NYC Illicit Pot Shop Crackdown Having Effect, MA Senate Approves Safe Injection Sites, More... (7/31/24)

President Biden issues a national security memorandum on fentanyl, the Philippines House approves a medical marijuana bill, and more.

Joe Biden is still president, and today, he issued a national security memorandum on fentanyl. (whitehouse.gov)

Marijuana Policy

New York City's Crackdown on Unpermitted Pot Shops Bites. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Mayor Eric Adams (D) celebrated what they said was the success of their effort to crack down on illegal marijuana shops as city officials said 779 shops had been shut down since the crackdown began in April.

Officials said they had also issued 41,000 violations with penalties of more than $65 million and seized illegal products worth more than $41 million.

"In the three months since launching 'Operation Padlock to Protect,' our administration has delivered major results on a major quality of life and public safety issue," Adams said. "For too long, illegal shops have contributed to a feeling that anything goes on our streets, while targeting our most vulnerable -- including children -- with dangerous, counterfeit products marketed as candy."

The unlicensed marijuana shops emerged after the state legalized marijuana in 2021 but failed to get a legal market up and running until this year. Now, there are some 60 licensed marijuana retailers in the city. But even after the nearly 800 shops shut down so far, there are still more than 2,000 illicit retailers estimated to be open for business.

Drug Policy

Biden Issues National Security Memorandum to Enhance Efforts to Block Fentanyl Flow. President Biden (D) issued the following statement on Wednesday:

"Today, I will issue a National Security Memorandum directing every federal Department and Agency to do even more to stop the flow of narcotics -- including fentanyl -- into our country."

"This Memorandum builds on my Unity Agenda, which made ending the opioid epidemic a top priority. It will enable our government to disrupt drug cartels -- and their suppliers and financiers -- more quickly and effectively. It will increase intelligence collection on traffickers' evolving tactics to smuggle narcotics into our country. And it will help our law enforcement personnel seize more deadly drugs before they reach our communities. This Memorandum will also complement our historic work to expand access to treatment, including by making naloxone -- the life-saving medication that reverses the effects of opioids -- widely available over the counter for the first time."

"I'm calling on Congress to do their part -- including passing the Biden-Harris Administration's 'Detect and Defeat' proposals. These bipartisan proposals increase penalties on drug smugglers, give border officials key tools they need to target fentanyl at our border and close other loopholes that traffickers exploit. I also once again urge Congress to pass the bipartisan border security agreement which provides funding for more border agents and more drug detection machines. These are the key investments needed to stop fentanyl from reaching our communities."

[Editor: Historically, efforts to interdict the supply of drugs have been largely ineffective, and fentanyl and similar synthetic drugs are even harder to detect, due to their greater potency per unit volume hence more compact size of shipments. The proposal also makes the temporary Schedule I status for some substances permanent, cutting short the scientific evaluation process. That in turn contributes to harsh criminal sentences that tend to make the drug supply more unstable hence more dangerous, and to the marginalization of users who need to be reached in order for remedies like naloxone (which is welcome) to be available to them. -DB]

[UPDATE: See a critical reaction from The Sentencing Project.]

Harm Reduction

Massachusetts Senate Passes Safe Injection Site Bill. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a harm reduction bill that included a provision allowing for safe injection sites, Senate Bill 2898. It will also allow for a broad panoply of harm reduction measures, including needle exchanges, drug checking, and expanded access to the opioid overdose prevention drug naloxone.

"A single overdose in Massachusetts is one too many," said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). "Opioids have stolen life from parents, children, siblings, and friends. The legislation approved by the Senate today makes powerful strides towards mitigating this crisis by helping those coping with substance use disorder reduce harm, find treatment, and achieve recovery that lasts a lifetime."

"With the fentanyl crisis and polysubstance epidemic continuing unabated, we cannot count out any evidence-based intervention that has the potential to save lives," said Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro), Assistant Majority Whip and Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery. "Every year for the last eight years, more than 2,000 of our neighbors and loved ones have died from an overdose. The provisions in this bill -- including overdose prevention centers via local approval—are among proven harm reduction tools that we can deploy now to arrest overdose deaths and end the opioid epidemic. I am proud that the Senate took decisive action on this issue, and I am grateful to my colleagues for their endorsement of these lifesaving policies."

A previous version of this bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this year but does not include the safe injection site provisions, so the two branches must now seek to hammer out the differences in conference committee.

International

Philippine House Approves Medical Marijuana Act. On Tuesday, the House voted to approve the Access to Medical Cannabis Act, House Bill 10439. The measure passed overwhelmingly with 177 votes in favor, nine opposed, and nine abstaining.

The bill would allow the use of medical marijuana, make it accessible to qualified patients, and create a Medical Cannabis Office as a regulatory body. Lawmakers were quick to emphasize that it does not legalize marijuana for recreational use.

"By no means is this bill a gateway to the recreational use of cannabis," said Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, one of the sponsors of the measure.

The bill would allow the use of marijuana by qualified patients with debilitating or nondebilitating medical conditions. The Medical Cannabis Office would specify which conditions are qualifying.

The bill now goes to the Senate.