The "Organic Section" program from regenerative organic marijuana certifier Sun+Earth aims to let marijuana consumers be informed about what's in their weed.
A Nebraska Republican has appealed a court decision upholding voter-approved medical marijuana initiatives, Colombia bombards the Gulf Clan, and more.
The House passes a defense spending bill without a provision to bar the marijuana testing of military recruits, New York regulators issue more legal pot business licenses, and more.
The corporate strategic consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay hundreds of millions for its role in creating the prescription opioid addiction epidemic, and more.
A South Carolina legislative champion of medical marijuana is back to try with another bill this coming session, and more.
Canada will tighten its borders in the face of Trump tariff threats, opium production falls slightly in Myanmar, and more.
A new poll from the conservative Manhattan Institute shows strong support for marijuana legalization, European Union experts meet to ponder what do to about drug trafficking, and more.
A Utah DHS agent gets nailed for using a snitch to sell seized bath salts, an Iowa deputy heads to prison for stealing dope from the evidence room and breaking into pharmacies to get more, and more.
The "Organic Section" program from regenerative organic marijuana certifier Sun+Earth aims to let marijuana consumera be informed about what's in their weed.
Organic Section at Chalice, a Golden Grail Group dispensary in Portland, OR (Photo Credit: Vincent Deschamps)
This past summer, concerns about the safety of legal marijuana moved front and center after the Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek, a cannabis industry newsletter, reported that the California Department of Cannabis Control had been aware for months that dangerous chemicals had been detected in legal marijuana sold to the public.
The joint investigation found high levels of insecticide chlorfenapyr in cannabis products sold in pot shops around the state. The World Health Organization identifies it as a moderately toxic pesticide, but the National Institutes of Health reported that "Although [chlorfenapyr] has been identified as a moderately toxic pesticide by the World Health Organization (WHO), the mortality rate of poisoned patients is extremely high. There is no specific antidote for chlorfenapyr poisoning."
The report also found that many popular brands of vapes and pre-rolled joints were contaminated. The Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek tested 42 different products, and 25 of them contained concentrations of pesticides above allowable levels. Some products contained as many as two dozen different pesticides, and some well-known vape brands had levels above federal thresholds for harm from a single exposure.
This wasn't the first time concerns had been raised -- see more reporting on the problem from the Times here and reporting on it from Beyond Pesticides hereand here -- but it certainly brought the issue into focus. Now, someone is doing something about it.
The regenerative organic marijuana certification organization Sun+Earth announced last week that it is partnering with pot shops in California and Oregon to launch a new program called "Organic Section" to promote pesticide-free, organically grown Sun+Earth-certified products and make them more accessible to consumers. The initiative is designed to piggyback on consumer familiarity with organic sections in grocery stores by creating dedicated areas within the shops for marijuana certified by Sun+Earth or other similar programs.
The program rolled out at 11 Oregon shops in Portland, Eugene, and Salem, with the Golden Grail Group, which owns the prominent Oregon cannabis dispensaries Chalice Farms, Homegrown Oregon, and Belushi's Animal House, taking a lead role. And it launched in California, too, with pot shops including Sespe Creek in Ojai, Herb & Market Humboldt in Arcata, and The Woods, a cannabis dispensary in West Hollywood, co-owned by Woody Harrelson, all taking part.
"The Organic Section program has provided us with a distinct advantage in the competitive retail landscape," said William Simpson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Golden Grail Group in a press release announcing the program. "Our customers appreciate having a dedicated area where they can easily find products that align with their values. Our employees are also excited to help educate customers in understanding how their cannabis is grown," continued Simpson.
While the market research group TrendSource found in its Cannabis Industry Report that more than half (53 percent) of American marijuana users are willing to pay more for organic marijuana, the vast majority of marijuana products contain no labeling on how they were sourced and grown or what pesticides or other chemicals were used, let alone on whether they are organic. The Organic Section program tackles this issue by incorporating a consumer education campaign to raise awareness about the health and environmental benefits of organically grown marijuana. That campaign includes educating budtenders and making educational materials available at participating shops.
"Organic sections are no longer just for grocery stores," said Jacob Policzer, Sun+Earth co-founder and Executive Director. "By bringing this familiar model to dispensaries, cannabis consumers will be better able to discern which products are being made using regenerative organic farming practices. As the cannabis market continues to evolve, initiatives like the Organic Section program provide a vital lifeline, ensuring that craft and heritage cannabis farms can continue to thrive without compromising the health of consumers and the planet," continued Policzer.
In addition to boosting consumer engagement, the Organic Section program supports craft farms by increasing their market exposure. These dedicated sections allow consumers to easily identify and choose products certified by trusted programs, including cannabis products with the familiar Sun+Earth seal and concentrated cannabis products made with Sun+Earth Certified flower.
