Another poll has marijuana legalization at the tipping point, a Colorado bill to form credit co-ops for pot businesses passes, an Illinois bill to let kids with epilepsy use medical marijuana is moving, a New York naloxone bill passes, Pittsburgh needle exchanges get some breathing room, and more. Let's get to it:

[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana Policy

Fairleigh Dickinson Poll Has 50% Support for Legalization. A new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University has support for marijuana legalization at 50% nationwide. By a ratio of 2-to-1, Democrats (63%) favor legalization more than Republicans (32%), with independents (58%) more closely aligned with Democrats. Young people also are far more supportive of legalization, with 65% of the millennial generation and over half of Gen Xers (56%) in favor, compared with fewer than half (48%) of baby boomers and around a third (36%) of the World War II generation. "Democrats see getting high as a lifestyle choice, whereas Republicans are more likely to understand it through the prism of morality and social deviance," political science professor and poll director Krista Jenkins told the Associated Press. "However, the age differences we're seeing suggest that legal [marijuana] smoking in the future is more a question of 'when' rather than 'if.'"

Colorado Legislature Passes Marijuana Credit Co-op Bill. Legislation to create a state-backed credit co-op to provide banking services to Colorado's all-cash marijuana industry is on its way to the governor's desk. House Bill 1398, after a battle over whether or not to allow hemp businesses to take part, passed the full House on a 33-31 final vote after lawmakers there ended a standoff between various factions and the Capitol's two chambers by signing off on Senate changes to the bill, including allowing the inclusion of hemp businesses.

Medical Marijuana

Illinois Bill to Allow Children With Epilepsy to Use Medical Marijuana Wins Committee Vote. A measure that would allow children with epilepsy to use medical marijuana is moving. The House Rules Committee approved Senate Bill 2636 Wednesday on a 15-0 vote. The legislation would add epilepsy to the list of treatable diseases in the state's medical cannabis pilot program. It would also allow children with epilepsy to use medical cannabis. The bill has already passed the Senate and now heads for a House floor vote.

Drugged Driving

Michigan Drugged Driving Bills to Drop Roadside Saliva Tests. A provision pending in a pair of bills in the Michigan legislature that would let police give roadside saliva tests to drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs will be removed from the legislation today, according to a cosponsor of the bill. Critics including researchers said the tests are inaccurate and could lead to inappropriate arrests of medical marijuana patients. Republican state Rep. Mike Callton said he plans to introduce an amendment removing the saliva testing provision at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. The bills are House Bill 5384 and House Bill 5385.

Drug Testing

Florida Governor Tries Again to Drug Test All Welfare Recipients. Gov. Rick Scott (R) is at it again. Weeks after the Supreme Court refused to hear his argument for why all state employees should have to pee in cups, Scott has filed a new brief in appellate court asking to re-argue his right to drug-test all welfare recipients in Florida. The plan was originally halted by court order in October 2011 while the ACLU challenged it, and the US District Court threw out the rule in December 2013 based on the arguments of a Navy veteran who said it violated his right against unreasonable search and seizure. But now Scott is back in appeals court, arguing in the new brief that there is a "demonstrated problem with drug use" among welfare recipients. Except there isn't: More than 4,000 people were tested while the program was in place, and a grand total of 108 failed. That's less than 3%.

Prescription Opioids

Massachusetts Medical Society Warns Don't Forget Pain Patients in Battle Against Prescription Drug Abuse. Policymakers "need to balance the needs of legitimate patients with pain, against the dangers to the public of opiates being in circulation," the Massachusetts Medical Society said in a statement delivered to the state's Senate Special Committee on Drug Abuse and Treatment Options Tuesday. "It is critical that we not forget the needs of our patients in pain to comprehensive medical care that effectively helps them to have the best quality of life that their disease or diagnosis will allow," the doctors' group emphasized.

Law Enforcement

Detroit Mass Drug Sweeps Continue. Authorities are conducting a narcotics blitz and warrant sweep Thursday afternoon on the city's west side as part of the eighth and latest high-profile police raid. They're part of an ongoing police offensive called Operation Restore Order. In March, two crime-ridden neighborhoods were flooded as part of Operation Restore Order March Madness, which targeted problematic areas in the Ninth and Sixth precincts, on the city's east and west sides, respectively. The first Operation Restore Order raid came in November, when officers flooded the high-crime Colony Arms Apartments on Jefferson. Since then, there have been raids of the Martin Luther King Apartments, a 1.2 square-mile area of the west side known for heavy drug dealing, and warrant sweeps in the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Ninth Precincts. It's not clear yet whether order has actually been restored.

Harm Reduction

New York Bill to Expand Overdose Reversal Drug Access to Friends, Family Members Passes Legislature. State lawmakers have passed a bill expanding access to the drug naloxone (Narcan), which can reverse an overdose of opioids such as heroin and morphine. Assembly Bill 8637 would allow health care professionals and pharmacies to distribute Narcan, without a prescription, to at-risk people and those who know them. It was unclear late Wednesday whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo intends to sign the bill into law.

Pittsburgh Needle Exchanges Get Some Breathing Room. The Allegheny County Board of Health unanimously passed a motion that will lift location restrictions for needle exchange programs within the city of Pittsburgh. The previous regulation banned needle exchanges within 1,500 feet of schools, daycare centers and drug treatment centers. But that proved far too restrictive for the densely populated city of Pittsburgh, where needle exchanges would have few places to operate. The motion passed today would lift that restriction, though city council would still have to approve new needle exchange locations. The location restriction remains the same in the rest of the county.

International

US Will Cut Off Anti-Drug Assistance to Ecuador. The United States will end decades of anti-drug trafficking assistance to Ecuador this month, pulling its staff from the INL office in the South American nation, a top official said Wednesday. "I am quite prepared to acknowledge right now the INL section, which has been in Ecuador now for more than 30 years, is also going to close up shop," Ambassador William Brownfield, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), told a congressional hearing. Brownfield said the move was a reflection of the level of cooperation the United States has right now from Ecuador.

South Australian Politicians Compete to See Who Can Be Toughest on Drugs. It seems so last century, but "tough on drugs" is the stance of the day in South Australia. Opposition politicians are seeking a three-strikes policy under which repeat drug offenders would not be offered diversion to counseling, while state Attorney General John Rau is renewing his own push to crack down on serious drug offenders, including measures to strip them of their assets regardless of whether they were proceeds of crime. Legislation is pending.

Chief Minister Says Isle of Man Should Consider Marijuana Decriminalization. The Chief Minister of the Isle of Man has said the island should consider decriminalizing cannabis. Allan Bell's comments followed a presentation on the island given by former Westminster drug policy advisor David Nutt, whom the Labor government fired after he criticized its move to increase penalties. Bell praised Nutt's "fresh perspective," saying "there is a consensus developing internationally now that the old-style war on drugs has failed miserably and there needs to be a new approach." Bell cited marijuana legalization in the US and Uruguay as examples of nations taking a positive approach to drug policy.