Breaking News:Dangerous Delays: What Washington State (Re)Teaches Us About Cash and Cannabis Store Robberies [REPORT]

Drug War Chronicle

comprehensive coverage of the War on Drugs since 1997

MN Final Legal Pot Votes Coming Soon, WA Lawmakers Compromise on Drug Possession Law, More... (5/16/23)

A Florida marijuana legalization initiative will get a state Supreme Court review, Washington's governor signs into law a bill protecting pot-smoking employees, and more.

Cops will still be able to arrest people for drug possession under a Washington state compromise. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Gets State Supreme Court Review. State Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) on Monday formally submitted the marijuana legalization initiative from Smart and Safe Florida for vetting by the state Supreme Court. Proposed initiatives need more than 222,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for review by the court, and the Smart and Safe Florida initiative has already wildly exceeded that number. The high court will determine issues such as whether the proposed ballot language is clear and whether it is limited to a single subject. When Moody filed the initiative for review Monday, she signaled that she would oppose it, writing that "the proposed amendment fails to meet the requirements" of part of state law. Opponents successfully used Supreme Court review to block two legalization initiatives in 2021.

Minnesota Lawmakers Finalize Adult-Use Legalization Language, Prepare to Send It to Governor's Desk. With the legislative session set to end this week, lawmakers have resolved differences between the legalization bills passed by the two chambers, Senate File 73 and  House File 100, and each chamber is now preparing for final floor votes, which could happen as early as Wednesday. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz will sign it into law once it reaches his desk. The final agreement sets possession limits at two ounces for flowers and allows for the home cultivation of up to eight plants, four or which can be mature. The measures also include the automatic review and expungement of certain marijuana-related offenses and sets up a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce. Retail sales will be taxed at 10 percent and onsite consumption will be allowed at permitted events.

Washington Governor Signs Bill Protecting Employees from Drug Testing for Marijuana. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has signed into lawSenate Bill 5132 to lay out broad protections for employees who consume marijuana while imposing limitations on employment drug testing for marijuana. There are exemptions for exemptions for jobs that involve federal security clearances or background investigations, in law enforcement, the fire department, first responders, corrections officers, the airline or aerospace industries, or in safety-sensitive positions.

The law says: "It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon: (a) The person's use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or (b) An employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids."

Drug Policy

Washington State Lawmakers Reach Deal to Keep Drug Possession a Crime. Faced with a July 1 deadline to replace the state's felony drug possession law, which was invalidated by the state Supreme Court in 2021, bipartisan legislative leaders announced Monday that they had reached a deal under which simple drug possession would be a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail for the first two offenses and up to a year after that. Police and prosecutors, though, would be encouraged to divert cases for treatment and other social services, and the compromise includes millions of additional dollars to pay for that. Prosecutors would have the ability to ask courts to end pre-trial diversion if defendants fail to make substantial progress. The legislature is set to vote on the proposal today. Lawmakers earlier rejected efforts both to reinstate the felony drug possession charge and to decriminalize drug possession.

Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) called it "a fair compromise that addresses urgent concerns about public disorder but follows evidence-based practices in helping people in need."

Amsterdam Bans Outdoor Pot Smoking in Red Light District, AK Drug Sentencing Bill Advances, More... (5/15/23)

The House passes a bill to fund research into the veterinary-drug-turned-fentanyl-supplement Xylazine, a former Filipina president introduces a medical marijuana bill, and more.

You're going to have to go inside if you want to smoke pot in Amsterdam's Red Light District. (Creative Commons)
Drug Policy

House Passes Bill to Fund Research into Xylazine. The veterinary drug Xylazine, also known as Tranq, has entered illicit drug markets, leaving behind a toll of disease, amputations, and overdoses. Now, the House has responded by passing H.R. 1374, the Tranq Research Act. The bill would fund research into the drug at the National Institute of Science and Technology. Companion legislation in the Senate, S.1280, is currently before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Meanwhile, another effort to address Xylazine by making it a Schedule III controlled substance, S.993, is before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Alaska House Approves Bill to Increase Drug Distribution Sentences. The House last Thursday approved House Bill 66, which would increase penalties for people who distribute fentanyl, other opioids, and methamphetamine. The bill would allow for second degree murder charges for people who distribute those drugs if someone suffers a fatal overdose on them. Previously, people only faced a manslaughter charge. A second degree murder conviction has a maximum 99-year prison sentence. The bill also increases penalties for people who distribute a broad class of drugs, including Adderall and psychedelic mushroom, to people under 19 and incapacitated people. The bill is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee and must pass the full Senate this week because the session ends at the end of this week.

International

Amsterdam Bans Outdoor Pot Smoking in Red Light District. The city council has announced that as of mid-May, the city's famous Red Light District, home to legal prostitution and numerous cannabis coffeeshops, is going smoke-free when it comes to marijuana. That means pot smoking will be restricted to the cannabis cafes, but the council also said he could extend the ban to outdoor seating areas of the cannabis cafes if necessary. The move is part of the city's effort to create a more calm and comfortable environment for residents, who have been complaining for years about the high volume of tourists in the city center -- about 18 million annually. The council also mandated that sex workers shut down by 3:00am instead of 6:00am and that bars and restaurants will have to close at 2:00am on weekdays and 4:00am on weekends. Also, liquor outlets in the central city will be barring from selling alcohol from 4:00pm Thursday through Sunday.

Philippines Medical Marijuana Bill Filed. Former president and current Senior Deputy House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez have joined forces to file House Bill 7187, which would legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The measure is identical to a medical marijuana bill she filed in the previous congress. That bill never got a House floor vote.

"I really believe in medical cannabis. As you know I have my problem here (cervical spine) and when I'm in a country that allows it, I put on a pain patch, but here in the Philippines I cannot do it," Maccapagal-Arroyo said. "I authored that bill because I believe that it can help me and many other people, but there was a lot of objection to the bill from the House and from the Senate. That's why we are just letting the legislative process take its course," she explained.

NH Senate Kills Legal Pot Bill, Philippines Drug War Critic Acquitted on Drug Charge, More... (5/12/23)

New Hampshire's governor changes his tune on marijuana legalization, the Connecticut House approves psilocybin decriminalization, and more.

Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire Senate Again Kills Marijuana Legalization Bill. As in years past, the Senate has once again killed a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 639, leaving the state the only one in New England to still maintain marijuana prohibition. Republicans, who control the Senate, killed the bill on a near party-line vote, with one Democrat joining with them. They cited an ongoing drug addiction and overdose crisis in the state.

"Recreationalizing marijuana at this critical juncture would send a confusing message, potentially exacerbating the already perilous drug landscape and placing more lives at risk," Republican Senate President Jeb Bradley said in a written statement.

New Hampshire Governor Now Ready to Support Marijuana Legalization. Gov. Chris Sununu (R), a longtime opponent of marijuana legalization, is ready to change his tune -- as long as legalization is on his terms. In a press release Friday, he touted his signing of a decriminalization bill and the expansion of medical marijuana under his administration, but signaled his openness to some form of legalization in the near future.

"In the past, I said now is not the time to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire. Across this country and in the midst of an unprecedented opioid crisis, other states rushed to legalize marijuana with little guardrails. As a result, many are seeing the culture and fabric of their state turn," he said.

"NH is the only state in New England where recreational use is not legal. Knowing that a majority of our residents support legalization, it is reasonable to assume change is inevitable. To ignore this reality would be shortsighted and harmful. That is why, with the right policy and framework in place, I stand ready to sign a legalization bill that puts the State of NH in the drivers seat, focusing on harm reduction  -- not profits. Similar to our Liquor sales, this path helps to keep substances away from kids by ensuring the State of New Hampshire retains control of marketing, sales, and distribution  -- eliminating any need for additional taxes. As such, the bill that was defeated in NH this session was not the right path for our state.

"New Hampshire must avoid marijuana miles  --  the term for densely concentrated marijuana shops within one city or town. Any city or town that wants to ban shops should be free to do so. The state would not impose any taxes, and should control all messaging, avoiding billboards, commercials, and digital ads that bombard kids on a daily basis."

Opiates and Opioids

Senators Hassan and Shaheen Cosponsor Bipartisan Bill to Combat Fentanyl Crisis. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have cosponsored the bipartisan Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act. This bill targets the illicit fentanyl supply chain by strengthening current law and allowing the Treasury Department to increase penalties for synthetic opioid trafficking and money laundering. The FEND Off Fentanyl Act is a sanctions and anti-money laundering bill that will allow US government agencies to more easily go after illicit opioid traffickers. The bill would:

  • Declare that the international trafficking of fentanyl is a national emergency.
  • Require the President to impose sanctions on transnational criminal organizations and drug cartels' key members engaged in international fentanyl trafficking
  • Enable the President to use proceeds of forfeited, sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to further law enforcement efforts
  • Enhance the ability to enforce sanctions violations thereby making it more likely that people who defy U.S. law will be caught and prosecuted
  • Require the administration to report to Congress on actions the U.S. government is taking to reduce the international trafficking of fentanyl and related opioids
  • Allow the Treasury Department to utilize special measures to combat fentanyl-related money laundering
  • Require the Treasury Department to prioritize fentanyl-related suspicious transactions and include descriptions of drug cartels' financing actions in Suspicious Activity Reports

Psychedelics

Connecticut House Approves Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill. The House on Wednesday voted to approve House Bill 6734, which would decriminalize the possession of psilocybin mushrooms. The bill decriminalizes the possession of up to half an ounce of 'shrooms, with the only penalty being a $150 fine on a first offense and fines of up to $500 for subsequent offenses. Currently, possession of psilocybin is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The bill now goes to the Senate.

