The White House punts on marijuana banking reform, Virginia bills to provide tax breaks to the marijuana industry and gear up for legal sales advance, and more.

Marijuana Policy

White House Defers to Congress on Marijuana Banking Reform. The Biden administration has no plans to announce any executive action on marijuana banking reforms and says that Congress is leading the way on the issue. When queried about it last week at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "I don’t have any new policy announcements to make from here. As you know, this is something that Congress is working on. We understand that there’s interest in legislation and action—but I would refer you to Congress because, again, this is again what they’re working on." That's what Congresswas working on up until the end of the last session, but now Republicans control the House, potentially complicating prospects for reform.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Yet Another Committee Vote. The bill to legalize marijuana,  House File 100, has passed one more committee hurdle, being approved by the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee on a 5-3 vote. That's the third Senate committee to approve the bill so far, and the bill is also moving in the House. Lawmakers said it could take up to a dozen committee votes before the measure heads for House and Senate floor votes.

Virginia Bills to Start Adult Sales, Reform Taxes Advance. Two marijuana reform bills from state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) advanced last Friday. Senate Bill 1095, which would decouple the state's marijuana industry from the federal tax code and take state tax deductions it is currently barred from, passed the Senate unanimously, while the House version of the bill passed the House Appropriations Committee on a 7-1 vote. Senate Bill 1133, which would clear the way for retail marijuana sales, is also moving, passing out of the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee to the Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Psychedelics

Virginia Bill to Reschedule Psilocybin, Establish Advisory Board Advances. After House lawmakers bottled up a bill that would have allowed for the medicinal use of psilocybin in severe mental health cases, reform-minded colleagues approved a bill, Senate Bill 392, that would simply move psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule III and create an advisory board to plan how to set up access to psilocybin services. Rescheduling psilocybin would make possession a misdemeanor offense; it is a felony under current law. It won a committee vote in the Senate Education Committee's Health Professions Subcommittee. 

A Minnesota marijuana legalization bill is cruising right along, Hong Kong bans CBD as a "dangerous drug," and more.

Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Keeps Advancing. A marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, has won approval in the House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee Thursday. That's the fourth committee to approve it in the House. Meanwhile, a companion bill in the Senate was approved by the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.

Ohio Bill Would Protect Drivers with THC in Their Systems. State Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) has filed Senate Bill 26, which would protect drivers from facing charges for having THC in their system as long as they can prove they were not impaired. The bill would remove the per se limits for marijuana and marijuana metabolites for the purpose of determining whether the driver was Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence (OVI). Without a set per se level (where the state assumes one is intoxicated), the bill effectively removes the automatic license suspension for those caught with THC in their systems.

Medical Marijuana

Medical Marijuana Sales Have Begun in Mississippi. Nearly a year after medical marijuana was legalized in the state, the first legal sales have taken place. The first sales occurred Wednesday at The Cannabis Company in Brookhaven and at two Oxford dispensaries, Hybrid Relief and Star Buds. More than 1,700 patients are currently enrolled in the state's medical marijuana program. Voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 2020, only to have it invalidated by the state Supreme Court. The legislature then passed a bill authorizing it.

International

Hong Kong Bans CBD as "Dangerous Drug." As of next Wednesday, Hong Kong will ban CBD, a cannabinoid that does not produce the same psychoactive effects as its more potent fellow cannabinoid, THC. "Starting from February 1, cannabidiol, aka CBD, will be regarded as a dangerous drug and will be supervised and managed by the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance,"customs intelligence officer Au-Yeung Ka-lun said ."As of then, transporting CBD for sale, including import and export, as well as producing, possessing and consuming CBD, will be illegal,"he added.

Mexican Senator Will File Bill to Legalize Natural Psychedelics for Treatment of Mental Health Problems. Sen. Alejandra Lagunes of the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) said Wednesday she will present a bill to legalize and regulate natural psychedelics for the treatment of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. She made the comments at the Intercultural Forum on Entheogenic Medicine, which was held in the federal Senate."It’s scientifically proven that psilocybin from psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline from peyote, DMT from ayahuasca and the Colorado River toad are not drugs. They have a high therapeutic potential, low toxicity and don’t create physical dependence or abuse,"she said.

