A new report from Human Rights Watch and the Drug Policy Alliance lifts the lid on some sordid practices in America's intertwined wars on drugs and immigrants.
The Czech government appears to be set on rolling out a full commercial marijuana legalization bill, the Philippines is dealing with its legacy of drug war prison overcrowding, and more.
A new Senate bill would offer protections for past marijuana users seeking federal employment, the Bahamas is moving to legalize medical and spiritual marijuana, and more.
Nitazenes are showing up in the Massachusetts drug supply, the Biden administration extends a declaration of national emergency aimed at Mexican drug cartels, and more.
Florida Gov. Ron De Santis (R) used his Republican National Convention speech to go after the marijuana legalization initiative in his state, but the legalization campaign is far outstripping the opposition in fundraising.
A new report from Human Rights Watch and the Drug Policy Alliance lifts the lid on some sordid practices in America's intertwined wars on drugs and immigrants.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. (ACLU)
Paul Pierrulus was born into a Haitian family on the island of St. Martin and came undocumented to the US when he was five. He grew up in an extended family in New York where education was emphasized, but he only discovered his immigration status when he began researching financial aid for college. Because he was undocumented, his financial aid prospects were limited and he turned to selling cocaine to his fellow students to earn money. He got busted and did a six-month "shock incarceration" stint in prison. That is when his immigrant saga turned into a nightmare.
After he did his time, he was not released. Instead, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) nabbed him, and he spent the next 2 ½ years in immigration detention as the US government attempted to deport him to Haiti -- a country where his parents were born but where he was not a citizen and had never lived. ICE only released him after the Haitian embassy confirmed to ICE that he was not a Haitian citizen. He was placed on ICE supervision and required to report to an ICE officer. He got a job in strategic consulting at a financial firm, where he worked for 13 years. He became a godfather to several kids in his community, including his sister's son.
And then, suddenly, ICE again demanded proof he was not a Haitian citizen. Pierrulus and his attorneys submitted correspondence with the Haitian consulate confirming he was not, but at his next ICE check-in, they arrested him and sent him back to immigration detention. In February 2021, ICE deported him to Haiti, a country so violent and anarchic that it has not had a functioning government since the last elected president was assassinated two years ago. He moves from place to place to stay ahead of the gangs that hold de facto power in the island nation.
"For almost a decade and a half, I've been productive in society, yet that's when out of nowhere, out of the blue, you come and just shake up my whole entire life," Pierrulus said of his experience.
His sad and infuriating tale is just one of many found in a new report from Human Rights Watch and the Drug Policy Alliance, Disrupt and Vilify: The War on Immigrants Inside the War on Drugs, which documents and quantifies the horrendous impacts of a repressive drug policy used as a hammer against people who fled their home countries for a better life in the United States. Documented or undocumented, long-time residents or not, people in this country caught up in the war on drugs who are not US citizens face disastrous, life-altering, family-exploding consequences -- sometimes for things that are no longer in even crimes in many states.
Based on an analysis of immigration and criminal justice statistics, as well as interviews with 42 people affected by the deportations, including immigrants, families, and attorneys caught up in immigration drug war enforcement, the report found that thousands of people are being deported each drug offenses that in many cases no longer exist under state laws. Between 2002 and 2020, half a million people were deported whose most serious offense was a drug offense.
"The uniquely American combination of the drug war and deportation machine work hand in hand to target, exclude, and punish noncitizens for minor offenses -- or in some states legal activity -- such as marijuana possession," said Maritza Perez Medina, director of federal affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. "This report underscores that punitive federal drug laws separate families, destabilize communities, and terrorize non-citizens, all while overdose deaths have risen and drugs have become more potent and available. It’s imperative that the US government revises federal law to match current state-based drug policy reforms to end and prevent the immense human suffering being inflicted in the name of the drug war."
A previous Human Rights Watch report showed that from 2002 to 2012, 260,000 people were deported for drug-related offenses. This report updates that figure with an additional 240,000 people deported between 2013 and 2020, amounting to about one of every five deportations of immigrants with a criminal conviction during this period.
