize the plant.
"I don't think we would do that," DeSantis responded, then pointed to Florida'' medical marijuana program, saying it "actually allowed access" for veterans to use marijuana, but that it was "controversial because obviously there's some people that abuse it and are using it recreationally."
He also made familiar claims about marijuana potency and repeated unfounded assertions that marijuana is being adulterated by other drugs such as fentanyl.
Psychedelics
FDA Issues First Draft Guidance on Clinical Trials with Psychedelic Drugs. The US Food and Drug Administration last Friday published a new draft guidance to highlight fundamental considerations to researchers investigating the use of psychedelic drugs for potential treatment of medical conditions, including psychiatric or substance use disorders. This is the first FDA draft guidance that presents considerations to industry for designing clinical trials for psychedelic drugs.
There has been growing interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs in recent years. They are being evaluated for use in the potential treatment of conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders and other conditions. However, designing clinical studies to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these compounds presents a number of unique challenges that require careful consideration.
The purpose of the draft guidance is to advise researchers on study design and other considerations as they develop medications that contain psychedelics. Within the draft guidance, the term psychedelics refers to "classic psychedelics," typically understood to be drugs such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that act on the brain's serotonin system, as well as "entactogens" or "empathogens" such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
Foreign Policy
Cornyn, King Introduce Bill to Increase US-Mexico Military Cooperation to Combat Cartels. US Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Partnership for Advancing Regional Training and Narcotics Enforcement Response Strategies (PARTNERS) Act, which would allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to train Mexican military forces in the United States to combat cartels in Mexico.
The PARTNERS Act would create a military-to-military pilot program through the DoD to bring Mexican military forces to the US to receive tactical training that they can employ in Mexico to counter transnational criminal organizations (TCO), including cartels, weapons dealers, drug traffickers, and human smugglers.
(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 UN drug agency's annual report says cocaine is surging and meth is expanding worldwide, Peru's drug agency reports record levels of coca leaf production, and more.
Psychedelics
Poll Finds Majority Support for Legalizing Psychedelic Therapy, Near-Majority for Psychedelic Decriminalization. A poll from the University of California-Berkeley's Center for the Science of Psychedelics released at the Denver Psychedelic Science conference finds that 61 percent of registered voters support "creating a regulated legal framework for the therapeutic use of psychedelics" and 49 percent said they supported decriminalizing the use and possession of psychedelic plants and fungi.
The poll also found that 78 percent of respondents backed making psychedelic research easier and 56 percent said they could support a medical model where psychedelics would have to be approved by the Food & Drug Administration and prescribed by a physician.
"This is the first clear picture we have of what the American public think and feel about psychedelics," BCSP Executive Director Imran Khan said in a press release. "The Berkeley Psychedelics Survey shows that the majority of American voters are interested in, and supportive of, the field. They want fewer barriers to research for scientists, and they want regulated, therapeutic access for the public."
Drug Policy
DeSantis Calls for Executing Drug Smugglers at the Border. Seeking to out-Trump Trump with aggressive border policy positions, Florida governor and GOP presidential nomination contender Ron DeSantis called Monday for a slew of harsh measures, including a plan to use "deadly force" against people trying to come through the border wall with drugs.
He called for "rules of engagement" allowing US personnel to kill people trying to do that. He said "of course" deadly force would be justified against people carrying drugs and showing "hostile intent," but he did not specify exactly what that meant.
"If you go, if you drop a couple of these cartel operatives trying to do that, you're not going to have to worry about that anymore," DeSantis told reporters.
"If someone was breaking into your house, you would repel them with the use of force, right?" DeSantis said. "But yet if they have drugs, these backpacks, and they're going in and they're cutting through an enforced structure, we're just supposed to let 'em in? You know, I say use force to repel them. If you do that one time, they will never do that again."
International
UN Report Says Global Cocaine Market Booming, Meth Trafficking Spreading. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its annual World Drug Report 2023 Sunday and reported that cocaine demand and supply are surging worldwide and methamphetamine trafficking is expanding to new markets.
Coca bush cultivation and total cocaine production were at record highs in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, and the global number of cocaine users, estimated at 22 million that same year, is growing steadily, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in its annual World Drug Report.
"The world is currently experiencing a prolonged surge in both supply and demand of cocaine, which is now being felt across the globe and is likely to spur the development of new markets beyond the traditional confines," the UNODC report said. "Although the global cocaine market continues to be concentrated in the Americas and in Western and Central Europe (with very high prevalence also in Australia), in relative terms it appears that the fastest growth, albeit building on very low initial levels, is occurring in developing markets found in Africa, Asia and South-Eastern Europe," it said.
While meth trafficking has been centered in two regions -- North America and East and Southeast Asia -- it is increasing in other areas such as the Middle East and West Africa. UNODC also mentioned meth production in Afghanistan, which may be a replacement for heroin production after the Taliban's opium ban.