International

Philippine Court Acquits Duterte Critic Leila de Lima of Drug Charges. Former Senator Leila de Lima, who has been held prisoner for six years after criticizing former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody drug, was acquitted Friday of a drugs charge that was laid after Duterte accused her of taking bribes from drug gangs in prisons in the wake of her Senate investigation of his drug crackdown that left thousands dead. This is the second charge on which she has been acquitted; a third remains, but critics of the campaign against her have called for the remaining charge to be dropped.

"I had no doubt from the very beginning that I will be acquitted in all the cases the Duterte regime has fabricated against me based on the merits and strength of my innocence," she said in a statement. "I'm still asking for even more prayers for another case," she added as she returned to prison pending resolution of that charge.

SAFE Banking Act Gets Senate Hearing, Iran Hangs Three Cocaine Traffickers, More... (5/11/23)

Kansas becomes the latest state to legalize fentanyl test strips, the Arizona Senate folds psilocybin research funds into a budget bill, and more.

They were talking marijuana and banking on the Hill Thursday. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

SAFE Banking Act Gets Senate Committee Hearing. The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing Thursday to discuss marijuana banking issues with a focus on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (S.1323). No votes were taken at the hearing, which was announced as "Examining Cannabis Banking Challenges of Small Businesses and Workers." Testifying before the committee were bill sponsors Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT), as well as representatives of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Dama Financial and Smart Approaches To Marijuana (SAM).

"The cannabis landscape looks far different than it did a few short years ago," Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said in opening remarks. "Cannabis has been legalized or decriminalized in almost every state. States and localities have established licensing and social equity programs to ensure that small businesses and communities impacted by the War on Drugs are part of the growing legal cannabis industry."

Harm Reduction

Kansas Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Legalization Bill into Law. Gov. Laura Kelly (D) on Thursday signed into law Senate Bill 174, which legalizes fentanyl test strips by removing them from the state's definition of drug paraphernalia. Last year, a similar bill passed in the House only to stall in the Senate.

"Overdoses caused by fentanyl have devastated communities across Kansas and the nation," Gov. Kelly said. "By decriminalizing fentanyl test strips, we are providing the resources needed to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic so that families and loved ones no longer have to feel the pain of a preventable death."

The bill also increases criminal penalties for those who manufacture or distribute fentanyl.

Psychedelics

Arizona Senate Approves Psilocybin Research Grants as Part of Budget. The Senate on Wednesday approved an appropriations bill that includes $5 million in funding for psilocybin research. A standalone bill introduced earlier this year would have also funded psilocybin research at a higher level, but Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) and top lawmakers agreed to slide the provision into the budget bill. Another budget measure that passed the Senate Wednesday contains detailed requirements for the clinical trials funded by those dollars. The House has already given initial approval to a companion version of the legislation, with a final vote coming soon.

International

Iran Hangs Three Cocaine Traffickers as UN Warns of Rising Number of Executions. Iranian state media reported that three men who were members of the "largest cocaine distribution cartel" were hung for cocaine trafficking on Wednesday. Their names are Hossein Panjak, Abdolhossein Emami Moghadam, and Babak Aghaei. They had been arrested in a 2014 raid in which 2.2 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine, and opium were seized.

A day earlier, UN human rights chief Volker Turk criticized Iran's "abominable" record of executions this year, saying that it had hanged an average of 10 people a week so far this year. If the current rate of executions continues through the year, it would reach the highest number since 2015 when 972 people were hung. Back then, a large number of executions were for drug offenses, but Iran changed its drug laws in 2018, radically reducing the number of drug executions. It is not clear how many of this year's executions were for drug offenses, but the regime has been executing political opponents amid months of sustained civic unrest.

Chronicle Book Review: Bizarro

Bizarro: The Surreal Saga of America's Secret War on Synthetic Drugs and the Florida Kingpins It Captured by Jordan S. Rubin (2023, University of California Press,, 267 pp,, $27.95 HB)

Burton Ritchie was the owner of the Psychedelic Shack, a head shop in Pensacola, Florida. In addition to t-shirts and incense and posters and bongs, he also sold synthetic cannabinoids -- lab-created chemicals with psychoactive effects, some quite different from those of marijuana -- that went by names such as K2 and spice.

With his partner, Ben Galecki, the enterprising entrepreneur decided to get deeper into the profitable action, creating a company to manufacture the stuff in bulk with synthetic cannabinoids manufactured by Chinese chemical companies. Aware that he was skirting the edge of legality after the original compound JWH-018 was federally scheduled, Ritchie quarantined new shipments of different, unregulated synthetic cannabinoids until they had been tested in labs and verified not to be federally banned substances.

A fan of the Superman comic franchise, Ritchie dubbed his product Bizarro and packaged it with a reverse Superman logo in various flavors. (Ritchie would replace the word "flavors," though, with the word "scents" in order to maintain the fiction that the products were "not intended for human consumption," as noted on the label.)

Ritchie and Galecki made a quick fortune with Bizarro and got out of the business as federal heat on the industry heightened. After their Bizarro factory was raided -- not because of Bizarro but because neighbors thought it was an illegal pot grow -- Ritchie contacted the DEA, provided product samples and invoices to a DEA agent and volunteered to shut the business down immediately on the agent's say so, because, as he said repeatedly, he didn't want to "fight city hall." The agent told them not to worry about it.

But they were still spooked and sold their company. Now, they're sitting in federal prison, doing lengthy sentences for the sale of analogues of banned synthetic cannabinoids. Bizarro tells the story of how they ended up there.

It centers on a bizarre piece of drug war legislation, the Reagan-era Analogues Act, which criminalized the production and distribution of chemical compounds "substantially similar" to already controlled substances. The problem is that "substantially similar" has no defined meaning. It is not a term of science. And that means no one knows if a substance is "substantially similar" enough to a controlled substance to merit prosecution under the statute unless a federal prosecutor tries to make the case -- and a jury buys it.

Even more bizarrely, the DEA conducts analyses of potential analogues and decides whether they are analogues or not -- but does not make that information publicly available, which results in people being prosecuted for substances they didn't even know were illegal.

Journalist and former Manhattan narcotics prosecutor Jordan S. Rubin takes the reader through the legislative history of the Analogues Act, the battles among DEA chemists over whether or not substances were "substantially similar" enough to controlled substances to be banned (and their purveyors prosecuted), and the twists and turns of a number of legal cases, particularly Ritchie and Galecki's, as jurists, prosecutors, and defense attorneys sparred over the meaning and application of the law.

It's a fascinating bit of drug war history, and prosecutions under the Analogues Act are largely history now. That is because federal prosecutors are leery of rolling the dice with juries. They have lost enough cases to know that analogue prosecutions under the act are no sure thing.

But now, Rubin reports, they have something better: class-wide scheduling. In 2018, the DEA used its emergency powers to schedule all fentanyl-related substances on a class-wide basis, meaning that the substance was illegal if it met the broad structural criteria laid out by the DEA. The substance need not behave like fentanyl at all -- it is still illegal. And unlike fentanyl, which is Schedule II, the analogues are classified as Schedule I, even though no one knows if they are better, worse, or the same as fentanyl, or whether they could be helpful.

This raises some of the same issues around civil rights and science that the Analogues Act prosecutions did. And it is an ongoing issue. The DEA's temporary scheduling has been extended repeatedly, and the Biden administration is calling on Congress to make it permanent -- much to the dismay of drug reformers and researchers. Bizarro shines a spotlight on the surrealistic story of the original Analogues Act and provides the reader with some inkling of what the supercharged version being contemplated now could deliver. It is a brisk and thoughtful addition to the literature of drug policy.

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A sticky-fingered Pennsylvania drug task force commander heads to prison, a small-town Alabama cop gets caught planting dope, and more. Let's get to it:

In Centre, Alabama, a Centre police officer was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly planting evidence in drug cases. Now former-Officer Michael Kilgore is charged with criminal conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime-distribution. No other information was available.

In Westville, Indiana, a guard at the Westville state prison was arrested last Thursday after she was caught bringing marijuana to a male inmate inside a Cheetos bag. Adeja Cunningham, 24, went down after prison authorities found that Cunningham and the prisoner had been communicating on Instagram and "they talked about picking up something and that it would be in the chips," according to court documents. She is charged with fifth degree felony trafficking with an inmate.

In Columbia, South Carolina, a Lee Correctional Institution guard was arrested Monday after she was found trying to bring a metal grill mouthpiece into the prison hidden in her hair. Guard Alkeena Eu-Neiger Hackett got in more trouble when investigators then searched her vehicle and found "a rock-like substance containing fentanyl" with a weight of 129 grams. She is charged with trafficking fentanyl, providing prisoners with contraband and criminal conspiracy.

In Lancaster, Pennsylania, the former head of the Lancaster County Drug Task Force was sentenced last Friday to between eight and 22 months in state prison for stealing funds seized by the task force between 2014 and 2020. John Burkhart will also have to pay back $140,000 in restitution. Burkhart stole seized cash from the task force's safe instead of depositing it in the Lancaster County general fund and went down after investigators noticed discrepancies in the recording of cash seizures. He pleaded guilty in March to charges of theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds.

DEA Extends Telehealth for Buprenorphine, Colombia Legal Pot Bill Advances to Senate, More... (5/10/23)

Washington State bans discrimination against potential new hires over off-the-job marijuana use, Senate drug warriors file a bill aimed at counterfeit pills, and more.

Legal marijuana is one step closer in Colombia after it won approval in the Chamber of Representatives. (irin.org)
Marijuana Policy

Washington Becomes Latest State to Ban Pre-Employment Tests for Marijuana. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has signed into law Senate Bill 5123, which bars employers from using a positive test for marijuana to disqualify potential new hires. As of January 1, 2024, it will be "unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon: (a) The person's use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or (b) An employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids." Employers can, however, still punish employees for positive marijuana test results even if the use was off-the-job and there are exemptions for certain safety-sensitive employers.