Convictions for even the most minor drug offenses -- for example, possessing a small amount of a controlled substance, including marijuana -- carry devastating consequences that far outstrip the criminal sentence imposed. The groups found that between 2002 and 2020, the federal government deported at least 156,000 people whose most serious criminal offense was for drug use or possession, including over 47,000 for marijuana use or possession, even though marijuana has been legalized or decriminalized in most states. Often, the offenses that lead to deportation are decades old or so minor they resulted in little or no prison time. Some would not be criminal offenses if committed today.
"Why should parents or grandparents be deported away from children in their care for decades-old drug offenses, including offenses that would be legal today?" said Vicki Gaubeca, associate US director for immigration and border policy at Human Rights Watch. "If drug conduct is not a crime under state law, it should not make someone deportable."
The report focuses on deportations from states with large immigrant populations that have advanced drug policy reforms, including California, Illinois, New York, and Texas. It finds cases of refugees and US military veterans separated from their homes and families due to deportations for drug offenses; immigrants who have lived in the US since childhood deported for drug offenses including marijuana possession, immigrant women sexually abused by corrections officers during their imprisonment for drug offenses, in part because their abusers knew they would soon be deported; and immigrants deported due to drug offenses to countries with dangerous human rights conditions, like Paul Pierrulus.
Many of those interviewed faced automatic deportation because immigration law defines their offenses as "drug trafficking aggravated felonies," which bars them from almost all forms of immigration relief. These include several people whose convictions were for low-level offenses. In such cases, the judge is barred from considering individual factors, like evidence of US family ties, rehabilitation, military service, and other factors, and instead must order the immigrant deported. Some of those interviewed are legal permanent residents who have not been able to become citizens because they have engaged in drug conduct, including conduct that is legal in their states like working in the marijuana industry.
"I'm not able to live and operate without fear because I'm not a citizen," said a lawful permanent resident in California, who was convicted for marijuana and paraphernalia possession. "I've lived here for more than 20 years now. This is my home. I have children here. I want to be a citizen, and I'm making every effort to do that. But it seems like that's not going to be possible."
And since this is the US, there is a racial component to the drug war on immigrants. The majority of people deported from the United States for criminal offenses are Black and Brown. Even within the category of noncitizens, Black immigrants are disproportionately impacted. More than one out of every five non-citizens facing deportation on criminal grounds before US immigration courts are Black. Black immigrants are more likely to be held in immigration detention longer and are less likely to be granted release.
As the overdose crisis and immigration reform increasingly become a central focus of political debates and campaigns, the Drug Policy Alliance and Human Rights Watch emphasize the need for elected officials to show leadership by heeding the research and embracing evidence-based policies grounded in public health, safety, and human rights.
"Deportation tears families apart, and the evidence is clear that despite the US deporting 2,400 people per month for a drug offense, overdose deaths have risen," said Perez Medina. "Our lawmakers must ensure that drug policy reforms prioritize public health policies to address the overdose crisis and problematic drug use. The exclusion and vilification of our immigrant neighbors is inhumane and fails to solve the issues our communities care about."
The two groups have some solutions, too: Congress should reform immigration law to ensure immigrants with criminal convictions, including for drug offenses, are not subject to "one-size-fits-all" deportations. Instead, immigration judges should be given the discretion to make individualized decisions. As an important first step, Congress should impose a statute of limitations on deportations, so people can move beyond old offenses and get on with their lives.
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The Czech government appears to be set on rolling out a full commercial marijuana legalization bill, the Philippines is dealing with its legacy of drug war prison overcrowding, and more.
"Pink cocaine." It is pink but it ain't cocaine.
New Psychoactive Substances
"Pink Cocaine" is Latest New Psychoactive Substance to Hit US. The latest new party drug to make an appearance on the American drug scene is indeed pink but is not cocaine, even though that is what it is called. The potent powder, also known as "tuci," instead typically contains ketamine, along with smaller amounts of methamphetamines or opioids in a powder tinted with food coloring. Grams go for as little as $10.
The drug began appearing among club-goers in South and Central America in recent years and has also been detected in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada. The first known appearance in the US came in Manhattan in early 2023, when authorities arrested a man holding 10 pounds of the stuff. This year, US Coast Guard officials have seized more than 140 pounds of "pink cocaine" off the coasts of Central and South America.
