Texas decriminalization gets walked back a step, a Mississippi medical marijuana initiative already has lots and lots of signatures, Kamala Harris talks pardons for drug war prisoners, and more.

The Texas decriminalization bill just became a misdemeanor and expungment bill.

Texas Decriminalization Bill Modified to Not Quite Decriminalization. Ahead of House floor debate set for today, Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), the author of the decriminalization bill, HB 63, has rewritten the measure so that possession of an ounce or less remains a misdemeanor, but with a near automatic expungement of any criminal record if the person completes probation. "Without leaving some criminal component in it, I probably couldn't get the bill through the process and across the governor's desk," Moody said. "I didn't want to come this far and make perfect the enemy of good."

Medical Marijuana

Mississippi Medical Marijuana Initiative Signature-Gathering in Good Shape. Medical Marijuana 2020, the group behind a state medical marijuana initiative campaign, has already collected 96,000 raw signatures with months to go. The campaign needs 86,000 verified voter signatures to qualify for the November 2020 ballot. The campaign will likely need to collect several tens of thousands more signatures, in order to have that many left after the inevitable disqualifications. But things appear to be on track.

North Dakota Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Bill Package. Gov. Doug Burgum (R) has signed into law four bills related to the state's medical marijuana program: HB 1417 will allow greater amounts of marijuana for cancer patients; HB 1519 expands qualifying conditions to include (among others) anorexia, bulimia, and brain injury; HB 1119 provides for the removal of social security numbers from program documents and declares an emergency to do so; and HB 1283 amends parts of the written certification requirements.

Heroin and Prescription Opioids

Trump Defends Administration Opioid Policy. Addressing the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta Wednesday, President Trump said his administration had made "tremendous progress" on the issue in the face of critics who argue that the drug czar's office (ONDCP) has done little to combat the crisis and that a law passed last year did not adequately fund drug treatment.

Pardons and Commutations

Kamala Harris Says She Will Pardon Low-Level Drug Prisoners If Elected. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) said Wednesday she would pardon low-level drug prisoners if she becomes president. "Absolutely," she said when asked about using the power of commutation. "We have to have the courage to recognize that there are a lot of folks who have been incarcerated who should not have been incarcerated and are still in prison because they were convicted under draconian laws that have incarcerated them… for what is essentially a public health issue." Her remarks came at a She the People town hall in Houston.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

It's a longshot, but New Mexican could get a chance to vote on marijuana legalization this fall, an Iowa bill to lower pot penalties advances, so does a New Jersey hemp bill, and so does a West Virginia bill that would make community college free -- but only if students first pass drug tests.

Florida Legalization Initiative Comes Up Short on Signatures. Regulate Florida, the group behind an effort to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot, says it doesn't have nearly enough signatures to qualify this year. The group needed 300,000 signatures to qualify, but has only gathered 40,000. The group says it is now eyeing 2020.

Iowa Bill to Reduce Marijuana Penalties Advances. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill lowering the penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Senate File 432, sponsored by Sen. Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) would classify a first offense for possession of five grams or less of marijuana as a simple misdemeanor, punishable by no more than 30 days in jail and a fine of $625.

New Mexico Legalization Initiative Bill Advances. The Senate Rules Committee on Friday approved Senate Joint Resolution 4, which if passed by the legislature would place the question of marijuana legalization before the voters in November. But there are only two weeks left in the session, and the bill must still get through the Senate Judiciary Committee, the full Senate, and the House before then.

Oregon US Attorney Holds Summit on Pot Surplus, Issues Subtle Threat. Oregon US Attorney Billy Williams convened a marijuana summit Friday with state, law enforcement, and tribal and industry leaders about how to address what he says is surplus marijuana that has ended up in the black market. He also warned that how state actors address this issue could influence his prosecutorial decisions: "I have significant concerns about the state's current regulatory framework and the resources allocated to policing marijuana in Oregon," Williams wrote in The Oregonian, adding that the summit and the state's response to his concerns would "inform our federal enforcement strategy."

Medical Marijuana

Kentucky Sees a Second Medical Marijuana Bill. Sen. Stephen West (R-Paris) has filed Senate Bill 118, which would allow patients with certain specified medical conditions to use any form of marijuana. A companion bill has been filed in the House. Last month, Democratic Secretary of State Allison Grimes filed another medical marijuana bill, House Bill 166.

Texas Sees First Delivery of CBD Cannabis Oil to Patient. A six-year-old boy suffering from epilepsy became the first patient in the state to receive CBD cannabis oil Thursday -- more than two years after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a law legalizing its use. The delivery came from Knox Medical in Schulenburg.

Hemp

New Jersey Hemp Bill Advances. The Assembly Agriculture Committee voted Thursday to approve a bill that would allow farmers to grow hemp. The measure, Assembly Bill 1330, is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer County).

Drug Testing

West Virginia Bill for Free Community College Would Require Drug Testing of Students. The state Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 284, which would create a benefit to cover community college education costs not covered by Pell grants or other student aid. But there is a catch: Prospective students would have to pay for, take, and pass, a drug test before they would be eligible. The bill now goes to the House.

This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here.

More than 200 graduating high school students in Colorado's Pueblo County will head off to college in a few weeks thanks to legal marijuana. The 210 students will receive scholarships worth $2,000 each for a total of $420,000 -- a very appropriate aggregate figure, given that the scholarships are being funded by excise taxes on state-legal marijuana grown in the county.