"Our goal is to create a seamless shopping experience that aligns with consumer expectations and supports the growth of sustainable, organically grown cannabis," said Vincent Deschamps, Sun+Earth board member and owner of 54 Green Acres farm in Oregon. "We believe the Organic Section program will set a new standard in the industry, benefiting consumers, dispensaries, and craft farms alike," continued Deschamps.
Marijuana users are not purely at the mercy of the market. They can choose to buy healthier products for themselves and the environment. Sun+Earth's Organic Section program can help and it can serve as an example for the rest of the industry.
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A Nebraska Republican has appealed a court decision upholding voter-approved medical marijuana initiatives, Colombia bombards the Gulf Clan, and more.
Bolivians chew coca. The country defended the traditional use of coca at the UN in Vienna this week. (Creative Commons)
Nebraska Sore Loser Tries Again to Annul Will of the Voters. Republican politicians in the Cornhusker State just cannot accept that voters chose to embrace a paired set of medical marijuana initiatives in last month's elections, and now one of them, former state Sen. John Kuehn, has appealed a court ruling that let the initiative results stand.
Kuehn had argued unsuccessfully that the initiatives, one of which would protect patients and the other of which would set up a state medical marijuana system, were passed unlawfully because the courts had not examined their legality. He noted that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, writing that, "The measures attempt to legalize action that state law cannot legalize."
Kuehn's lawsuit named five people, including Gov. Jim Pillen (R) and Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R). Kuehn had demanded that Pillen not approve the measures and gave him a December 10 deadline to respond. Pillen has not done so.
"The Governor did not respond and therefore refused to accept the terms of the demand letter," Kuehn's appeal noted.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana spokesperson Crista Eggers scoffed at Kuehn's efforts: "48 other states in our Nation have passed laws legalizing some form of cannabis or its derivatives. With 70% support at the polls, Nebraska voters made it overwhelmingly clear that they support safe and regulated medical cannabis access. The assertion that Nebraska’s new medical cannabis laws violate the Supremacy Clause of the US. The Constitution disregards decades of state-led independence and innovation. Under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, states have the right to address the unique needs of their citizens without undue interference. The campaign remains committed to defending Nebraska's medical cannabis laws to ensure patients and families have access to the care they deserve."
Psychedelics
Illinois Therapeutic Psychedelics Bill Gets Hearing. The House Mental Health and Addiction Committee held a hearing Tuesday in Chicago to garner testimony about House Bill 1, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act. The measure would clear the way for the use of psychedelic substances in psychological treatment.
Lawmakers heard from people who had benefitted from psychedelics, such as psychotherapist Drew Snyder, a veteran who was diagnosed with PTSD, and testified that he's benefited from psilocybin treatment.
"This [psilocybin] was a last-ditch effort to reclaim my mental health and I had a therapeutic journey that was profound and transformative," Snyder said. "I was able to access and heal these deep wounds in my psyche and it was just days after that and I was standing in the kitchen with my wife and I remember her saying, 'I feel like I have my husband back, the man I originally married.'"
But some lawmakers were skeptical. State Rep. Bill Hauter (R), an emergency room physician, said the potential of psychedelics was exciting. "But as physicians we have to deal in evidence, not emotion," he continued. [Proponents say] it's harmless, there's no possibility of addiction, it's completely safe. If that's all true, prove it."
The Illinois Psychiatric Society was also leery, with spokesperson Christopher Holden saying there were not enough safeguards for patient safety.
"Are you concerned how it would be administered and that those administering it would not have the proper education, expertise, training, and experience to handle and administer these medications?" asked Hauter.
"Yes," said Holden.
"Are you concerned about the complications that may occur?" asked Hauter.
"Yes," said Holden.
"Is that why the Illinois Psychiatric Society is opposed?" asked Hauter.
"At least in part," said Holden.
No vote was taken.
International
Bolivia Again Calls on UN to Decriminalize Coca Leaves. The Andean nation used a meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna to reiterate its call for the coca leaf to be removed from the UN's list of narcotic drugs.
Juan Carlos Alurralde, Bolivia's Secretary General of the Vice Presidency of the State, told the meeting the coca leaf has been wrongly classified as a harmful drug since the middle of the last century.
"It is essential to correct the historical prejudice affecting this ancestral plant," he said.
He noted that Bolivia withdrew from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs over the issue, only rejoining after winning the inclusion of a clause protecting the medicinal and nutritional use of the plant.
"We have demonstrated that it is possible to preserve ancestral practices while complying with international regulations and combating drug trafficking in a responsible manner," he said.
Alluralde also praised the World Health Organization for undertaking an ongoing critical examination of the coca leaf, which he described as an opportunity to vindicate it as a resource of great cultural and medicinal value.