Drug Policy

DEA Extends Pandemic Telehealth Prescribing Rules, Including for Buprenorphine. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has extended under November 11 rules created during the pandemic that allow for the prescribing of controlled substances via telehealth. The agency says it will make a final decision on whether to make the changes permanent before the current extension expires. The rule has drawn the interest of drug reformers because it allows for telehealth access to buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder.

Senators File Bill to Attack Counterfeit Pill Production. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control co-chair Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sen. Maggie Hasan (D-NH) have filed a bill that seeks to halt a surge in counterfeit pills containing methamphetamine, fentanyl, or fentanyl analogues, the Stop Pills that Kill Act.

The bill does not mandate new or increased criminal penalties but requires the DEA to come up with a plan to address the problem within 180 days and requires the agency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office), and the attorney general to file an annual report "on information regarding the collection and prosecutions of counterfeit fentanyl and methamphetamine substances." The bill would, however, "ensure that existing penalties for possessing paraphernalia used to manufacture methamphetamine would also apply to possessing paraphernalia used to make counterfeit pills that contain methamphetamine, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues."

The bill is endorsed by a variety of anti-drug groupings, including the National Narcotic Officers' Associations Coalition, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Song for Charlie, Victims of Illicit Drugs, Major Cities Chiefs Association and National District Attorneys' Association. But the bill's purpose, if not its precise language, could be consistent with the harm reduction approach as well, in in this case by helping drug users avoid taking pills that they think are one thing but are really another.

International

Colombia Chamber of Representatives Approves Marijuana Legalization; Bill Now Heads to Senate for Final Votes. A marijuana legalization bill has won final approval in the Chamber of Representatives and now heads to the Senate, where it must win a committee vote before heading for a final Senate floor vote. The bill passed the lower chamber by a vote of 98-57. A legalization bill passed both chambers last year but since it is in the form of a constitutional amendment, it has to be passed by both chambers in two separate calendar years.

OH Legalization Init Gathering Signatures, CA Drug War Reparations, More... (5/9/23) Blacks

Marijuana legalization hits a bump in New Hampshire, Jordan kills a Syrian drug trafficker in a cross-border air strike, and more.

Ohio voters could vote on marijuana legalization in November -- if activists come up with signatures first.
Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire Senate Committee Rejects House-Backed Marijuana Legalization Bills, but Floor Votes Still Coming. The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted against two marijuana legalization bills, deeming them "inexpedient to legislate." The committee rejected a full-blown commercial legalization bill sponsored by bipartisan House leaders, House Bill 639, as well as a second bill that would only have led to non-commercial legalization. Despite the committee votes, the bills are still technically alive and could see Senate floor votes as early this week, but given the rejection by the committee, the prospects for passage in the Senate are dim.

Ohio Activists Begin Second Round of Signature Gathering to Put Marijuana Legalization Initiative on November Ballot. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol has commenced a new round of signature gathering to put its marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot. The coalition earlier gathered enough valid voter signatures to put the issue before the legislature, which under state law had four months to approve it but failed to do so, clearing the way for organizers to take the issue directly to voters if it comes up with enough signatures in this round. The coalition now has 90 days to come up with 124,046 valid voter signatures to get on the November ballot and it says it is confident it will do so.

Drug Policy

California Task Force Recommends $228 Billion in Drug War Reparations for Black Residents. A task force empaneled by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has recommended that the state legislature pass reparations legislation to compensate about two million Black state residents to the tune of $228 billion for racially disproportionate harms caused by a half-century of drug war. The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans voted Saturday to submit its recommendations to the governor.

The task force "recommends that compensation for community harms be provided as uniform payments based on an eligible recipient's duration of residence in California during the defined period of harm (e.g., residence in an over-policed community during the 'War on Drugs' from 1971 to 2020)," the report says. The task force also recommended that "the Legislature enact an individual claims process to compensate individuals who can prove particular injuries, for example, an individual who was arrested or incarcerated for a drug charge during the war on drugs, especially if the drug is now considered legal," i.e. marijuana. The reparations figure comes out to $2,352 per Black Californian for each year of residency in the state during the 50-year period.

"African American residents in California who were incarcerated for the possession or distribution of substances now legal, such as cannabis, should additionally be able to seek particular compensation for their period of incarceration, as discussed above," the task force said. The racially biased war on drugs in the state resulted in "massively disproportionate incarceration of African Americans" and also contributed to "unemployment and houselessness in many economically depressed African American communities once incarcerated African Americans were eventually released."

International

Jordan Carries Out Air Strikes on Syrian Drug Factory, Drug Trafficker. A pair of air strikes carried out by the Jordanian Air Force Monday hit an abandoned drug factory in the southern Syrian province of Deraa and the home of a Syrian "drug kingpin" in neighboring Sweida province. The strikes destroyed the drug factory and killed Syrian trafficker Marie al-Ramthan and his family at their home.

Intelligence sources said the drug factory was a meeting place for Hezbollah drug traffickers and that Ramthan had recruited hundreds of Bedouins to transport drugs and enlisted them in the ranks of militias sympathetic to Iran. Ramthan faced several death sentences in Jordan for drug trafficking. Jordan has declined to confirm the strikes, but "two regional intelligence and a Western diplomatic source who tracks the situation in southern Syria" confirmed they had occurred. War-ravaged Syria is a center for the production and distribution of the amphetamine captagon, but the Syrian government denies any involvement in the drug trade, as do Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

NIDA Issues $5 Million Grant to Study Safe Injection Sites, Massive Honduras Coca Plantation, More... (5/8/23)

A New York bill increasing civil penalties for illicit pot shops is signed into law, Oregon regulators approve the nation's first licensee for therapeutic psilocybin services, and more.

Fentanyl test strips. The Florida legislature has become the latest to decriminalize them. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

New York Governor Signs Bill to Increase Civil Penalties for Illicit Pot Shops. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) last Wednesday signed into law Assembly Bill 3281, which increases civil and tax penalties for unlicensed marijuana retailers, including fines of up to $20,000 a day. The move is aimed at reigning in an illicit marijuana market in the state that exploded in the months-long gap between marijuana being legalized and licensed retail sales that only recently began. At this point, there are only a handful of licensed marijuana outlets in the state compared to more than a thousand unlicensed outlets in New York City alone.

"As New York State continues to roll out a nation-leading model to establish its cannabis industry, these critical enforcement measures will protect New Yorkers from illicit, unregulated" Hochul said. "Unlicensed dispensaries violate our laws put public health at risk and undermine the legal cannabis market. With these enforcement tools, we're paving the way for safer products, reinvestment in communities that endured years of disproportionate enforcement, and greater opportunities for New Yorkers."

Medical Marijuana

Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill to Allow Telehealth Renewals for Medical Marijuana, Help Black Farmers Get Grow Licenses. With a final vote in the Senate last Wednesday, the legislature approved House Bill 387. The measure allows doctors to renew approvals for medical marijuana patients via telehealth. New patients will still require an in-patient exam. The measure could also help Black farmers get medical marijuana grow licenses after years of delays. Only one license has been issued to a Black farmer, and this bill could lead to the Department of Health issuing additional licenses to Black farmers.

Psychedelics

Oregon Regulators Approve Nation's First Psilocybin Service Center. The Oregon Health Authority has awarded a license to EPIC Healing in Eugene to provide therapeutic psilocybin services, where people can use the psychedelic in a supervised and facilitated environment. This is a national first and comes after state voters approved therapeutic psilocybin services in 2020. Now, the state has issued at least one license in all four licensing categories -- facilitators, testing labs, psilocybin manufacturing, and therapeutic services.

"This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open," Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) Section Manager Angie Allbee said in a press release.

Harm Reduction

Federal Government Provides Grant to Study Safe Injection Sites. New York University and Brown University announced Monday that they had received a four-year, $5 million grant to study whether safe injection sites can prevent drug overdoses, estimate their costs, and weigh potential savings for health care and criminal justice systems. This marks the first time the federal government has paid for such a study. The study will focus on two safe injection sites already operating in New York City and one set to open next year in Rhode Island and hopes to enroll a thousand adult drug users. The grant comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Studies from the 14 countries that currently allow safe injection sites have found they radically reduce drug overdose deaths.

"There is a lot of discussion about overdose prevention centers, but ultimately, we need data to see if they are working or not, and what impact they may have on the community," said NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow.

Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill to Decriminalize Fentanyl Test Strips. The House last Wednesday gave final, unanimous approval to a bill that decriminalizes fentanyl test strips by removing them from the state's list of drug paraphernalia, Senate Bill 164. More than 6,000 Floridians died in drug overdoses implicating fentanyl in 2020. A similar bill failed last year after some critics claimed that legalizing the test strips would incentive drug use.

International

Honduran Police Seize a Million Coca Plants, Rustic Labs. The Honduran National Police announced that a raid last Friday in a protected forest reserve in the eastern part of the country resulted in the seizure of more than one million coca plants, two million seedlings, and "four rustic structures" used to extract alkaloids from the coca leaf and store chemicals used in the process. While coca has traditionally been grown almost exclusively in its native Andean region of South America, Honduran authorities have been encountering small coca plantations on their soil since 2017, but never one approaching this size.

Maryland Governor Signs Legal Marijuana Commerce Bill Into Law [FEATURE]

Last November, Maryland voters made it abundantly clear that they wanted marijuana legalization by approving a referendum to that effect. On Wednesday, with the signing of enabling legislation by Gov. Wes Moore (D), the legislature and the executive branch have enacted the expressed will of the voters, laying the groundwork for a state system of taxed and regulated marijuana sales.

They had to hustle to get something in place before the legalization of marijuana possession goes into effect in July, and with the passage of Senate Bill 516/House Bill 556, they have done so. It did not happen without a bunch of wrangling at state house, as the House and Senate modified the bills and then had to compromise to reach agreement, but now it has happened.

