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Federal Marijuana Hiring Standards Could Get More Lenient, KS MedMJ Hearings This Week, More... (2/28/23)

A Pennsylvania GOP state senator is pushing for gun rights for medical marijuana patients, an Italian court clarifies that hemp is not a narcotic, and more.

Kansas does not have any medical marijuana dispensaries. Patients are growing impatient. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy                                            

White House Approval Sought for Changes to Marijuana Questions in Federal Hiring Process. The Office of Personnel Management is seeking White House approval for a shift in federal hiring practices that would treat marijuana use by job applicants much more leniently than is the case now. Under current policy, applicants are asked about use within the past one, five, or seven years, depending on the position's security level. That would change to inquiring only about use within the past 90 days under the proposal. Marijuana would not be included in questions about broader illegal drug use but would be asked about separately. The proposed changes are expected to expand the pool of candidates eligible for federal jobs.

Medical Marijuana                  

Kansas Senate Committee Will Hold Informational Hearing on Medical Marijuana This Week. The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs will hold informational hearings Wednesday and Thursday on the legalization of medical marijuana. No bill has been filed yet this session, but pressure is mounting with neighboring Missouri having legalized recreational marijuana last November and neighboring Oklahoma set to vote on recreational legalization next month. "You know, Kansas, sometimes we're kind of behind on things and, you know, we hear about it all the time where people are going across the state line to purchase those items," said medical marijuana supporter Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, the ranking Democrat on the committee.

Pennsylvania GOP State Senator Pushes State to Reconsider Gun Restrictions on Medical Marijuana Patients. In the wake of a federal judge's recent ruling that the federal government's ban on gun ownership for marijuana users is unconstitutional, state Sen. Dan Laughlin (R) is calling on state law enforcement to protect the rights of medical marijuana patients by bringing state policy in line with that ruling Currently, the state bars people from obtaining a gun license if they acknowledge being "an unlawful user" of marijuana, and even medical marijuana use in states where it is legal remains technically illegal under federal law. "I believe Pennsylvania can take a measured approach to lifting the prohibition on otherwise qualified medical cannabis users from obtaining their license to carry," Laughlin wrote. Since the federal court ruling, it is time for "reconsideration of the question on these forms."

International

Italian Court Rules Hemp Flower and Leaves Are Not Narcotics. An Italian court, the Lazio Regional Administrative Court, has thrown out a section of national law that defined hemp leaves and flowers as narcotics, bringing Italy in line with the European Court of Justice. That court ruled in 2020 that hemp, which does not contain more than traces of psychoactive THC, should not be regulated as an illicit drug. The Italian court ruling came after four industry associations filed an appeal against a January 2022 Ministerial Decree that put the cultivation, processing, and marketing of hemp products under the control of narcotics regulators. "Today we have definitive confirmation that without valid scientific evidence it is not possible to limit this agricultural supply chain. The THC-free hemp plant is not part of the international conventions on narcotics and for this reason its market and industrial and medicinal applications cannot be limited," the plaintiffs said in a statement after the ruling. 

SD Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Bill, Vancouver Magic Mushroom Shops Thrive, More... (2/27/23)

Queensland will become the first Australian state to okay pill-testing, Vancouver magic mushrooms shops are not illegal but thriving anyway, and more.

A fentanyl test strip. South Dakota just legalized them, and a bill to do the same is advancing in Kansas. (Creative Commons)
Harm Reduction

Kansas Bill to Legalize Fentanyl Test Strips Passes House. In a bid to reduce overdose deaths in the state, the House voted last Thursday for a bill that would clarify that fentanyl test strips are not drug paraphernalia, House Bill 2390. A similar measure passed the House last year, only to die in the Senate. The House also passed a bill that would stiffen penalties for fentanyl manufacturing, House Bill 2398. That bill doubles the existing sentence under state law and includes a mandatory prison sentence.

South Dakota Governor Signs Bill Decriminalizing Fentanyl Test Strips. In an effort to reduce overdose deaths, Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has signed into law a bill that clarifies that fentanyl test strips are not drug paraphernalia, House Bill 1041. "We're trying to prevent overdoses for those people that are at high risk populations," said bill sponsor Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt (R).

International

Queensland Becomes First Australian State to Introduce Pill Testing. State Health Minister Yvette D'Ath announced Saturday that Queensland will introduce pill testing at mobile and fixed sites, making it the first Australian state to do so. "Pill testing is all about harm minimization," she said. "We don’t want people ending up in our emergency departments or worse losing their life. It is important to note that pill-testing services do not promote that drugs are safe, however they are among a suite of options that can positively affect outcomes regarding illicit drug use." The move follows two pill-testing trials at Canberra’s Groovin’ the Moo festival in 2018 and 2019, and an ongoing trial at a fixed site. Queensland may be the first state to embrace the harm reduction measure, but the Australian Capitol Territory began a trial last year.

Vancouver Magic Mushroom Shops Operating Openly. Canada's West Coast metropolis now boasts at least nine shops that sell magic mushrooms and other psychedelic substances even though such shops are not legal. The owners of the shops say they are employing many of the same tactics used by marijuana shops that sold the drug before it was legal. They argue that they are providing patients with crucial access to a drug that is nearly impossible to obtain despite Health Canada approving it for some uses. Police, focused on harder drugs, appear indifferent. Now, similar stores have sprung up in Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton. 

NH Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins House Vote; Bolivia, Colombia Seek UN Move on Coca, More... (2/23/23)

An Idaho medical marijuana initiative didn't get past the signature gathering stage, US correctional populations declined in 2021, and more.

Chewing coca leaf in Bolivia. Bolivia and Colombia want the UN to remove coca from prohibited drug list (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Initial House Vote. The House voted 234-127 Wednesday to send a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 639, to the House Ways and Means Committee, clearing a path for it to win final passage in the House. The bill would set up a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce with the Liquor Commission in charge. Cultivation would be taxed at 15 percent, with most revenues going toward reducing the state's pension liability and the state's education trust fund. The House has repeatedly passed legalization bills in recent years, only to see them die in the Senate. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has also been an opponent; he says he does not expect a legalization bill to reach his desk this year.

Medical Marijuana

Idaho Medical Marijuana Initiative Campaign Comes Up Short on Signatures. Kind Idaho, the group behind an effort to get a medical marijuana initiative on the 2024 ballot, announced Wednesday that it had come up short on signatures. The group said it had managed to collect only about 10 percent of the nearly 70,000 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. It cited organizational problems and a lack of national support for the effort.

Psychedelics

Minnesota Lawmakers File Bills to Create Psychedelics Task Force to Plan for Legalization. Lawmakers have filed identical bills in the House and Senate that would create a task force to study the potential legalization of substances such as ibogaine, MDMA, and psilocybin. Senate File 1954 and House File 1884 would establish a Psychedelic Medicine Task Force to "advise the legislature on the legal, medical, and policy issues associated with the legalization of psychedelic medicine in the state." The task force "survey existing studies in the scientific literature on the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic medicine in the treatment of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder, and any other mental health conditions and medical conditions for which a psychedelic medicine may provide an effective treatment option." The bill says the number of substances under its purview "may include but is not limited to the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, bufotenine, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 2C-B, ibogaine, salvinorin A, and ketamine."

Sentencing

US Correctional Population Continued to Decline in 2021. The total correctional population in the United States fell 1 percent from yearend 2020 to 2021, according to statistics in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 – Statistical Tables and Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021, two reports released Thursday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The number of persons held in prison or jail or supervised in the community on probation or parole decreased by 61,100, down to an estimated 5,444,900. Overall, an estimated 1 in 48 U.S. residents age 18 or older were under correctional supervision at yearend 2021, down from 1 in 47 in 2020. Over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, the U.S. correctional population declined 22 percent. A drop in the number of persons supervised in the community on probation accounted for 65 percent of this overall change, while decreases in the number of persons incarcerated in state and federal prison accounted for 26 percent of the change.

In 2021, the U.S. incarceration rate increased for the first time in 15 years. However, the rate was still lower than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic rate of 810 per 100,000 in 2019. The increase in the incarceration rate was driven by a 16percent growth in the number of persons housed in local jails, which held an additional 87,200 persons from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, the community supervision rate fell to a 21-year low of 1,440 persons on probation or parole per 100,000 adult U.S. residents, after declining each year since it peaked at 2,240 persons per 100,000 in 2007. At yearend 2021, an estimated 3,745,000 adults were under community supervision, down 136,600 persons from January 1, 2021.

Changes in the demographic characteristics of the US correctional population were small from 2020 to 2021 but were greater than 20 percent over the decade from 2011 to 2021. The number of males in the total correctional population declined less than 1 percent (down 28,300) from 2020 to 2021, while the number of females decreased 3 percent (down 32,800). Compared to 2011, the number of males under correctional supervision in 2021 declined by 21percent and females decreased 25 percent. Over that same decade, the number of black persons under correctional supervision decreased more than 27 percent, while the number of Hispanic persons declined 21 percent and whites declined 20 percent.