Colombia Drops Bombs on Gulf Clan Bases, Leaving Eight Dead. President Gustavo Petro announced Monday that the military had bombarded bases of the cocaine trafficking organization the Gulf Clan, the first time the leftist president has struck against the group since he took office. The strikes left four Clan members dead, and Petro reported that four soldiers also died descending from a helicopter.
The raids and bombardments occurred in Antioquia province, where the Gulf Clan is trying to build up forces. Petro said the attacks "seriously damaged" those efforts.
For years, the Colombian Army had resorted to airstrikes to combat leftist guerrillas, but Petro had foresworn that tactic -- until now. Instead, he announced a unilateral ceasefire with the Gulf Clan in 2023, which quickly collapsed.
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The House passes a defense spending bill without a provision to bar the marijuana testing of military recruits, New York regulators issue more legal pot business licenses, and more.
President Biden issued more than 1,500 clemencies and pardons today. (Creative Commons)
House Passes Defense Spending Bill without Provision to Bar Marijuana Testing for Recruits. The House has given final approval to the must-pass annual defense spending bill but without language that would have barred marijuana drug testing for recruits or those seeking an officer's commission. That provision was included in the House version of the bill passed during the summer.
The Senate included language in its version of the bill that would have mandated drug testing for recruits. Neither of those provisions made it into the version passed by the House this week.
The provision that would have barred marijuana testing reads as follows: "Subject to subsection (a) of section 504 of chapter 31 of title 10, United States Code, the Secretary of the military department concerned may not require an individual to submit to a test for cannabis as a condition of enlistment of such individual as a member, or the commission of such individual as an officer, of an Armed Force."
No members attempted to put the reform back in as an amendment to the defense bill before the final House vote Wednesday. The bill now goes to the Senate, after which it will head to the desk of President Biden if the upper chamber makes no changes to it.
New York Regulators Issue 68 Marijuana Business Licenses, but Thousands Remain Pending. The state's Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has issued 68 licenses for legal marijuana businesses, but still faces a backlog of more than 3,000 applications.
During a CCB meeting on Tuesday, the board approved two cultivator licenses, six microbusiness licenses, 15 retail licenses, 21 distributor licenses, and 24 processor licenses.
Regulators said they were slow-rolling license issuance to avoid oversaturating the market and noted that 261 licensed pot shops are already open across the state.
"The New York State cannabis industry continues to set and exceed its benchmarks," CCB Chair Tremaine Wright said in a statement."With 261 dispensaries open and more than $900 million in retail sales to date, we are seeing the real-world impacts of our efforts to support entrepreneurs, create industry-leading jobs and to generate revenue for our communities."
It took the state nearly two years to record the first legal marijuana sale after it legalized it in March 2021, leaving an opening for hundreds -- if not thousands -- of illicit, unlicensed pot shops to operate until a crackdown beginning last spring shuttered many of them. But now, regulators have issued more than 1,400 marijuana permits this year alone. Still, about 3,000 license applications received in December 2023 remain pending, with some applicants paying rent on retail outlets that are not generating revenue pending licensing.
Harm Reduction
Drug Overdose Deaths Continue Rapid Decline, CDC Reports. Drug overdose deaths have declined by 17 percent over the preceding 12-month period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Tuesday. The latest figures continue a trend of declining overdose that begin earlier this year after more than two decades of rising overdose deaths.
The 17 percent decline marks the largest drop in overdose deaths ever and brings the overall toll under a hundred thousand for the first time since the pandemic.
The decline is not uniform: Six states, mainly in the West, are still seeing overdose deaths rise, while some of the states that suffered the most from the opioid crisis, such as Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia, have seen the biggest drops in fatal ODs.
Public health officials and researchers see multiple causes for the decline, including better drug treatment, the wider availability of opioid maintenance medications, broader access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, and a possible Chinese crackdown on fentanyl precursor production.
Pardons and Commutations
President Biden Announces Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Americans. The White House released this statement on presidential pardons and clemencies Thursday:
"Today, President Biden announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans -- the most ever in a single day -- who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer. The President is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. He is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes. These actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.
"Together, these actions build on the President's record of criminal justice reform to help reunite families, strengthen communities, and reintegrate individuals back into society. The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms. He is also the first President ever to issue categorical pardons to individuals convicted of simple use and possession of marijuana, and to former LGBTQI+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation. In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to review additional pardons and commutations."
The White House also noted that President Biden pardoned 39 people for nonviolent criminal offenses including drug offenses today, but that it is not the first time. In April 2022, he granted three pardons and 75 commutations for various drug offenses; in December 2022, he granted six pardons for drug- and alcohol-related offenses; in April 2023, he granted 31 commutations; in December 2023 and April 2024, he granted 11 more pardons and 16 commutations for people sentenced for nonviolent drug offenses.