"The criminalization of marijuana harmed low-income communities and communities of color in a profound way," Moore said at a signing ceremony Wednesday. "We want to make sure that the legalization of marijuana lifts those communities now in a profound way." The new law will "ensure that the rollout of recreational cannabis in our state drives opportunity in an equitable way," he added.

Here are key provisions of the new law:

  • A new, independent Maryland Cannabis Administration will be responsible for regulating the program.
  • Sales will begin on July1, with existing medical marijuana dispensaries being licensed to sell to the adult recreational market. Licensing of additional marijuana businesses will come no later than July 1, 2024.
  • Licenses will be capped at 300 retail shops, 100 processors, and 75 growers. Additionally, there will be 10 retail, 100 processor, and 100 grower licenses for "microbusinesses."
  • Retail marijuana sales will be taxed at 9 percent, with 35 percent of those revenues going to a community reinvestment fund. Counties, the Cannabis Public Health Fund and the Cannabis Business Assistance Fund will each get five percent of revenues. Localities cannot impose additional taxes.
  • Applicants claiming social equity status will have to have 65 percent ownership by people who lived at least half of the last decade in disproportionately impacted areas or who attended public school in one of those areas for at least five years. Social equity applicants will be eligible for a Capital Access Program to provide low interest loans and promote industry opportunities. Additionally, beginning in 2025, existing medical marijuana dispensaries that form "meaningful partnerships" with social equity applicants will be eligible for grants for which $5 million will be appropriated each year.
  • Delta-8 hemp products will no longer be sold in the open market, but will have to be sold through licensed marijuana businesses.
  • Medical marijuana patients will see the number of plants they can grow double from two to four, but only patients will be able to grow their own.
  • New marijuana retailers will face geographic restrictions. They will have to be at least 1,000 feet apart from each other and cannot be within 500 feet of a school, childcare facility, playground, recreational center, library or public park.
  • To avoid monopolization, a single business will not be able to operate more than four retail shops.
  • Marijuana smoking will not be allowed indoors at consumption lounges, but only outdoors.
  • Smoking will not be permitted indoors at on-site consumption facilities, but people could do so on outdoor patios at licensed facilities.

And Maryland now hops with both feet on the legal marijuana bandwagon.

SAFE Banking Act Hearing Looms, FL Lawmakers Approve Fentanyl Test Strip Bill, More... (5/5/23)

A Vancouver man's experiment with "safe supply" drug sales is quickly ended by police, a Pennsylvania marijuana legalization bill is filed, and more.

The SAFE Banking Act could get a hearing as early as next week. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Key Senate Committee Chairman Says Marijuana Banking Bill Could Get Hearing Next Week. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said Thursday that lawmakers are ready to "move quickly" on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (S.1323)and that a hearing on it could be scheduled as early as next week. No hearing has yet been formally scheduled, but both Democratic and Republican senators are pushing for quick action on the bipartisan bill. The bill is aimed at providing state-legal marijuana businesses with access to financial services. Similar legislation failed in the Senate last year despite repeatedly passing the House.

Pennsylvania Lawmakers File Marijuana Legalization Bill with State-Run Stores. Rep. David Delloso (D) and 20 cosponsors have filed a bill that would allow legal marijuana sales through state-run stores, House Bill 1080. Delloso filed similar legislation last year. The bill would also provide permits for growers to cultivate marijuana once adult-use sales are approved. The bill sets a retail marijuana sales tax of 19 percent with all revenues going to the state's general fund. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has proposed marijuana legalization with a private commercial system as part of his budget request in March and has yet to take a position on this legislation.

Psychedelics

Washington County Effectively Decriminalizes Natural Psychedelics as State Grapples with New Drug Possession Laws. The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners voted earlier this week to pass a resolution effectively decriminalizing natural entheogens as the state faces a looming deadline to enact a new drug possession law after the state Supreme Court threw out the old one. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has called a special session of the legislature to take up the matter after lawmakers failed to reach a consensus during the regular session. If lawmakers fail to act before July 1, the state will again have no drug possession law.

Harm Reduction

Florida Lawmakers Approve Fentanyl Test Strip Decriminalization Bill. With a final vote in the House Thursday, the legislature has approved a bill that decriminalizes fentanyl test strips by removing them from the state's list of drug paraphernalia, Senate Bill 164. More than 6,150 Floridians died of fentanyl overdoses in 2020. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

International

Vancouver Man Opens Shop Selling "Safe Supply" Hard Drugs, Gets Arrested. Canadian activist Jerry Martin wanted to encourage a "safe supply" of drugs for the safety of drug users, so on Wednesday he opened a mobile storefront offering up to 2.5 grams of lab-tested drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin for sale. "Providing a safe, clean supply is going to hopefully stop a lot of the overdoses and a lot of the injuries and stop girls from having to do certain things just to get their drugs," he said.

With permission from the federal government, British Columbia has decriminalized the possession of up to 2.5 grams of those substances, but it has not okayed legal sales, and on Thursday Vancouver police arrested Martin. Martin and his supporters have responded to the arrest by starting a Go Fund Me campaign to finance a constitutional challenge to the federal drug laws.

Medical Marijuana Update

Senate Republicans play politics with a veterans' medical marijuana bill, and more.

National

Senate Republicans Block Veterans' Medical Marijuana Bill from Advancing. After a "spirited debate" in the Senate Republican policy lunch shortly before a vote to advance S. 326 -- a bipartisan bill that would have the Veterans Affairs Department do studies and clinical trials on the use of medical marijuana to treat veterans' chronic pain and PTSD -- a group of those Republican senators voted against allowing the bill to move forward, at least for now. The bill needed 60 votes to advance, but with the Republican defections, it failed 57-42.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Governor Signs into Law Bill Cracking Down on Illegal Medical Marijuana Grows. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Wednesday signed into law House Bill 2095, which puts the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation full enforcement authority over the state's medical marijuana laws. The bill is aimed at cracking down on a plethora of illegal marijuana grow operations and says that authorities can seize and destroy marijuana that was "not properly logged in inventory records or untraceable product not required to be in the system." The bill also makes it a misdemeanor for a licensed medical marijuana commercial grower to hire undocumented immigrants to work anywhere on the property where medical marijuana is grown.

Luxembourg Unveils Marijuana Legalization Plan, WA Governor Calls Special Session on Drug Charging, More... (5/3/23)

A Maryland bill implementing legal marijuana commerce is signed into law, an Oklahoma bill cracking down on illicit medical marijuana grows is signed into law, and more.

A change in DOT drug testing rules could eliminate marijuana false positives. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Maryland Governor Signs into Law Bill Implementing Marijuana Legalization. Gov. Wesley Moore (D) on Wednesday signed into law Senate Bill 516, which implements a voter-approved referendum to legalize marijuana. The bill allows currently operating medical marijuana dispensaries to apply for licenses to sell to the adult market beginning in July and mandates that licenses for up to 300 marijuana retailers by July 2024. The bill also sets a 9 percent sales tax on marijuana products, except for registered medical marijuana patients, who are exempt. The bill also allows patients to grow up to four plants at home and increases the amount of marijuana patients can possess.

Medical Marijuana

Oklahoma Governor Signs into Law Bill Cracking Down on Illegal Medical Marijuana Grows. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Wednesday signed into law House Bill 2095, which puts the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation full enforcement authority over the state's medical marijuana laws. The bill is aimed at cracking down on a plethora of illegal marijuana grow operations and says that authorities can seize and destroy marijuana that was "not properly logged in inventory records or untraceable product not required to be in the system." The bill also makes it a misdemeanor for a licensed medical marijuana commercial grower to hire undocumented immigrants to work anywhere on the property where medical marijuana is grown.

Drug Policy

Washington Governor Announces Special Session to Take Up Drug Possession Law. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced Tuesday that will call a special session to begin May 16. The session will focus on passing a new drug possession law. Inslee set the date after conversations with Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. In 2021, the Washington Supreme Court overturned the state's felony drug possession law in the Blake case. Legislators adopted a temporary misdemeanor policy that expires July 1. The so-called "Blake fix" was the only remaining must-do item legislators did not finish during the regular legislative session that ended April 23. In the absence of a statewide policy, several cities and counties have announced their intent to pass their own ordinances which would create a confusing patchwork of policies, treatment options and penalties.

Drug Testing

Department of Transportation Finalizes New Marijuana Testing Policies to Reduce False Positives. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday finished work on a rule that will allow oral saliva drug testing as an alternative to urine-based tests. Urine tests detect THC metabolites for weeks or months after consumption, leading to positive test results for people who are not actually impaired on the job. Oral testing, on the other hand, usually detects THC in saliva for no more than 24 hours after use.

"Allowing employers to use oral fluid testing may improve the effectiveness of drug testing," DOT said. "Oral fluid testing can detect the recent use of some drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, while urine drug testing has a longer window of detection." This will be good news for the trucking industry, which has suffered from driver shortages, including thousands of drivers who have been dismissed because of positive urine-based tests.

International

Luxembourg Releases Two-Phase Plan for Marijuana Legalization. A group of experts appointed by the government has released a report detailing plans for a legal marijuana regime. The report, "An Experimental System of Legal Access to Marijuana for Non-Medical Purposes," lays out the outlines of a legal marijuana market for those over 18. It would allow for possession of up to three grams, the home cultivation of up to four plants, and the development of a legal framework where adults could buy up to five grams a day, but no more than 30 grams in a month. Legalization will come in two phases, with the first requiring that the country's drug law be amended. Once that happens, home cultivation can commence. The second phase will be the development of a state system for the commercial cultivation and sale of marijuana. That will involve the launching of a pilot program to see how commercialization can work.

CA Natural Psychedelic Bill Heads for Senate Floor Vote, German Legal Weed Plan, More... (5/2/23)

An Ohio signature-gathering campaign to put marijuana legalization on the November ballot is about to get underway, Wisconsin Republicans kill the governor's marijuana legalization proposal and a whole bunch more, and more.