Peru Coca Farming at Record Levels. The amount of land under coca leaf cultivation was at record levels last year after growing 18 percent over the previous year, the Peruvian anti-drug agency DEVIDA reported Monday. It said most of the increase was in protected lands and indigenous Amazon villages close to the borders with Brazil and Colombia. Altogether, 367 square miles were devoted to coca leaf production.
Cultivation has been increasing since 2015 and while coca leaf is used for traditional purposes in the country, DEVIDA said that 90 percent of the crop is destined to be turned into cocaine and fed into the global illicit drug trade. Peru vies with Colombia for the title of world's largest coca producer, with Bolivia in third place.
(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 bill in play in Guam would end the ban on SNAP benefits for drug felons, Ukraine's president calls for the legalization of medical marijuana, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Legalize America Becomes First Federal Marijuana Super PAC. Legalize America became the nation's first Super PAC devoted to reforming cannabis laws across the United States with its June 28 launch. The independent expenditure organization, created with support from leading US regulated cannabis companies, will work to raise the profile of cannabis as a national issue in the 2024 election and beyond.
"Legalize America is committed to ending cannabis prohibition and advancing expungement efforts and responsible use" said Legalize America Chair Matt Harrell of Curaleaf. "We will use all available tools -- including scorecards, endorsements and targeted independent expenditure campaigns -- to advance cannabis reform, with the goal of creating a prosperous and equitable cannabis industry."
Legalize America will partner with high-profile public figures and brands to raise funds to advance its reform agenda. The group will also explore working with industry partners to enable customers at regulated cannabis dispensaries to directly support the campaign through "round up" donations.
Drug Policy
Guam Bill Would End Ban on SNAP Benefits for Drug Offenders. Every state and national territory except for Guam and South Carolina have opted out of a punitive 1990s drug law that banned drug felons from food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and now, Guam could be the next to opt-out. Sen. Will Parkinson has filed a bill to do just that.
"More often than not, people coming out of our prison system need some form of assistance to adjust back into society. SNAP and TAMP provide basic food assistance to those who could not otherwise afford it," the first-time policymaker said. "We have also seen how natural disasters like Typhoon Mawar have made it increasingly difficult for our people to buy necessities like food with the Disaster SNAP program currently ongoing. Thousands of people every day are lining up for assistance and those with former drug felonies should be allowed to line up with them."
The bill was approved Tuesday for a third and final reading -- yet to be scheduled -- but only after it was amended to require that drug felons receiving the benefits be subject to regular drug testing.
Portland, Oregon, Mayor Backtracks on Plan to Criminalize Public Drug use. Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) has reversed course on his plan to criminalize public drug use, acknowledging that it would have run afoul of a state law that says "a political subdivision in this state shall not adopt or enforce any local law or regulation" that makes "using cannabis or controlled substances in public" a crime.
Wheeler's plan to criminalize public drug use also contradicted the voter-approved Measure 110 drug decriminalization law, which treats possession of small amounts of drugs as a civil violation -- not a criminal offense. He said he had hoped he had found "a loophole" in Measure 110 by going after drug use instead of possession.
"Use of illicit drugs in public spaces -- especially dangerous and highly deadly substances like fentanyl -- create significant public safety and public health issues in Portland," Wheeler said Tuesday. "While Measure 110 has challenged the way cities across the state address drug use, I believe the City of Portland has an obligation to do what we can to protect our community now."
Now, Wheeler is counting on Gov. Tina Kotek (D) to sign into law a bill that would make possession of more than a gram or more than five pills of any substance containing fentanyl a Class A misdemeanor. That legislation, House Bill 2645, has already passed the legislature.
Psychedelics
California Psychedelic Legalization Bill Advances in Assembly. A bill to legalize the use and possession of small amounts of certain psychedelics, Senate Bill 58, has already passed the Senate and on Tuesday, it was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 5-2 vote. It now goes to the Assembly Health Committee before heading for an Assembly floor vote.
The bill was amended by the committee to delay implementation of the legalization of facilitated use of psychedelics until a regulated framework for that activity is developed, and Wiener said he will work with the Health Committee to "flesh out requirements" in that regard.
The bill would legalize the "possession, preparation, obtaining, transfer, as specified, or transportation of" specific amounts of psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline for personal or facilitated use. Non-plant-based psychedelics, such as LSD and MDMA, are not covered by the bill.
International
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for medical marijuana to be legalized. "In particular, we must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicine for everyone who needs it. Relevant scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production," he said.
The Ministry of Health reported last summer that the Cabinet of Ministers supported a draft medical marijuana law. With the president and the cabinet behind it, the legislature should act on it relatively quickly.
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