Myanmar Opium Production Booming After Coup, UNODC Says. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report that opium production is up 33 percent since the military took over the government in February 2021. Farmers in parts of the country have "little option" but to grow opium, reversing years of efforts to reduce poppy planting, said UNODC regional representative Jeremy Douglas. said "At times like these many farmers see opium as particularly attractive – given predictable demand and the fact that brokers will typically buy the entire crop at the farm gate," said International Crisis Group Myanmar advisor Richard Horsey.

Civil asset forfeiture -- the police seizing cash or property from people without first obtaining a criminal conviction -- rankles Americans' sense of fundamental fairness, and legislators around the country have been picking up on that. According to the Institute for Justice, 37 states have reformed their civil forfeiture laws since 2014, although only four -- Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Carolina -- have entirely abolished the practice.

Banning civil forfeiture is one thing; getting law enforcement to actually abide by state-level bans is another, primarily because there is a loophole, the federal Equitable Sharing program which allows prosecutors to hand cases off to the federal government to prosecute. The feds then share as much as 80 percent of the proceeds of the seizure with the local law enforcement entity. (Joint task force busts also allow state and local police to tap into equitable sharing.)

And the feds are pursuing asset forfeiture aggressively. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a July 2017 policy directive directing federal prosecutors to ramp up seizures with or without a criminal conviction and even in states where civil forfeiture is banned. That Trump-era policy remains in effect to this day.

Eight states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Ohio -- have passed legislation aimed at shutting down equitable sharing schemes.

This year, both the number of states banning civil asset forfeiture and the number of states taking aim at the equitable sharing end-run around state laws could increase, with pushes going on in several states. Here are the states where civil asset forfeiture reform bills are in the works (with a tip of the hat to the 10th Amendment Center):

Colorado

Three House Republicans have filed House Bill 1086, which would bar civil asset forfeiture and instead require a criminal conviction before forfeiture could proceed. It also addresses the "policing for profit" motive for asset seizures by sending half of all proceeds to the general fund of the governmental body with authority over the seizing law enforcement agency, a quarter to a behavioral health fund, and a quarter to a law enforcement grant fund. Currently, seizing agencies can keep up to half the funds, with another 25 percent going to the law enforcement grant fund. The bill also removes the state from the federal equitable sharing program. The bill is currently before the House Judiciary Committee.

Mississippi

Filed by Rep. Dana Criswell (R),House Bill 622 would abolish civil asset forfeiture in the state and instead require a criminal conviction before prosecutors could proceed with asset forfeiture in most cases. The bill would also effectively get Mississippi out of the federal equitable sharing program and it would eliminate the "policing for profit" motive in civil asset forfeiture by requiring that forfeiture funds be deposited in the state's general fund. Under current state law, law enforcement agencies can keep up to 100 percent of seized assets. The bill is currently before the House Judiciary B Committee.

New Hampshire

GOP Reps. Dan McGuire and Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller have filed House Bill 593, which would require a criminal conviction in most drug cases before asset forfeiture could proceed. (The state has a specific asset forfeiture process for drug offenses, which constitute the vast majority of seizures.) The bill also bars resort to the federal equitable sharing program to circumvent state law, except for a rather sizeable loophole allowing it for seizures by joint drug task forces. The bill is currently before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

New York

Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter (D) and eight Democratic cosponsors have filed Assembly Bill 641, which would end civil asset forfeiture in the state and allow asset forfeiture only if "prosecuting authority secures a conviction of a crime that authorizes the forfeiture of property and the prosecuting authority establishes by clear and convincing evidence the property is an instrumentality of or proceeds derived directly from the crime for which the state secured a conviction." It would also require that forfeiture proceeds go into the general fund; under current law, police can keep up to 60 percent. And it would effectively exit the state from the federal equitable sharing program unless the amount seized was more than $20,000. Most forfeitures fall beneath that line. The bill is now before the Assembly Codes Committee.

Hawaii is getting on the fentanyl test strip decriminalization bandwagon, an Arizona bill would set aside taxpayer funds to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, and more.