In October 2022, Biden issued a full, complete, and unconditional categorical pardon for the offense of simple possession of marijuana, and in December 2023, he expanded earlier relief for the offenses of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, regardless of whether the individual had been charged with or prosecuted for the offenses on or before the date of the proclamation.
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The corporate strategic consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay hundreds of millions for its role in creating the prescription opioid addiction epidemic, and more.
Captagon, or Middle Eastern speed. Syrian rebels have uncovered a huge factory at a Syrian Army base run by Assad's brother. (narconon.us)
Opiates and Opioids
Corporate Management Consulting Firm McKinsey to Pay $650 Million in Opioid Settlement With Justice Department. McKinsey & Company, a strategic and management consulting firm that advised Purdue Pharma, among other clients, has agreed to pay $650 million to the Justice Department over its work with the OxyContin manufacturer. A senior company executive, Martin Elling, will plead guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying company records in a bid to obscure its role in helping to generate the opioid epidemic of the past quarter-century.
McKinsey advised Purdue to "turbocharge" the sale of OxyContin even as the prescription opioid was driving the spread of opiate use that morphed into the illicit fentanyl epidemic that still confronts the country. McKinsey billed Purdue $93 million for consulting over 15 years.
McKinsey had previously settled opioid investigations by paying hundreds of millions of dollars but not admitting any wrongdoing. That is no longer the case.
The company issued a statement Friday apologizing for its role in the opioid epidemic: "We are deeply sorry for our past client service to Purdue Pharma and the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client," the consulting firm wrote. "We should have appreciated the harm opioids were causing in our society and we should not have undertaken sales and marketing work for Purdue Pharma. This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of profound regret for our firm."
Asset Forfeiture
Sens. Booker, Paul Introduce Bipartisan FAIR Act to Reform Civil Forfeiture Laws. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act on Thursday to reform civil forfeiture laws and protect Americans' rights from government abuse.
"Civil asset forfeiture allows federal law enforcement to seize the property of Americans who haven't even been charged with or convicted of a crime," said Booker. "Under this system, police can keep cash, cars, and even homes based on mere suspicion of a crime. These losses often become law enforcement’s profit because the burden is on the property owner to prove they should get their property back. Reforming federal civil asset forfeiture is long overdue and the FAIR Act will ensure due process and protect the public from unfair deprivations and forfeiture abuses."
The latest version of the FAIR Act closely mirrors previous versions of the bill, with updates to reflect changes made by the House Judiciary Committee during a markup on June 14, 2023. The bill was favorably reported out of committee by a unanimous 26-0 vote, signaling broad bipartisan support and increasing the likelihood of legislative progress. In the Senate, the FAIR Act is currently cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mike Lee (R-UT), Angus King (I-ME), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
The FAIR Act would eliminate "equitable sharing," the program that allows state law enforcement officers to turn seized property over to federal officials for forfeiture -- and get up to 80% of the proceeds of the forfeited property. The FAIR Act ends "equitable" sharing and ensures that law enforcement cannot ignore state law. It would also restore the rule in which the proceeds of forfeiture go to the Treasury's General Fund, where Congress can appropriate the money for any purpose.
The FAIR Act also places on the government the burden to show that a property owner consented or was willfully blind to his property being used in a crime by a third party and would require that the government prove its case by the higher standard of clear and convincing evidence, instead of the current preponderance of the evidence standard that the property was used for an illegal purpose.
International
Syrian Rebels Uncover Massive Cache of Captagon at Army Base Run By Assad's Brother. Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant popular in the Middle East, has been rumored to be a big revenue generator for the recently deposed regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and now, with his regime having vanished and Assad himself having fled to Moscow, Syrian rebels are adding some substance to those rumors.
They released videos Friday of a captagon factory hidden in a quarry at a Syrian Army base overseen by his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, one of the most powerful men in the country (until last week). The factory contained hundreds of thousands of the pills, as well as piles of precursor chemicals.
Captagon manufacturing in Syria was pioneered by rebel factions after the civil war broke out in 2011 but since has reportedly come to be dominated by the Syrian state. The global market for captagon is valued at around $10 billion, with about 80 percent being manufactured in Syria, netting the al-Assad government around $2.4 billion a year, more than it's war-torn and sanction-battered legitimate economy. Much of the production and distribution was overseen by the Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian Army, an elite unit commanded by Maher al-Assad. Other major players in the trade included regime-friendly businessmen, Hezbollah, and more members of al-Assad's extended family.
Ahmed al-Shara, leader of the rebel offensive that broke the al-Assad regime, vowed to eradicate the trade during a speech last week: "Syria has become the biggest producer of captagon on Earth," he said, "and today, Syria is going to be purified by the grace of God."
But given the huge profits involved, the disarray within Syria, the well-established smuggling networks, the easy access to precursor chemicals, and captagon-hungry consumer markets in the region, it is hard to see the trade going away.