"Certainly, any customer would assume that there would be cocaine in something marketed as 'pink cocaine,'" New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said. "But it's interesting how rarely we actually find it. The primary concern is for the users. Cocaine is a stimulant, and someone who is expecting to get cocaine may know how it affects their body or their tolerance. Ketamine is something completely different. It's an anesthetic, a sedative and it has hallucinogenic properties as well. So, it has a very different effect on the body. It really could be harmful to the user, and the users don't know what they're getting."
Joseph Palamar, an associate professor and drug researcher at NYU Langone Health, has studied the "new ketamine connection." He pointed out that "tuci" is a phonetic translation of "2C," referring to a series of new psychoactive substances.
"Those are psychedelic phenethylamines which go back to the 1970s," he said. "Those have been popular underground drugs for decades, particularly 2C-B. "The play on words right there is clever or deceptive, depending on how you want to look at it," Palamar continued. "They're kind of tricking people. Now people for the most part don't even know what's in 'tuxi'... I don't think any two concoctions are going to be identical."
Imprisonment
Congress Approves Bill Overhauling Oversight of Bureau of Prisons. In the wake of reporting from The Associated Press on scandal and systemic corruption in the federal prison system, Congress has approved a reform bill, the Federal Prison Oversight Act (HR 3019), with a final Senate vote last week. The measure is now on the desk of President Joe Biden.
The bill, which passed the House in May, would create an independent ombudsman for the federal Bureau of Prisons to investigate allegations of rampant sexual abuse, criminal misconduct by prison staff, chronic understaffing, escapes, and high-profile deaths.
It would also require the Justice Department's Inspector General to inspect all 122 federal prison facilities, make recommendations on deficiencies, and assign each prison a risk score. Those scored as riskier would receive more frequent inspections.
As of this month, drug offenders make up 44.3 percent of all federal prisoners.
The bill grew out of a Senate Bipartisan Prison Policy Working Group launched in February 2022 and led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Il) and Mike Braun (R-IN). Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced the Senate version of the bill, while Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Lucy McBath (D-GA) filed the House version.
International
Czechs Appear Poised to Go for Full Legal Marijuana Commerce. Despite the earlier rollout of a draft marijuana legalization bill that did not contain plans for full-on commercial legalization -- which may have been a political feint -- newly leaked documents suggest that the Czech government is eyeing a full commercial legalization bill.
If it succeeds, it will be the first European government to do so. Both Germany and Luxembourg have already legalized marijuana but without embracing full commercial legalization, at least in part because of opposition from the European Union.
A draft legalization bill made public in January did not include plans for a commercial market, infuriating marijuana advocates. However, the leaked documents suggest that the omission of a legal market was a deliberate political strategy designed to pressure opponents and demonstrate public support for full-on legalization.
A second bill that includes legal commerce has also been drafted. It includes legal home cultivation, German-style social clubs for cooperative grows, but also "a regulated cannabis market."
"From the point of view of the National Drug Policy Coordinator, this proposal is insufficient and I consider the Cannabis Management Act, which contains three pillars: self-growth, delegation, and a regulated cannabis market, to be effective in minimizing the illicit cannabis market," Drug Policy Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil said. "I therefore take the liberty of submitting to the political representation a comprehensive bill on the management of cannabis, which extends the present proposal to include the pillar of the regulated cannabis market. In doing so, I am also meeting the expectations of some coalition partners."
Now the government has actually to pass the bill.
Philippines Policy Shifts Relieve Chronic Prison Overcrowding. The Manila City Jail is supposed to have a capacity of 1,200 prisoners. It currently holds 3,200 prisoners. The jail superintendent is working to reduce the prison population and has instructed his deputies "to check all the records of the prisoners, because I presumed that many of them, already had their expected date of release."
But red tape is not the primary cause of prison overcrowding -- the legacy of former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs is.
In addition to killing tens of thousands of suspected drug users and sellers, Duterte's crackdown pushed thousands into jails and prisons, playing a major role in increasing the country's incarcerated population from 95,000 in 2015 to more than 165,000 in 2021 and making the Philippines prison system one of the most overcrowded in the world.
Now, the authorities in the Philippines are working to lower incarceration rates. Prisoners over 70 are being prioritized for release and sentence reductions for good behavior are increasing. More significantly, authorities are moving to reduce the number of people in pre-trial detention and seeking prison sentences only for the most serious offenses.
But for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), what is needed is to change the overall approach to drug-related crime. "Drugs are not just a law enforcement issue, they are a health issue as well which should be seen through the lens of prevention and rehabilitation," according to Daniele Marchesi, UNODC’s country chief in the Philippines. "It's a complex problem," added Mr. Marchesi, "that connects the judiciary, the police and other law enforcement agencies on issues including health, drug policy and human rights."
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A new Senate bill would offer protections for past marijuana users seeking federal employment, the Bahamas is moving to legalize medical and spiritual marijuana, and more.
Marijuana Policy
Nitazenes. The powerful synthetic opioids are showing up in Australia's cocaine supply. (Creative Commons)
Senate Bill Filed to Ease Impact of Marijuana Use on Federal Career Prospects. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, filed a bill last Thursday to ease the impact of past marijuana use on federal careers, the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment, or DOOBIE, Act (S. 4711).
The bill says that past use in itself cannot be the basis for negative decisions on the "suitability" for employment or eligibility for security clearances, needed for many federal jobs. It is now before the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
A similar bill, HR 5040, passed the House Oversight Accountability Committee last fall, but it has not received a House floor vote. Filed by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the House bill goes further than the Senate bill, allowing anyone who was rejected for employment or denied a security clearance since 2007 on suitability grounds to request a review to see whether marijuana use was the sole reason for the denial. If it was, the agency would be required to reconsider that decision.
The bills are the latest efforts to ease federal restrictions on marijuana hires and come as two-thirds of the states now allow either medical or adult-use marijuana, or both. Federal workplace guidance on marijuana has changed in recent years, with the Office of Personnel Management telling agencies not to automatically disqualify someone for past marijuana use. But that is only guidance that could be reversed. Passage of the bills would make the policy law.
Trump Vice-Presidential Pick JD Vance Has a Mixed Record on Marijuana. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), who was picked Monday to be the Republican vice-presidential candidate alongside Donald Trump, has a mixed record when it comes to marijuana policy. On the one hand, he has supported the will of the voters when it comes to legalizing marijuana; on the other hand, he has refused to vote for a bill that would aid the state-legal marijuana industry.
Ohioans voted last year to legalize marijuana, and Vance seems okay with that. A month after the vote, as the state Republican Party did everything it could to annul the will of the voters, Vance told an interviewer: "The voters of Ohio have made their decisions known and we should respect that and allow it to be an Ohio issue. Maybe Michigan has a different policy, and Tennessee wants to have a different policy. That's fine. It's a good thing our system is set up this way. I wouldn't want to federalize this issue. I think we federalize far too many issues, and we shouldn't add to it."
But his comment suggests that he would oppose an end to federal marijuana prohibition, even though that would send a strong signal to the remaining states that continue to persecute marijuana users. And it suggests that he is fine with states continuing to persecute marijuana users.
He also refused to vote for a bill that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses to do business with financial institutions, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, S. 2860. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, he voted "no" on the bill last September.
Asked about his opposition to the bill, Vance claimed that "the bill was crafted in such a way that actually would have opened up access to banking resources for fentanyl traffickers and others."
He added "if the legislation is better, I'd be more likely to support it."
"You have to do this in the right way," he said. "You obviously want people to access financial services -- but if you do it the wrong way, you can actually promote illicit activity, and that's what I want to prevent."
That is Vance on marijuana policy, at least so far. But he has proven a malleable political figure, shifting over time from a more traditional Republican stance to a full MAGA. And he has come a long way from the days when he called Trump "America's Hitler," "cultural heroin," and "an idiot."
International
Australia's Cocaine Supply is Being Cut with Nitazenes. Beginning this spring, powerful synthetic opioids known as nitazenes began appearing in the country's illicit cocaine supply. In April, 20 people in outer Sydney overdosed on cocaine found to be cut with nitazenes; in May, four more people were hospitalized after taking nitazene-laced cocaine in Sydney; and earlier this month, more cocaine laced with nitazenes was found in Melbourne.