International

Bolivia and Colombia Ask UN to Remove Coca from List of Prohibited Narcotics. The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that it and the government of Bolivia will jointly ask the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to drop coca leaf from its list of prohibited substances and acknowledge the plant's traditional uses in Andean culture. "Bolivia and Colombia consider it is the moment to once again put this issue on the table," said Colombian vice-minister for multilateral affairs Laura Gil. "To remove the coca leaf - the leaf, not cocaine - from the prohibited substances list," she said. Bolivian President Luis Arce said last month that his government would seek for coca leaves to be removed from the list so they can be commercialized. 

Medical Marijuana Update

They're trying again in North Caroliina, a Florida group wants to put a home grow initiative on the ballot, and more.

Colorado

Colorado Legislative Committee Kills Medical Marijuana Expansion. A bill to expand access to medical marijuana was shot down by the first committee to consider it on Thursday. The measure, Senate Bill 81, sought to increase the amount of medical marijuana concentrate a patient can buy per day and allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana via virtual telehealth appointments for some patients, among other changes. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee killed the bill at the request of bill sponsor Sen. Kevin Van Winkle (R), who said he was not able to reach agreement with opponents to move the measure forward. Van Winkle said he would be back to try again.

Florida

Florida Campaign Seeks to Put Medical Marijuana Home Grow Initiative on 2024 Ballot. A group calling itself the WISE and Free Florida Committee is getting a campaign underway for a constitutional amendment initiative that would allow "caregivers and adult qualifying patients 21 years or older to cultivate marijuana for medical use" and would note that cultivation would be "limited to the cultivator’s home." To clear the first hurdle on its path, the campaign must come up with more than 291,000 valid voter signatures, which would then trigger a review by the state Supreme Court. If okayed to move forward by the court, the campaign would then have to come up with an additional 891,589 valid voter signatures to meet the next hurdle. A separate campaign committee calling itself Smart and Safe Florida, which wants to get a marijuana legalization amendment on the ballot, has already met that first signature goal.

North Carolina

North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Senate. A year after the Senate approved a medical marijuana bill only to see it die in the House, the bill, Senate Bill 3, is back and moving again. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to two more committees, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Rules and Operations Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote. Although the House last year declined to take up the measure, the Republican House Speaker, Rep. Tim Moore, has suggested that the bill could pass with "the right restrictions." The bill would allow medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions and an advisory board could expand that list.  

Meth-Related Deaths Skyrocketed in 20 Years, MS Bill Would Ban "Gas Station Heroin," More... (2/22/23)

The Minnesota marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, so does a North Carolina medical marijuana bill, and more.

Products containing the unscheduled anti-depressant tianeptin, AKA "gas station heroin." (WZDK screen grab)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins One More Committee Vote. The bill, House File 100, won its 10th House committee vote Tuesday, passing out of the House Finance and Policy Committee. Meanwhile, the companion bill in the Senate is before the Health and Human Services Committee, which acted on several amendments but ran out of time before finishing its work on the bill for the day.

Medical Marijuana

North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Senate. A year after the Senate approved a medical marijuana bill only to see it die in the House, the bill, Senate Bill 3, is back and moving again. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to two more committees, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Rules and Operations Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote. Although the House last year declined to take up the measure, the Republican House Speaker, Rep. Tim Moore, has suggested that the bill could pass with "the right restrictions." The bill would allow medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions and an advisory board could expand that list.  

Anti-Depressants

Mississippi Bill Would Ban Anti-Depressant Known as "Gas Station Heroin." The anti-depressant drug tianeptine, which works as an opioid agonist, is being sold as a "dietary supplement" in pill form in products such as Za Za and Tianaa. The drug is not sold as a pharmaceutical product or scheduled in the US, but a bill that would ban it, House Bill 4 has passed the House and is pending in the Senate. It would make it a schedule one drug, effectively banning it. Some state residents blame it for deaths, although it is unclear whether it is actually to blame.

Methamphetamine

Meth-Related Deaths Skyrocketed in Past 20 Years, But Most Also Involved Opioids. A new study from the University of Illinois finds that methamphetamine-related deaths increased a staggering 50-fold between 1999 and 2021, but that most of those deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl. In 1999, 608 deaths were attributed to meth. By 2021, the number had skyrocketed to nearly 52,400. In 2021, 61 percentof fatal meth overdoses also involved heroin or fentanyl, "The staggering increase in methamphetamine-related deaths in the United States is largely now driven by the co-involvement of street opioids," said lead researcher Rachel Hoopsick, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UI. "Mixing methamphetamine and opioids isn’t a new phenomenon. Although there has been an increase in the popularity of using these types of substances together, what has truly changed is the toxicity of the unregulated street drug supply, predominantly of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. I believe that this is the primary driver of the increase in deaths."

Former Mexico Top Cop Found Guilty of Drug Trafficking, NM Safe Injection Site Bill Moves, More... (2/21/23)

The Republican-led Virginia House kills another drug reform bill, Iowa House Democrats roll out a marijuana legalization bill, and more.

Genaro Garcia Luna. The former Mexican top cop found guilty in federal court in of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel (CC)
Marijuana Policy

Iowa House Democrats File Marijuana Legalization Bill. House Democrats introduced a marijuana legalization bill Tuesday, part of a broader "People over politics" agenda that also includes lowering taxes, protecting abortion rights, and supporting public over private education. The bill, which is not yet available on the legislative website, would legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and "use new tax revenue to invest in education and local communities." But Republicans control both houses of the legislature and there is as yet no indication they will be willing to advance the bill.

Virginia House Kills Marijuana Business Tax Relief Bill. A bill to provide tax relief for marijuana businesses by allowing them to claim exemptions at the state level they are barred from claiming at the federal level under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E has died in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. Senate Bill 1095 had already cleared the Senate, only to be killed on a 4-2 party line vote in a House Finance subcommittee. The House this year has been where drug reforms go to die. Earlier last week, it killed a bill to start adult-use marijuana sales and a measure to reschedule psilocybin and create a therapeutic use advisory board.

Virginia Poll Has Solid Majority Support for Retail Marijuana Sales. When House Republicans last week killed a bill to allow adult-use retail marijuana sales, they were going against the will of the voters, according to a new poll. The survey from Christopher Newport University had support for legalizing the retail sale of marijuana products at 60 percent, with only 34 percent opposed. But in killing the bill, the House Republicans were enacting the will of Republican voters, who narrowly opposed allowing retail sales by a margin of 47 percent to 44 percent.

Harm Reduction

New Mexico Safe Injection Site Bill Wins Committee Vote. A bill to provide for the creation of state-funded "overdose prevention centers," House Bill 263, is advancing, having won its first committee vote Monday. The bill passed the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 5-3 party line vote. The vote came after Republican Rep. Harlan Vincent called safe injection sites "drug dens." The measure would protect participants and workers from criminal liability "for any action or conduct that occurs on the site of a harm reduction program or overdose prevention program," but expressly bars drugs from being sold, purchased, traded, or "otherwise provided" to program users. After the vote, the House Republican Campaign Committee echoed Rep. Vincent, saying in a tweet that the Democrats "passed legalized drug dens."

Law Enforcement

Mexico's Former Top Cop Found Guilty of Drug Trafficking in NYC Trial. Genaro Garcia Luna, who acted as head of Mexico's equivalent of the FBI and was Public Security Minister under former President Felipe Calderon, was found guilty Tuesday of taking millions of dollars from the Sinaloa Cartel in a trial in federal court in Brooklyn. It was Calderon and Garcia Luna who launched the modern era of Mexico's drug war by sending in the armed forces, unleashing more than a decade of deadly violence as drug cartels fought each other and various law enforcement and military formations allied with those factions. Garcia Luna is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be tried for drug offenses. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

International

Australia's Queensland Moves to Depenalize Drug Possession. The government of the state of Queensland told the state parliament Tuesday that it will amend its drug laws so that people caught carrying small quantities of any illicit substances will not be subject to criminal charges until a fourth offense. A first offense would merit a warning, while second and third offenses would see police offering up drug diversionary programs. This is the same approach that the state uses for small-time marijuana possession and that most other states already use for all illicit substances. Only the Australian Capital Territory has formally decriminalized drug possession. 

MD Maryland Regulation Bill Poised to Advance, FL MedMJ Homegrow Initiative, More... (2/20/23)

A package of civil asset forfeiture bills is filed in Georgia, a psilocybin research bill advances in Arizona, and more.

