A California marijuana banking bill advances, a Colorado marijuana deliveries bill dies, opioid prescriptions are declining, Trump repeats false claims about the border wall and drug smuggling, and more.

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

California Bill to Create Marijuana Banks Wins Committee Vote. A bill that would license special banks to handle billions of dollars from the legal marijuana market was approved by the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee on a 7-0 vote Wednesday. The measure, Senate Bill 930, now heads to the Senate Government and Finance Committee. Companion legislation has been filed in the Assembly.

Colorado Marijuana Delivery Bill Killed. A bill that would have allowed pot shops to make deliveries got through the House only to die in a Senate committee Wednesday. House Bill 1092 was killed by a 3-2 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ohio Attorney General Rejects Legalization Amendment Petition. State Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) rejected a petition for a proposed marijuana legalization amendment Thursday. DeWine wrote that he rejected the petition because its summary language did not match the actual amendment language. Campaign organizers can refile the petition if they wish.

Heroin and Prescription Opioids

Opioid Prescriptions Dropped In Every State Last Year. The number of opiod painkiller prescriptions dropped 10.2% in 2017, according to a new report from the ICVIA Institute, which collects data on pharmaceutical prescriptions from retail pharmacies. The number of high-potency opioid prescriptions declined even more, by 16.1% And using a measure called the morphine milligram equivalent saw a 12% decrease, the largest in a quarter century. "We're seeing declines across every state," said Murray Aitken, executive director of the IQVIA Institute. "The states that have the highest per capita consumption are also the states with the highest decline."

Drug Testing

Massachusetts High Court Rules Against State in PrisonVisitor Drug Dog Policy Fight. The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that the Department of Corrections exceeded its authority when it started using drug dogs to search prison visitors without giving the public a chance to weigh in. The court held that the department should have followed a regulatory process that allows interested parties an opportunity to present their views. Still, the court is allowing the department to continue the drug dog searches while it follows the proper regulatory process.

Harm Reduction

Missouri Safe Injection Site Bill Filed. St. Louis state Rep. Karla May (D) has filed House Bill 2367, which "authorizes local health departments and community-based organizations to establish Safe Consumption Facilities." It is aimed at reducing overdoses and infectious diseases linked to injection drug use.

The Border

Trump Again Falsely Claims Border Wall Needed to Stop Drug Smuggling. The president is at it again: On Thursday, President Trump traveled to the Florida Keys to be briefed by the Joint Interagency Task Force South and said he received "a great education" about drugs flowing into the country, but then proceeded to make the errant claim that a border wall is needed to stop the flow of drugs. "Drugs are flowing into our country," Trump said. "We need border protection. We need the wall. We have to have the wall." But border experts, drug experts, and even the DEA all agree that the vast majority of drugs smuggled from Mexico go through ports of entry, not through the vast and barren unfenced expanses of the border.

International

Indonesia's New Anti-Drug Head Signals Softer Approach. New anti-drug chief Heru Winarko called Wednesday for an expansion of drug treatment centers in the country, signaling a new approach to the war on drugs there. Police would maintain their "stern" approach to drug traffickers and their "shoot to kill" policy toward armed suspects resisting arrest, he said, but added that Indonesia would not mimic the bloody drug policies of the neighboring Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte.