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Chronicle AM: UN Decriminalization Drama, Global Undertreatment of Pain Report, More (10/19/15)

A thousand march for marijuana in Dallas, a few dozen in Montgomery; a UNODC document calling for drug decriminalization gets leaked, then yanked; the Global Commission on Drug Policy issues a report on pain, and more.

A Halloween/Reefer Madness-themed billboard rolled out today by Arizona legalization activists.
Marijuana Policy

Dallas March for Marijuana Brings Nearly a Thousand to the Streets. Around a thousand people joined a march calling for marijuana law reform in Texas Saturday. The march was organized by Dallas-Fort Worth NORML. Click on the link for more.

Dozens Turn Out for Alabama Rally for Marijuana Law Reforms. Several dozen people took to the foot of the state capitol last Friday to call for marijuana decriminalization and access to medical marijuana. Efforts to pass a medical marijuana bill have stalled in the legislature.

Medical Marijuana

Seneca Nation Moving Toward Medical Marijuana. The Seneca Nation of Indians is preparing to vote early next month on whether to authorize the National Council to start drafting laws and regulations to govern medical marijuana. The vote would be only a first step toward the tribe getting in the medical marijuana business. The Justice Department opened the door for tribes to get involved in pot operations with a memo last fall.

Kansas Silver Haired Legislature to Renew Push for Medical Marijuana. The Silver Haired Legislature, which advocates for senior citizens, is again calling on the legislature to pass medical marijuana. At a meeting earlier this month in Topeka, the group adopted three proposed bills it will push to see passed in the next term. Click on the link for more details.

International

UN Bid to Urge Drug Decriminalization Foiled. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has withdrawn a document calling on governments to consider "decriminalizing drug use and possession for personal consumption" after at least one country objected. The document was leaked by Sir Richard Branson over the weekend, and when a journalist violated the UNODC's embargo on release of the document, UNODC walked back the report.

Global Commission on Drug Policy Releases Report on Undertreatment of Pain. The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) today released its third thematic report, The Global Crisis of Avoidable Pain: The Negative Impact of Drug Control on Public Health. The report was launched by Commissioners, former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, UN Secretary General Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Michel Kazatchkine and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover. The report finds that three-quarters of the world's population has no access to pain-relieving drugs and that "the reasons for this have little to do with issues of cost or scarcity of supplies- and everything to do with the prohibition and repressive stand the world has taken on drugs. States are obsessed by the fear that people will use controlled medicines, such as morphine as drugs, thereby neglecting the important medical uses." Click on the title link to read the report.

WOLA Discussion on Impact of Drug Policy on Human Rights in the Americas Wednesday. The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is hosting the discussion in Washington, DC, at lunch time Wednesday. Click on the link for speakers, more information, and to RSVP.

State Department Cuts Some Mexico Drug War Funding Over Human Rights Concerns. The State Department has concluded that Mexico failed to reach some human rights goals in its drug war, triggering the cutoff of millions of dollars of drug war assistance. The move only affects a small portion of overall US drug war aid to Mexico, but does signal growing frustration with alleged abuses by Mexican security forces. Some 15% of aid provided to Mexican security forces is subject to human rights provisions, meaning that Mexico lost $5 million of a total of $148 million in US drug war funding this year. That $5 million was instead diverted to Peru to help finance coca eradication.

Mexico Supreme Court to Take Up Marijuana Legalization Next Week. The high court is set to discuss a legal challenge that could effectively legalize the use and production of marijuana. The challenge comes from a non-profit that filed an injunction against the Mexican health regulatory body COFEPRIS over a 2013 ruling by that body. The hearing is set for October 28.

Norway's Two Largest Cities to Move Toward Giving Free Heroin to Addicts. The cities of Oslo and Bergen are set to begin heroin-assisted treatment pilot programs after the Labor Party won local elections there, but they will have to win approval from the national parliament first. Parliament rejected a 2012 effort to start the programs. Norway has the world's second highest drug overdose rate, after Estonia.