A proposed Florida initiative would allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own medicine. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Maryland Marijuana Regulation Bill Poised to Advance After Hearing. A bill that aims to set regulations for the state's legal marijuana industry, House Bill 556, appears poised to advance after a lengthy hearing last week in the House Economic Matters Committee. While some amendments were suggested, no one really complained about the broad contours of the bill, which would expand the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission into the Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission and create a new regulation and enforcement division within the commission. It also sets a retail marijuana tax at six percent, which could increase to 10 percent by 2028. It also includes social equity provisions, including creating a new Office of Social Equity within the commission to promote participation from communities adversely impacted by the war on drugs. No vote was taken, and the committee will meet again on Wednesday to take up any amendments offered.

Medical Marijuana

Florida Campaign Seeks to Put Medical Marijuana Home Grow Initiative on 2024 Ballot. A group calling itself the WISE and Free Florida Committee is getting a campaign underway for a constitutional amendment initiative that would allow "caregivers and adult qualifying patients 21 years or older to cultivate marijuana for medical use" and would note that cultivation would be "limited to the cultivator’s home." To clear the first hurdle on its path, the campaign must come up with more than 291,000 valid voter signatures, which would then trigger a review by the state Supreme Court. If okayed to move forward by the court, the campaign would then have to come up with an additional 891,589 valid voter signatures to meet the next hurdle. A separate campaign committee calling itself Smart and Safe Florida, which wants to get a marijuana legalization amendment on the ballot, has already met that first signature goal.

Psychedelics

Arizona House Panel Approves Psilocybin Research Bill. A bipartisan bill to support research into the potential medical benefits of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, has advanced through its first committee. The House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee approved House Bill 2486 last week. The bill would provide up to $30 million in grants to study psilocybin's effect on a number of specified medical conditions, including depression, substance misuse disorders, PTSD, and symptoms of long COVID. The bill passed the committee on a unanimous vote.

Asset Forfeiture

Georgia Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Package Filed. State Reps. Sandra Scott (D-Rex), Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain) and Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta) have filed a trio of bills, House Bill 106, House Bill 109, and House Bill 110, that address problems with the state's civil asset forfeiture laws. HB 106 would allow people whose vehicles have been forfeited to get them back if it was used without the owner's consent in the commission of a crime. HB 109 would exempt homesteads, currency less than $541, and motor vehicles worth less than $5,000 from being forfeited. HB 110 would mandate the establishment of a civil asset forfeiture tracking system and publicly accessible database. 

CO Safe Injection Site Bill Filed, Twitter Okays Marijuana Ads, More... (2/17/23)

Marijuana legalization bills advance in Hawaii and Minnesota, a Virginia psilocybin reform bill dies, and more.

The Vancouver safe injection site. Could one be coming to Denver? (vch.ca)
Marijuana Policy

Twitter Becomes First Social Media Platform to Allow Marijuana Ads. As of Wednesday, Twitter is allowing marijuana companies to market their brands and products in the United States. It is the first social media platform to take that step. Previously, Twitter had only allowed ads for hemp-derived CBD prices. Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok continue to follow a "no cannabis advertising policy" based on the fact that marijuana remains illegal on the federal level. Twitter announced restrictions on marijuana advertising: Companies must be properly licensed, not target people under 21, and only target states where they are licensed to operate.  

Hawaii Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Committee Votes. A marijuana legalization bill, Senate Bill 375, was approved by Senate Human Services Committee and the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee on Wednesday. The bill is supported by some of the industry's major operators, but small-scale growers and groups supporting them oppose the bill and instead support Senate Bill 669, which has a simpler regulatory scheme. The Senate voted to approve marijuana legalization in 2021, only to see the measure defeated in the House. The Senate is expected to pass some form of marijuana legalization this year as well.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances Yet Again. The marijuana legalization bill,  House File 100, has won its ninth House committee vote, with the House Education Finance Committee approving it Thursday. The Senate companion bill also cleared its sixth panel this week. With an expected 18 committee votes needed before heading for floor votes, the measure is now most of the way there.

Medical Marijuana

Colorado Legislative Committee Kills Medical Marijuana Expansion. A bill to expand access to medical marijuana was shot down by the first committee to consider it on Thursday. The measure, Senate Bill 81, sought to increase the amount of medical marijuana concentrate a patient can buy per day and allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana via virtual telehealth appointments for some patients, among other changes. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee killed the bill at the request of bill sponsor Sen. Kevin Van Winkle (R), who said he was not able to reach agreement with opponents to move the measure forward. Van Winkle said he would be back to try again.

Psychedelics

Virginia Bill to Reduce Psilocybin Penalties Dies in House. A bill to lower penalties for possessing psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, as well as psilocybin advisory board to move toward therapeutic access, Senate Bill 932, has died in the House after being approved in the Senate. It was killed in the House Rules Committee on a 13-5 vote, joining two other psilocybin reform bills in the ash heap of history. A 2022 psilocybin decriminalization bill failed, as did a bill earlier this year that would have ended felony possession charges for people 21 and over.

Harm Reduction

 

. The city of Denver passed a resolution four years ago to allow safe injection sites but has been stymied because they remain illegal under state law. Now, lawmakers hoping to rectify that contradiction have filed a bill, House Bill 23-1202, that would allow the city to move forward with an "overdose prevention center." So far every lawmaker in support of the bill is a Democrat. In addition to allowing drug users to inject under medical supervision, the bill would provide access to sterile equipment, fentanyl testing, counseling, and referrals to treatment. It is now before the Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee. Safe injection sites currently operate in only two states, New York and Rhode Island.

FDA Panel Calls for Over-the-Counter Naloxone, NH Legal Pot Bill Advances, More... (2/16/23)

Washington state legislators advance a bill allowing interstate marijuana commerce, Kansas lawmakers file a pair of asset forfeiture reform bills, and more.

An FDA panel has called for naloxone to be made available over-the-counter. (publicimage.org)
Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Committee Vote. The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Liquor Subcommittee has revised and approved a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 639, originally filed by bipartisan House leaders. As amended, the bill now would legalize the possession and gifting of up to four ounces of marijuana and a state agency would be responsible for regulating the marijuana market and issuing business licenses. There is no provision for home cultivation or the expungement of past convictions, and localities would be able to limit or ban pot businesses within their jurisdictions. The bill now heads for a House floor vote, then back to the House Finance Committee, and then back for another House floor vote before heading to the Senate.

Washington Bill to Allow Interstate Marijuana Sales Wins Committee Vote. The House Committee on Regulated Substances and Gambling has approved a bill to allow in-state marijuana companies to sell their products in other states, House Bill 1159. If the bill passes, it would require changes in federal law or policy to go into  effect. California and Oregon have already adopted similar measures. The bill now goes to the House Rules Committee before heading for a possible floor vote.

Asset Forfeiture

Kansas Bills Would Reform State Asset Forfeiture Process to Require a Conviction but Federal Loophole Would Remain. The House Judiciary Committee has introduced two bills, House Bill 2380 and House Bill 2396, that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases. But the legislation leaves a loophole open that would allow police to continue using asset forfeiture by partnering with the feds. The bill also attempts to address "policing for profit" by directing that all forfeiture proceeds go to the state's general fund, not law enforcement agencies.

Harm Reduction

FDA Panel Calls for Over-the-Counter Naloxone. A panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) experts has voted unanimously to call for the overdose-reversing drug naloxone to be made available over the counter to aid the national response to the opioid crisis. The non-binding vote came despite concerns from some panel members that the drug's instructions and packaging could confuse people. The manufacturer, Emergent Biosolutions, said it would revise its packaging an labeling. Naloxone is already available without a prescription, but it is kept behind the pharmacy counter. 

Medical Marijuana Update

Two Great Plains medical marijuana laggards are seeing efforts to advance.

Kansas

Kansas Senators File Medical Marijuana Bill. The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee has filed a medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 135. The measure would set up a system of licensed dispensaries from which patients could obtain a 30-day supply of marijuana, but only in the form of concentrates, topicals, or edibles—smoking or vaping would not be allowed. Patients suffering from a specified list of 21 medical conditions would be eligible. Patients would have to register with the state, but people who have a doctor's recommendation but have not registered would face only a fine for possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana. Similar legislation passed the House in 2021, only to die in the Senate.

Nebraska

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Bill Gets Hearing. The single-chamber legislature's Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a medical marijuana, bill from Sen. Anna Wishart (D), Legislative Bill 588. The committee heard testimony from experts and advocates who relayed information about the plant's therapeutic value, as well as from Wishart herself, the state's most prominent medical marijuana advocate. Wishart has led so far unsuccessful efforts to put the effort directly before voters as a ballot initiative. "My goal is that no family has to flee our state to get access to medical cannabis for themselves or a loved one," Wishart said in her opening remarks. "This bill is not going to fail because of lack of compromise or thoughtfulness on the part of all of the senators and the stakeholders that have worked on this. If this bill fails, it will fail like it has in the past because of political pressure from a few people in our state who wield their power to stamp out the will of the people."

Virginia Adult Retail Marijuana Sales Quashed By House GOP [FEATURE]

Elections have consequences, as Virginia voters are finding out.

