DEA to Reschedule Marijuana -- Weed World Reacts [FEATURE]

The DEA has proposed reclassifying marijuana by moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The plan is for the agency to issue an interim rule reclassifying the substance for the first time since the CSA was enacted more than 50 years ago. Attorney General Merrick Garland (D) will submit the proposal to the White House as early as today.

The move comes months after the Department of Health and Human Services issued a finding that marijuana should be reclassified because it has potential medical benefits and that "the vast majority of individuals who use marijuana are doing so in a manner that does not lead to dangerous outcomes to themselves or others." Acting on a campaign promise, the Biden administration ordered the review in October 2022.

Rescheduling will make it easier for marijuana to be researched for medical uses, potentially opening the door for pharmaceutical companies to get involved in the legal marijuana industry. It will also eliminate significant tax burdens for the industry, including IRS code Section 280E, which bars marijuana businesses from deducting business expenses, leading to effective rates that often go upwards of 70%.

But while it would mark the biggest change in federal marijuana policy in a half-century, it will not make marijuana legal at the federal level. And that leaves industry and marijuana reform advocates not quite satisfied.

"Moving marijuana out of its absurd classification as a Schedule I drug is long overdue and we applaud the administration for finally acknowledging the therapeutic value that has been widely accepted by the medical community and millions of medical cannabis patients for decades," said Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association CEO. "While this is undoubtedly a very positive first step, rescheduling will not end federal marijuana prohibition and doesn't harmonize federal law with the laws allowing some form of legal cannabis in the vast majority of the states. For this move to be meaningful on the ground, we need clear enforcement guidelines issued to the DEA and FDA that would ensure the tens of thousands of state-licensed businesses responsibly serving cannabis to adults are not subject to sanctions or criminal prosecution under federal laws."

"Further, it's imperative that Congress build upon this development by passing comprehensive legislation to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and forge a new regulatory framework for whole plant cannabis products," added Smith.

"This is a positive step forward for federal cannabis policy, however, it is a rather modest step given the strong support among American voters for comprehensive cannabis reform," said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is important to acknowledge that this rescheduling would not affect the criminalization of medical cannabis patients and cannabis consumers under state laws -- so we must continue the work of enacting sensible and fair cannabis legalization and medical cannabis laws through state legislatures and ballot initiatives."

"It is significant for these federal agencies, and the DEA and FDA in particular, to acknowledge publicly for the first time what many patients and advocates have known for decades: that cannabis is a safe and effective therapeutic agent for tens of millions of Americans," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

But, he added: "The goal of any federal cannabis policy reform ought to be to address the existing, untenable divide between federal marijuana policy and the cannabis laws of the majority of US states. Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III fails to adequately address this conflict, as existing state legalization laws -- both adult use and medical -- will continue to be in conflict with federal regulations, thereby perpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies."

Historically, Schedule III substances have received explicit market approval by the FDA; they are only legal to possess when obtained in licensed pharmacies under a physician's prescription.

"Just as it is intellectually dishonest and impractical to categorize cannabis in the same placement as heroin, it is equally disingenuous and unfeasible to treat cannabis in the same manner as anabolic steroids and ketamine," Armentano said. "The majority of Americans believe that cannabis ought to be legal and that its health risks are less significant than those associated with federally descheduled substances like alcohol and tobacco. Like those latter substances, NORML has long argued that the cannabis plant should be removed from the Controlled Substances Act altogether, thereby providing state governments -- rather than the federal government -- the ability to regulate marijuana in the manner they see fit without violating federal law, and allowing the federal government to provide standards and guidelines for regulated cannabis markets."

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), for its part, is calling for a campaign to demand de-scheduling -- removing marijuana entirely from the purview of the Controlled Substances Act -- not rescheduling. It is part of a coalition called United for Marijuana Decriminalization (UMD) that plans to launch an ambitious outreach effort to encourage community members to tell President Biden and the DEA that marijuana must be descheduled once the public comment period is open. Members of the public will be able to submit comments in support of descheduling in response to the DEA's proposal through a simple online form. During the brief, time-limited public comment period, UMD aims to solicit a historic number of public comments through extensive outreach to stakeholders, particularly those who have been harmed by marijuana criminalization, inviting participation in the public process and emphasizing the need for marijuana descheduling."