CSU Pueblo will see the nation's first pot tax college scholarships. (CSU Pueblo)

Colorado pot taxes have already provided funding for the state's public school system and homeless population, and the Pueblo County scholarships are demonstrating once again the economic and fiscal benefits accruing to states that have legalized marijuana.

And for Pueblo County high school students, there's more to come. The pot cultivation excise tax was 2% last year, but will increase by 1% annually until it tops out at 5%. With rising commercial cultivation and a rising tax rate, the scholarship fund appears set to expand, allowing even more students in the county, where nearly 20% live below the poverty line and where more than 40% of residents are Hispanic, to take advantage of educational opportunities.

But they'll have to stay near home. The scholarships only pay for tuition and fees at Pueblo Community College or Colorado State University-Pueblo. That latter school is also benefiting from marijuana in other ways: Thanks to $900,000 from the state's marijuana tax fund and $270,000 in county pot excise taxes to be used for "community enhancement," CSU-Pueblo last year opened the Institute of Cannabis Research to study topics such as the impact of legalization on local economies, industrial hemp cultivation, and the efficacy of cannabidiol.

Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace gave the credit to weed. He told the Cannabist in June the county's abundant sunshine was its greatest natural resource, and taxes on sun-grown weed made both the institute and the scholarships possible.

"There are vast opportunities in cannabis -- from growing to research -- and we want to make sure all Coloradans benefit, not just a select few," he said. "For years, our community has discussed creating local scholarships that could provide opportunity and help break cycles of poverty. The Pueblo County Scholarship Fund will change lives, families and benefit generations to come."

Smoking weed may not help your academic career, but the taxes on growing it are helping some Colorado kids have an academic career. That's one economic impact of legalization you don't need an institute to figure out for you.

Pittsburgh decriminalizes, Detroit restricts dispensaries, the Univ. of Alabama is forcing all frat members to be drug tested, fatal drug overdoses hit a record high last year, and more.

Rastaman has reason to smile after Jamaica grants festival a "marijuana exemption." (wikimedia.org)

Massachusetts Legalization Initiative Signature Count Certified. The initiative from the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has been certified as handing in enough signatures to force the legislature to consider it this spring. If the legislature rejects it or fails to act by May 3, the campaign must then come up with another 10,000 signatures to put the issue directly to the voters in November.

Pittsburgh City Council Approves Decriminalization. The council voted 7-2 today to approve a decriminalization ordinance. The bill makes possession of 30 grams or less a ticketable offense, with a fine of $100. The measure was intended to "help break the damning life-long consequences of unemployment, lack of education, and being caught in a revolving criminal justice system," said bill sponsor Public Safety Chair David Lavelle.

Medical Marijuana

Detroit City Council Approves Restrictive Dispensary Ordinance. The council voted 6-1 last Thursday to approve a new zoning ordinance that will likely force the closure of many of the city's 150 or so dispensaries. The new ordinance prohibits dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, parks, liquor stores, other places considered drug-free zones, or another dispensary.

Public Health

CDC: Drug Overdoses Hit New High Last Year. The Centers for Disease Control reported last Friday that more than 47,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2014, with 60% of them involving heroin or prescription opiates. Heroin overdose deaths were up 26%, prescription opiate deaths were up 9%, and synthetic opiate deaths (mainly fentanyl) nearly doubled over 2013.

Drug Testing

University of Alabama Subjects All Frat Members to Mandatory Drug Tests. Every fraternity member at the school was required to pass a drug test at the beginning of the academic year, and now, fraternity members are being randomly selected each week for more drug tests. If students test positive, they get several warnings before they are expelled from the fraternity and a university anti-drug program intervenes to "help students get back on track before the school doles out harsher penalties. The drug testing program has been criticized by fraternity members and others as invading the privacy of students, but no one has yet challenged it in court.

ACLU to Appeal Federal Court Ruling Allowing Drug Testing of All Students at Missouri Tech College. The ACLU of Missouri said it will appeal an 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding the suspicionless drug testing of all students at the State Technical College of Missouri. The ACLU is seeking a rehearing of the case before the same three-judge appeals court panel that ruled in the school's favor or by the entire bench in the 8th Circuit. The ACLU had filed suit in 2011 to challenge the policy and won at the district court level, but the appeals court last year reversed the lower court decision. The federal courts have held that, with a handful of exceptions, mandatory suspicionless drug testing violates the Fourth Amendment's proscription against warrantless searches and seizures. The ACLU said the appeals court decision is "poorly crafted and departs from the 8th Circuit and Supreme Court precedent."

International

"Marijuana Exemption" Granted for Jamaica Rasta Festival. The Rebel Salute 2016 festival, to be held next month in St. Ann, has been granted a "marijuana exemption" personally delivered by Justice Minister Mark Golding. "Persons who are adherents of the Rastafarian faith, or Rastafarian organizations, may apply for an event promoted or sponsored by them to be declared an exempt event. In order to apply, the event must be primarily for the purpose of the celebration or observance of the Rastafarian faith," explained a Justice Ministry factsheet. "Where an event is declared exempt, persons who attend the event will not be liable to be arrested, detained or prosecuted for smoking ganja or possession of ganja at the event, or transporting ganja to the event, as long as they have complied with the amounts and conditions specified in the order declaring it an exempt event." This is the second time such an exemption has been granted.