Psychedelics

Arizona Magic Mushroom Research Bill Filed. A bipartisan bill to fund research into the potential benefits of psilocybin-containing magic mushrooms has been introduced in the House. House Bill 2486 would provide $30 million to study how the mushrooms could help with conditions such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The measure would also prioritize using veterans, first responders, and frontline healthcare workers as research subjects.

Massachusetts Bills to Decriminalize Natural Psychedelics Filed. Identical bills to decriminalize the possession of natural psychedelics such as ayahuasca, ibogaine, magic mushrooms, and mescaline (but not peyote) have been filed in the House and Senate. The measure, known as An Act Relative to Plant Medicine, is House Bill 1450 and Senate Bill 949. The state-level bills come after several cities in the state, including Cambridge and Somerville, voted to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other natural psychedelics. Under the bills, "The possession, ingestion, obtaining, growing, giving away without financial gain to natural persons 18 years of age or older, and transportation of no more than two grams of psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline," would be legalized.

Harm Reduction

Hawaii Bill to Legalize Fentanyl Test Strips Filed. The Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force and state Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D) have partnered to file Senate Bill 671, which would legalize fentanyl test strips. The test strips are currently classified as drug paraphernalia, and this bill would redefine drug paraphernalia to exclude them. Similar bills have been filed in the House.

Sentencing

Washington State Bill Would Recriminalize Drug Possession. After the state Supreme Court threw out the state's felony drug possession law in 2021 because it did not require that someone knowingly possessed an illicit drug, the legislature last year passed interim legislation making drug possession a misdemeanor. But that legislation is only valid until July. After that, if the legislature fails to come up with a permanent solution, drug possession will no longer be a crime in the state. So now, Rep Jacqueline Maycumber (R) has filed House Bill 1415, which would permanently make drug possession a misdemeanor. Maycumber says criminalizing drug possession is desirable because being arrested by the police forces people who "need help" by forcing them into drug court, a therapeutic court, or some kind of drug treatment. The bill is currently before the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee.

A Montana bill would block child welfare workers from removing children simply because of a parent's drug use, San Francisco is ready to move forward on safe injection sites, and more.

Medical Marijuana

South Carolina Sees Second Medical Marijuana Bill Filed. A bipartisan medical marijuana bill, the Compassionate Care Act (HB 3486/SB 423), has been filed in both houses this week. It would allow physicians to recommend marijuana to patients with debilitating medical conditions and have them purchase it from state-licensed and -regulated businesses. This is the second medical marijuana bill filed this year. The first, the No Patient Left Alone Act (HB 3215) is similar, but would allow dispensaries to grow their own product. The Compassionate Care Act got through the House last year only to die in the Senate.

Psychedelics

Virginia GOP Lawmakers Block Bill Legalizing Magic Mushrooms for Medical Use. A bill that would allow the use of magic mushrooms for medical purposes, House Bill 1513, has been killed by a subcommittee vote of the House Committee for the Courts of Justice. The bill would have allowed doctors to prescribe the drug for the treatment of depression, PTSD, or end of life anxiety. A bill that would direct Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to create a psilocybin study committee remains alive, however.

Child Welfare

Montana Bill Would Block Child Removals Based Solely on Parental Substance Use. An omnibus child protective reforms bill, House Bill 37, aimed at making the removal of children from parental households more difficult includes a provision that bars child welfare workers from removing a child for neglect or abuse based only on "substance use by a parent or guardian, disorderly living conditions, other factors closely related to economic status, or a child's obesity." The GOP-championed bill came after a year of study in the bipartisan Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee. It passed the House Judiciary Committee Friday and now heads for a House floor vote.

Harm Reduction

San Francisco Mayor Looking Again at Safe Injection Sites. Mayor London Breed (D) said Wednesday that she is working with Supervisor Hillary Ronen (D) to undo a city law that is an obstacle to nonprofits setting up safe injection sites in the city. Breed and other city officials say they are ready to move forward with privately-funded sites, but to do so, the Board of Supervisors will have to repeal a 2020 ordinance that prohibits safe injection sites. While city politicians had been fearful of a federal reaction to a safe injection site, they have been impressed by New York City's pair of safe injection sites that have operated for more than a year without federal harassment. "The Biden administration and the Newsom administration… are not going to throw San Franciscans in jail or cut off our federal funding because we're saving lives and stopping open-air drug use," Ronen told city staffers.