The DEA is rolling back a pandemic-era rule that eased access to buprenorphine, and doctors and advocates are worried.
Marijuana Policy

Ohio Activists Ready for Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign. The legislature has until tomorrow to act on a petition to legalize marijuana. It is not expected to do so, clearing the way for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol to conduct a signature gathering campaign to put its marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot. A successful initial round of signature gathering put the issue before the legislature, and the legislature's failure to approve it gives proponents one more chance to take the issue directly to the voters. The campaign will have until July 5 to come up with 124,000 valid voter signatures from at least half of the state's counties to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative would legalize and regulate marijuana commerce, allow for the home cultivation of six plants per adult or 12 per residence, and impose a 10 percent retail sales tax.

Wisconsin Republicans Kill Marijuana Legalization Amid Mass Slaughter of Democratic Governor's Budget Proposals. The legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee on Tuesday killed off more than 500 budget proposals from Gov. Tony Evers (D), including marijuana legalization, with a single vote Tuesday. The state has a $7 billion budget surplus, but the Republicans refused to allow it to be used for renovations to the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium, a paid family leave program, a 10 percent income tax cut targeting middle- and low-income earners, spending $270 million to add more mental health providers in schools, or to freeze enrollment in the state's private school voucher program, let alone marijuana legalization.

"These aren't fringe ideas, controversial concepts, or Republican or Democratic priorities -- they're about doing the right thing," Evers said as he listed more than a dozen items being killed. "With a historic surplus comes historic responsibility, and today, when we can afford to do more, this vote is foolish and a wasted opportunity."

Opiates and Opioids

DEA's Proposed Rollback of Pandemic-Era Loosening of Restrictions on Buprenorphine Has Doctors, Advocates Worried. With the pandemic public health emergency set to end in 10 days, doctors and advocates worry that a DEA proposal to roll back a pandemic policy allowing people taking the opioid substitute medication buprenorphine to get it prescribed remotely will harm people recovering from addiction. More than a million Americans use bupe to stop cravings for opiates and block withdrawal symptoms, and since 2020, the federal government has allowed them to have it prescribed via telehealth. The DEA wants to reimpose a requirement that an in-person visit first take place before allowing re-prescribing via telehealth. DEA has received more than 2,900 public comments on the proposed rule, and says it will consider them before it releases final rules after the public health emergency ends next week.

Psychedelics

California Natural Psychedelic Legalization Bill Heads for Senate Floor Vote. A bill that would legalize the possession of small amounts of natural psychedelics, Senate Bill 58, is now headed for a Senate floor vote after clearing the Senate Appropriations Committee without a hearing. The chairman of the committee invoked a rule allowing him to send it directly to the floor because it would have a negligible fiscal impact. The bill was earlier approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee. The bill would legalize the "possession, preparation, obtaining, transfer as specified, or transportation of" personal use amounts of psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline, but not synthetics such as LSD or MDMA. A similar bill passed the Senate last session, only to be pulled by its sponsor, Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) after being watered down in the Assembly.

International

German Officials Circulate Draft Bill for First Part of Marijuana Legalization Plan. German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has distributed a draft bill to legalize marijuana possession, cultivation, and social clubs to cabinet officials. Once the cabinet weight in, the government will finalize the bill and send it to lawmakers. Under the proposal, adults could possess up to 25 grams via the social clubs and adults over 21 could purchase up to 50 grams a month. People 18 to 21 would be limited to 30 grams per month. People would also be allowed to grow up to three plants for personal use. The social clubs would not be allowed to offer on-site consumption but could distribute up to seven seeds or five clones per month to each member for home cultivation. Plans for a national legal commercial market for marijuana have been scaled back in the face of concerns from the European Union, but it is expected that a pilot program to allow marijuana sales in select jurisdictions will be a second phase of legalization.

Biden Commutes 31 Drug Sentences, MN Senate Approves Legal MJ, More... (5/1/23)

Three Colorado Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to kill a safe injection site bill, a Texas bill to impose harsher penalties on fentanyl dealers has passed both chambers, and more.

The president wields his pardon power. (whitehouse.gov)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Senate Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill. The Senate last Friday narrowly approved its version of a marijuana legalization bill, Senate File 73. The vote was 34-33, with all Republicans voting against the bill. The House passed a slightly different version of the bill earlier last week. Now, the two chambers will attempt to negotiate their way to a merged bill they can send to DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who has strongly signaled he will sign it.

Harm Reduction

Colorado Safe Injection Site Bill Blocked. A bill that would have allowed municipalities to approve safe injection sites in their communities, House Bill 1202, has failed in the Senate after being approved in the House. The Democrat-sponsored bill easily passed the House 43-21, but was killed in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee last Wednesday on a 6-3 vote. Three of those "no" votes came from Democrats on the committee who raised concerns about "enabling" drug use and the lack of statewide rules and regulations in the bill.

"In spite of today's vote, overdose prevention centers remain the public health gold standard for addressing the crisis of overdose deaths faced by too many Colorado families," said the Colorado Drug Policy Coalition. "We are proud of the leadership from our many members in the House and our sponsors in the Senate who were able to put good policy backed by decades of research ahead of the politics of inaction."

Pardons and Commutations

Biden Commutes Drug Sentences for 31 People. The White House announced last Friday that President Biden has commuted the sentences of 31 people convicted of federal drug offenses. All 31 were serving time in home confinement and would have received shorter sentences if they were charged today with the same offense because the laws have been changed since they were sentenced.

The commutations come as the White House laid out a set of policy actions involving 20 different federal agencies aimed at improving the criminal justice system, which has disproportionate impacts on Blacks and other minority communities. Biden has commuted the sentences of 75 other people so far. He also pardoned thousands who were convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law, and others who have long since served out their sentences.

Sentencing Policy

Texas House Approves Bill to Increase Penalties for Dealing Fentanyl. The House last Friday overwhelmingly approved a bill to increase criminal penalties for people who distribute fentanyl, House Bill 6. The bill would do so by classifying fentanyl overdoses as "poisonings," which would trigger murder charges for people accused of providing a fatal dose of fentanyl. The bill also includes mandatory minimum 10- or 15-year sentences for distribution of more than 200 grams or 400 grams, respectively, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The House vote came after lawmakers ignored a small group of demonstrators in the gallery chanting "no more drug war." A companion bill has already passed the Senate, so lawmakers will now go to a conference committee to hammer out differences before it goes to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who supports it. Meanwhile, a bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips is stuck in committee in the Senate.

SAFE Banking Act Reintroduced in Both House and Senate [FEATURE]

The SAFE Banking Act is back. Bipartisan legislation to increase public safety through statutorily authorizing state-legal marijuana businesses access to the financial sector was reintroduced in both the House and the Senate on Thursday.

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT) are the lead sponsors of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2023, which also has more than three dozen cosponsors in the Senate.

The bill addresses the inconsistent and costly access that state-legal medical and recreational marijuana businesses contend with as a result of marijuana's continuing illegality under federal law. Because pot is still federally illegal, banks fear they could run afoul of regulators or even prosecutors under the complex anti-money laundering rules in place for controlled substances. SAFE Banking would bar federal banking regulators from:

  • Prohibiting, penalizing or discouraging a bank from providing financial services to a legitimate state-sanctioned and regulated cannabis business, or an associated business (such as a lawyer or landlord providing services to a legal cannabis business);
  • Terminating or limiting a bank's federal deposit insurance primarily because the bank is providing services to a state-sanctioned cannabis business or associated business;
  • Recommending or incentivizing a bank to halt or downgrade providing any kind of banking services to these businesses; or
  • Taking any action on a loan to an owner or operator of a cannabis-related business.

This legislation would also create a safe harbor from criminal prosecution and liability and asset forfeiture for banks and their officers and employees who provide financial services to state-sanctioned cannabis businesses, while maintaining banks' right to choose not to offer those services. The bill also provides protections for hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) related businesses.

For the first time, it explicitly extends the safe harbor to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI). CDFIs and MDIs support underserved communities who face challenges in accessing capital and provide affordable access to financial services.

"This legislation will save lives and livelihoods. It is past time that Congress addresses the irrational, unfair, and unsafe prohibition of basic banking services to state-legal cannabis businesses," said Rep. Blumenauer, founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. "The House has passed the SAFE Banking Act on a bipartisan basis seven times. I am delighted that the Senate is joining us in making it a priority."

Last year, much to the ire of the marijuana industry, although the House indeed repeatedly passed the measure, it was stalled in the Senate by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who were holding out for a full-blown marijuana legalization bill or other broad reform measures. By the time they realized they did not have the votes for legalization and were ready to move the bill in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was in a position to kill it -- and did so.

"Forcing legal businesses to operate in all-cash is dangerous for our communities; it's an open invitation to robbery, money laundering, and organized crime -- and it's way past time to fix it," said Senator Merkley. "For the first time, we have a path for SAFE Banking to move through the Senate Banking Committee and get a vote on the floor of the Senate. Let's make 2023 the year that we get this bill signed into law so we can ensure that all legal cannabis businesses have access to the financial services they need to help keep their employees, their businesses, and their communities safe."

(Regarding the dangerousness of forcing pot businesses to deal in cash, see the report from StoptheDrugWar.org Executive Director David Borden, Dangerous Delays: What Washington State (Re)Teaches Us About Cash and Cannabis Store Robberies.)

"As it stands, the federal government has denied state-legal cannabis companies the same access to financial services as every other legal business across the Buckeye State and our country," said Rep. Joyce, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. "Not only does this distort the market in a growing industry, but it also forces businesses to operate in all cash, making them and their employees sitting ducks for violent robberies. The bipartisan SAFE Banking Act will allow cannabis businesses to operate legally without fear of punishment by federal regulators, making our communities safer."

