KY Narc Guilty in Breonna Taylor Case, VA Lawmakers to Try Again for Legal Weed Marketplace, More... (1/6/25)

Minnesota's most populous county moves to help--not prosecute--drug-using pregnant women, a Florida bill would protect medical marijuana-using public employees, and more. 

Finally, a hint of justice for the death of Breonna Taylor, killed by Louisville cops in a botched drug raid. (Taylor family)

Virginia Lawmakers Ready to Try Again for Legal Marijuana Marketplace. Last year, the legislature passed a bill to create a taxed and regulated legal marijuana marketplace only to have it vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Now, lawmakers are ready to try again. 

Democrats Del. Paul Krizek (Fairfax) and Sen. Aaron Rouse (Virginia Beach) say they are planning to reintroduce the same legislation that passed both houses of the General Assembly with bipartisan support. It would set up a legal framework for a regulated legal marijuana market. 

"We’re trying to start with the same bill since we were able to get both chambers aboard, including a couple Republicans. I think there’s a good chance that a few more Republicans will join in this time, especially in the Senate," Krizek said

The legislature legalized marijuana possession in 2021, but the then-Democratically led body left creating a legal marketplace to the next legislature, only to see the next legislature controlled by Republicans who were much less eager to go down that road. As state law currently stands, people can currently possess up to an ounce and grow up to four plants but cannot buy or sell marijuana. 

Under the marijuana marketplace legislation, the state would license marijuana retailers, set regulations for production and sales, and tax sales to generate new revenues. 

Whether Gov. Youngkin will drop his opposition to legal marijuana sales remains to be seen. Still, Krizek said he hoped the governor would be open to negotiating with Democrats as a means of burnishing his legacy in his final year in office. 

"I can’t get into his head, obviously, but I think it’s for that reason it’s worth trying, it’s worth putting this out as an opportunity for a compromise in some other capacity," Krizek said.
"I think it’s very possible because he’s already a lame duck and this is it for him, and if he wants to have one of his legacies be an unregulated cannabis free-for-all, then that will be his legacy. Or he could choose a rational marketplace with safe, tested, and taxed products."

Medical Marijuana

Florida Bill Would Protect Employees from Penalties for Medical Marijuana Use. House Bill 83, which has just been refiled in the state legislature, would protect job seekers and public employees from facing repercussions for lawfully using medical marijuana. This year's version was filed by Rep. Mitch Rosenwald (D); previous versions of the bill were filed in 2020 and 2024 by state Sen. Tina Polsky (D) but failed to pass. (Polsky says she will reintroduce the bill in the Senate this year.)

Inspired by the cases of a prison guard fired from his job and a paramedic suspended from his job for lawful medical marijuana use, the bill would shield public employees and potential public employees from adverse consequences for testing positive for marijuana if they have a medical marijuana card. 

"A public employer may not take adverse personnel action against an employee or a job applicant for his or her use of medical marijuana if the employee or job applicant is a qualified patient," Rosenwald's bill reads. 

Under the bill, employers must provide notice of a positive drug test within five days and allow applicants or job seekers an additional five days to provide proof they have a medical marijuana card. The bill would not apply if employee medical marijuana use interferes with job performance and it includes an exemption for law enforcement agencies. 

Law Enforcement

Louisville Narc Found Guilty of Excessive Force in Drug Raid That Killed Breonna Taylor. A federal jury in Louisville on Friday found former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison guilty of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during the botched 2020 drug raid that left the 26-year-old, black EMT dead in her apartment.

Police led by Hankison and armed with a search warrant that was based on incorrect information (there were no drugs in Taylor's apartment) began breaking down her door in the middle of the night, leading her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, to fire one shot at the home invaders. Police, including Hankison, returned fire wildly, striking and killing the unarmed Taylor. She died in her own hallway. 

Hankison is one of four officers charged by the Justice Department with violating Taylor's civil rights, but so far, there has been only one conviction—in a plea deal with a former officer who was not at the raid but agreed to cooperate as a witness in another case. 

Prosecutors said Hankison recklessly fired 10 shots into doors and a window when he could not see a target and that he "violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force: If they cannot see the person they’re shooting at, they cannot pull the trigger."

Hankison did not shoot the bullets that killed Taylor, and the two officers who shot her were not charged with her death because both state and federal prosecutors said they were justified in returning fire after Walker shot at them. 

Pregnancy

Minnesota's Hennepin County Will No Longer Charge Pregnant Women for Drug Use. Hennepin County, the home of Minneapolis and the state's most populous country, will no longer charge pregnant women with a crime if they engage in drug use. The announcement came from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who said such women will instead be pointed toward the care they need to have and keep infants safe and healthy.

The new policy is effective immediately and all pending cases will be dismissed. 

"Drug use during pregnancy is a serious concern. But criminalizing pregnancy makes no sense because it causes the very harm it seeks to prevent," Moriarty said. "Instead of stopping people who struggle with addiction from using drugs, punitive policies make them afraid to seek the crucial prenatal care, health care, and drug treatment they need."

The office pointed to research showing that pregnant women are less likely to seek drug treatment and prenatal care when they fear being charged and imprisoned, that states with punitive policies have higher rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome, and that criminalizing drug use during pregnancy disproportionately impacts poor communities and communities of color.

"According to the National Library of Medicine, in the last five decades, the number of women behind bars in the United States has risen exponentially. It is now estimated that there are nearly 58,000 pregnant people — disproportionately women of color — sent to jails and prisons each year," said Rep. Esther Agbaje (DFL-Minneapolis), chair of the Minnesota House Black Maternal Health Caucus. "By focusing on harm reduction and treatment rather than punishment, we can create a safer environment for all families."