A San Diego deputy has some bad habits, a Florida jail guard was peddling pot brownies to prisoners, and more. Let's get to it:

In Tampa, a Hillsborough County sheriff's detention officer was arrested January 5 for selling marijuana edibles to inmates at the Falkenburg Road Jail. Officer Terry Bradford, Jr., 25, was selling "cannabis-laced edibles" and "other contraband" and was caught with more than a pound of brownies individually packaged for sale. He went down after an inmate snitched him out. He's now been fired, as well as charged with introducing contraband into a detention facility and possession of a controlled substance.

In San Diego, a San Diego County sheriff's deputy was arrested January 7 on a felony warrant for allegedly committing burglaries and possessing drugs. Deputy Cory Richey, a 16-year-veteran of the department, faces 13 counts of burglary and three of drug possession. Authorities said the investigation continues.

In Phoenix, a Maricopa County corrections officer was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion of smuggling fentanyl into the Lower Buckeye Jail. Officer Andres Salazar, 26, was caught with nearly a hundred fentanyl pills in the jail parking lot and is now charged with possession of a narcotic, promoting prison contraband and transport for sale. He is currently on administrative leave.

The state legislative season is upon us, and medical marijuana keeps popping up at statehouses, and in Congress.

National

GOP Congressman Files Bill to Protect Gun Rights of Medical Marijuana Patients. The first piece of marijuana reform legislation in the new Congress is a bill that would allow medical marijuana patients to purchase and possess firearms. Sponsored by Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), along with Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the Second Amendment Protection Act seeks to amend federal law around the "sale, purchase, shipment, receipt, or possession of a firearm or ammunition by a user of medical marijuana." Under current law, people who use marijuana can't buy or possess guns because they're considered to be "an unlawful user of or addicted to" a federally controlled substance. Mooney filed a similar bill in 2019, but it did not advance.

North Dakota

North Dakota Senate Approves Bill to Raise Patients' 30-Day THC Limit. The Senate has approved Senate Bill 2068, which increases the amount of THC in products such as tinctures and lotions that patients may purchase in a 30-day period. The limit is currently 4,000 milligrams, and the bill originally would have doubled that to 8,000 milligrams, but bill sponsor Sen. Kristin Roers (R-Fargo) amended it down to 6,000 milligrams after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 for a "do not pass" recommendation. The measure now heads to the House.

Ohio

Ohio Bill Would Revamp State's Medical Marijuana Program. State Sens. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) and Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) last week filed Senate Bill 9, which would let doctors recommend medical marijuana for any debilitating condition, let growers expand their operations, and expand the number of dispensaries in the state. Similar legislation stalled in the Assembly last year. The bill would also rationalize oversight under the sole purview of the Department of Commerce. Currently, three separate state agencies regulate medical marijuana, which some in the industry say is burdensome.

South Carolina

South Carolina Sees Two Medical Marijuana Bills Pre-Filed. With the legislative just getting underway, lawmakers in Columbia have already pre-filed two separate medical marijuana bills. The Put Patients First Act (House Bill 3226) is cosponsored by Democratic Minority Leader Todd Rutherford and freshman Republican Rep. Jay Kilmartin. It would make marijuana available to registered patients with a doctor's recommendation. The bill would allow caregivers and dispensaries to "cultivate, grow, and dispense marijuana for medical use." The other bill, the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act (House Bill 3486) also has bipartisan sponsors and would "authorize the use of cannabis products by patients with debilitating medical conditions who are under the care of a physician, with exceptions."