Splits in the drug reform community last year over whether to support the SAFE Banking Act or hold out for a "SAFE Plus" or legalization bill with social equity components appear to have abated somewhat. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which had been in the latter camp previously, is not endorsing the bill, but is not opposing it either, citing strengthened data collection among other provisions in the new version.

"The improvements to the study and data collection provisions in the SAFE Banking Act are a welcome addition to the bill," said Maria Perez Medina, DPA Director of the Office of Federal Affairs. "These minor modifications to the bill will ensure that timely and more comprehensive data collection takes place to measure whether banking services are being provided in a fair way. While there remains much more work to be done and we remain neutral on the legislation, the changes are an encouraging sign that the bill is headed in the right direction," she added.

"As this legislation moves forward, more should be done to lessen the barriers to entry small marijuana businesses face in obtaining commercial lending. Without this, it remains impossible for them to compete with large, multi-state operators," Perez Medina continued. "As such, we look forward to continuing working with stakeholders to improve this bill in a way that most benefits the communities that have been disproportionately impacted by prohibition."

And while the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) naturally wants legalization, it has consistently supported SAFE as well, and continues to.

"If cannabis businesses are to have any hope of operating safely, transparently, and in a manner that is competitive with the existing underground market, Congress must pass SAFE Banking now," said NORML Political Director Morgan Fox. "It is irresponsible to shut this heavily regulated industry out of the US financial system. Every day that Congress fails to act further endangers small businesses and consumers, puts regulators and law enforcement at a disadvantage, and facilitates the activities of unlicensed operators and criminal organizations."

Now, let's see if this thing can pass Congress this year.

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

An Oklahoma cop ripped off both the department and his fellow officers, an Arizona prison guard takes the whole family along for a smuggling trip, and more.

In Warner Robbins, Georgia, the entire drug unit of the Warner Robins Police Department was put on leave Monday as an investigation into allegations of misconduct unwinds. Houston County officials said they were notified of the allegations involving members of the Narcotics Investigation Unit, prompting the DA's office to begin the investigation. No details of the investigation have been released so far "due to this being a pending investigation," but any evidence of criminal misconduct will be referred to a county grand jury. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation.

In Irvine, California, an Arizona prison guard was arrested last Friday after he got caught smuggling drugs with his wife and kids along for the ride. Fernando Urratiaguillen, 34, was arrested in Irvine after officers found 23 kilograms of methamphetamine and one kilogram of heroin inside the vehicle's gas tank on Tuesday. He also served as an Army National Guardsman. He is charged with with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, two counts of sale or transport of a controlled substance, two felony enhancements of a controlled substance in excess of 20 kilograms and two enhancements of possession of a substance exceeding one kilogram. At last report, he was still in jail with bail set at $3 million.

In Omaha, Nebraska, a former Omaha police officer was arrested Monday for allegedly helping two gangs move drugs, trading drugs for sex, and tipping off drug dealers to investigations. Johnny Palermo was arrested along with another Omaha police officer and a city council member. He is being held without bond because the federal judge said he cannot be trusted and is facing 15 felony counts, including multiple counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and abusing the public trust.

In Durant, Oklahoma, a former Durant police lieutenant was arrested Monday on charges he stole tens of thousands of dollars in seized drug money and in funds belonging to the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Billie Joe Jones, 47, allegedly made off with $67,000 in his role as a narcotics officer and pocketed another $37,000 in FOP funds over the four years he was at the department. He was the financial officer for the FOP. He went down, when, upon his retirement, the FOP became aware of "financial discrepancies" and alerted the police department, which then found seized drug money missing. He faces two counts of felony embezzlement. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count.

In Brooklyn, New York, a former New York City prison guard was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in federal prison for taking more than $34,000 in bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband including drugs and cell phones into the Rikers Island prison where she worked. Katrina Patterson went down after the Department of Corrections found cell phones and drugs in a prisoner's cell and recovered text messages incriminating her. She had earlier pleaded guilty to bribery.

Medical Marijuana Update

Senate Republicans play politics with a veterans' medical marijuana bill, and more.

National

Senate Republicans Block Veterans' Medical Marijuana Bill from Advancing. After a "spirited debate" in the Senate Republican policy lunch shortly before a vote to advance S. 326 -- a bipartisan bill that would have the Veterans Affairs Department do studies and clinical trials on the use of medical marijuana to treat veterans' chronic pain and PTSD -- a group of those Republican senators voted against allowing the bill to move forward, at least for now. The bill needed 60 votes to advance, but with the Republican defections, it failed 57-42. Republicans cited several reasons for the "no" vote, including that passage of the bill could be seen as a win for Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, who is up for re-election next year in red state Montana. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), ranking minority member on the committee, said negotiations on the bill will continue and described Wednesday's vote as "hitting the pause button."

Georgia

Georgia Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Finally Coming, Maybe Next Month. Nearly eight years after the state first approved a medical marijuana program, dispensaries are finally set to open their doors within weeks, as early as late May. But the state's 26,000 registered patients will be limited in their purchases to "low THC oil" with less than 5 milligrams of THC. Buds, edibles, and vaping cartridges are banned under the state's limited program. The state issued production licenses to two firms last September, but legislators and regulators have been slow to pass laws to implement the program. Under rules approved in January, the state will eventually license up to six companies to make and sell the oil.

PA Bill to Criminalize Safe Injection Sites Advances, Federal Smart Sentencing Bills Filed, More... (4/27/23)

The Texas House gives preliminary approval to a marijuana decriminalization bill, Senate Republicans block a veterans' medical marijuana bill, and more.

The Insite safe injection site in Vancouver. Pennsylvania GOPers want to criminallize such facilities. (vch.ca)
Marijuana Policy

California Bill to Crack Down on Illegal Marijuana Grows Advances. The Senate Public Safety Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 820, which would authorize law enforcement to seize cultivation and manufacturing equipment from unpermitted marijuana operations. The bill from Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil would not only allow for asset forfeiture; it would also invest the proceeds in the Cannabis Control Fund to support equity programs.

"It is critical to ensure that the limited resources used to enforce against unlicensed cannabis operations be impactful, and removing the equipment they use is a big step towards that goal," said Alvarado-Gil. "We must support those cannabis manufacturers who operate in a lawful manner and adhere to producing a safe consumable product." The bill comes as the state's legal marijuana industry struggles to compete with the illicit market.

Texas House Gives Initial Approval to Marijuana Decriminalization Bill. The House on Wednesday gave initial approval to a marijuana decriminalization bill, House Bill 218. The bill now heads for a second, final vote in that chamber. The bill would make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor, removing the risk of jail time and instead imposing a maximum fine of $500. It also specifies that possession of up to two ounces of marijuana would not result in arrest and that people with simple marijuana convictions could seek to have their convictions expunged after paying a small fee.

Medical Marijuana

Senate Republicans Block Veterans' Medical Marijuana Bill from Advancing. After a "spirited debate" in the Senate Republican policy lunch shortly before a vote to advance S. 326 -- a bipartisan bill that would have the Veterans Affairs Department do studies and clinical trials on the use of medical marijuana to treat veterans'' chronic pain and PTSD -- a group of those Republican senators voted against allowing the bill to move forward, at least for now. The bill needed 60 votes to advance, but with the Republican defections, it failed 57-42.

Republicans cited several reasons for the "no" vote, including that passage of the bill could be seen as a win for Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, who is up for reelection next year in red state Montana. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), ranking minority member on the committee, said negotiations on the bill will continue and described Wednesday's vote as "hitting the pause button."

Psychedelics

Minnesota House Passes Omnibus Health Bill That Includes Creation of Psychedelic Task Force. After an omnibus health passed the Senate earlier this session, it was amended in the House to include a provision creating a task force to prepare the state for the possible legalization of psychedelic substances. Now, the House has also approved that omnibus health bill with the psychedelic task force provision intact. Since it was amended in the House, the bill will now go to conference committee, where members will attempt to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Harm Reduction

Pennsylvania Bill to Criminalize Safe Injection Sites Advances. A bill that would make it a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison for people operating safe injection sites, Senate Bill 165, is advancing in the Republican-controlled legislature. The bill would make it a crime for any clinic or other establishment to allow people to "inject, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce into the person's body a controlled substance" and also includes a $500,000 fine for individuals and $2 million for establishments.

The bill advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and is now before the Senate Appropriations Committee. The ACLU of Pennsylvania notes that the criminal penalties in the bill "EXCEED the statutory maximum penalties for a first-degree felony. In other words, the penalty for providing a space that can save people from deadly overdoses is more severe than the punishment for murder."

Sentencing Policy

Federal Smart Sentencing Adjustments Act Filed. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) have introduced the Smart Sentencing Adjustments Act in the Senate and House. The bill would provide federal funding as an incentive to state governments to reduce incarceration while reducing crime. State prisons hold 87% of the nation's prison population. The Smart Sentencing Adjustments Act would provide funding for states to identify and address the sources of unnecessary incarceration in their systems, while investing in ways to lower crime and keep people safe.

The act would create a $2 billion grant program to reward states that shrink their prison populations by 20% over three years. It would offer participating states a wide variety of policies and programs for supporting people who have been in prison so they don't return, making communities safer, providing alternatives to incarceration, and more. For the length of the funding period, the bill would prohibit participating states from enacting excessively punitive sentencing legislation, such as mandatory minimums, truth-in-sentencing laws, and habitual offender laws.

Singapore Hangs Man for Two Pounds of Weed, CO Senate Passes Psychedelic Regulation Bill, More... (4/26/23)

A bipartisan bill addressing xylazine gets filed, Texas Republican senators block a fentanyl test strip bill, and more.