"Supporting federal marijuana decriminalization means supporting the removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, not changing its scheduling," said Cat Packer, DPA director of drug markets and legal regulation. "We all deserve a federal framework for marijuana that upholds the health, wellbeing, and safety of our communities -- particularly Black communities who have borne the brunt of our country’s racist enforcement of marijuana laws. Rescheduling marijuana is not a policy solution for federal marijuana criminalization or its harms, and it won't address the disproportionate impact that it has had on Black and Brown communities."

"The individuals, families and communities adversely impacted by federal marijuana criminalization deserve more," Packer continued. "Workers in the marijuana industry, people who use marijuana, all of us deserve more. Congress and the Biden Administration have a responsibility to take actions now to bring about marijuana reform that meaningfully improves the lives of people who have been harmed by decades of criminalization. Descheduling and legalizing marijuana the right way isn't just good policy, it’s popular with voters, too."

The campaign has the support of some elected officials.

"While the rescheduling of marijuana is a historic step in the right direction, anything short of descheduling falls woefully short of remedying the harms of the current system and the failed racist War on Drugs," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). "Rescheduling would allow for the criminal penalties for recreational and medical marijuana use to continue -- disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. The criminalization of marijuana is also increasingly out of step with state law and public opinion. We need full descheduling and to pass the MORE Act -- which I proudly co-lead -- as a solution for equitable comprehensive marijuana reform rooted in racial and restorative justice."

"Descheduling marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act is not just a social justice issue; it's an economic, medical, and public safety issue. Since marijuana was classified as a Schedule I substance during the war on drugs, countless lives have been torn apart, and individuals in primarily Black and brown communities have been targeted for nonviolent cannabis-related offenses," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). "Studies show that legalizing marijuana could help reduce violence in international drug trafficking and generate billions of dollars for the economy. The vast majority of Americans agree that marijuana should be legalized -- that's why I’m calling on the Attorney General and the Drug Enforcement Administration to swiftly deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act."

But if the industry and reformers think rescheduling does not go far enough, we can count on professional anti-marijuana activist Dr. Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana to worry that it goes way too far.

"Politics and industry influence have loomed over this decision from the very beginning," Sabet said. "First, HHS refused to provide the public with the scientific basis for its recommendation to reschedule. Then they deliberately redacted key information about their internal process, intentionally limiting transparency on such a major decision impacting public health. Only when compelled by a legal challenge did they provide clarity on their decision, which patently demonstrated that they cooked the books, starting with the decision and working backward to find the supporting materials."

"Now, against the recommendations of prior Attorneys General, the medical community and law enforcement, the Administration unilaterally reversed decades of precedent despite volumes of data confirming marijuana's harmfulness. Moreover, a drug can be taken off Schedule I only if it has accepted medical use -- raw, crude marijuana has never passed safety and efficacy protocols. A drug isn't medicine because it's popular."

"The winners from such a decision are the deep pocketed investors desperately looking for good news in the marijuana space, given the failures of state legalization. We hoped the Administration would prioritize expungements and encouraging additional marijuana research instead of making a political statement that only helps the addiction industry."

That rhetoric may help explain why Sabet's is by way the minority position on the issue.

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Chronicle Book Review: Quick Fixes

Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st-Century Binge by Benjamin Y. Fong (2024, Verso Books, 264 pp., $24.95 HB)

America is a drugged-out society. Uppers, downers, laughers, screamers, weed, 'shrooms, white market pills, black market powders, we're gobbling that stuff down like it's the end times. And at the same time, our perverse, achingly racist and classist war on drugs stumbles on, chewing up communities and spitting out ex-cons and probationers. Drugs -- we hate 'em, we love 'em, we can't live without 'em. Why does America have such a bizarre relationship with psychoactive drugs?