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A South Carolina legislative champion of medical marijuana is back to try with another bill this coming session, and more.
Medical marijuana dispensaries should be coming soon to the Cornhusker State after a November victory at the polls. (Creative Commons)
Nebraska Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Initiatives into Law. Gov. Jim Pullen (R) has signed into law a paired set of medical marijuana initiatives approved last month by the voters. With a stroke of his pen, he declared that the initiatives are "in full force and effect as part of the statutes of the State of Nebraska."
Initiatives 437 and 438 would provide protections to medical marijuana patients and providers and set up a system of medical marijuana access, respectively.
They passed only after years of effort by activists, including two campaigns that were unsuccessful at qualifying for the ballot.
"There was a brave and courageous group of parents who, years and years ago, saw the help this plant was giving to patients in other states," said Crista Eggers, campaign manager for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. "That group began fighting, they began educating and opening other people's minds and hearts to change the lives of their fellow Nebraskans."
Pillen's signature last Thursday came a day after a district court judge denied a request from a Republican former state lawmaker for a temporary injunction to block the governor from signing the initiatives into law. "The public interest does not favor the issuance of the injunction," the judge ruled.
But that case has been appealed, and the state Supreme Court agreed last Wednesday to hear the case. And even Pillen, who signed the initiatives into law, warned that he wanted to "caution the public on the limited nature of these proclamations." Pillen said he still had "serious issues" with the initiatives' legality under federal law. "The federal government has designated marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance," they said. "Under federal law, it is unlawful to either possess or sell Schedule I controlled substances."
South Carolina State Senator Files Medical Marijuana Bill. Longtime medical marijuana advocate Sen. Tom Davis (R) has pre-filed Senate Bill 53, a medical marijuana bill for the legislative session that begins next month.
Marijuana "can be a therapeutic benefit in many respects, and a lot less intrusive way than opioids or the pharmaceuticals," Davis said.
His bill is highly restrictive, in line with sentiment in his state, he added.
"It requires doctors in patient authorization, doctor supervision," Davis said of the legalization plan. "It requires pharmacists to dispense it. It is a very conservative bill, because that’s what South Carolinians want."
Davis authored a similar bill last session. It passed the Senate in February, only to languish in the House all spring, never getting a floor vote.
"I do think this was a worthwhile effort. It certainly isn't time wasted," Davis said at the time. "We learned a lot today and got some good information."
The new bill would allow people suffering from a specified list of "debilitating medical conditions" to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It would not allow smoking or patients to grow their own medicine. The state Department of Public Health and the Board of Pharmacy would regulate the industry, and a Medical Cannabis Advisory Board would decide whether to add or remove qualifying conditions for the program.
Sentencing Policy
New York Activists Start New Push for State-Level Sentencing Reforms. Activists rallied Monday in cities across the state to kick off next year's effort to win sentencing reforms in Albany. This will mark the fourth year in a row that they have pushed for a package of three sentencing reform bills.
The Earned Time Act would allow prisoners to earn good time for good behavior -- not just completing educational or vocational programs. The Second Look Act would allow judges to revisit past harsh sentences and consider imposing less harsh ones. And the Eliminate Mandatory Minimums Act would do just what it says, abolishing mandatory minimums as the last vestige of the draconian Rockefeller drug laws.
Activists have created a broad coalition including unions, business leaders, civil rights groups, and former Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Brian Fischer.
"As someone who has spent my career in corrections, I support the Earned Time and Second Look Act, along with sentencing reforms because they seek to look at each case on an individual basis acknowledging that every person’s situation is unique," Fischer said.
Last year, activists claimed a victory with the passage of the Clean Slate Act, which will clear the criminal records of people with past convictions provided they have stayed out of trouble. But they face tough headwinds in Albany, where they have to reckon with a continued backlash against the state's 2019 bail reform and Republican fearmongering on crime.
Assembly Member Anna Kelles, sponsor of the Earned Time Act, said the trio of bills serve to improve both prison safety and the safety of the public. "We need to pass this legislative package in 2025 to increase participation in rehabilitative opportunities so that we can reduce violence inside prisons, change lives, preserve families, allow for effective reintegration back into society upon completion of a sentence, and improve public safety for all," she said.
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Canada will tighten its borders in the face of Trump tariff threats, opium production falls slightly in Myanmar, and more.
Myanmar is now once again the world's leading opium producer even though production declined slightly from last year. (UNODC)
Harm Reduction
Massachusetts Addiction Treatment Bill Will Not Include Safe Injection Sites. After months of negotiations, lawmakers have filed a compromise addiction and drug treatment bill, House Bill 5143, that does not include safe injection sites, which originally had been part of the measure.
Reps. Alice Peisch (D) and Adrian Madaro (D) and Sen. Brendan Crighton (D) filed the bill Tuesday afternoon. Madaro and Crighton are co-chairs of the conference committee charged with drafting the bill.