South Dakota

South Dakota Bill Would Bar Pregnant or Breast-Feeding Women from Access to Medical Marijuana. Anti-marijuana and anti-abortion zealot Rep. Fred Deutsch (R-Florence) has filed a bill that would block the Health Department from issuing medical marijuana cards to pregnant or breast-feeding women, House Bill 1053. The bill has been referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee. Deutsch served as treasurer for Protecting South Dakota Kids, a ballot measure committee that successfully opposed the 2022 marijuana legalization initiative and he also is a past president of South Dakota Right to Life, an anti-abortion group.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin GOP Lawmakers Move Closer to Legalizing Medical Marijuana. For years, the Republican-controlled legislature has fended off any and all efforts to advance marijuana reforms, but it could be different this year. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has said that he thinks a bill to create a medical marijuana program in the state could be passed this legislative session as long as regulations are put forward to ensure it's for those in serious pain. "Our caucus is getting pretty close on medical marijuana," LeMahieu said, marking the first time the Republican Senate leader has expressed support for the notion. Republican Assembly Leader Robin Vos has in recent years expressed support for medical marijuana, while Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has long called for the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana. Two-thirds of Wisconsinites support legalizing marijuana and a super-majority of 80 percent support medical marijuana.

An Ohio bill would revamp the state's medical marijuana program, New York's governor signs a bill mandating that the state immediately re- or deschedule Schedule I drugs if federal law changes, and more.

Medical Marijuana

Ohio Bill Would Revamp State's Medical Marijuana Program. State Sens. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) and Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) this week filed Senate Bill 9, which would let doctors recommend medical marijuana for any debilitating condition, let growers expand their operations, and expand the number of dispensaries in the state. Similar legislation stalled in the Assembly last year. The bill would also rationalize oversight under the sole purview of the Department of Commerce. Currently, three separate state agencies regulate medical marijuana, which some in the industry say is burdensome.

Psychedelics

New York Governor Signs Bill Descheduling Schedule I Drug if Federal Law Changes. Late last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law a bill mandating that the state immediately deschedule or reschedule Schedule I drugs such as MDMA and psilocybin if they are reclassified under federal law, AO 9722. The bills passed both houses with unanimous support and are designed to "provide for parity between the New York State schedule and the federal schedule when certain drugs are approved for medical treatment."

Washington Bill Would Allow Psilocybin Services for Adults. State Sen. Jesse Salomon (D) and 20 bipartisan cosponsors have filed Senate Bill 5263, which would legalize and regulate the psychedelic for people 21 and over. The bill aims to "facilitate the establishment of safe, legal, and affordable psilocybin service centers to provide citizens of Washington who are at least 21 years of age with opportunities for supported psilocybin experiences for wellness and personal growth" and to "improve the physical, mental, and social well-being of all people in this state, and to reduce the prevalence of behavioral health disorders among adults in this state by providing for supported adult use of psilocybin under the supervision of a trained and licensed psilocybin service facilitator." The bill would create a Washington Psilocybin Advisory Board and put the state Department of Health in charge of licensing and developing regulations for the new industry.

International

Bolivia Celebrates Coca Leaf Chewing Day. Bolivians celebrated their heritage Wednesday by honoring the centuries-old tradition of chewing coca leaves during Akuliku commemorations to mark the country's relationship with the traditional crop. Bolivians chew the leaf as a mild stimulant, to help with altitude sickness, and as a form of medicine for certain illnesses. At the Akuliku Festival, the coca leaf was also available reformulated into drinks and soaps."Since my grandparents' time we chewed the coca leaf. We have always used coca because it is a sacred leaf. This coca leaf is good for us, it is highly valued," explained one attendee.

This year's state legislative season is just beginning, and there is already evidence that the psychedelic renaissance now underway is reaching into statehouses across the land. In at least eleven states, reform bills ranging from therapeutic psilocybin to the decriminalization of natural psychedelics have already been filed, and more states are likely to join the list as the year goes on.

What started with a successful local psilocybin decriminalization initiative in Denver in 2019 has now spread to a number of cities, including Oakland and Santa Cruz, California; Cambridge, Somerville, and Northampton, Massachusetts; Seattle; and Washington, DC. At the state level, Oregon led the way with the 2020 passage of Measure 109, which both decriminalized psilocybin and created a framework for its therapeutic administration, and Measure 110, which decriminalized the possession of all drugs, including psychedelics. And in November, Colorado voters passed Measure 122, which decriminalizes natural psychedelics and creates a framework for psilocybin "healing centers."