Nitazenes are a powerful group of synthetic opioids that were developed in the 1950s. They were abandoned for research because they were deemed too dangerous and currently have no accepted medical use. Different nitazenes have variations in potency, but they can be up to 500 times more potent than heroin and 10 times stronger than fentanyl.
Because the drugs are so potent, there is a very fine line between intoxication and overdose. They can be especially dangerous for people not accustomed to using opioids, such as cocaine users who don't realize what is in their powder. And they are fast-acting. When someone overdoses on heroin, it can be an hour or longer before they stop breathing; with nitazenes, it is a matter of minutes.
Drug experts are recommending that people using drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine get them checked at drug-checking services or buy nitazene test strips and test them themselves if no drug-checking service is available nearby. They also recommend buying from a known dealer, beginning with a very small amount, and not using alone. And the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone works with nitazenes. Naloxone is free and available at pharmacies across the country.
Bahamas to Legalize Marijuana for Medicinal and Spiritual Purposes, Decriminalize It for Everybody Else. Prime Minister Philip Davis announced on Monday that he is supporting a series of bills that will legalize marijuana for medicinal and spiritual purposes and decriminalize the possession of small amounts of the herb.
"For years, Bahamians have called for an administration to have the courage to step up and take this issue on in a decisive and responsible manner," Davis stated. "While many other countries, including nations within our region like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados, have taken steps toward decriminalization and legalization for medical use, Bahamians were left wondering when it would be our turn to modernize our local approach to cannabis."
The Bahamas has been discussing marijuana reform for nearly a decade, and a governmental Marijuana Commission issued a final report in August 2021 indicating widespread public support for legalization.
"It was clear that the times had changed, and it was time for our laws to change as well," Davis said. "Today, the wait is over. We are taking action on behalf of all of the people who simply want the ability to legally consume medical cannabis to help them with their medical conditions. Of course, as part of this reform process, we are also taking action to recognize the rights and freedoms of Rastafarians to use cannabis as a sacrament," Davis added. "It should not be against the law for our brothers and sisters of the Rastafarian faith to practice their religion."
The proposed Cannabis Bill (2024) would authorize the production, research, possession, and use of marijuana for medical and religious purposes, establish quality controls, reduce illegal cannabis activities, control access to protect public health, and raise awareness about the health risks associated with cannabis use. The bill would also create the Bahamas Cannabis Authority to regulate legal marijuana. And it reserves business licenses for cultivation, transport, and sales for Bahamians. For licenses related to analytical testing, manufacturing, or research, entities must be at least 30 percent Bahamian-owned.
(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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Nitazenes are showing up in the Massachusetts drug supply, the Biden administration extends a declaration of national emergency aimed at Mexican drug cartels, and more.
San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. Fatal drug overdoses are declining in the city. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy
DEA's Proposed Marijuana Rescheduling Rule Draws More Than 30,000 Public Comments. With less than a week left for public comment on the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) proposed rule to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the agency has already seen more than 30,600 comments submitted. Nearly 3,000 have come in in the last week and more than 1,100 have arrived in the last three days.
The Department of Justice, which oversees the DEA, published the notice of proposed rulemaking on May 21, making July 22 the final day to comment.
The notice of proposed rulemaking came after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended to the DEA that marijuana be moved to a Schedule III classification. The HHS determination came after the Biden administration asked the agency to undertake a review.
Many comments voiced support for rescheduling, while others argued that moving marijuana to Schedule III does not go far enough and the substance should be descheduled. Some commenters opposed any relaxing of marijuana scheduling, citing the "gateway theory" or claiming harms to society from cannabis use disorder.
Advocacy groups on both sides produced sample comments for their supporters to submit. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) saw more than 2,500 comments submitted using its language. In comparison, the anti-reform group Smart Approaches to Marijuana saw nearly 550 comments submitted using its language.
Drug Policy
Massachusetts Reports Growing Presence of Nitazenes in Drug Supply. Nitazenes, synthetic opioids much more powerful than fentanyl, are showing up in drugs samples by a drug checking program in the state. Public health officials say the number of samples testing positive for nitazenes is small but growing rapidly.