The safe injection site provision was included in the Senate draft of the bill but not the House version and lawmakers pointed to contention over that provision as a key factor in delaying the filing of the bill.
The provision had the support of the Department of Public Health, with Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein calling the sites "lifelines, serving not only as places of intervention, but as places of empathy, understanding, and healing."
Both branches are in session on Thursday, and the House will have the first chance to take up the measure.
The compromise legislation aims to limit the toll of addiction and substance use disorder. Even though drug overdose deaths have declined in the state over last year, more than 2,000 state residents died of overdoses in 2023. The bill would boost access to overdose reversal drugs, including by requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of emergency use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone and requiring hospitals to provide patients with a history of drug use at least two doses of naloxone when they are discharged.
The House is debating the bill this week.
International
China Criticizes US Politicians' "Smears" of Its Anti-Drug Efforts. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has lashed out at US lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for a trio of bills they have offered to target "China's role in the fentanyl crisis."
The three bills produced by the committee's Fentanyl Working Group are the Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2024, The CCP Fentanyl Sanctions Act, and the International Protecting from PRC Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids Act.
The first bill would allow US authorities to cut off Chinese companies from the banking system, including vessels, ports, and online marketplaces that "knowingly or recklessly" aid the shipment of illicit synthetic drugs. The other two bills would create a US task force to disrupt drug trafficking networks and allow for civil penalties on Chinese companies that "fail to properly manifest or follow formal entry channels when shipping precursors to the US."
In response to a press question about the bills, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said China will not accept distortions and disinformation from American politicians to smear China's anti-drug efforts. American politicians need to look for the root causes of drug abuse at home, Lin said, and take more practical measures to reduce demand and strengthen drug control rather than scapegoating other countries.
"Every day, China's counternarcotics authorities fight the illicit diversion of precursor chemicals in strict accordance with law and make sure that relevant companies do their business in accordance with the laws and regulations," Lin noted.
The US is playing with fire in criticizing China's cooperation on fentanyl, said Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University. China's cooperation on fentanyl is a gesture of good will, he said, and if the US retaliates against China, it would "certainly affect China's willingness to continue cooperating with the US and will create obstacles for future drug control collaboration" he warned.
Canada Announces Tougher Border Security After Trump Tariff Threat. Following President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, Canada has responded with a promise to impose sweeping new security measures on its border with the US, including more surveillance and a joint strike force to target transnational organized crime. The finance minister said Canada will spend $900 million on the effort.
Trump vowed to impose tariffs if Canada does not block the flow of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs across the border. (Both immigrant and drug flows across the Canadian border are minuscule compared to the border with Mexico.)
Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Tuesday that Canada's response "will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration while ensuring the free flow of people and goods that are at the core of North America's prosperity."
The plan includes disrupting the fentanyl trade, new tools for Canadian law enforcement, deeper cooperation with US law enforcement, more information sharing, and limiting traffic at the border. It includes a proposed aerial surveillance task force between ports of entry, new drug dog teams, and detection tools to find illicit drugs.
LeBlanc said the "joint strike force" would include "support in operational surges, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated enforcement teams, and new operational capacity and infrastructure." He also said he and other officials had met with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan, infamous as the architect of the child separation policy in the first Trump administration, and that he was "encouraged by that conversation."
Myanmar Still World's Leading Opium Producer, But Production Has Fallen for First Time Since 2021 Coup. With the Taliban-imposed ban on opium still largely intact in Afghanistan, Myanmar is the world's largest opium producer, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report. But for the first time since the military coup of 2021, production has declined UNODC said.
Myanmar led the world with 1,080 tons of opium produced in 2023, but that figure declined to 995 tons this year, UNODC said.
The cause of the decrease was not increased enforcement but increased conflict. There was a "strong correlation" between reduced harvests and escalating violence in traditional poppy-growing regions, UNODC said. In Shan State where about 80 percent of the crop is produced, fighting has forced many farmers to flee their fields.
UNODC also suggested that a glut in the regional heroin market and shifts in the global heroin supply chain may have reduced demand for opium exports and led to price drops. But this year's harvest was still the second largest in the last two decades and a key source of income in a war-torn economy.
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A new poll from the conservative Manhattan Institute shows strong support for marijuana legalization, European Union experts meet to ponder what do to about drug trafficking, and more.
Australia's New South Wales will do a drug checking trial at music festivals next year. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy
Manhattan Institute Poll Has Adults Overwhelmingly Opposing Marijuana Criminalization. The conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute has released a poll in which 73 percent of respondents supported some form of marijuana legalization and only 12 percent believe "the possession and sale of marijuana should be illegal under all circumstances."