Here (with a tip of the hat to Marijuana Moment) is what could be coming this year:

California

Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has filed Senate Bill 58, which would legalize the possession of small amounts of DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin, and psilocyn, but not synthetic psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA. A previous version of the bill included those synthetic psychedelics. That bill passed the Senate only to die at the last minute in the Assembly.

Colorado

After voters approved the legalization of natural psychedelics and the creation of psilocybin "healing centers," Gov. Jared Polis (D) is calling for the legislature to pass enabling legislation "to set it up in a way that prevents any negative consequences and honors the will of the voters." It is unclear what Polis is seeking, but he has previously said he was "excited" about the reforms and called psychedelics a "promising" treatment possibility for some mental health conditions.

Connecticut

Rep. David Michel (D) has filed House Bill 5012, "[t]o allow the use of psilocybin for medicinal and therapeutic purposes, including, but not limited to, the provision of physical, mental or behavioral health care." That bill has been referred to the joint Public Health Committee. Michel told Marijuana Moment this week that he will also cosponsor a psychedelic decrim bill with Rep. Josh Elliott (D).

Illinois

Rep. La Shawn Ford (D) has filed House Bill 1, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act, which would remove psilocybin from the state's list of controlled substances, effectively legalizing it. The measure would also allow expungement of certain psilocybin-related convictions and create an advisory board for psilocybin therapeutic services.

Missouri

Rep. Tony Lovasco (R) plans to file a revised psychedelics bill after a broader psychedelic reform bill he filed last year died in the House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee. The new version will be a narrowly tailored bill to allow people with serious mental health conditions therapeutic access to psilocybin.

Minnesota

Rep. Andy Smith (D) has announced that he is "currently working on a bill forming a psychedelic medicine task force so Minnesotans can have access to these life affirming treatments. For decades scientific research into the positive effects of psychedelic medicine has been muzzled by the 'war on drugs,' but that is [starting] to change," he said. The bill has not yet been filed and the text is not yet available.

Montana.

Two bills are currently being drafted by legislative staff at the request of members. LC 1208, requested by Sen. Jill Cohenour (D)would "[l]egalize psilocybin use for PTSD/mental health treatment," while LC 2311, requested by Rep. George Nikolakakos (R) would more incrementally mandate an interim study on the use of psilocybin for the treatment of mental illness.

New Jersey

Last year, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D) filed Senate Bill 2934, which would legalize the possession, home cultivation, and gifting of psilocybin mushrooms by people 21 and over, as well as setting a system of licensed psilocybin services in supervised settings. That bill has been carried over into the current session and now has a companion version, Assembly Bill 4911, in the Assembly filed by three key lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Raj Mukherji (D) and Health Committee Chairman Herb Conaway (D).

New York

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) has pre-filed Assembly Bill 00114, which would legalize the "possession, use, cultivation, production, creation, analysis, gifting, exchange, or sharing by or between natural persons of twenty-one years of age or older of a natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogen." That would include DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin, and psilocyn. The bill would also allow people to use such substances in religious ceremonies or engage in psychedelic services "with or without remuneration."

Oregon

State voters already approved both therapeutic psilocybin and broader drug decriminalization, but legislators have filed a pair of bills aimed at adjusting the psilocybin services program. Senate Bill 303, filed by Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D), would mandate that psilocybin businesses and therapists collect and report data such as average psilocybin doses and demographics of their client base. Senate Bill 302, filed by Sen. Kim Thatcher (R), would mandate that psilocybin business applicants provide certain information about ownership and location of their operations.

Virginia

Last year, Del. Dawn Adams (D) filed House Bill 898, which would decriminalize a broad array of psychedelics, but the House bumped it to 2023. It's now 2023, and that bill is still alive. Adams has this year also filed House Bill 1315, which would legalize psilocybin possession for people who have an "order" from a health care professional to treat "refractory depression or post-traumatic stress disorder or to ameliorate end-of-life anxiety." The bill would also reduce the penalty for non-medical possession of psilocybin to a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by no more than 30 days in jail. Meanwhile Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) has pre-filed Senate Bill 932, which would down-schedule psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule III and create a Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board to "develop a long-term strategic plan for establishing therapeutic access to psilocybin services and monitor and study federal laws, regulations, and policies regarding psilocybin."

And this is only January.