"The numbers increased beyond what we were expecting," said Traci Green, an epidemiologist at Brandeis University who works with Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream. "It's better to learn more and be prepared than to ignore it and wait until a serious alarm needs to be raised."
According to the DEA, nitazenes were first detected in the US drug supply in 2019 as traffickers and drug users "look for novel opioids that are not illegal."
But Sarah Mackin, director of harm reduction at the Boston Public Health Commission, said this is a familiar pattern.
"The more that we crack down on things like fentanyl and heroin, that’s going to lead to the rise of other things that are infiltrating the drug supply," Mackin said. "Nitazenes is just the newest thing to come through," after xylazine, the animal tranquilizer found in 9% of overdose deaths in 2023.
Macklin has found nitazenes in several drug samples this year, with the drug measured at five times more potent than fentanyl. It is showing up in powders that sometimes also contain xylazine, a non-opioid sedative commonly known as "tranq."
"These can be more complicated overdoses that require longer rescue breathing or more oxygen support," said Mackin. "We're seeing people who are very over-sedated and take longer to bring back."
San Francisco Drug Overdoses Decline. City officials announced Monday that fatal drug overdoses had reached their lowest level in nearly two years, dropping to 48 overdose deaths in June -- down more than 15 percent from the 57 deaths in June 2023 and the lowest monthly total since July 22, when there were 43 reported overdose deaths.
Although Mayor London Breed (D) has engineered a crackdown on drug dealing and public drug use in select neighborhoods in the city, no one has attributed the decrease in overdose deaths to increased enforcement. Instead, public health officials cited citywide programs as playing a role.
Dr. Hillary Kunins, the director of behavioral health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, cited increased access in recent months to the overdose-reversing medicine Narcan, as well as more street care teams and both telehealth and in-person treatment.
But Stanford University professor and drug expert Keith Humphreys pointed to broader drug use trends -- not city policies.
"There's certainly some sensible things going on -- the biggest one: making anti-overdose medication widely available to as many people as possible," he told KQED. "We've been doing that for years at a pretty high level -- the good that did was baked in already, so I don't think that would explain a change like this."
Humphreys said the decline in overdoses mirrored national data and suggested that more fentanyl users are doing so knowingly and not suffering "surprise overdoses" from drugs they did not know contained fentanyl.
Foreign Policy
Biden Administration Extends National Emergency on Mexican Drug Cartels. The Biden administration has moved to continue a declaration of a national emergency "with respect to significant transnational criminal organizations" that was due to expire next week. The emergency was declared in a 2029 executive order from then-President Donald Trump and aimed at Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the so-called cartels.
"The activities of significant transnational criminal organizations have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems," the administration said in a letter to Congress. "Such organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the United States; they are increasingly entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the international financial system, thereby weakening democratic institutions, degrading the rule of law, and undermining economic markets. These organizations facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the activities of other dangerous persons."
"Significant transnational criminal organizations continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to significant transnational criminal organizations declared in Executive Order 1358," says the letter signed by President Biden.
The National Emergencies Act allows the president to invoke emergency provisions of law via a declaration of an emergency.
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Florida Gov. Ron De Santis (R) used his Republican National Convention speech to go after the marijuana legalization initiative in his state, but the legalization campaign is far outstripping the opposition in fundraising.
Florida Gov. Ron De Santis (R) used his Republican National Convention speech to attack the Florida marijuana legalization initiative. (Florida.gov)
Marijuana Policy
Democratic Party Platform Touts Biden's Marijuana Reforms but Falls Short of 2020. The latest draft of the Democratic Party platform, released Tuesday, touts President Biden's moves to reschedule marijuana and pardon marijuana offenders and calls for broad expungements of past pot offenses, but does not explicitly call for marijuana decriminalization, let alone legalization. That is a step back from the 2020 platform, which included a call for decrim.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said the marijuana pardons were one of the "historic steps" Biden has taken on criminal justice during his first term. The DNC also echoed Biden's mantra that "No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana."
"Sending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Those criminal records impose needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people," the draft says. "President Biden took historic action to end this failed approach by pardoning people convicted federally for using or possessing marijuana. He has called on governors to use their pardon power to do the same for state-level offenses. And his Administration is taking a major step to reschedule marijuana so it's no longer classified as more dangerous than fentanyl or methamphetamine."
