Rhode Island regulators open the licensing period for legal weed sellers, a Massachusetts therapeutic psychedelic bill advances, and more.

[image:1 align:left caption:true]

Marijuana Policy

California Legislature Approves Bill to Halt Tax Hike on Pot Products; It Now Awaits Governor's Signature. The state's beleaguered legal marijuana industry may catch a break after the legislature approved Assembly Bill 564, which would undo a recently-enacted excise tax increase for legal pot products. Now, it is up to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to sign the bill into law. He is expected to do so.

The bill rolls back a 25 percent tax hike in effect since July 1. It also bars any future tax hikes for the next three years.

The effort was backed by California NORML, the California Cannabis Association, the United Food and Commercial Workers -- Western States Council, and other groups.

"California NORML is proud to have taken a leadership role sponsoring this bill," California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer said. "Cannabis is already heavily over-taxed relative to comparable products like beer, wine, and tobacco in California."

National NORML deputy director Paul Armentano added that: "Consumers in many legal states already pay artificially high prices for retail cannabis products. Imposing additional taxes on these goods undoubtedly drives prices out of reach for some consumers. This pushes consumers back to the unregulated market, thereby undermining the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide adults with safe, affordable, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality."

While the state has been a pioneer of marijuana liberalization, efforts to get the legal market off the ground have faced considerable headwinds. The black market remains strong, many localities in the state still do not allow marijuana businesses, and high prices -- including high taxes -- make that black market weed look even more attractive.

Rhode Island Regulators Open Licensing Period for Legal Pot Sellers. The Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission is now allowing prospective retailers to apply for licenses to sell recreational cannabis. Businesses seeking an adult-use retail license for cannabis must submit an application through the commission's online portal by December 29.

The Social Equity Applicant certification process is also now open. It opened August 28 and closes September 29.

The state legalized adult use marijuana in 2022 but has not yet handed out any licenses.

All questions about the application or application process must be submitted by email only to [email protected] with the subject line "Adult-Use Cannabis Retailer Question."

Questions received, along with the Commission's responses, will be posted on the Commission’s website so that all applicants have access to the same information. The Commission reserves the right not to respond to questions that are already addressed in the application, the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, or the regulations, as well as questions it deems immaterial or inappropriate.

Psychedelics

Massachusetts Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program Bill Advances. A bill that would create a pilot program for the regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics is moving in the legislature. Senate Bill 1400 passed out of the legislature's Joint Committee on Health Care Financing last Thursday.

The bill calls for a "pilot program to allow for the monitored mental health care of clinically appropriate patients using psychedelic materials." It would involve the "on-site administration by a multi-disciplinary care team in a supervised licensed mental health clinic setting."

The measure would leave decisions on the regulatory apparatus to the Department of Public Health and allows for licenses for three health facilities to operate the pilot programs. They would be tasked with "establishing the best and safest clinical practices for psychedelic mental health treatment programs in the commonwealth and for the purposes of collecting patient outcomes data regarding the benefits of psychedelic pharmacotherapy."

The bill, as well as a separate measure to provide a more limited pilot program for psilocybin therapy alone, will also be the focus of a hearing on November 10 before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.

Drug Policy

Trump Wildly Exaggerates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in US. During a September 5 event at the White House where he signed an executive order changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War,  President Trump wildly exaggerated the number of people who died of drug overdoses last year, saying he believed 300,000 or "350,000 people died last year from drugs."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, the provisional number of drug overdose deaths last year was 79,383. Drug overdose deaths have declining dramatically after topping out at slightly over 105,000 a year in 2023.

Trump made the wild claim as he responded to a reporter's question about the US military buildup in the Caribbean and the attack by US fighter jets on an alleged Venezuelan drug smuggling boat that killed 11 Venezuelan civilians.

"Well, I just think it's strong," Trump said. "We're strong on drugs. We don't want drugs killing our people. I believe we lost 300,000. You know, they always say 95[,000], 100,000. I believe they've been saying that for 20 years. I believe we lost 300,000 people last year."

"Whether it’s 100,000, but it's not -- it's 300[,000], 350,000 people died last year from drugs. And we're not going to let that happen to this country," he later added.

Trump's numbers are "a gross exaggeration," said Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, a professor of addiction medicine at the University of California. Last year's numbers represented "an impressive drop" in overdose deaths, he added.

As for Trump's claim about possible undercounting of overdose deaths, Ciccarone scoffed. "Counts can be over or under for any statistic; we call this 'error,' or 'variance.'" But the NCHS data "are considered widely to be reliable, authoritative, and while there is some variance, it is estimated to be low," he said.

Trump has a history of inflating drug overdose numbers and fanning skepticism about their veracity. At a rally in Waco, Texas, in 2023, he said the official overdose numbers were "a lie" and that actual overdose deaths were "probably" five times higher. Similarly, at a 2024 campaign rally in Phoenix, he threw out that unsupported 300,000 figure again.