Santa Cruz County is moving to join California's ever-growing ranks of localities that allow for marijuana consumption lounges, Nebraska medical marijuana regulators tighten up commercial grow rules in a bid to appease the Republican governor, and more.

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Marijuana Policy

Santa Cruz Moves to Join California Localities that Allow Marijuana Lounges. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted last week to draft a law that would allow existing marijuana retailers to let customers smoke or otherwise consume marijuana products bought on site.

The move would make the county only the latest among a growing number of localities, from Weed and Eureka in the far north to Palm Springs in the south, that allow for social consumption lounges.

The 3-2 board vote comes at the end of an 18-month consultation process. It could be a few months more before the first social consumption premises are licensed, probably not before year's end.

Medical Marijuana

Nebraska Regulators Cut Licensed Growers' Plant Counts in Bid to Appease Anti-Pot GOP Governor. After Gov. Jim Pillen (r) refused to sign off on medical marijuana rules that advocates say are already too restrictive, the Nebraska Medical Marijuana Commission has placed limits on the state's commercial medical marijuana growers. The commission now says each of only four licensed growers will limited to growing 1,250 plants.

State voters easily approved medical marijuana last November, but opposition from the state's Republican political establishment has hindered progress in getting the program up and running.

Last week, the Medical Marijuana Commission unveiled rules that would have allowed for only four growers, four processors, and a dozen dispensaries. But even that was too much for Pillen, who refused to sign off on the proposed regulations. He sent the commission a September 4 letter saying that there needed to be cultivation limits to prevent "an unregulated, unintended black-market supply."

On Monday, the commission moved to appease Pillen by approving new rules limiting growers to 1,260 flowering plants at any given time.

Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which organized last year’s successful ballot initiatives, said that won't be enough to supply the anticipated number of patients in the state.

Foreign Policy

Rand Paul Condemns JD Vance for "Despicable" Comments on Venezuelan Drug Boat Attack. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has sharply criticized Vice-President JD Vance (R) over comments Vance made defending the US military strike on a civilian boat that left 11 people dead.

In a post on X Saturday, Vance wrote: "Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military." Vance added: "Democrats: let's send your kids to die in Russia. Republicans: actually let's protect our people from the scum of the earth."

And in a response to a commentator who noted that the attacks were a grave human rights violation, Vance responded: "I don't give a shit."

That didn't sit well with the libertarian-leaning Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee and who has long been a critic of the war on drugs.

"JD 'I don’t give a shit' Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the 'highest and best use of the military.' Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?" Paul wrote on X, alluding to Harper Lee's 1960 novel about a wrongly convicted Black man who is killed as he tries to escape prison. "Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial."

International

Switzerland Begins Three-Month Public Consultation Period for Proposed Marijuana Legalization Model. A three-month public consultation period for the Alpine country's proposed national marijuana legalization model has begun and will last until December 1.

The move comes after the National Council's Social Security and Public Health Committee voted 14-9 in February to give preliminary approval to the plan. The plan gained further approval from the government in July, setting the stage for the consultation period.

"Public health and youth protection must be placed at the heart of a renewed cannabis policy. Adults must be granted strictly regulated access to cannabis. In addition, to ensure that consumption is not encouraged, cannabis products must not be sold for profit and must be subject to an incentive tax. This is what is provided for in the draft drawn up by the National Council's Social Security and Public Health Committee." the committee said.

"The consultation is more than a formal step; it's an opportunity to openly discuss opportunities and concerns. Only through a broad public debate can we create a cannabis law that ensures safety and acceptance in society," said Elias Galantay, President of IG Hanf Schweiz (Swiss Hemp Industry Association.)