In Quick Fixes, Arizona State University professor Benjamin Fong argues that our drug problems are best understood not as caused by drugs and drug prohibition, but as a response to and a tool of the late capitalistic social structure in which they are embedded. From coffee and amphetamine pep pills as work-enhancing substances (and cocaine as the ultimate neoliberal workaholic drug) to anti-depressants and tranquilizers as a means of soothing the anxiety of unstable employment and social atomization, and from the societal winking at middle-class white cocaine sniffing to the mass incarceration that greeted lower-class black cocaine smoking, drugs and the policy responses to them play a role in maintaining the system, Fong asserts.

Fong is witty and elegant and worth quoting at length:

"[When] people aim to control or regulate drugs, they are actually aiming to control or regulate other things about society. The 'drug menace' is ideological cover for the continuing offenses of Big Pharma, the demonization of already oppressed racial groups, the rollback of the welfare state, the enhancement of the security apparatus, and the erosion of civil liberties. It has been one or all of these things since the beginning of the twentieth century, and only secondarily, if at all, sensible policy based on the benefits and dangers that psychoactive drugs pose.

"On both sides of the political spectrum, we nonetheless continue to believe that drugs are essentially what is at stake in drug policy. Conservatives can recognize that the War on Drugs is irrational at times and plainly destructive, but justify this as the cost of eliminating a real danger to society. Liberals tends axiomatically to point to the social costs, but somehow return again and again to drug demystification or obvious policy countermeasures. The first is bound to the idealistic belief that if we just knew the truth about drugs, if we just had the right information, drug paranoia would evaporate at the source. The second suffers from a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy: since drug policy has been a leading edge of the growth of the security state, reversing irrational drug policy will in turn address the problems of brutal policing and mass incarceration.

"If only it were that easy. The story of the swelling prison population since the '80s is one of racism, of perverse incentives, and the defeat of the left, but at root, it is one of contraction and the retrenchment of the welfare state. Since drugs have served so prominently as a pretext for hyperincarceration, it's natural that reformers have focused on attempting to repeal civil forfeiture and mandatory minimum laws, legalizing marijuana, and so on. Removing the irrational accretions of a century of prohibition would undoubtedly do some good, but the problem of economic expendability would remain. If we legalized heroin and cocaine today, without providing the kinds of jobs and social protections needed for basic livability in twenty-first-century America, something else would step in to provide the same justificatory function as illicit drugs tomorrow. Drug laws, no less than drugs, tend to treat not causes, but symptoms."

That's some heady, heavy stuff -- and it is about what to expect from a publication in left-leaning Verso Book's Jacobin series of publication in collaboration with frankly socialist Jacobin Magazine, which feature "short interrogations of politics, economics, and culture from a socialist perspective, as an avenue to radical political practice."

But don't get me wrong. This is not some dour, dogmatic diatribe. Sandwiched between the introduction and the conclusion, where Fong fleshes out his central argument, he spends nine chapters examining nine different drugs -- coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, opiates, amphetamines, psychotropics (tranquilizers and anti-depressants), psychedelics, cocaine, and marijuana -- and the roles they have taken on in maintaining the system. He does so with verve and humor, providing new insights for even the most jaundiced of drug literature surveyors.

But in the end, and this should come as no surprise, for Fong, it's not about drugs. We have serious social problems for which drugs and drug prohibition offer only the quick fix, something "that covers over, that allows some resumption of 'normalcy,' that prevents a full reckoning -- that's been the stuff for us, for well over a century," as Fong puts it. Instead of dithering about drugs and drug policy, he argues, we need things like universal health care and a federal jobs guarantee. Sounds good to me. To the barricades, comrades!

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This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A former Border Patrol agent heads for federal prison and a Kentucky corrections officer gets busted in Oklahoma. Let's get to it:

In El Reno, Oklahoma, a Lexington, Kentucky, corrections officer was arrested April 24 on drug charges. Sgt. Netoria Campbell, a 12-year veteran community corrections officer, is facing charges of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs. She has been suspended and placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation. No further information is available.

In Sells, Arizona, a former Border Patrol agent was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in federal prison for using his Border Patrol vehicle to drive into the desert, pick up two duffle bags full of dope and transfer them to a co-conspirator at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Carlos Victor Passapera Pinott, 56, pleaded guilty last July to bribery of a public official and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin. He went down after the guys he handed the dope load off to were stopped by law enforcement after leaving the airport parking lot, and the cops discovered more than 40 pounds of cocaine, a kilogram of heroin, and a kilogram of fentanyl. Cops later seized $311,000 in cash from Passapera's safe deposit box.

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Congressional Dems Call for DEA to Move Fast on Pot Rescheduling, Biden Signs Fentanyl Bill, More... (4/25/24)

Marijuana Policy

A bill toughening penalties for hard drug sales is moving in Ohio, Thailand clears the way for the medical use of opium and magic mushrooms, and more.

Congressional Democrats Call on DEA to Act Fast on Marijuana Rescheduling. More than 20 Democratic lawmakers have sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram calling on the DEA to move quickly to reschedule marijuana. The Department of Health and Human Services recommended moving marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act last August, but DEA has failed to move since then.

A coalition of Democrats called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to quickly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), signaling impatience over the agency's ongoing review of cannabis's designation.

The lawmakers were led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and John Fetterman (PA) and Reps. Barbara Lee (CA) and Earl Blumenauer (OR) in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

"We are now nearing eight months since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III -- and 18 months since President Biden directed HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to begin the process of reviewing marijuana's scheduling. It is time for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to act," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was the joint project of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). Other senatorial sign-ons came from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

House Democrats who added their names to the letter were Reps. Robert Garcia (CA), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Dina Titus (NV), Val Hoyle (OR.), Becca Balint (VT), Jim McGovern (MA) and Katie Porter (CA), as well as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC).

"While we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana's misguided placement in Schedule I," they wrote. "We trust that the DEA is working as quickly as possible toward a decision on how marijuana is scheduled, as Vice President Kamala Harris recently reassured stakeholders."

"We are also hopeful that the DEA will not make the unprecedented choice to disagree with HHS's medical finding that a drug does not belong in Schedule I," they added.

Drug Policy

Biden Signs Bill Targeting Fentanyl Makers and Sellers. President Biden on Tuesday signed into law the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act (S. 1271) just hours after it passed the Senate.

The Senate had originally passed the bill in July 2023 and again in February 2024, but had to return for a final concurrence vote after companion legislation passed the House last week.

According to Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, "the bill will enhance current law so US government agencies can more effectively disrupt illicit opioid supply chains and penalize those facilitating the trafficking of fentanyl. It also ensures that sanctions are imposed not only on those engaged in the illicit drug trade, but also in the money laundering that makes it profitable."

The congressional summary of the bill says: "This bill requires that the sanctions specified in Executive Order 14059 (relating to sanctions on foreign persons involved in the global illicit drug trade), as well as any amendments to or directives issued pursuant to that executive order before the date of the enactment of this bill, shall remain in effect."

"The bill also requires the President to impose property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person knowingly involved in (1) significant trafficking of fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, or other related opioids including such trafficking by a transnational criminal organization; or (2) significant activities of a transnational criminal organization relating to the trafficking of fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, or other related opioids."

"The Department of the Treasury is authorized to take certain actions relating to financial institutions, classes of transactions, or types of accounts that (1) involve a non-U.S. jurisdiction, and (2) are of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking. For such institutions, transaction classes, or account types, Treasury may require domestic financial institutions to (1) take certain special measures, (2) prohibit certain transmittals of funds, or (3) impose conditions on transmittals of funds."

"Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network must issue guidance to US financial institutions for filing reports of suspicious transactions related to suspected fentanyl trafficking by transnational criminal organizations."

Ohio House Passes Bill Imposing Harsher Drug Trafficking Penalties. The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill boosting penalties for human and drug trafficking, House Bill 230. The measure passed on a vote of 79-13.

A proposal to boost the penalties for human and drug trafficking cleared the Ohio House on Wednesday by a 79-13 vote.

Sponsored by Reps. Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison) and DJ Swearingen (R-Huron), the bill would recategorize the felony classifications for trafficking certain amounts of drugs, such as cocaine, fentanyl, or heroin. Harsher penalties come with the state’s potential reclassifications.

Trafficking more than one gram of fentanyl, for example, would go from a fifth-degree felony to a third-degree felony. That would shift the range of maximum sentences from one year to three years.

"Our message is clear: If you want to traffic illegal drugs or humans, you better not come to Ohio," Abrams said in her floor testimony.

But the Legislative Service Commission's fiscal analysis of the bill estimates that passage of the bill would mean state prisons would have to add 1,300 to 1,500 more beds.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

International

Thai Health Ministry Approves Medical Uses of Opium, Magic Mushrooms. A directive from Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew published in the Royal Gazette has moved opium and psilocybin mushrooms to Category 5 of the country's drug schedule, meaning they are now approved for medical use.

The directive clarifies that all Category 5 drugs except for marijuana and hemp extracts are approved for medical use and research.

Srikaew made the change by activating Article 24 and Article 58 of the Narcotics Code.

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DEA Warns on Xylazine in Illicit Fentanyl, BC Recriminalizes Public Drug Possession, More... (4/29/24)

A North Dakota marijuana legalization initiative campaign can begin signature-gathering, a last gasp at medical marijuana fails in Kansas, and more.

Marijuana Policy

North Dakota Marijuana Legalization Initiative Gets Go-Ahead for Signature Gathering. Last Thursday, Secretary of State Michael Howe (R) approved a marijuana legalization initiative for signature-gathering.

The measure sponsored by New Economic Frontier would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and four grams of concentrates by people 21 and over. It would also allow for the home cultivation of up to three plants, with a limit of six plants per household.

It would also mandate that the state establish a system of regulated marijuana commerce by October 1, 2025, but that commerce would be limited to seven growers and 18 dispensaries. To avoid excessive concentration, people or businesses may not operate more than one grow, four dispensaries, or one dispensary within a 20-mile radius of another.

Initiative backers now have two deadlines for coming up with the 15,582 valid voter signatures they will need to appear on the ballot. If they can gather the signatures by July 8, the measure will appear on the November ballot. If they have not completed signature-gathering by July 8, they would then have until April 25, 2025 to qualify for the November 2025 ballot.

There is no recent polling on marijuana legalization in the state. But if the initiative qualifies for the ballot, it will have to do at least five points better than its failed 2022 predecessor did.

Medical Marijuana

Kansas Effort to Revive Medical Marijuana Push Fails. Weeks after a medical marijuana bill died in committee, a longshot effort to revive the issue has failed. Sen. Robert Olsen (R) filed a motion to revive another medical marijuana bill he had introduced last year, Senate Bill 135, only to see it struck down on a 12-25 vote last Friday.

Olson has long backed medical marijuana and as chair of the 2022 Special Committee on Medical Marijuana held hearings on the issue. He said last fall that Senate President Ty Masterson (R) removed him as chair of that committee after he held hearings, saying he believed it was a retaliatory move.

Olson's bill would have legalized and regulated medical marijuana, with a 10 percent retail tax. Patients would have paid a $50 fee to be registered with the state. The registry would be limited to patients suffering from 22 specified medical conditions and "any other disease or condition" approved by the state secretary of health and the environment.

Maybe next year.