The poll found that 57 percent believed adults should be able to consume marijuana absent risk to others, 69 percent believe adults should be able to consume marijuana in their own homes, and 65 percent believe people 21 and over should be able to buy, possess, and consume marijuana products.
But the polling also suggested Americans want some limits: 56 percent opposed pot smoking in parks or other public places.
The polling is in line with numerous other polls in recent years that have consistently shown strong majority support for legalization. It is also consistent with the partisan breakdown in other polls, with majorities of Democrats and independents supporting it, while Republican support remains under 50 percent.
Pardons and Commutations
New Jersey Governor Pardons Dozens, Including Drug Offenders. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced pardons for three dozen people with older convictions on Monday. Most of the pardons -- 26 out of 36 -- were for drug convictions. Thirty-three people will receive pardons and three will have their sentences commuted.
It was the first time Murphy, who is nearing the end of his second term, has used his pardon power. A hint he would do so came in June when he established a Clemency Advisory Board to determine who might be eligible for relief.
"Today, we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that New Jersey is the state for second chances," he said on Monday. "I am proud to announce that through our historic clemency initiative, 36 individuals will be granted legal relief… It is my honor as Governor to recognize the efforts each of them have made to prove that, in this country, redemption is achievable."
All the clemency recipients had nonviolent convictions and had gone at least ten years without another arrest. In addition to drug offenders, they included people who had received particularly harsh sentences or were victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, or sex trafficking.
Advocates said the move was a good start.
"This is exactly who should be prioritized for pardons -- people targeted by the drug war and who received sentences that were vastly harsher than what they would receive today," said Jenna Mellor, executive director of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition. "We are repairing the harms of the drug war, and we need to keep going."
"While this is exciting news, we can and must do more," said Marleina Ubel, senior policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective. "The governor has the ability to do what’s called 'categorical clemency.' It means [issuing] a pardon or clemency for a category of people. So all people who are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses should receive clemency, instead of picking individuals."
International
Europeans Meet to Figure Out What to Do About Drug Trafficking. A European Union group of experts met Wednesday in Strasbourg, France, to work on developing a strategy to confront ever more complex and sophisticated drug trafficking organizations. The Joint Expert Group in Developing Policy Guidelines on Combating Organized Crime Related to Drug Trafficking consists of three experts designated by the permanent correspondents of the Pompidou Group (the Council of Europe International Cooperation Group on Drugs and Addiction), three experts from the intergovernmental committees of the Council of Europe, as well as two independent experts from academia. The Group will be supported by four Secretariat members from the Pompidou Group and the Steering Committee for Human Rights.
The first meeting involved group members reviewing the terms of reference for their mandate and conducting a background study on the current landscape and the existing legal frameworks aimed at combating organized crime related to drug trafficking.
In future meetings, the group will seek to make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers on combating organized crime linked to drug trafficking. The mandate does not include a brief for considering non-prohibitionist approaches to illicit drug trafficking.
Australia's New South Wales Agrees to Drug Checking Trials at Festivals. Amid calls for drug decriminalization from experts, the state government of New South Wales announced Thursday that it will undertake a year-long trial of drug checking at music festivals where concert-goers can take a small drug sample to a health professional to test it for purity, potency, and adulterants.
"No parent wants to be given the news that something has happened to their child at a music festival, and that they are now in an emergency department or worse," said the state premier, Chris Minns. "The trial has a clear purpose -- to reduce harm and save lives."
Queensland became the first Australian state to offer drug checking earlier this year, establishing two permanent -- not trial -- clinics for people to take their samples.
The Minns government had rejected renewed calls to introduce drug checking after two men died at a music festival last fall, but apparently heeded the call of drug reform advocates for checking at the state's second drug summit last month.
"As I've always said, there are no silver bullets here but if there are any further steps we can take to keep young people safe this festival season we’ll listen to the experts and the evidence," said state health minister, Ryan Park.
But the state minister for police and counterterrorism made it clear that police would still enforce laws against drug sales: "Police will not change their approach to drug suppliers at these trial sites," said minister Yasmin Catley. "Anyone attempting to supply drugs can expect to be targeted by a police operation and brought before the courts."
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A Utah DHS agent gets nailed for using a snitch to sell seized bath salts, an Iowa deputy heads to prison for stealing dope from the evidence room and breaking into pharmacies to get more, and more. Let's get to it:
In Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a retired Manitowoc County sheriff's lieutenant was arrested on November 7 for taking drug forfeiture funds and "drug buy" money for his own personal use. David Remiker is charged with official misconduct for improperly accounting for those funds. Remiker went down after he got stealing a seat cover from an event. Because he led the metro drug unit, the sheriff told him there would be an audit of funds, prompting Remiker to say he needed to put money back in those accounts, which the sheriff did not let him do. An audit revealed that thousands of dollars of asset forfeiture funds were not accounted for. In all, nearly $20,000 has vanished.
