Chronicle AM: AZ Pot Reform Bills, IL MedMJ Applications Delayed, Australia Festival Drug Busts, More (1/2/15)

Pot dollars are starting to roll in in Washington state, marijuana reform bills filed in Arizona, Illinois delays dispensary applications without explanation, Colorado wants to grow research marijuana at colleges, and more. Let's get to it:

You still can't go to the dispensary in Illinois, and more delays loom. (Sandra Yruel/DPA)

Washington State Did $64 Million in Pot Sales in Slow Roll-Out First Year. Legal marijuana commerce has been slow out of the gate in Washington, thanks to regulatory hurdles and supply shortages, but still rang up $64 million in sales by year's end. Some 99 retail outlets have been licensed (although that doesn't mean they are operating) out of the 331 envisioned by the state Liquor Control Board, which is in charge of legal marijuana. As legal pot settles in, looks for this year's numbers to be significantly greater.

Arizona Lawmaker Files Legalization Bill. Rep. Mark Cardenas (D-Phoenix) has filed a bill that would legalization the possession of up to an ounce of weed and allow for it to be sold through state-regulated retail outlets. The bill is House Bill 2007. Cardenas admits passage is unlikely, so he has a back-up plan: His House Bill 2006 would simply decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce.

Medical Marijuana

Illinois Misses Deadline on Issuing Medical Marijuana Licenses. State officials admitted Wednesday afternoon that they had missed their self-imposed deadline to begin issuing dispensary and cultivation licenses before the end of 2014. But they didn't say why or when they would be ready. Here is the statement from the Department of Health: "We are strongly committed to bringing relief to thousands of people across the state and ensuring Illinois is the national model for implementing medical cannabis. We are working hard to make sure this is done right. We are conducting a comprehensive review of every cultivation center and dispensary applicant to ensure that only the most qualified are approved for this important program. We will announce the recipients when this important review is finished."

Colorado Seeking Federal Okay for State Colleges to Grow Marijuana.In a letter sent last month, the state attorney general's office asked federal health and education officials to allow state institutions of higher learning to "obtain marijuana from non-federal government sources." The letter was sent under a law passed last year requiring state officials to ask the federal government to allow colleges and universities "to cultivate marijuana and its component parts." "Current research is riddled with bias or insufficiencies and often conflict with one another," reads the letter, written by deputy attorney general David Blake. "It is critical that we be allowed to fill the void of scientific research, and this may only be done with your assistance and cooperation." Don't hold your breath, though.

Drug Treatment and Recovery

Text Available for Federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. The full text of the act, HR 5845, is now available online. The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would authorize the awarding of grants for prevention and education, treatment alternatives to incarceration, expansion of law enforcement use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as well as "evidence-based opioid and heroin treatment and interventions demonstrations" and "criminal justice medication-assisted treatment and intervention demonstrations." The bill currently has six cosponsors—three Republicans and three Democrats—and has been assigned to the House Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Workforce committees. Click on the link to read the bill. 

International

Australian Cops Using Drug Dogs Bust 214 People at New Year's Dance Festival. Who let the dogs out? New South Wales police did, that's who. They reported arresting 214 people at the "Fuzzy Field Day 2015" electronic music festival in Sydney yesterday after drug dogs alerted on them. Three other people were arrested on drug trafficking charges.