Consequences of Prohibition
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There will be no House vote on marijuana legalization until after the election, Vermont lawmakers reach agreement on regulated legal marijuana sales, British Columbia moves to expand access to a "safe supply" of drugs to replace street drugs, and more.
The House punts on passing marijuana legalization right now. (Creative Commons)
House Postpones Vote on Marijuana Legalization Bill Until After Election Day. A House Democratic member and several aides said Thursday that a pending vote on the MORE Act marijuana legalization and expungement bill will not happen until after Election Day. The bill was set to be voted on next week, but there were already reports that it would be pushed back to allow the House to concentrate on getting a pandemic relief package passed. Some moderate House Democrats have been expressing concern that passing a marijuana bill before the relief bill was passed would leave them open to attacks by Republicans.
Pennsylvania Governor Reiterates Call for Marijuana Legalization. At a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) once again pleaded with lawmakers to move on legalizing marijuana in the state. Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and have said legalization is not on the table. "The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous disruptions to Pennsylvania's economy, and with the additional federal aid stagnating in Congress, we need to do everything we can right here in Harrisburg right now, to help ourselves recover from this pandemic," Wolf said. "Some states that have legalized adult use cannabis have received literally hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue."
Vermont: Lawmakers Finalize Marijuana Retail Sales Legislation. A legislative conference committee has finalized an agreement on Senate Bill 54, which would allow for the regulated commercial production and retail sale of marijuana to adults. Now, the revised language must be approved by the House and Senate and then be signed by Gov. Phil Scott (R).
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British Columbia Moves to Increase "Safe Supply" of Drugs. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry issued a public-health order on Wednesday that will allow registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses to prescribe, make more medications available, and expand eligibility to people who are at risk of overdose, including those who may not necessarily be diagnosed with a substance use disorder. "We know the pandemic has only made the street drug supply in BC more toxic than ever, putting people who use drugs at extremely high risk for overdose," Dr. Henry said in a statement. "Giving physicians and nurse practitioners the ability to prescribe safer pharmaceutical alternatives has been critical to saving lives and linking more people to treatment and other health and social services." Since the COVID crisis began, the province already allowed doctors to prescribe take-home doses of pharmaceutical alternatives to street drugs. Now, they will be available to anyone at risk of overdose.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Reason magazine says they caved to cop lobbyists
What a brilliant way to get more people to respect the cops! FUCK alcohol supremacist bigots who keep shoving that dangerous drug down people's throats and are defying clear public opinion.
God damn dictators!
donât believe it
I have a methadose doctor who knows I was waiting for such legislation to be implemented.He wants nothing to do with any of this.Most BC doctors won't have anything to do with this.Our doctors don't deal with addiction.Our politicians are well aware of this.I seriously doubt many addicts will find a doctor that will cooperate.Doctors will do methadose as it's not a legitimate opiate/opioid.It's impossible to get high on Methadose and addicts want nothing to do with it.Hydromorphone by injection is available on the DTES for addicts but it's a line up thrice daily like diseased cattle process.Bonnie Henry can make all the statements she likes.BC doctors won't listen unless they are ordered to deal with addiction as any other medical condition.Currently,the law is in favor but the college of P&S is a law unto itself.Good luck to any BC addict trying to find a willing physician.As a pain patient with a past history of addiction ,the last thing I want is to go to the DTES.I can do well on a minimum of dilaudid as required for pain.I do not want to have to line up on the street of the drug ghetto to access pain medication.I might not be given a choice,as Methadose is a sick joke for pain.It does nothing to mediate the condition.It provides no relief at all.I have been actively protesting Methadose since Feb of 2014.The day it was forced on every methadone patient in BC and many Canadian Provinces.Methadose is NOT methadone.
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