Drug Policy

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram Warns on Increased Xylazine in Illicit Fentanyl Supply. In a statement last Friday, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram publicized an increase in DEA fentanyl seizures containing the non-opioid sedative xylazine, popularly known as "tranq":

"DEA first warned the public of a sharp increase in fentanyl seizures containing xylazine in our March 2023 Public Safety Alert. Since that time, xylazine’s growing prevalence in the fentanyl supply continues to make the deadliest drug threat facing this country even deadlier."

"In 2023, 30 percent of the fentanyl powder seized by DEA contained xylazine, up from 25 percent in 2022. The percentage of fentanyl pills testing positive for xylazine decreased slightly from 7 percent in 2022 to 6 percent in 2023. In total, DEA seized 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder and 79.5 million fentanyl pills in 2023."

"In April 2023, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) designated fentanyl adulterated with xylazine as an emerging drug threat, indicating people who ingest fentanyl mixed with xylazine are at a higher risk of suffering a fatal drug poisoning."

"DEA is publicly updating this information today as part of our commitment to save lives by keeping the American public informed of drug threats as we encounter them."

International

Canada's British Columbia Backtracks, Will Recriminalize Public Drug Use. More than a year ago, British Columbia won permission from the federal government to begin a pilot program to decriminalize drug use and possession. But in the face of rising criticism, Premier David Eby (NDP) announced last Friday that the province is partially reversing course. He said decriminalization will remain in place but that police will now have the power to enforce laws against drug use in public places such as hospitals, parks, beaches, and restaurants.

Eby still views addiction as a health issue "not a criminal laws issue, but the compassion for people who are struggling does not mean anything goes," he said. While expressing empathy for people struggling with addiction, he said public safety must be maintained. "We're taking action to give police the enforcement tools they need to keep parks, hospitals, and transit safe from public drug use," he said.

Although police will have the ability to make arrests for public drug use or possession, arrests will be a last resort, Eby said. Police can ask drug users to leave the area or seize their drugs and will "only arrest for simple possession of illicit drugs in exceptional circumstances."

Drug user advocates were not impressed. Brittany Graham, the executive director of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), said the change seems to be aimed only at the poor and homeless.

"They are going to be recriminalized in every sense of the word and it is very disappointing, in the middle of this overdose crisis when 14,000 people have died, that our current government is blaming our larger problems of homelessness, and poverty, and the welfare state on the individual people who have nowhere to go," she said. "People cannot afford housing anymore," she said. "This is a housing issue, not a decriminalization issue."

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DEA Recommends Rescheduling Marijuana, San Francisco Drug Crackdown Continues, More... (4/30/24)

A push to pass the SAFER Banking Act via the FAA reauthorization bill has faltered, fentanyl is wiping out opium farmers in Guatemala, and more.

Marijuana Policy

DEA Recommends Rescheduling Marijuana. The DEA has proposed rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The plan is for the agency to issue an interim rule reclassifying the substance for the first time since the CSA was enacted more than 50 years ago. Attorney General Merrick Garland (D) will submit the proposal to the White House as early as today.

The move comes months after the Department of Health and Human Services issued an opinion that marijuana should be reclassified because it has potential medical benefits. Acting on a campaign promise, the Biden administration initiated the review in October 2022.

Rescheduling will allow for marijuana to be researched for medical uses, opening the door for pharmaceutical companies to get involved in the industry. It would also eliminate significant tax burdens for the legal marijuana industry, including IRS code Section 280E, which bars marijuana businesses from deducting business expenses.

Still, some marijuana reformers greeted the announcement with only two cheers.

"This is a positive step forward for federal cannabis policy, however, it is a rather modest step given the strong support among American voters for comprehensive cannabis reform, said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is important to acknowledge that this rescheduling would not affect the criminalization of medical cannabis patients and cannabis consumers under state laws – so we must continue the work of enacting sensible and fair cannabis legalization and medical cannabis laws through state legislatures and ballot initiatives."

Move to Pass SAFER Banking Act as Part of FAA Reauthorization Bill Falters. For awhile last week, it appeared that a bill aimed at assisting the legal marijuana industry with its financial services problems, the SAFER (Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation) Banking Act (S. 1280), would finally pass, being folded into the "must pass" Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. Not any longer.