Fentanyl test strips. Texas GOP senators are blocking a bill to decriminalize them. (Creative Commons)
Psychedelics

Colorado Senate Advances Psychedelic Regulation Bill Without Local Ban Authority. The Senate on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 23-290, which amends the regulatory framework created by the voter-approved Natural Medicine Act. The bill creates regulations for unlicensed psychedelic facilitators, restrictions on home mushroom and natural medicine cultivation, and criminal penalties for the unlicensed sale of those substances. Under the bill, the Department of Revenue, which already oversees the state's liquor, marijuana, and gambling industries, would regulate licensed psychedelic manufacturing, distribution, and other business activities. The bill does not include language allowing local governments to ban psychedelic businesses. The bill now goes to the House, where it first heads to the House Finance Committee.

Drug Policy

Senators Cruz and Welch File Bill Targeting Xylazine. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT) on Wednesday filed the Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act to address the rapid rise of the veterinary tranquilizer as a drug used in conjunction with street narcotics. The Office of National Drug Control Strategy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) designated xylazine mixed with fentanyl as an "emerging threat" earlier this month.

While xylazine has some opioid-like properties, it is not an opioid and is not responsive to opioid overdose reversal drugs. It is also linked to physical ailments such as necrosis, which can result in the loss of limbs.

The TRANQ Research Act "directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to take steps to enhance understanding of tranq and other novel synthetic drugs, develop new tests for detection, and establish partnerships with front-line entities that are often the first points of contact with new street drugs." It does not contain any criminal provisions. Companion legislation has also been filed in the House.

Harm Reduction

Texas Fentanyl Test Strip Decriminalization Bill Stalled in Senate. Even as the state faces a fentanyl overdose crisis, Senate Republicans are blocking action on a bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips, House Bill 362, that has already passed the House. Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) said Republican members of the committee fear that the move will encourage drug use. "It's just illogical, but there's a belief by some members that it might safeguard the use," he said Tuesday. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) supports the legislation, and the legislative session still has a few more weeks left, so supporters continue to hope it can still pass this year.

International

Singapore Ignores International Appeals, Executes Man for Two Pounds of Marijuana. Singapore hung Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, on Wednesday after he was convicted of conspiring to traffic two pounds of marijuana. The execution came despite an international campaign to spare his life, including an appeal from the UN Human Rights Commission and another from Global Drug Policy Commission member Richard Branson. While many other countries, including some of Singapore's neighbors are moving towards a more lenient approach to drugs and rejecting the death penalty, Singapore remains unmoved. "Tangaraju was accorded full due process under the law and had access to legal counsel throughout the process," the Central Narcotics Bureau said, adding without a hint of irony that the death penalty is "part of Singapore's comprehensive harm prevention strategy."

MN House Votes to Legalize Cannabis, with Singapore Set to Hang Man for Two Pounds of It, More... (4/25/23)

Another year of no marijuana legalization for Louisiana, the European Union sanctions Syrian officials and entities for trafficking in a Middle Eastern amphetamine, and more.

The Middle Eastern amphetamine Captagon. The EU sanctions Syrian officials for their role in the trade. (narcanon.us)
Marijuana Policy

Louisiana Marijuana Legalization Bill Killed in Committee. A bill that would have legalized marijuana, House Bill24, is dead after failing to win support in the House Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday. The measure garnered only three "yes" votes in the committee. Bill sponsor Rep. Candace Newell (D-New Orleans) has introduced the bill for the last several sessions and has vowed to continue filing it until it passes.

Minnesota House Votes to Legalize Marijuana; Senate Vote Coming Friday. The House on Tuesday gave final approval to a marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, on a vote of 71-59. The Senate is set to vote on its version of the bill on Friday. There are some differences between the two bills which will have to be ironed out in conference committee if and when the Senate bill also passes.

Drug Testing

Missouri Measure to Outlaw "Drug Masking Products" Gets Senate Committee Hearing. A measure that has already cleared the House as part of a larger crime bill, House Bill 1108, would make it harder to cheat on drug tests by criminalizing the distribution and sale of synthetic urine or any other "drug masking product." The bill would make the offense a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum one year in jail and $2,000 fine. The bill get a hearing Monday in the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, where it heard testimony from a lobbyist for Quest Diagnostics, the largest drug testing company in the country. No vote was taken.

International

UN Asks Singapore to Halt Execution of Man for Two Pounds of Marijuana. The United Nations Human Rights Office called Tuesday for Singapore to "urgently reconsider" the looming Wednesday execution of a man convicted of abetting a conspiracy to distribute two pounds of marijuana. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to death in 2018. Under Singapore law, crimes involving more than one pound of marijuana merit the death penalty.

"The death penalty is still being used in a small number of countries, largely because of the myth that it deters crime," the UN Human Rights Office said. "We have concerns around due process and respect for fair trial guarantees. The UN Human Rights Office calls on the authorities not to proceed with his execution," it added.

British billionaire Richard Branson, who sits on the Global Commission on Drug Policy, has also called on Singapore to halt the execution, prompting the Singapore Home Affairs Ministry to push back, saying Branson showed "disrespect for Singapore's judges and our criminal justice system with such allegations." Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years. If Tangaraju is hanged, it would be the country's first execution in six months. Eleven executions were carried out last year, all for drug offenses.

Council of Europe Sanctions Syrian Officials, Companies over Captagon Trafficking. The Council of Europe, the executive organ of the European Union, has issued sanctions against 25 individuals and eight entities for their role in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs, notably Captagon, an amphetamine popular in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The trade in amphetamine has become a regime-led business model, enriching the inner circle of the regime and providing it with revenue that contributes to its ability to maintain its policies of repression against the civilian population," the Council said. "For this reason the Council designated various members of the Assad family - including multiple cousins of Bashar al-Assad, leaders and members of regime-affiliated militias and businesspeople with close ties to the Assad family, as well as persons associated with the Syrian army and the Syrian military intelligence."

Sanctions on Syria were first introduced in 2011 in response to the violent repression of the civilian population by the Assad regime. EU sanctions in place regarding Syria target the Assad regime and its supporters, as well as sectors of the economy from which the regime was making profit.

WA Drug Sentencing Fix Fails, SC 4/20 Pot Pardon Bill Filed, More... (4/24/23)

Dispensaries are finally coming to Georgia (though product choice is limited), a trio of 4/20 week polls show continuing strong support for marijuana legalization, and more.

Washington state lawmakers can't agree on how to replace the state's drug felony law. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

Three New Polls Show Continuing Strong Support for Marijuana Legalization. Polls from CBS News, YouGov, and Civic Science released during 4/20 week all show continuing strong support for marijuana legalization. CBS News had 64 percent of respondents wanting marijuana legalized in their states, including 73 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents, and even 53 percent of Republicans. YouGov had support for legalization in the respondents' state at 58 percent, while Civic Science had 64 percent supporting legalization.

South Carolina Bill Would Pardon One-Fifth of Marijuana Possession Inmates Each Year. Introduced on informal marijuana holiday 4/20, a bill from Rep. JA Moore (D-Berkeley, Charleston), House Bill 4358, would pardon one fifth of people convicted of simple marijuana possession each year on 4/20. Under state law, simple possession is possessing less than an ounce and typically involves a jail sentence of no more than 30 days, but a second offense can garner up to six months. "We need to make sure that people that are doing petty crimes, like simple possession of marijuana, aren't filling up our justice system; we need to save those spaces for violent criminals or people that are victimizing our community," Moore says. The state has the second-highest marijuana possession arrest rate in the country, and Black people are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for it.

Medical Marijuana

Georgia Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Finally Coming, Maybe Next Month. Nearly eight years after the state first approved a medical marijuana program, dispensaries are finally set to open their doors within weeks, as early as late May. But the state's 26,000 registered patients will be limited in their purchases to "low THC oil" with less than 5 milligrams of THC. Buds, edibles, and vaping cartridges are banned under the state's limited program. The state issued production licenses to two firms last September, but legislators and regulators have been slow to pass laws to implement the program. Under rules approved in January, the state will eventually license up to six companies to make and sell the oil.

Sentencing

Washington Drug Sentencing Deal Fix Falls Apart. After the state Supreme Court threw out the state's felony drug possession law, legislators had until July to come up with a replacement. They thought they had one in Senate Bill 5536, which would have made simple drug possession a gross misdemeanor, but the bill unexpectedly failed in the House Saturday night as several Democrats joined 40 Republicans in voting no. The dissident Democrats felt that the bill was too harsh, while the Republicans thought it was too soft. Now, with no chance of passing the bill before the regular legislative session ends, pressure is mounting on Gov. Jay Inslee (D) to call a special session to clean up the mess. Without legislative action, the state would no longer have a uniform policy on drug possession, leaving localities to set their own laws.

Delaware Legalizes Marijuana [FEATURE]

As Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, Delaware became the 22nd state to legalize marijuana. That is because Gov. John Carney (D), who is skeptical of legalization and who had vetoed a legalization bill last year, decided to no longer stand in the way after the legislature approved it again this year, allowing it to take effect without his signature.

The Delaware state capitol, where lawmakers and the governor came together to legalize marijuana. (Creative Commons)
The state's legalization effort came in a two-bill package, with House Bill 1, sponsored by Rep. Ed Osienski (D), making possession of a limited amount of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older under Delaware state law. A separate measure, House Bill 2, will legalize and regulate cultivation and sales. The latter bill, which was sent to the governor a few days behind the former, will go into effect on Thursday.

In allowing the bills to become law without his signature, Gov. Carney bowed to political reality: This year, the two bills passed with supermajorities that could potentially have overcome his veto. But he still wasn't happy about it.

"As I've consistently said, I believe the legalization of recreational marijuana is not a step forward," Carney said in a Friday afternoon statement announcing he would let the bills become law. "I support both medical marijuana and Delaware's decriminalization law because no one should go to jail for possessing a personal-use quantity of marijuana. And today, they do not. I want to be clear that my views on this issue have not changed. And I understand there are those who share my views who will be disappointed in my decision not to veto this legislation. I came to this decision because I believe we've spent far too much time focused on this issue when Delawareans face more serious and pressing concerns every day. It's time to move on."