The state capitol in Richmond. (Amadeust/Creative Commons)
Two years ago, a Democratically-controlled Senate and House  passed legislation legalizing marijuana, and the Democratic governor signed it into law. That law mandated that legal adult use sales commence by January 1, 2004, and left it to state lawmakers to figure out the regulatory details so that goal could be met.

But Republicans won the governorship and control of the House last November, and now they are refusing to move forward on getting the retail market going. Last week, the still Democratically-led Senate approved a regulation bill, Senate Bill 1133, on a 24-16 vote, but this week, the House General Laws Subcommittee killed it on a party line 5-3 vote.

The vote "was entirely expected, but is still disappointing, and it spotlights House Republicans’ continued failure of leadership on cannabis policy," NORML Development Director and Virginia NORML Executive Director JM Pedini said in a statement.

Not only did the House kill the Senate bill, Pedini noted, also failed to advance multiple marijuana retail sales bills out of its own chamber. Republican backbones were stiffened by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's opposition to the implementation bills. He said he was instead focused on regulating products containing intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.

Virginians now find themselves in the odd position of being able to legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to four plants but not legally buy it—for now and the foreseeable future.

"Without access to a regulated marketplace, consumers won’t know whether they’re getting a safe, tested product or one contaminated with potentially dangerous adulterants,"Pedini added.

Sponsored by Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), the bill just killed in the House would have allowed sales to begin on January 1, 2024 and take place at existing medical marijuana dispensaries as well as new enterprises operated by people from "historically economically disadvantaged communities." It also included a provision for resentencing people currently serving time for marijuana convictions.

The bill foresaw a 21 percent excise tax on retail transactions, with localities being able to impose an additional three percent local tax. Tax revenues would have been earmarked for historically economically disadvantaged communities, pre-k education for at-risk youth, and addiction prevention services. An independent Cannabis Control Authority would have regulated the industry.

The bill also would have established regulations for hemp-derived cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC, which Gov. Youngkin claims to be worried about. It would have established testing and labeling requirements for such products.

"This bill fixes a major public health, consumer safety and public safety issue—and it does what more than 60 percent of Virginia voters want us to do: Regulate these products, ensure they’re safe for consumers and also generates hundreds of millions of dollars from revenue for the Commonwealth," Ebbin told his fellow senators ahead of their vote to approve it last week.

But Republicans in a House committee dashed that dream this week, just as earlier this month, they killed a meek and modest proposal to have the Cannabis Control Authority—which already exists and is funded—begin to draft regulations for legal sales. That bill, House Bill 1464, was also killed by Republicans in a subcommittee.

"All this bill does is says the [Cannabis Control Authority], that y'all have propped up and funded, should do its job of advising you guys of what a market could look like next year," said Greg Habeeb, a former legislator turned lobbyist who represents the Virginia Cannabis Association.

But even that was too much for legislative Republicans, who have made abundantly clear that they are not in the least interested in allowing legal retail marijuana sales to get going. It may take another election for any progress to occur. 

VA House GOP Blocks Marijuana Sales, Ireland to Have Citzens' Assembly on Drug Policy, More... (2/15/23)

Senate Majority Leader Schumer is trying to get some movement on marijuana legislation, a psilocybin research bill advances in Arizona, and more.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) looking thoughtful during a January trip to the border. (Sen. Blackburn)
Marijuana Policy

Schumer Meets with Senate Republicans to Discuss Marijuana Legislation. After meeting earlier this month with key Senate Democrats to discuss how to move forward with marijuana legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met Tuesday with three Republican senators, Steve Daines (R-MT), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in a bid to find bipartisan consensus. Access to financial services for the industry was a central point of discussion, and advocates are calling for passage of "SAFE Plus," which would include banking reforms as well as some social equity provisions. The Republicans with whom Schumer met were all cosponsors of Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in the last Congress.

Louisiana Marijuana Legalization Bills Prefiled. Rep. Candace Newell (D) has prefiled a package of bills that would legalize marijuana. House Bill 17would allow the Department of Agriculture to manage and issue 10 cultivation and processing licenses and 40 permits for retail dispensaries. House Bill 24 would decriminalize cannabis possession and distribution. House Bill 12, which has yet to be prefiled, will take on taxation. Newell has filed legalization bills in two previous sessions, but split up the legislation this time around: "I’ve separated the three bills. It’s legalization, regulation, and taxation. So each bill does its own thing," Newell said.

Texas Bill Would Allow Localities to Legalize Marijuana. Rep. Jessica Gonzalez (D) has filed House Bill 1937, which would allow cities and counties to legalize up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in their jurisdictions and tax marijuana sales at 10 percent. The bill faces cloudy prospects in the Republican-dominated legislature and an almost certain veto by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

Virginia House Republicans Kill Marijuana Sales Bill. Republican members of the House General Laws Subcommittee voted Tuesday to kill Senate Bill 1133, which would have allowed the state to begin issuing marijuana cultivation licenses this July and  retail licenses in July 2004. The bill had passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but died in the subcommittee on a party line 5-3 vote. In 2021, a then Democratically-controlled legislature legalized marijuana and called for retail sales to begin by January 1, 2024, but the now Republican-dominated House has refused to pass enabling regulatory legislation.

Psychedelics

Arizona Psilocybin Research Bill Wins Committee Vote. The House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a bill to promote research into the possible medical uses of psilocybin mushrooms, House Bill 2486. The bill would provide $30 million in grants for research to study the effect of psilocybin on 13 specified conditions, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and long COVID. Researchers would be working with whole psilocybin mushrooms.

Drug Policy                                                                                 

Federal Bill to Punish Accused Border Drug, Human Traffickers Filed. Borrowing a page from the 1980s drug prohibitionist playbook, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is rolling out a bill that would deny accused drug or human traffickers access to welfare, public housing, and other federal benefits. Blackburn's Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act would "prohibit anyone charged with drug or human trafficking at our international borders or in our territorial waters from receiving federal government benefits," including Social Security. The bill also contains a provision allowing for people who are found not guilty to receive any back payments that had been blocked.

International

Irish Government Creates Citizens' Assembly on Drugs to Examine Drug Policy. The government has approved a people's consultative body to conduct a thorough examination of Irish drug policies within a nine-month timeframe. "The Citizens’ Assembly will be asked to consider the legislative, policy, and operational changes the State could make to significantly reduce the harmful impacts of illicit drugs on individuals, families, communities, and wider society," the government said. The assembly will examine both Irish and international approaches to drug use and supply, as well as analyzing the operations of state agencies, including health, law enforcement, education, housing, and social welfare.  

MN Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances Again, Colombia Peace Talks with ELN, More... (2/14/21)

Four federal legislators file a bill to strengthen the drug war in the Caribbean, a Hawaii bill to ease the way toward the therapeutic use of psilocybin and MDMA passes the Senate, and more.

Coast Guard seizes $7.5 million in cocaine in the Caribbean. (USCG)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins More Committee Votes. The effort to legalize marijuana continued to bear fruit this week, with the House version of the bill, House File 100 being approved Monday by the House Human Services Policy Committee and the companion Senate bill being approved that sa me day by the Senate Transportation Committee. The actions mark the eighth approval by a House committee and the sixth by a Senate committee. With majorities in the House and Senate, as well as control of the governorship, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is confident the bill will become law this year. It looks like there are only four committee votes to go before the bill heads for floor votes in the two chambers.

Opiates and Opioids

Idaho Bill Would Lower Heroin Penalties, Create Mandatory Minimums for Dealing Fentanyl. A bill before the legislature, House Bill 67, would raise quantity thresholds and reduce sentences for heroin dealing while creating a mandatory minimum sentence for fentanyl dealing. The amount of heroin required for a trafficking charge would jump from two grams to seven in the bottom tier and from 10 to 14 grams in the middle tier. Sentences for the top tier of heroin trafficking offenses would drop from 15 years to 10 and sentences for the middle tier would drop from 10 years to five. The bill would also make possession of more than seven grams of fentanyl a felony chargeable as "trafficking." Those caught with more than seven grams would face a three-year mandatory minimum, while those caught with more than 14 grams would face a five-year mandatory minimum, and those caught with more than 28 grams would face a 10-year mandatory minimum. The Idaho Chiefs of Police, Idaho Sheriffs Association and the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association are all in favor of House Bill 67.

Psychedelics

Hawaii Psilocybin and MDMA Research Bill Wins Committee Vote. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has approved Senate Bill 1531, which is aimed at promoting research into the therapeutic uses of MDMA, psilocybin, and other alternative mental health treatments. The bill would create a Beneficial Treatments Advisory Council that would review the scientific literature on using such substances for mental health treatment as well as exploring state and federal regulations on them. The council would be required to develop a "long-term strategic plan to ensure the availability of therapeutic psilocybin, psilocybin-based products, and [MDMA] that are safe, accessible, and affordable for adults twenty—one years of age or older." A companion bill in the House has yet to move.