That plan has now been scrapped after objections from unnamed lawmakers. The role of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is also unclear.

The bill has repeatedly passed the House but has never passed the Senate despite a decade of attempts. SAFER passed a Senate Committee for the first time only last fall.

There is still hope that the bill will pass soon. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said last month the Senate would "work very hard" to get the bill passed in this session.

"We believe very strongly in so many things, and we are going to continue to work on the agenda that we put before us," Schumer said. "We first have to fund the government -- the supplemental is very important. But after that, you will see us turn to many of the bills that we passed: the SAFER Act, safety on the rails, and so many other things."

Law Enforcement

San Francisco Cops Arrest 60, Seize Half-Pound of Dope in Tenderloin Operation. In a one-day enforcement operation targeting drug dealing and drug use in the Tenderloin last week, city police arrested 60 people and seized 258.2 grams of narcotic drugs.

But the operation planned by the city's Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC) did not nab any actual drug dealers. Instead, five people were arrested for possession with intent, while others were busted for possession of controlled substances, old arrest warrants, and stay-away orders.

Still, much of the city's law enforcement anti-drug bureaucracy was able to get involved. The operation included officers from SFPD's Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Team, Narcotics Unit, Narcotics Drug Recognition Expert Team, Tenderloin Station Patrol/Violence Reduction Team and the Tenderloin Plainclothes Team.

Since DMACC was launched a year ago, city police have made more than 3,000 arrests and seized more than 400 pounds of drugs. The effort is part of Mayor London Breed's (D) effort to crack down on public drug use in the city.

International

Guatemala's Poppy Farmers Are Taking a Hit from Fentanyl. For decades, peasants in remote areas of the country have grown opium poppies to supply the North American heroin market, but with the advent of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, their livelihoods are now at risk.

Raw opium that once sold for $64 an ounce is now under $10, and the army patrols sent out to eradicate poppy crops are not funding much this year.

"The land here used to be covered in poppies," said Ludvin López, a police commander, as soldiers fanned out around Ixchiguán, an area of remote hamlets populated by speakers of Mam, a Mayan language. But that was before the bottom fell out of the market, he said.

Still, the patrols continue, with soldiers attempting to forge bonds with villagers whose crops they once raided. It does not always work.

"We hardly have any poppies left around here anymore," said Ana Leticia Morales, 26, a Mam-speaking mother of two who now makes a living selling gasoline smuggled from Mexico. "But the soldiers still come, not to help us, but to make things worse."

The shift in the drug trade has consequences outside the country. First, peasants who can no longer make a living with opium are joining the masses heading for the US southern border. And second, authorities who once hunted the poppy are now hunting labs for the manufacture of synthetics like fentanyl to be exported north.

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Senate Democrats File Federal Legalization Bill, Push to Expand Organic Grow Program, More... (5/1/24)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and allies have refiled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and a leading certifier of organic, regenerative pot farms seeks to expand.

Marijuana Policy

Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Federally Legalize Marijuana. Led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Democrats on Wednesday filed a marijuana legalization bill, the reintroduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). The measure would legalize marijuana federally by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The move comes just one day after news broke that the DEA is ready to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA. While rescheduling would ease restrictions on marijuana research and remove financial obstacles to state-legal marijuana businesses, it would not end federal pot prohibition. This bill would.

At a Wednesday press conference announcing the bill, Schumer noted the DEA's rescheduling decision, calling it "a necessary step that is long overdue," but not sufficient.

"It's not all we need to do," he said. "It's time for Congress to wake up to the times and do its part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have wished for. It's past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and to catch up with the science."

The bill was originally filed in July 2022 with five sponsors in all, but never went anywhere in committee. This time around, it is starting off with 13 sponsors.

The bill would shift responsibility for regulating marijuana from the DEA to the Food and Drug Administration, where a newly created Center for Cannabis Products would be charged with setting standards for labeling marijuana products. It would also increase funding for drug treatment and ban flavored cannabis vapes.