The Wisconsin GOP may finally be ready to embrace medical marijuana, the US Sentencing Commission says there are no more federal pot possession prisoners, and more.

Medical Marijuana

Wisconsin GOP Lawmakers Move Closer to Legalizing Medical Marijuana. For years, the Republican-controlled legislature has fended off any and all efforts to advance marijuana reforms, but it could be different this year. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has said that he thinks a bill to create a medical marijuana program in the state could be passed this legislative session as long as regulations are put forward to ensure it's for those in serious pain. "Our caucus is getting pretty close on medical marijuana," LeMahieu said, marking the first time the Republican Senate leader has expressed support for the notion. Republican Assembly Leader Robin Vos has in recent years expressed support for medical marijuana, while Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has long called for the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana. Two-thirds of Wisconsinites support legalizing marijuana and a super-majority of 80 percent support medical marijuana.

Psychedelics

Lawmakers in Nearly a Dozen States Have Already Filed Psychedelic Bills. With the legislative season just getting underway this year, lawmakers in nearly a dozen states have already filed psychedelic reform bills, with measures ranging from legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic purposes to broadly decriminalizing natural plants and fungi. The states with psychedelic reform efforts already underway are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Virginia. Click on the link above for details on efforts in each state.

Foreign Policy

White House Readout on Biden's Meeting with Mexican President Vows Cooperation on Fentanyl. As well as general language about strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the White House readout of Monday's meeting between President Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also containing language directly pertaining to the smuggling of fentanyl across the US-Mexico border: "The two leaders also reviewed security cooperation under the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities and discussed increased cooperation to prosecute drug traffickers and dismantle criminal networks, disrupt the supply of illicit precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, shut down drug laboratories, and prevent trafficking of drugs, arms, and people across our shared border."

The relationship between US and Mexican drug law enforcers remains fraught in the wake of the October 2020 arrest of former Mexican defense minister Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos by DEA agents in Los Angeles and his elease two months later in the face of intense pressure from Mexico, with Lopez Obrador accusing the DEA of "fabricating" charges against him.

[Ed: Whether it's possible to interdict cross-border fentanyl shipments in sufficient quantities to affect the prevalence of the substance is not clear, and the history of interdiction is not encouraging. Whether doing so would ultimately reduce prevalence in the US is also not clear, as much of the fentanyl comes from China, and it can be manufactured anywhere including the US.]

Sentencing

Sentencing Commission Reports No One in Federal Prison for Simple Marijuana Possession. In a report released Tuesday, the US Sentencing Commission (USSC) notes that: "As of January 2022, no offenders sentenced solely for simple possession of marijuana remained in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons." The USSC also found that the number of people convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law has declined from 2,172 in fiscal year 2014 to only 145 in fiscal year 2021. It also found that one state -- Arizona -- largely drove the federal pot possession arrest numbers, accounting for 1,916 convictions in 2014 but dropping to just two in 2021. Those Arizona arrests appear to be linked to anti-immigration campaigns in the state: Federal marijuana possession offenders in the past five years were 71 percent Hispanic and 60 percent non-citizens.

The Mexican cartel leader who escaped during Sunday's Tijuana prison attack has been shot dead, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rejects hair testing for drugs, and more.

Medical Marijuana

South Carolina Sees Two Medical Marijuana Bills Pre-Filed. With the legislative session set to begin next week, lawmakers in Columbia have already pre-filed two separate medical marijuana bills. The Put Patients First Act (House Bill 3226) is cosponsored by Democratic Minority Leader Todd Rutherford and freshman Republican Rep. Jay Kilmartin. It would make marijuana available to registered patients with a doctor's recommendation. The bill would allow caregivers and dispensaries to "cultivate, grow, and dispense marijuana for medical use." The other bill, the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act (House Bill 3486) also has bipartisan sponsors and would "authorize the use of cannabis products by patients with debilitating medical conditions who are under the care of a physician, with exceptions."