Drug Policy

Old School Prohibitionist Bill to Fight Caribbean Drug Trafficking Filed in Congress. On Monday, three Republicans and one Democrat, Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Reps. Jenniffer González-Colon (R-PR) and Stacey Plaskett (R-VI) introduced the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act , which aims "to stop the illegal trafficking of deadly drugs in the Caribbean, specifically between Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Florida." The bill would "ensure the Federal government has a strategy in place to prevent the flow of illicit drugs through the Caribbean region and into the United States by codifying in statute the requirement for ONDCP to issue a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy—just as Congress has codified the requirement for the Southwest Border and the Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategies." It would also clarify that US territories are included in the definition of "state" and "United States." 

International

Colombian Government in Peace Talks with Leftist Rebels Who Demand "Alternative Drug Policies." The government of President Gustavo Petro and the country's largest remaining rebel group met in Mexico City to restart peace talks aimed at resolving a conflict dating back to the 1960s. The communist-inspired National Liberation Army (ELN) is calling for a "temporary, nationwide cease-fire" and that any agreement should include "an alternative anti-drug policy that is no longer based on repression and war." The ELN has a presence in some 200 Colombian township, mostly in areas of widespread coca cultivation and cocaine production. Like the larger FARC, which signed a peace agreement with the state in 2016, the ELN is involved in the drug trade and has replaced the FARC in many areas. But even though it is involved in the drug traffic, the ELN is adamant that it should not be treated like a drug trafficking organization but as a political force. This is the second round of talks since Petro took office last year. The first round did not achieve much. 

CA Bill Would Allow Fresh Food Sales at Cannabis Cafes, Peru Police Attacked in Coca Hotspot, More... (2/13/23)

The Louisiana legislature sees a marijuana legalization bill for the third year in a row, coca production is expanding in Guatemala but without signs of cocaine production, and more.

Seven cops were ambushed and killed in the heartland of Peruvian cocaine production. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

California Bill Would Allow Cannabis Cafes That Sell Fresh Food. Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) has filed a bill that would allow licensed marijuana retailers to also sell non-intoxicating foods and beverages. The measure, Assembly Bill 374, would  amend state law to allow such sales, as well as allowing shops to put on live musical performances and sell tickets to them. "Many people want to consume cannabis socially while having a sandwich or listening to music," Haney said. "We should allow that." Current state law allows marijuana consumption lounges, but they are not allowed to sell freshly prepared food—only prepackaged food and beverages.

Louisiana Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed. For the third year in a row, a marijuana legalization bill has been filed in the state legislatures. House Bill 17, sponsored by Rep. Candace Newell (D), would create a taxed and regulated marijuana industry in the state. Under the bill, 10 licenses would be issued for cultivation, processing, and manufacture of marijuana and 40 for retailers. A separate bill from Newell, House Bill 24, would decriminalize possession and distribution of marijuana upon legislative enactment of a regulatory system and the establishment of a tax on recreational sales. "I separated it because I know what state I live in," Newell said. "It’s been a challenge."

International                 

Guatemala Coca Production Expands, But No Sign of Cocaine Production. The planting of coca leaf appears to be on the rise in the Central American nation, with authorities reporting the destruction of more than 4 million coca plants last year, more than double the 1.7 million eradicated in 2021, and another 1.2 million already this year. Authorities also dismantled five labs for producing coca base, the first stage of cocaine production, but no labs capable of producing cocaine hydrochloride, or powder cocaine. While the number of plants eradicated appears large, it is a tiny fraction of the number of plants grown in major coca producing countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. All the plants eradicated in Guatemala last year amount to about 70 acres, while the amount of coca eradicated in Colombia alone amounted to about 175,000 acres.

Peru Police Ambushed in Cocaine Hotspot, Seven Officers Dead. Seven police officers were shot and killed in an ambush attack in the town of Natividad, deep in the remote Andean region known as the VRAEM (the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers), the center of coca and cocaine production in the country. The VRAEM accounts for 75 percent of Peruvian cocaine. While police did not point a finger at any one group for the attack, the region has a strong presence of drug trafficking groups who are allied with remnants of the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla army whose rebellion in the 1980s left nearly a hundred thousand dead across the country. 

Addiction Medicine Group Calls for Drug Decrim, Texas Civil Asset Forfeiture Bill Filed, More... (2/10/23)

That Minnesota marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, the city of Amsterdam is banning outdoor pot smoking in its red light district, and more.

No pot smoking on the streets of Amsterdam's red light district, but you can still light up on coffeeshop patios. (CC)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Wins Yet Another Committee Vote. The effort to legalize marijuana continued its long march through the legislative committee process Thursday with the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee approving the Senate version of the bill, Senate File 73. That is the fifth Senate committee to advance the bill. The House version of the bill is also moving, having passed through seven committees already. This means the bill is roughly two-thirds of the way through committee votes, with a total of 18 anticipated before it heads for floor votes.

Asset Forfeiture

Texas Bill Would Reform State Asset Forfeiture Process and Take Step to Opt Out of Federal Program. Rep. Terry Canales (D) has introduced a modest reform of the state's civil asset forfeiture laws, House Bil1714. The bill does not abolish civil asset forfeiture, but raises the burden of proof on prosecutors from "a preponderance of the evidence" to "clear and convincing evidence." Passage of the bill would also take a big step toward opting Texas out of a federal program that allows state and local police to get around more strict state asset forfeiture laws. The bill says: "A law enforcement agency or attorney representing the state may not directly or indirectly transfer seized property to any federal law enforcement authority or other federal agency and may not coordinate with the authority or agency regarding seized property unless" the value of the seized property exceeds $50,000 and the crime committed is "interstate in nature." The bill has yet to be referred to a committee.

Drug Policy

American Society of Addiction Medicine Calls for Drug Decriminalization. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), which has historically aligned itself with prohibitionists and resisted modest marijuana reforms, is now calling for drug decriminalization. Citing "structural racism and stigma that are entrenched in US drug policy," ASAM issued a policy statement Thursday that said the group "supports shifting the nation’s response to personal substance use away from assumptions of criminality towards health and wellness. Policymakers should eliminate criminal and onerous civil penalties for drug and drug paraphernalia possession for personal use as part of a larger set of related public health and legal reforms designed to improve carefully selected outcomes. In the interest of harm reduction, policymakers should also eliminate criminal penalties for the manufacture and delivery of drug paraphernalia."

International

Amsterdam to Ban Pot Smoking on the Street in Red Light District. As part of a package of rules aimed at cracking down on noisy tourists who have drawn repeated complaints by residents, the city will ban pot smoking on the streets of its red light district beginning in May. "This should reduce the nuisance caused by drug use in public spaces, particularly by tourists," Mayor Femke Halsema said. The mayor said residents had been "excessively bothered" by crowds and nuisances related to mass tourism in the district. The new rules also mandate that brothels close by 3 a.m. and that bars close by 2 a.m. People will still be able to smoke pot outside on the patios of the city's famous coffeeshops. 

Great Plains MedMJ Bills Filed, Biden Criticized Over Call for Harsh Fentanyl Penalties, More... (2/9/23)

An Arkansas Republican files a bill to put marijuana legalization before the voters in 2024, harm reductionists and drug reformers criticize the president's call for stronger criminal penalties around fentanyl, and more.

Nebraska and neighboring Kansas are both working to enact medical marijuana laws this year. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Arkansas Republican Files Bill to Put Marijuana Legalization on 2024 Ballot. State Sen. Joshua Bryant (R-Rogers) filed a bill Wednesday to put a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana on the 2024 general election ballot. The bill, SJR13, would legalize marijuana for adults and allow "craft or home growing" of pot plants. The move comes after a 2022 constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana was defeated at the polls by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent.

Medical Marijuana

Kansas Senators File Medical Marijuana Bill. The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee has filed a medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 135. The measure would set up a system of licensed dispensaries from which patients could obtain a 30-day supply of marijuana, but only in the form of concentrates, topicals, or edibles—smoking or vaping would not be allowed. Patients suffering from a specified list of 21 medical conditions would be eligible. Patients would have to register with the state, but people who have a doctor's recommendation but have not registered would face only a fine for possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana. Similar legislation passed the House in 2021, only to die in the Senate.

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Bill Gets Hearing. The single-chamber legislature's Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a medical marijuana, bill from Sen. Anna Wishart (D), Legislative Bill 588. The committee heard testimony from experts and advocates who relayed information about the plant's therapeutic value, as well as from Wishart herself, the state's most prominent medical marijuana advocate. Wishart has led so far unsuccessful efforts to put the effort directly before voters as a ballot initiative. "My goal is that no family has to flee our state to get access to medical cannabis for themselves or a loved one," Wishart said in her opening remarks. "This bill is not going to fail because of lack of compromise or thoughtfulness on the part of all of the senators and the stakeholders that have worked on this. If this bill fails, it will fail like it has in the past because of political pressure from a few people in our state who wield their power to stamp out the will of the people."

