KS Cops Warn Against Medical Marijuana, Lykos Had "Productive" FDA Meeting, More... (10/22/24)

The bloody fight between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel now threatens to bring down the governor of the state, and more.

MDMA. Lkyos Therapeutics met with the FDA about moving forward with new Phase III trials after the agency rejected earllier ones. (Creative Commons)

Medical Marijuana

Kansas Usual Suspects Oppose Medical Marijuana Even as Poll Shows Majority Want Legal Weed. Law enforcement groups on Tuesday warned against legalizing marijuana in the state -- one of only three that make no allowance for any form of medicinal cannabis -- saying that it would lead to a lawless state where opioid overdoses jump and cartels roam the streets. This is even as a new poll shows that a majority of Kansans want not only medical marijuana but all-out marijuana legalization.

"You drive by Blackwell, Oklahoma, and you get hit with that odor," Kechi Chief of Police Braden Moore told lawmakers. "That's a quality of life thing… I don't want that in my home state, too."

"After 43 years in law enforcement," said Bel Aire Police Chief Darrell Atteberry, legislative committee chair with the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police. "And all the bills that I've read… I see this as a train wreck. I mean, whether it's medical marijuana (or) recreational -- it's going to be a train wreck for law enforcement."

Atteberry also warned that allowing medical marijuana would open up a slippery slope leading to marijuana legalization: "We need to stay away from that as far as we can," he said.

Among the dire consequences of allowing medical marijuana, law enforcement officials warned, were marijuana legalization, possible marijuana-caused psychoses and the risk of veterans with PTSD committing suicide, cartels coming into the state, an increase in marijuana-related hospital visits, making the current generation of drug-sniffing dogs obsolete, and the necessity of hiring more cops to enforce any future laws.

But the cops -- and Republican legislative majorities -- appear increasingly out of step with the sensibilities of Kansans. A recent Kansas Speaks poll has support for marijuana legalization -- not just medical marijuana -- at 67 percent.

Psychedelics

Lykos Therapeutics Sayd It Had Productive Meeting with FDA on Rejected MDMA Drug Trials. Lykos Therapeutics, the company whose bid to win approval for MDMA-assisted therapy (PTSD) was rejected by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) nine weeks ago, said last Friday that it had met with the agency and that the meeting was "productive."

Lykos said in a statement that new interim CEO Michael Mullette and new Chief Medical Officer David Hough met with the FDA and that the meeting "resulted in a path forward" that will include a new Phase III trial and a possible review of prior Phase III data by an outside third party.

The FDA rejected Lykos' application in August, saying it "could not be approved based on data submitted to date" and requested an additional Phase III trial.

Former Lykos CEO Amy Emerson, who stepped down after the FDA rejected Lykos' bid, said any new Phase III study "would take several years."

Lykos said last Friday it would "continue to work with the FDA on finalizing a plan" and provide updates "as appropriate."

International

Mexican Feds Point Finger at Sinaloa Governor in Murder Related to Kidnapping of Sinaloa Cartel Leader. Federal prosecutors said Sunday that state police, prosecutors, and forensic examiners in Sinaloa all conspired to cover up the murder of a political rival of Gov. Ruben Rocha the same day Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was kidnapped and delivered to US authorities by one of the sons of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The statement by federal prosecutors backs up Zambada's version of events, which first made the claim he was kidnapped by Guzman's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who flew him to the US, surrendering both Zambada and himself to the Americans. Zambada also claimed the Hector Cuen, a political opponent of Rocha, was murdered at Rocha's ranch the same day Zambada was kidnapped from that location.

Federal prosecutors said Sunday that Cuen's blood had been found at the ranch. Rocha and state prosecutors had said that Cuen was killed in a random botched robbery at a gas station miles away. State prosecutors even showed security camera footage that supposedly showed the gas station attack.

But federal prosecutors noted that Cuen's body had four bullet wounds while on the gas station video, only one shot can be heard, and gas station workers said they did not hear any.

Federal prosecutors also found blood belonging to one of Zambada's bodyguards in a white pickup that appeared in the gas station video. They said that implied that local authorities had either removed the body of the bodyguard or removed the pickup from Rocha's ranch to the gas station to fake the robbery there.

"All of the above confirms the police and prosecution investigation that has confirmed the presumed administrative and criminal responsibilities of Sinaloa police, detectives, forensic examiners, and state prosecutors who have been exhaustively investigated regarding their participation in the death of Héctor (Cuén)" the federal Attorney General's Office said in a statement Sunday.

All this is adding to the pressure on Rocha, a member of the ruling MORENA Party. Newly serving President Claudia Sheinbaum has so far backed Rocha, but his position appears ever more tenuous as Sinaloa Cartel faction battles continue to roil the state, and he is now more deeply implicated in misdeeds.