The illicit sale of marijuana would remain a federal crime, and the bill would create a grant program through the Department of Justice to help small police departments fight illicit marijuana growing and sales.

The bill would create a 5 percent excise tax for small and medium-sized producers that would gradually increase to 12.5 percent. For bigger pot businesses, the tax would begin at 10 percent and max out at 25 percent.

To address social equity concerns, the bill would create an Opportunity Trust Fund to reinvest in communities and people harmed by the war on drugs. There would be a Community Reinvestment Grant Program, and Equitable Licensing Grant Program, and a Cannabis Restorative Opportunity Program providing loans and technical assistance to disadvantaged people in legal marijuana states.

Now, let's see if this bill moves.

Leading Regenerative Organic Cannabis Certification Launches New "Made with Sun+Earth Flower" Program. Sun+Earth Certified, the leading nonprofit third-party certification for regenerative organic cannabis in the United States, has launched a new "Made with Sun+Earth Flower" program to support its certified farmers, most of whom are family farmers, struggling in an increasingly consolidated marketplace. Certified farmers will now be able to work with values-aligned manufacturers to place the familiar Sun+Earth seal on popular products like tinctures, concentrates, and vaporizer pens, in an effort to increase market share for regenerative organic cannabis farmers, while educating consumers on the source of their cannabis products.

The vast majority of cannabis products currently sold in the US present no on-package labeling that explains how the cannabis was sourced and grown, and specifically what pesticides or other chemical inputs were used in its production. The "Made with Sun+Earth Flower" program will provide consumers with the confidence that their products were sourced from cannabis grown organically, under the sun and in the soil, without toxic chemicals. Notably, in its 2019 Cannabis Industry Report, the market research group TrendSource found that over 53 percent of consumers in the US are willing to pay more for organic cannabis products.

"The 'Made with Sun+Earth Flower' program is an easy-to-use marketing tool to help our farmers collaborate with manufacturers, extractors, and processors who care about the quality of cannabis they use in their products," said Sun+Earth director Andrew Black. "By displaying our seal on products made with Sun+Earth Certified cannabis, we have an opportunity to inform and educate even more consumers about the healthy, Earth-friendly practices used by our farmers."

Sun+Earth was founded on Earth Day 2019 by cannabis industry leaders, experts, and advocates with a common commitment to the pillars of regenerative organic agriculture, farmer and farmworker protections, and community engagement. Currently, Sun+Earth has certified more than 60 cannabis farms in five states: California, Michigan, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

No chemical fertilizers or toxic pesticides are used to grow cannabis certified by Sun+Earth, whose standards go well beyond the practices set by the USDA Organic program. Industrial indoor cannabis production consumes high volumes of energy and uses chemical inputs, whereas Sun+Earth Certified cannabis is cultivated on outdoor farms that strengthen habitats and build living soil. The rigorous standards set by Sun+Earth encourage the planting of cannabis alongside food crops, and the strategic use of cover crops, composting, and reduced soil tillage. Such practices help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, thereby reducing a farm's carbon footprint.

"We are steadfastly committed to regenerative organic farming practices, which contribute to better health, more vital soil, and a smaller carbon footprint," said Vincent Deschamps, owner of 54 Green Acres Farm, a Sun+Earth Certified farm in Southern Oregon and part of the new program. "But it's difficult for small-scale farmers to compete with large industrial operations, whose cannabis products occupy a disproportionate share of dispensary shelf space," continued Deschamps. "We're excited for the 'Made with Sun+Earth Flower' program to highlight our important work and bring greater equity and fairness to the industry."

"The 'Made with Sun+Earth Flower' program is much-needed and will open doors for regenerative organic cannabis farmers who are struggling financially," said David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner's, the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America, and a long-time cannabis and organic advocate. "This new marketing program from Sun+Earth is an innovative way to level the playing field for family farmers trying to compete with large-scale, industrial cannabis producers who currently dominate the market."

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