Drug Policy

Drug Reformers, Harm Reductionists Criticize Biden's State of the Union Call for Harsher Fentanyl Penalties. Harm reductionists and drug reformers took issue with one part of President Biden's plan to address the fentanyl crisis—his call for "strong penalties to crack down on fentanyl trafficking." Such an approach would only make matters worse, advocates said. "When you criminalize things, you create stigma around substances," said Maritza Perez Medina, director of federal affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. "If people know they’re going to get in trouble for using substances, they’re going to be reluctant to call for help." Harm reduction advocacy group PAIN organizer Harry Cullen said that efforts to suppress fentanyl have led to the emergence of other dangerous substances in the drug supply, such  as the veterinary drug xylazine. "To double down on criminalization is not the way forward," Cullen said. 

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A small-town Pennsylvania police chief was slinging dope, so was an Ohio narcotics detective, and more. Let's get to it:

In Greenburg, Pennsylvania, the Greenburg police chief was arrested January 25 for helping to distribute cocaine, meth, and other drugs. Chief Shawn Denning, 41, allegedly peddled dope for a 16-month period from June 2021 to October 2022 and went down after DEA investigators used an informant to collect evidence against him. Denning repeatedly hooked up the informant with drug suppliers he knew in California and the informant repeatedly successfully scored ounces of cocaine, among other drugs. Denning now faces six federal counts of drug distribution-related charges, and he is no longer the chief. 

In Cleveland, Ohio, a state prison guard was arrested January 30 for smuggling methamphetamine and other drugs into the Lorain Correctional Institution. Guard Daryl Gus, 35, went down after the prison officials tipped the DEA that they had listened to an inmate's phone calls and heard him directing people to deliver drugs to Gus. The DEA then joined the investigation, searching Gus's phone records and financial activities, and finding sufficient evidence to arrest him on a federal charge of conspiring to distribute drugs.

In San Diego, a San Diego sheriff's deputy was arrested last Friday after suspected cocaine was located inside his vehicle on jail property. Deputy Allen Wereski, 48, went down after his coworkers discovered "suspected cocaine" inside his car. He was suspended without pay, as well as being jailed on $25,000 bail for count of bringing a controlled substance to a correctional facility. 

In Columbus, Ohio, a former Columbus narcotics officer was sentenced last Friday to nine years in federal prison for trafficking more than eight kilograms of drugs, including cocaine and fentanyl. Marco Merino, 45, had pleaded guilty a year ago to accepting bribes and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. Merino and former officer John Kotchkoski dealt drugs together as narcotics detectives. Kotchkoski pleaded guilty in April to a single count of fentanyl trafficking and awaits sentencing. The pair went down after trying to sell eight kilos of fentanyl to a man they thought was a snitch but who was actually an undercover FBI agent.

 

 

Oklahoma Votes on Marijuana Legalization Next Month [FEATURE]

In less than a month, voters in Oklahoma will be deciding if it will become the 22nd state to legalize marijuana. In a special election set for March 7, a marijuana legalization initiative, State Question 820 will be the only item on the ballot.

If it passes, Oklahoma would become the first state between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains to legalize marijuana, blowing a big green hole in that tier of prohibitionist red states running down from North Dakota to Texas.

The initiative should have been on last November's general election ballot. The group behind the measure, Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, turned in 69,000 more signatures than needed in a timely fashion, but private contractors hired by the Secretary of State's office took an excessive amount of time to verify the signatures.

Between that and questionable legal challenges from opponents, approval of the measure was so delayed that the state Supreme Court ruled weeks before the election that the measure would have to wait for the 2024 general election or until the governor or legislature calls a special election. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) then announced the March 7 date.

If approved by voters, SQ 820 would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and eight grams of marijuana concentrates and grow up to six plants and six seedlings at home. It also protects parents from losing custody or visitation rights solely because of marijuana use and states that parolees and probationers cannot be punished for marijuana use. Nor could the odor of marijuana or burnt marijuana be used as probable cause for police to infer that a crime had been committed. And it includes a provision for the expungement of some past marijuana offenses.

SQ 820 gives employers the right to ban marijuana use or fire marijuana-using workers, and it would allow private property owners to ban marijuana use (unless it is not smoked). Likewise, the state or local governments could ban marijuana use in public buildings.

The measure sets up a system of taxed, licensed, and regulated marijuana commerce, but for the first two years, marijuana business licenses would go only to existing medical marijuana businesses that have been operating for at least a year. The state is now also under a moratorium on new grower, processor and dispensary licenses until August 2024, meaning any potential new pot business operators may have to wait awhile to get in the game.

SQ 820 sets a 15 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales, with revenues going to public schools, drug treatment programs, the courts, local governments, and the state's general fund.

And, of course, it is drawing opposition from the usual suspects. A coalition of community, business, and law enforcement leaders led by former Republican Gov. Frank Keating have organized as Protect Our Kids No 820.

"We simply must protect our children, " Keating warned. "This state question goes well beyond the ballot summary voters will see. Just one example is that hidden inside this question is a clause that expressly lowers the legal threshold for child endangerment. It includes a prohibition on our court system from considering marijuana usage in child custody and visitation cases. These are just a few of the problems."

SQ 820 campaign director Michelle Tilley was unfazed. "We think State Question 820 is actually a positive step in protecting our children. Every, every product has to safety tested, it is regulated," she said.

"Other states had these same scare tactics, and they have legalized," she added. "They have not seen an increase in any underage marijuana use or any negative consequences, like we anticipate the opposition is going to throw out there."

Whether SQ 820 can win at the polls next month is an open question. The most recent poll on the topic, from November, had support at 49 percent, with 38 percent opposed and 13 percent undecided. While initiative campaigns typically want to see a nice 10-point lead to cushion any votes peeled off by late opposition efforts, these numbers suggest that all it needs is a tiny portion of the undecided voters to get on board to get it over the top. Stay tuned. 

Biden Lays Out Plan to Tackle Fentanyl, Myanmar Meth Production, More... (2/8/23)

That Minnesota marijuana legalization bill keeps advancing, another senator joins the call for the drug czar to be reinstated to a cabinet-level position, and more.

The president used his state of the union address to lay out a plan to fight fentanyl and opioid overdoses. (whitehouse.gov)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Yet Another Committee Vote. The marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, with the House version, House File 100, winning its seventh committee vote Tuesday in a voice vote at the Workforce Development Finance and Policy Committee. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill won its fourth committee vote earlier in the week. But after all those committee votes, the bills are still only about halfway through the committee process. Still, Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz (D) are confident the measure will become law before the summer is over.

Drug Policy

At State of the Union, Biden Lays Out Plan to Tackle Fentanyl and Opioid Overdose Epidemic. President Biden outlined his plan "to beat the opioid epidemic" by "disrupting the trafficking, distribution, and sale of fentanyl." That will include increased enforcement at points of entry, intercepting more packages of fentanyl coming through package delivery companies, working diplomatically to address the supply chain abroad, and increasing penalties for fentanyl suppliers. Biden also calling for "expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery," by delivering more naloxone, ensuring there is more drug treatment in jails and prisons, and expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder.

Another Senator Joins Call for Drug Czar to Be Reinstated as Cabinet Officer. Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has joined the list of senators and representatives calling on the Biden administration to restore the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar's office) to a cabinet-level position. "Elevating the post would enable ONDCP to more effectively coordinate drug control efforts across federal agencies and enhance the Biden administration’s response the opioid epidemic, a public health crisis that killsmore than 100,000 Americans each year." She joins Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), a member of the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, and Representatives David Trone (D-MD), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Annie Kuster (D-NH), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, who sent a letter to the White House last week urging the drug czar's reinstatement.

International

Myanmar Now a Leading Methamphetamine Producer. Long known for its opium production, Myanmar is now a leading global producer of methamphetamine, according to academic researchers, who cite massive meth seizures in the region (more than 170 tons) and point to armed groups who used to rely on opium revenues switching to meth production after government crackdowns on the poppy. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime puts the value of the regional meth trade at $61 billion a year, and the researchers say organized crime groups are trafficking Myanmar meth to "high value markets," such as Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. 

MN Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances Again, VA Senate Passes Psilocybin Rescheduling Bill, More... (2/7/23)

Adult-use marijuana sales got off to a hot start in Missouri, the Virginia Senate approves a bil lto allow adult-use marijuana sales, and more.