And while the draft calls for movement on expungement of past pot offenses, it does not explicitly mention decriminalization. Biden has campaigned on decriminalization in the past but has hardly mentioned it since his election in 2020.
The draft platform goes on the attack against Republicans' marijuana positions, noting that the Trump administration "threatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal" by rescinding Obama-era guidance that generally urged discretion in enforcing prohibition for cannabis-related activity that was legal under state law.
Florida Governor Rails Against Marijuana Legalization Initiative in Republican National Convention Speech. Florida Gov. Ron De Santis (R) used part of his time in the spotlight at the Republican National Convention Wednesday to rail against Amendment 3, the marijuana legalization constitutional amendment from Smart & Safe Florida that it on the ballot in November.
He warned attendees and television viewers that the initiative was "limitless," providing a right to marijuana more profound than the First or Second Amendments, which protect free speech and gun rights, respectively. "It gives you limitless constitutional right to possess and smoke," he claimed.
De Santis attacked the amendment's provision allowing the possession of up to three ounces of marijuana. "I think it's up to like, what, 40 joints? Is that what the three ounces would be, 40 -- more than that? Eighty joints, something like that," the governor said. "It will be bad for quality of life, and it will make Florida more blue."
He also warned that the initiative would allow -- maybe even mandate -- marijuana use in privately owned restaurants. "I think you're talking about going downtown somewhere, going to restaurants, all this -- you are going to see this," DeSantis said. "And law enforcement's not going to want to police it at all. I've had some restaurant guys [say], ‘Well, I won't let them use it in my restaurant,'" the governor continued. "Well, I'm not sure you're going to be able to do that, given how broad it is."
And he complained about the smell of weed. "You go to places like Denver. It smells like marijuana," he told the crowd. "It's not been good for quality of life. So that's just the reality we've seen in in practice in a lot of places. It hasn't delivered what they said it would deliver."
The Amendment 3 campaign is largely funded by a single marijuana company, Trulieve, that stands to benefit financially from legalization, and De Santis used that as an attack angle, too. "This is being driven by one company from Canada, and they came into Florida for medical [marijuana]," DeSantis said.
Florida farmers "will not be allowed to" grow marijuana, he said, alleging the proposal's backers "are basically putting corporate protectionism into the constitution to protect them so they get to sell it all. "I mean, how ridiculous is this," the governor complained, "that we would let our constitution basically be rent-seeking for some Canadian marijuana company. I mean, give me a break."
Trulieve is not a Canadian company. It was founded in Florida by Floridians nearly a decade ago. A Trulieve spokesman, Steve Vancore, said it was "absolutely untrue" that the initiative would create "a limitless constitutional right to possess and smoke," as De Santis put it.
"The clear terms and limits are outlined in the actual ballot language including the ability of Florida lawmakers to enact restrictions on when and where someone can smoke," he said. "Both the actual language of the amendment and the rest of the Florida Constitution clearly and unequivocally give Florida lawmakers to do the same thing they currently do for alcohol and tobacco consumption."
Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Has Now Raised More Than $60 Million. Gov. Ron De Santis (R) and the state Republican Party are opposing the Amendment 3 marijuana legalization constitutional amendment, but are facing an uphill battle when it comes to financing.
Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the initiative, reported collecting nearly $314,000 in the first week of this month, bringing the total raised by the campaign to nearly $61.5 million.
Most of that July money came from two marijuana companies. Chicago-based Verano holdings donated $250,000. The company already owns 77 medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, which Amendment 3 would make well-positioned to earn big profits after legalization. The quarter-million-dollar donation this month is in addition to $2.25 million Verano contributed earlier this year. And Oregon-based Dutchie kicked in $50,000.
Another medical marijuana company, Trulieve, which also stands to benefit financially from legalization, has been the primary financial backer of the campaign, contributing more than $35 million so far.
An opposition campaign spearheaded by Gov. De Santis is far out-spent by the pro-legalization forces. It is receiving some financing from state hemp industry interests, who fear they will lose out under Amendment 3. They have pledged $5 million to defeat it.
(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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