In Washington, DC, a DC corrections officer was arrested on November 19 along with inmates and others in a conspiracy to smuggle contraband into the DC Jail. Corrections Officer Rashaad Roper, 45, is one of five people charged with providing or possessing contraband in a prison, as well as conspiring to do so. Prosecutors allege a conspiracy to provide a knife, drugs, and cell phones to inmates in the DC jail as they awaited trial for murder and assault with intent to kill while armed. Roper would take containers full of contraband from the outside co-conspirators and deliver them inside. Roper went after jail investigators intercepted a bag dropped off for him and found two containers filled with a switchblade knife, a cellphone, a phone charger, marijuana, tobacco, rolling papers, gambling dice, and a hundred cigarettes. When investigators then swept the cells of the suspected inside co-conspirators, they found more contraband, including 269 pills containing synthetic cannabinoids, 255 buprenorphine strips, 60 cigarettes dipped in an unknown substance, three cell phones, and six cigarettes.
In Bryan, Ohio, a guard at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio was arrested on November 22 after being caught bringing drugs into the jail. Guard Thomas Logan, 41, was still a probationary Correctional Officer after joining the staff in March. He is charged with illegal conveyance of drugs in a detention facility.
In Hammonton, New Jersey, a Hammonton police sergeant was arrested on November 29 for allegedly stealing drugs from the evidence room he supervised. Sgt. Robert Zbikowski, 45, went down after he failed a drug test in February and officers then did an inventory of the evidence room. Nine evidence bags containing confirmed or suspected methamphetamine were missing. Surveillance of the evidence room then showed Zbikowski tampering with two more evidence bags containing meth, and he was charged with official misconduct for allegedly taking the meth and oxycodone. He got the oxycodone charge after State Police matched his DNA with a sample found on an evidence bag containing oxycodone. He also faces counts of theft by unlawful taking, along with fourth-degree counts of tampering with evidence and obstruction.
In Salt Lake City, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent was arrested last Friday for allegedly using an informant to sell synthetic drugs known as bath salts that had been previously seized. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent David Cole went down after the informant's attorney went to authorities to complain that two DHS agents compelled him to engage in repeated sales of the bath salts, to the tune of around $300,000. The two agents would sell him an ounce a week for $5,0000. The second agent has not yet been charged. During searches of the two agents' homes, investigators seized more than $67,000 in cash, an unspecified quantity of apparent bath salts and other evidence. Cole and the second agent had their Homeland Security investigation credentials suspended but have not been fired.
In Sioux City, Iowa, a former Plymouth County sheriff's deputy was sentenced on November 9 to 15 years in prison for stealing drugs from the evidence room and breaking into at least two pharmacies to steal opioid pain medications, including more than 1,600 pills found at his home. Aaron Leusink pleaded guilty in July to two counts each of second-degree burglary, three counts of fifth-degree theft, and single counts of third-degree burglary, felonious misconduct while in office, unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and fourth-degree theft. He also entered an Alford plea to one count of third-degree burglary. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, and the judge enters a finding of guilty into the record.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, a former Stillwater state prison guard was sentenced on November 17 to just over two years in prison for teaming up with an inmate to smuggle methamphetamine into the prison in 2022. Former guard Faith Rose Gratz, 26, developed a romantic relationship with a prisoner serving a murder sentence and conspired with him to run a drug operation at the prison. Gratz brough meth into the prison and the prisoner would distribute it to other inmates. She also warned him about upcoming searches of inmates’ cells so he could hide his phone and drugs to avoid detection. Gratz went down after prison officers found the prisoner's cellphone, which contained hundreds of text messages about their conspiracy and their romantic relationship. When officers confronted Gratz at work, they then found a half pound of meth under the back seat of her car.
In Providence, Rhode Island, a now former state prison guard was sentenced on November 19 to six months in federal prison and two years of home detention for smuggling drugs into the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility. Kaii Almeida-Falcones pleaded guilty to providing contraband to an inmate, He went down after an inmate got caught with a package of drugs he had smuggled in and drugs were found in another inmate's cell. Almeida-Falcones was seen on Wyatt Detention security video entering each of the detainee's cells the evening before.
In Columbus, Ohio, a former Columbus Police narcotics officer was sentenced on December 3 to more than five years in prison for his role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy. John Kotchkoski, 33, was arrested along with another Columbus narcotics officer, Marco Merino, on fentanyl conspiracy charges in September 2021 after they agreed to transport drugs in an FBI sting. Kotchkoski remained jailed after he allegedly threatened to have Merino's family killed if he testified against him. He pleaded guilty in 2022 and agreed to forfeit $500,00 in cash, firearms, and several vehicles including a Cadillac Escalade and a Corvette. Merino pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than eight kilograms of fentanyl and accepting bribes to protect the transportation of cocaine. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
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