Psilocybin would be rescheduled under a bill just passed by the Virginia Senate. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Fourth Senate Committee Vote. The Senate version of the marijuana legalization bill, Senate File 73, has won a fourth committee vote as it moves down the path to passage. The Senate Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee approved the bill Sen. Lindsey Port (D) in a 5-4 vote. The bill could see up to an additional 14 committee votes before going to a Senate floor vote. The House version of the bill is proceeding down a similar path, having won six committee votes, with another half-dozen to come. With the Democratic Farm Labor Party in control of both chambers and DFL Gov. Tim Walz behind it as well, the bills are expected to become law this summer.

Missouri Sees More Than $12 Million in Opening Weekend Adult Marijuana Sales. The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association reported that medical marijuana dispensaries now allowed to sell to any adults registered sales of more than $12.6 million in the first weekend of adult-use marijuana sales, with $5 million coming last Friday, the first day of such sales. Of all dispensary sales over the weekend, roughly two-thirds were purchased by adult-use customers. The state Department of Health and Senior Services Division of Cannabis Regulation issued 207 comprehensive retail licenses last Friday and sales commenced right away.

Virginia Senate Approves Bill to Start Adult-Use Marijuana Sales. The Senate on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 1133, which clears the way for the start of adult-use marijuana sales, on a 24-16 vote. The bill would create a regulatory framework for sales to begin by January 1, 2024 and would allow sales both at existing medical marijuana dispensaries and new stores operated by people who live in "historically economically disadvantaged communities." Marijuana products would be taxed at a rate of 21 percent, with localities allowed to add up to an additional 3 percent. The bill's prospects in the Republican-led House, however, are unclear. The House recently defeated its own version of a marijuana sales bill. The legislature approved marijuana legalization last year, but not sales.

Psychedelics

Virginia Senate Approves Psilocybin Rescheduling Bill. The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to reschedule psilocybin and create an advisory board to make recommendations for further actions. Senate Bill 932, filed by Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D), would move psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule III under state law. Hashmi last year filed a psilocybin decriminalization bill that went nowhere last year, and the GOP-controlled House this year rejected a bill to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use. Now, the House will have a chance to weigh in on this more incremental bill, which would not allow legal therapeutic psilocybin use but would reduce criminal penalties for the substance. Instead, the advisory board would be tasked to "develop a long-term strategic plan for establishing therapeutic access to psilocybin services and monitor and study federal laws, regulations, and policies regarding psilocybin."

Fed Court Says Pot Smokers Can Own Guns, Australia OKs Psychedelics as Medicines, More... (2/6/23)

Legal adult marijuana sales have commenced in Missouri, the Maryland legislature is moving to pass bills to set up a system of taxed and regulated legal marijuana commerce, and more.

MDMA. Australia has legalized the medicinal use of MDMA and psilocbyin, a first. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy.

Federal Judge Rules Ban on Marijuana Users Owning Guns Unconstitutional. Citing last year's US Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights, a federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a federal law barring marijuana users from owning guns is unconstitutional. US District Court Judge Patrick Wyrick threw out an indictment of a ban charged with violating that ban, saying it infringed on his 2nd Amendment rights. While the federal government can protect the public from dangerous people owning guns, it could not argue that the man's "mere status as a user of marijuana justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm," Wyrick held, adding that using marijuana was "not in and of itself a violent, forceful, or threatening act."The Justice Department has not said whether it will appeal the ruling. This is just the latest decision to expand gun rights after the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled in June that the 2nd Amendment protects a person's right to carry a handgun in public. Just a day earlier than this case's ruling last Friday, an appeals court in New Orleans found unconstitutional a federal law barring people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns.

Senate Democrats Look for Way to Move Forward on Marijuana Banking Bill. Just weeks after an effort to pass marijuana banking legislation died at the end of the last session, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with several other key Democrats last week to "ponder the path" to passage in this Congress, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said. "Hopefully we can find a formulation and have bipartisan support and get it done." Also meeting with Schumer and Merkley were Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Jackie Rosen (D-NV). But while the Democrats still control the Senate, Republicans now control the House, complicating the prospects for progress on the issue.

Maryland Lawmakers Roll Out Bill to Launch Marijuana Sales. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate rolled out identical bills to tax and regulate legal marijuana commerce last Friday. The move comes after voters approved a marijuana legalization referendum on last November's ballot. House Bill 566 and Senate Bill 516 set a tax rate of six percent for the first fiscal year, which would increase by one percent a year until reaching 10 percent in 2028. Thirty percent of those revenues would go to a community reinvestment fund for at least the next decade, with another 1.5 percent going to localities. The bills also include an Office of Social Equity to promote participation in the industry by people impacted by marijuana prohibition. Lawmakers are aiming to launch legal sales by July 1, but there is still a lot of work to between here and there.

Missouri Legal Marijuana Sales Have Begun. That didn't take long. Voters approved marijuana legalization last November, and the first legal sales came last Friday. The first sales came at already existing medical marijuana dispensaries that had upgraded their licenses to include adult sales, and opening day crowds were sizeable at stores such as Good Day Farm, Fresh Green Dispensary, and Greenlight, among others. State officials previously said that 318 of 322 licensed dispensaries had applied to convert to adult sales licenses.

International

 

. In a surprise decision, the federal government's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved the use of the psychedelic substances in magic mushrooms and MDMA for people with certain mental health conditions. MDMA and psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, are now considered Schedule 8 drugs, meaning they can be prescribed by a psychiatrist for controlled use. MDMA will be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, while psilocybin is approved for treatment-resistant depression. They will still be considered prohibited substances (Schedule 9 drugs) for all other purposes. "Prescribing will be limited to psychiatrists, given their specialized qualifications and expertise to diagnose and treat patients with serious mental health conditions,"a TGA statement published on Friday said.

But the TGA has not yet approved any products containing MDMA or psilocybin, so psychiatrists will have to obtain and supply unapproved medicines for the specific authorized uses. There is also a dearth of qualified psychiatrists, said Stephen Bright, director of the Psychedelic Research in Science and Medicine NGO. "The details so far from the TGA are thin. There are no products available, and aside from myself and a handful of colleagues, there’s no-one trained to provide the treatment. We’re waiting for a bit more information, to get an idea of what this looks like in practice," he said. 

Federal MedMJ Prisoner Luke Scarmazzo Freed, MN Pot Legalization Bill Advances, More... (2/3/23)

A Florida marijuana legalization initiative has passed its first hurdle on the way to the ballot, a new Texas poll shows very strong support for marijuana reforms, and more.

Luke Scarmazzo. Freed after 14 years for running a California medical marijuana dispensary. (Mission Green)
Marijuana Policy

Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Passes Initial Hurdle. A proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana has passed the first hurdle on the way to the ballot. The Smart & Safe Florida initiative first challenge was to come up with 222,298 valid voter signatures to trigger a judicial and financial impact review. On Thursday, it reported that it had 294,000 valid signatures. If the measure now gets through the reviews, organizers would then have to gather an additional 891,589 valid signatures to get the issue to ballot position. And if it manages to qualify for the ballot, it will need 60 percent of the vote to be approved.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Another Committee Vote. The marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, continues to advance. On Thursday, it was approved by the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee, the sixth House committee to advance it. That puts the bill at the half-way point in the chamber, where another six committee votes are anticipated. Companion legislation has also been moving in the Senate, although a Senate committee hearing set for Thursday was postponed. Gov. Tim Walz (D) has called on supporters to join lawmakers and the administration in their push legalize marijuana this session.

Texas Poll Finds Supermajority for Medical Marijuana and Decriminalization, Two-Thirds for Legalization. A new YouGov/University of Houston poll has support for legalizing medical marijuana at 82 percent, support for decriminalization at 81 percent, and support for legalization at 67 percent. On medical marijuana, 93 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of independents, and even 73 percent of Republicans were in favor. Similarly, one legalization, 80 of Democrats, 66 percent of independents, and 55 percent of Republicans were on board. The Republican-dominated state legislature, however, has balked at advancing reform legislation.

Medical Marijuana

Medical Marijuana POW Luke Scarmazzo Freed After 14 Years in Federal Prison. Luke Scarmazzo, sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for operating a California medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to walk free today after winning a case for compassionate relief in federal court in the Eastern District of California. He was most recently imprisoned at the federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Scarmazzo and business partner Ricardo Montes opened California Healthcare Collective in Modesto in 2004, operating a business legal under state law. But the DEA raided his operation in 2006, arresting the pair, and they were charged with manufacture of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, and operating a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years. Scarmazzo is believed to be the last California medical marijuana provider to be held in federal prison. 

Hill Lawmakers Call on Biden to Restore Drug Czar to Cabinet Status, More... (2/2/23)

Virginia Republicans are in no hurry to get a legal marijuana market going, a Missouri bill would legalize psilocbying for therapeutic purposes, and more.

Colombia President Petro wants to go after cocaine, not small coca growers. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

Virginia House Committee Kills Watered Down GOP Marijuana Sales Bill. Marijuana is legal in the state, but there is nowhere to buy it, which some lawmakers say presents public safety concerns. Those concerns, however, were not enough for a watered down bill to allow for sales, House Bill 1464, to get any traction. It was defeated in a 5-2 party-line vote in the House Committee on General Laws. While a similar marijuana sales bill is still alive in the Senate, the House defeat is a strong sign that this year's legislative session will be another year of deadlock on the issue.