Bill sponsor Rep. Osienski thanked the governor for listening to the voice of the people.

"After five years of countless meetings, debates, negotiations and conversations, I'm grateful we have reached the point where Delaware has joined a growing number of states that have legalized and regulated adult recreational marijuana for personal use. We know that more than 60% of Delawareans support the legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use, and more than two-thirds of the General Assembly agreed," he said in a Friday afternoon statement. "After five years of countless meetings, debates, negotiations and conversations, I'm grateful we have reached the point where Delaware has joined a growing number of states that have legalized and regulated adult recreational marijuana for personal use," Osienski said.

"I understand the governor's personal opposition to legalization," he continued, so I especially appreciate him listening to the thousands of residents who support this effort and allowing it to become law. I am committed to working with the administration to ensure that the effort to establish the regulatory process goes as smoothly as possible."

While legalization is in effect now, having a working system of legal marijuana commerce in place is more than a year down the road even though House Bill 2 becomes law Wednesday. The state will issue up to 30 retail marijuana licenses, 30 manufacturing licenses, 60 commercial cultivation licenses, and five testing licenses,but none of them before August 2024. Between now and then, state officials will be adopting regulations for the nascent industry and evaluating applications.

The new law contains social equity provisions with social equity licenses going to people who have lived at least five of the last 10 years in "a disproportionately impacted area" or who have or have family members who have previous marijuana convictions (except for delivery to a minor or possession of very large quantities). In another bid to promote equity in the industry, it also includes provisions for "microbusiness" licenses.

There is no provision for home cultivation.

Still, the members of the Delaware Cannabis Policy Coalition, who have been working with lawmakers for years to get this done, pronounced themselves pleased.

"With this move, Delawareans can finally celebrate the long-awaited end of cannabis prohibition!," said Toi Hutchinson, president and CEO of the Marijuana Policy Project in an emailed statement. "We applaud Gov. Carney for not standing in the way of progress. With every new state that rises to the challenge and legalizes cannabis, we are one step closer to ending cannabis prohibition nationwide."

"After years of advocacy, collaboration, and grassroots organizing, we are thrilled to see cannabis legalization become a reality in our state. This victory is a result of the tireless work of thousands of volunteers, dozens of lawmakers, and with the support of a huge majority of our Delaware community. So many have championed this righteous cause and recognized the need for sensible cannabis policy reform," said Delaware NORML Executive Director Laura Sharer.

"This is a significant step towards creating a fair system that respects personal freedom, promotes public health and safety, generates economic growth, and addresses social justice issues. Delaware lawmakers have taken a progressive and equitable approach to cannabis policy," said Sharer.

"We are incredibly grateful for the hard work of all of the Delaware Cannabis Policy Coalition, all the state legislators who voted to make this happen, including every single one that we have endorsed, with special thanks to Rep. Ed Osienski who has been leading this crusade for a decade," said Jonathan Tate, co-chair of the Delaware Democratic Socialists of America. "Cannabis legalization is exactly the type of revolutionary reform that we fight for -- it empowers working-class people to make their own decisions about what they consume and it disempowers the state from punishing, brutalizing, incarcerating, and splitting up families over it."

MN Legalization Pot Bill Set for House Floor Vote, Federal Criminal Justice Reform Bills Filed, More... (4/21/23)

There will be no marijuana law reform in Alabama this year, senior senators introduce a package of criminal justice reform bills, and more.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was at the White House Thursday to discuss drug policy, among other topics. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Alabama Legislative Leaders Dismiss Any Action on Marijuana Legalization. Even as the Alabama Cannabis Coalition demonstrated outside the capitol on Thursday to call for marijuana law reform, Republican House and Senate leaders made clear that reform bills filed this year are going nowhere. "I have zero interest in that legislation coming up," Sen. President Pro Tem Greg Reed said, adding "I don't see any appetite for the legislature being able to modify or change expanding anything associated with marijuana in this session." House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter also said those bills won't come up in the House. Indeed, they have not even been scheduled for committee.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Gets House Floor Vote Monday. After a final committee vote in the House Ways and Means Committee this week, the House version of the state's marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, is set for a House floor vote Monday. The Senate version of the bill is also nearing the finish line, with just one more committee vote remaining before it, too, heads for a floor vote. The bills are expected to pass in both chambers and then be signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, who also supports legalization.

Criminal Justice

Durbin, Grassley Reintroduce Criminal Justice Reform Bills. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead sponsors of the landmark First Step Act (FSA), reintroduced three pieces of criminal justice reform legislation today to further implement the FSA and advance its goals. The First Step Act, which was signed into law in 2018, is bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation designed to make our justice system fairer and our communities safer by reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully. On Thursday, Durbin and Grassley reintroduced the First Step Implementation Act, the Safer Detention Act, and the Terry Technical Correction Act.

The first bill allows courts to apply the FSA sentencing reform provisions to reduce sentences imposed prior to the enactment of the FSA and broadens the safety valve provision to allow courts to sentence below a mandatory minimum for nonviolent controlled substance offenses, if the court finds the defendant's criminal history over-represents the seriousness of the defendant's criminal record and the likelihood of recidivism. The second bill would reform the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and compassionate release by clarifying that good conduct credits should be included in the calculation of time served and expanding eligibility to include nonviolent offenders who have served at least 50 percent of their terms of imprisonment. The third bill clarifies that all offenders who were sentenced for a crack cocaine offense before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 can apply for its retroactive application under Section 404 of the First Step Act, including individuals convicted of the lowest level crack offenses.

Foreign Policy

US and Colombian Presidents Issue Statement After White House Meeting. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the United States and President Gustavo Petro Urrego of the Republic of Colombia met Thursday to advance bilateral cooperation on issues of mutual interest, including climate change, clean energy transition, migration, drug trafficking, and peace. President Biden reiterated his support for President Petro's peace efforts, and for rural and agricultural development in Colombia, as essential to effectively advance the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement in its international accompaniment of the accord's Ethnic Chapter.

On drugs, Biden and Petro committed to a holistic approach to address the harmful impacts of drug use and drug trafficking on both our peoples' health, safety, the environment, the economy, rule of law, and the strength and transparency of democratic institutions. They vowed to redouble efforts in terms of demand reduction through science-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support. They did not address Petro's oft-stated critique of US prohibitionist drug policy.

RI Safe Injection Site to Open Early Next Year, NC Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed, More... (4/20/23)

Dozens of advocacy groups urge the White House to end federal pot prohibition, Brazil's new president reinstalls civil society representatives on the national drug policy council, and more.

The people from Project Weber/RENEW who will staff Rhode Island's first safe injection site. (PWR)
Marijuana Policy

Over 80 Groups Urge Biden Administration to End Federal Marijuana Prohibition and Support Comprehensive Reform. In an open letter to President Biden, as well as the heads of the Justice Department, the DEA, and the Food and Drug Administration, more than 80 drug policy, social justice, civil liberties, and civil rights organizations called on the administration to legalize marijuana and enact comprehensive marijuana law reforms. "We urge you and your administration to take the steps necessary to deschedule marijuana in conjunction with other administration actions that center Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities," they wrote. "Additionally, we implore your administration to support comprehensive marijuana reform legislation in Congress, such as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a bill that deschedules marijuana, repairs the past harms of prohibition, and provides a regulatory framework for marijuana markets."

Bipartisan Bill to Encourage State-Level Marijuana Expungements Refiled. A Republican and a Democrat, Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that would provide incentives to states to expunge marijuana arrest records in their jurisdictions. The Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act would provide federal grants to states engaged in expungement programs. The State Expungement Opportunity Grant Program would be managed by the Justice Department. "The vast majority of petty, non-violent cannabis law violations take place on the state and local level, precluding millions of Americans from fundamental opportunities such as housing and employment," Joyce said in a press release. "As both a former public defender and prosecutor, I understand firsthand how these barriers can negatively impact families and economic growth in Ohio and across the nation."

North Carolina Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed. Rep. Kelly Alexander (D) and a handful of cosponsors have filed a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 626. The bill would legalize the possession of up two ounces by people 21 and over, allow for the home cultivation of up to six plants, and create a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce, including social equity provisions. The state has yet to pass even a medical marijuana bill, although this year one has been approved by the Senate. It has not moved in the House since it was sent there six weeks ago.

Harm Reduction

Rhode Island Safe Injection Site Coming Next Year. A harm reduction group, Project Weber/RENEW, in partnership with CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, announced Wednesday that it will open the country's first state-regulated overdose prevention center in early 2024. The center was authorized by legislation passed recently by the state legislature, sponsored by State Senator Josh Miller and State Representative Jay Edwards. The law will sunset in March 2026, after the amount of time needed to open and operate the facility and to do an evaluation.

According to a news release from the project, the overdose epidemic claimed 435 lives in Rhode Island in 2021. The center, to be located in Providence, will provide services including the ability to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained staff. Funding for the center's first year of operations comes from opioid settlement funds distributed to Rhode Island, totaling $2.6 million. Project Weber/RENEW and clinical partners CODAC were selected for the project by the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

International

Brazil Civil Society Groups Reinstated to National Council on Drug Policy. For years, civil society groups had been able to have an impact on national drug policy by participating in the National Council on Drug Policy (CONAD), but rightist former President Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree barring those groups from participating in CONAD. Now, the new (or rather, returned) leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- Lula -- has reinstated them. Under a presidential decree issued last week, CONAD will be composed of 10 elected and five appointed seats for civil society, as well as members of the government. The move is welcome news from Lula, who had done little in the field of drug policy since taking office in January.

Drug War Issues

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