Drug Testing

Federal Regulator Rejects Hair Testing for Truck Drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has denied a petition calling on the agency to recognize hair samples as an alternative drug-testing method for truckers. The FMCSA was responding to request from an industry association, the Trucking Alliance, to recognize hair testing as a valid form of drug testing. But federal regulations require that truck drivers be tested by urinalysis, and the FMCSA pointed to that language to restate its longstanding position that it has no statutory authority to accept hair testing. Hair testing detects the presence of drugs for months, as opposed to days for urinalysis.

International

Mexico's Sinaloa Sees Deadly Clashes as Troops Arrest El Chapo's Son. Mexican Army and National Guard troops successfully arrested Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in the Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan, on Thursday (as opposed to 2019, when they arrested and then released the younger Guzman in the face of cartel threats). But the arrest came at a high cost, as subsequent clashes between Sinaloa cartel forces and the military left 10 soldiers and 19 cartel gunmen dead. The reaction to the bust also included attacks on the Culiacan airport and military helicopters by cartel gunmen, as well as burning buses and private vehicles used to blockade city roadways. The bust comes just days before President Biden is set to visit Mexico and the US-Mexico border.

Mexico Cartel Leader Who Escaped Tijuana Prison During Attack Sunday Killed in Shootout with Cops. Ernesto Alfredo "El Neto" Pinon, the long-imprisoned leader of the Sinaloa cartel affiliate the Mexicles, who escaped prison in Juarez during a deadly attack and breakout on Sunday, was tracked down by intelligence agents and shot and killed in Tijuana on Thursday. At least 19 guards and prisoners were killed in the assault, with another seven people, including police killed in another confrontation Monday. El Neto's killing brings the overall death toll now to 27.

For nearly four years, the Philadelphia nonprofit Safehouse has seen its effort to open a safe injection site in the city stymied by a federal court case brought against it by the Trump administration Justice Department. And although the Trump administration is now history, the Biden Justice Department has continued to pursue the case even as the number of overdose deaths in the city mounts.

But now, Safehouse and the Justice Department (DOJ) have agreed to move their case about the legality of safe injection sites out of a federal district court and into mediation before a federal magistrate, a maneuver that advocates hope can speed up the resolution of the case and get the sites up and operating.

"We agreed with the Department of Justice to move in this direction to reach a settlement and get the lawsuit resolved," Safehouse vice-president Ronda Goldfein told the Philadelphia Inquirer. While declining to further characterize confidential settlement negotiations, she said the group's goals "have not changed" and that Safehouse seeks "a resolution that all parties can live with that give us the opportunity to save lives."

The move comes as the Biden DOJ has hinted at a possible softer stance toward safe injection sites. DOJ did not go to court to block local officials in New York City from allowing two safe injection sites to open in late 2021 or to block state officials from allowing them in early 2022. And DOJ had indicated it was engaged in settlement talks with Safehouse in February 2022.

At that time, DOJ said that it was "evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety."

But that was nearly a year ago, and Safehouse's patience is wearing thin. Just last month, after having repeatedly gone along with DOJ requests for continuances, Safehouse balked. It told the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that it would no longer agree to any additional delays, while the DOJ argued that it needed until February to proceed. The court compromised, requiring that DOJ reveal its position in the lawsuit by January 9.

With the mediation agreement between Safehouse and DOJ, that January 9 date is now moot, but Safehouse is convinced the move will result in a speedier resolution of the case and allow it to finally get into the business of saving lives.

"Since the DOJ commenced this litigation in 2019 until the end of 2021, more than 3,600 lives have been lost in Philadelphia to the opioid overdose crisis. Based on 2022 projections, that number will grow to almost 5,000 deaths," Safehouse said. "Safehouse and those that need its life-saving services have waited long enough."

Meanwhile, there are other signs the federal government may be warming to the harm reduction intervention. In a November report, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service highlighted the "uncertainty" of the federal government's position on safe injection sites and suggested blockages could be overcome by approving an amendment to the annual DOJ funding bill precluding it from spending any funds to go after safe injection sites, much as has been successfully done to protect medical marijuana laws in the states.

And just days before that report was released, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow tacitly endorsed the idea of authorizing safe consumption sites. Research has found that the intervention "has saved a significant [percentage of] patients from overdosing."

Now, if only the DOJ can find a way to get out of the way. Or if it cannot or will not, it will be time to go back to court.