Psychedelics

Missouri Bill Would Legalize Psilocybin for Therapeutic Purposes. For the second session in a row, Rep. Tony Lovasco (R) has filed a bill relating to "natural medicines," but after last year's bill, which would have legalized several natural psychedelics for therapeutic purposes, failed, this year he has sharpened his focus. House Bill 869, which was filed last month, calls for only for psilocybin to be legal and only for people with treatment-resistant depression or terminal illness, which would be administered by medical professionals. Even so, the bill does not appear to have much momentum. It has not been assigned to a committee, nor are any hearings scheduled.

Drug Policy

Group of Lawmakers Ask Biden to Return Drug Czar to Cabinet Position. A bipartisan group of lawmakers called Thursday for President Biden to return the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar's office) to a Cabinet-level position. They cite rising overdose deaths and "constantly evolving" drug threats. The drug czar had been a Cabinet member from 1988, when the position was created, until 2009, when President Obama removed him. In their Thursday letter, the lawmakers noted that Biden was a leading proponent of the creation and expansion of the drug czar's office and that he had previously called for the drug czar to serve at the Cabinet level. The lawmakers, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Reps. David Trone (D-MD) and Katie Porter (D-CA) called on Biden to restore the position and announce it during his State of the Union speech next week.

International

Colombia Ponders Legalizing "Mini-Crops" of Small Coca Farmers. The National Narcotics Council, which is charged with implementing and evaluating the National Drug Policy for the next decade, is considering a proposal to legalize small-scale coca farming. The move would be aimed at crops between six and 25 acres and seek to reduce the persecution of peasant producers for mixing illicit crops with their food crops. The government has already moved to reduce the forced eradication of coca crops from 125,000 acres to 45,000 acres. Police said they were unable to reach their 2022 goal because of blockades by grower communities that prevented the entry of eradicators. 

Chronicle Book Review: "The Riders Come Out at Night"

The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-Up in Oaklandby Ali Winston & Darwin Bondgraham (2023, Atria Books, 467 pp., $30 HB)

The killing of Tyre Daniels by Memphis police officers who were members of an aggressive anti-crime unit has reignited longstanding public concerns about police brutality and, more broadly, police culture. How is it that American police generate an Eric Garner, a Philandro Castile, a Breonna Taylor, a George Floyd, a Tyre Daniels, another dead person of color and another, on a regular basis?

As the brief list above suggests, and as the massive wave of protests in towns and cities across the land in the wake of the George Floyd killing confirms, thuggish, sometimes murderous cops are not just a Memphis problem. Almost every big city police department has its own legacy of scandalous brutality, much of it linked to the enforcement of drug prohibition. Oakland, California, is no exception.

In the case of the gritty East Bay city, it was the Riders scandal two decades ago that was so outrageous it generated mass protests, a criminal trial of the police involved, and a successful civil lawsuit that resulted in the Oakland Police Department force to operate under the supervision of a federal judge enforcing a consent decree.

In The Riders Come Out at Night, veteran investigative journalists Ali Winston and Darwin Bondgrahm use the Riders scandal as the fulcrum with which they pry open the inner workings of a police department long notorious for corruption and brutality. It's a tale not just of cop acting like criminals but also of a departmental culture more interesting in protecting its own than protecting the citizenry and elected officials more interested in playing "tough on crime" politics than ensuring that the police do not abuse the public.

Like the Memphis SCORPION unit now under the spotlight, the Riders were a specialized crime-fighting unit, celebrated for their aggressive tactics against drug dealers and other scofflaws and held up as an example for incoming rookie officers. A growing pile of police brutality complaints vanished into the police bureaucracy that was supposed to address them, and it took one of those rookie officers, sickened by what he was witnessing from his trainers, to finally bring the scandal into the open.

When it broke, it broke big, with four of the Riders eventually going to trial for the assaults and other crimes they committed (one of them fled and remains a fugitive to this day), only to escape criminal punishment after being vigorously defended by lawyers paid for by the police union. But they and the department could not escape a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of 119 Oakland residents that resulted in a federal consent decree forcing the department into oversight by a federal judge. That was 2003. The department remains under that consent decree to this day because it has been unable or unwilling to make the reforms necessary to satisfy the judge.

Since that 2003 consent decree went into effect, the Oakland PD has suffered renewed scandals on a regular basis, ranging from run of the mill police killings to the killing of four Oakland cops by one man in an incident that laid bare deficiencies in police training to the scandal around Oakland (and other) cops having sex with a troubled teen. And then there was the killing of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station—not by an Oakland cop but by a BART officer—and the Oakland Police's thuggish response to protests around that killing. And the spying on and attacks on Occupy protestors in 2011.

And on and on. It's as if the Oakland Police is a recidivist organization. The authors describe a culture within the department that has been historically racist, sexist, and anti-worker, dating back to anti-Chinese policing in the late 1800s, the Ku Klux Klan presence in the force in the 1920s, and the violent suppression of strikes in the 1930s. It bashed hippies in the 1960s and terrorized black Oaklanders in the 1980s and 1990s as it prosecuted the war on drugs.

It also generated a decades-long resistance movement, often led by the families of the people the department killed that has managed to impose reforms. And it eventually inspired the consent decree under which the department still labors, but it's always two steps forward, one step back.

As they examine this sordid history, Winston and Bondgraham concede that the department has changed, become less deadly and more transparent, and even occasionally capable of punishing miscreants within the ranks. But they argue that the transformations necessary to civilize policing in Oakland (and elsewhere) are greater than the institution of the police:

Whether policing in Oakland will ever get to the point where most people can agree it has been fundamentally transformed—no longer anything like the institution the Riders thrived in, no longer the force that terrorized Black Oakland after World War II and well into the 2000s—depends very much on whether there are broader societal shifts. So long as Oakland and the rest of America is riven by extreme race and class inequalities and the power of the federal government is not brought to repair the economies of destitute cities and rural areas, and deal with the intergenerational trauma that leads to despair and hopelessness, then it's very likely the police will continue serving more or less the same function they have for well over half a century: containing and repressing the symptoms of broader social problems through violence.

The Riders Come Out at Nightis thoroughly researched, compellingly written, and eye-opening. It is also an achingly timely examination of the role of police in society and how we figure out who will guard us from the guardians. This is a real contribution to the literature of policing in America, and it does not paint a pretty picture. 

BC Drug Decriminalization Now in Effect, MN Legal Pot Bill Continues to Advance, More... (2/1/23)

The North Dakota House kills an effort to allow medical marijuana patients to use edibles, a Republican congressman files a marijuana rescheduling bill, and more.

No medical marijuana edibles for you, North Dakota! (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

GOP Congressman Files Marijuana Rescheduling Bill. For the third Congress in a row, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has filed a bill that would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The measure, HR 610, says "the Attorney General of the United States shall, by order not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this section, transfer marijuana…from schedule I of such Act to schedule III of such Act." Such a move would not legalize marijuana, but would, Steube says, "drastically expand" opportunities for research and study.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins More Committee Votes. The marijuana legalization bill continues to move forward. The House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill, House File 100, on Tuesday, becoming the fifth House committee to do so. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill passed the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee on Monday, becoming the fourth Senate committee to do so. Lawmakers have said the bill could face as many as 12 committee votes, meaning the measure is currently three-fourths of the way home. Democrats hold majorities in both houses, as well as the governorship, and are confident the bill will pass and be signed into law in short order.

Medical Marijuana

North Dakota House Kills Bill to Allow Edibles. The House on Tuesday killed a pair of bills that would have made medical marijuana edibles legally available to patients. The House Human Services Committee had amended elements of House Bill 1202 and House Bill 1164 into HB 1202, but the full House killed HB 1202 on a 55-37 vote (it needed two-thirds to pass) and killed HB 1164 on a 20-72 vote. Under the initiative approved by voters in 2016, patients are limited to using dried buds or THC products such as concentrates and tinctures—not edibles. Bill supporters said edibles are a healthier and more accurate means of dosing medical marijuana, but the legislature wasn't listening.

International

Drug Possession is Now Decriminalized in Canada's British Columbia. An exemption to the country's federal drug laws that allows British Columbia to engage in a three-year experiment with drug decriminalization is now in effect. The move is an effort to fight the province's drug overdose crisis. BC accounts for about a third of all Canadian drug overdose deaths, with more than  10,000 overdose deaths in the province since 2016, more than 4,500 of them in the last two years. Under the decriminalization program, possession of up to 2.5 grams of substances such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine is no longer a criminal offense. Supporters of the program say it will reduce stigma and enable healthier outcomes for drug users. 

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