Federal Court Reject Pot Companies' Challenge to Prohibition, Peru Coca Eradication, More... (7/2/24)

California could see dueling initiatives seeking to increase fentanyl penalties, the Biden administration announces a new initiative on drug treatment for inmates, and more.

Eradicating coca in Peru's Upper Huallaga River Valley (Peru Interior Ministry)

Marijuana Policy

Federal Court Throws Out Marijuana Companies' Challenge to Pot Prohibition. US District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni of the Western District of Massachusetts has dismissed a lawsuit from major marijuana companies that sought to block the Justice Department from enforcing marijuana prohibition against their activities in states where it is legal.

While Mastroianni found that there were "persuasive reasons for a reexamination" of current federal marijuana policy, he also found that Supreme Court precedent dictated that the federal government can regulate controlled substances even within legal state borders.

A number of companies, including Verano Holdings, Canna Provisions, and Wiseacre Farm brought the lawsuit. Still, Mastroianni found that "the relief sought is inconsistent with binding Supreme Court precedent and, therefore, beyond the authority of this court to grant." He added that the plaintiffs "do not provide a basis for this court to disregard the broad reading of the Commerce Clause."

Mastroianni noted that while he could offer no judicial relief, the plaintiffs "can pursue their claims and seek the attention of the Supreme Court," and they are also "free to advocate for marijuana to be reclassified or removed from the" Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Drug Policy

California Democrats Seek to Blunt Prop 47 Rollback Initiative with Their Own Prop 47 Rollback Initiative. A decade ago, state voters approved Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for some drug and other criminal offenses. Now, with a Republican-backed Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Retail Theft initiative to roll it back by making some drug possession and theft charges felonies already qualified for the November ballot, Democrats are stepping up with their own softer, gentler effort to roll back Prop 47.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Democratic lawmakers have filed Senate Bill 1381, which if approved by the legislature would then go before the voters as an initiative in November. That bill would crack down on retail theft and fentanyl sellers.

Shoplifters thrice convicted within three years could face up to three years behind bars, and people accused of theft could be charged based on the total value of multiple thefts over three years, which could shift charges from misdemeanors to felonies. On fentanyl, the measure would subject people who sell the drug without telling their customers it contains fentanyl to up to six years in prison and murder charges if someone they sold it to dies.

"This ballot measure is a critical step forward in our efforts to strengthen California's public safety laws and provide law enforcement with additional tools to address the growing concerns of property crime and the fentanyl crisis," Newsom said. "This balanced approach cracks down on crime and protects our communities."

"The subtext under this initiative is, 'I'm tough on crime, too, and even if I'm not quite as tough as those other guys, I'm also very smart about it,'" said Dan Schnur, a political science lecturer at UC Berkeley and former Republican strategist.

The Newsom-backed proposal received approval from the California Retailers Association, which has pushed to reform Prop 47. The group's president Rachel Michelin described the plan as "a smart solution that will protect our stores, employees and customers."

Newsom and Democratic legislators stand to gain political points if their initiative passes, said Menlo College political science professor Melissa Michelson.

"Now it's not the public leading it," Michelson said. "Now it's the governor and other elected officials who are on top of this issue."

Drug Treatment

White House Drug Policy Director Statement on New Action to Support Reentry and Addiction Treatment Access in Carceral Settings. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta released a statement on new action from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowing five new states -- Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont -- to use federal Medicaid funds to address substance use disorder and facilitate improved continuity of care for incarcerated individuals. Part of the Biden Unity Agenda for the Nation, the bipartisan-supported policy was already in effect in California, Massachusetts, Montana, and Washington.

"Expanding access to life-saving treatment and recovery supports for incarcerated people is a critical part of our bipartisan efforts to beat the overdose epidemic and save lives," said Gupta. "President Biden made addressing the overdose epidemic part of his Unity Agenda for the Nation because it is an issue that affects every community across the country and requires members of both parties to deliver progress for the American people. Under this important action today, the Biden-Harris Administration is providing a groundbreaking opportunity for these states to increase access to health care, including care for substance use disorder, in jails and prisons, and provide historically underserved and marginalized individuals with the tools and resources they need to succeed upon reentry. I am grateful to these states -- red and blue, from coast to coast -- for joining our whole-of-society response to strengthen public health, enhance public safety, and save lives."

Other measures taken under the Unity Agenda include removing decades-long barriers to substance use disorder treatment and overdose reversal medication, expanding the number of healthcare providers who can prescribe opioid use disorder treatments by more than 1.8 million, and providing $83 billion into treatment, a 42% increase that done under the previous Administration.

Specifically, the administration's efforts to increase treatment access for people who are incarcerated, according to the statement, include:

• Allowing states to use Medicaid funds to provide health care services -- including treatment for people with substance use disorder -- to individuals in carceral settings;
• Providing professionals at correctional settings with a performance management framework to monitor medication treatment for opioid use disorder in correctional settings;
• Permitting State Opioid Response funds to be used for addiction treatment and services for people who are incarcerated;
• Calling for $4.1 billion to expand MOUD for treating individuals in BOP's custody with an opioid use disorder as part of the President’s FY25 budget request;
• Updating federal regulations for opioid treatment programs for the first time in more than two decades, including rule clarification allowing jails and prisons to treat patients for opioid use disorder (OUD) with methadone if they have another co-occurring disorder requiring treatment; and
• Calling for every jail and prison across the nation can provide treatment for substance use disorder.

International

Peru Announces More Coca Crop Eradication. The Ministry of the Interior announced Monday that a manual coca eradication campaign in the Upper Huallaga River Valley has destroyed 20,000 acres of crops since February.

The Special Project for the Control and Reduction of Illegal Crops in Alto Huallaga said eradicators hit more than 3,000 separate coca plots and that their efforts prevented the production of more than 70 metric tons of cocaine.

Conducted by members of the Peruvian National Police and the Anti-Drug Directorate (Dirandro), the raids also destroyed 12 coca processing laboratories.

The eradication campaign is part of the National Anti-Drug Policy, whose goal is to "relentlessly combat" drug trafficking and related crimes, the Ministry of the Interior said.

Coca has been grown by indigenous people in the Andes for thousands of years, and Peru has its own state coca monopoly, ENACO, to deal with legal coca products. But it has also been a leading cocaine producer for decades, currently ranking second only to Colombia.