Chronicle AM: OR Marijuana Sales Begin This Week, FDA Defends Oxycontin for Youth, More (9/29/15)

Half of Oregon's dispensaries will start selling marijuana to any adult beginning this week, the FDA fires back at critics of its pediatric prescribing rules for Oxycontin, a prominent UN official lists the ways the drug "problem" impacts human rights, and more.

The FDA counters critics who say its rules for pediatric prescribing will increase availability. (wikipedia.org)
Marijuana Policy

Florida Legalization Bill Filed. Rep. Michelle Rehwinke Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee) has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. The measure is House Bill 4021. This is the second time she has filed the bill.

Oregon Dispensaries to Start Selling to Recreational Users This Week. More than half of the state's 345 medical marijuana dispensaries have told the Health Authority they plan to sell recreational marijuana starting Thursday, October 1. Recreational marijuana has been legal in the state since July 1, but recreational pot shops won't be open until next year, so the state is allowing dispensaries to fill the void.

Medical Marijuana

Maryland Now Taking Applications for Medical Marijuana Businesses. As of Monday, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission is accepting applications for state licenses for growers, processors, and dispensaries. The commission will issue 15 licenses for growers, up to 92 for dispensaries, and an unlimited number for processors. The deadline for applications is November 6, and dispensaries could be stocked and open by next fall. Click on the commission link for more details.

Heroin and Prescription Opiates

FDA Rejects Critics on Oxycontin for Youth. In response to critics including US senators, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defended its decision last month to allow the prescribing of the powerful opioid to pediatric patients. Critics accused the agency of expanding access to the drug, but the FDA said doctors could already prescribe Oxycontin to pediatric patients and the agency was merely setting prescribing standards. "It's important to stress that this approval was not intended to expand or otherwise change the pattern of use of extended-release opioids in pediatric patients," said FDA spokesman Eric Pahon said in a statement. "Doctors were already prescribing it to children, without the safety and efficacy data in hand with regard to the pediatric population."

Drug Policy

UN Official Says Drug "Problem" Violates Human Rights in Five Areas. UN Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri said Monday that the global drug "problem" violates human rights in the areas of the right to health, rights relating to criminal justice and discrimination, the rights of the child, and the rights of indigenous peoples. "It is clear that the world's drug problem impacts the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, often resulting in serious violations," said Pansieri, "It is, nevertheless, a positive development that human rights are increasingly being taken into account in the preparations for the General Assembly's Special Session on the world drug problem to be held in April 2016." The remarks came during her report to the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Harm Reduction

New York Governor Signs Bill to Expand Opiate Maintenance in Drug Courts. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) last Friday signed into law Senate Bill 4239, which prohibits drug court judges from forcing defendants to withdraw from opiate maintenance treatments as a condition of avoiding prison. Click on the title link for more details.

International

New Zealand Activists Call for Party Pill Drug Testing. The New Zealand Drug Foundation is calling on the government to legalize pill testing services. Foundation Executive Director Ross Bell said it was only a matter of time until someone died taking pills of unknown provenance. He added that the government routinely tests drugs for criminal justice purposes, and that those results should be made available as a public health measure. The government said it hadn't considered pill testing, but was open to the possibility in the future.

Chronicle AM: Needle Exchanges Spread in WVA, Obama Admin Eases Buprenorphine Restrictions, More (9/18/15)

It's looking like Arizona will vote on marijuana legalization next year, the Obama administration eases restrictions on the opiate maintenance drug buprenorphine, needle exchanges expand in West Virginia, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Arizona Legalization Initiative on Track With Signature Gathering. The Marijuana Policy Project-backed Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said Thursday that it has already gathered 75,000 signatures, putting the group about one-third of the way to its goal of gathering 230,000 by July 2016. The group needs more than 150,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. A second group, Arizonans for Mindful Regulation wants to put its own initiative on the ballot, but has gathered only about 6,000 signatures so far.

Heroin and Prescription Opiates

Obama Administration Makes Big Announcement Addressing Heroin Epidemic. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burrell said Thursday that her agency would rewrite regulations to make it easier for doctors to treat opiate addiction with buprenorphine in a bid to get a handle on opiate abuse and addiction. "We need to lift people out of opioid-use disorder through medication-assisted treatment," Burwell said. "This epidemic is multifaceted, and we need to respond with the best solutions that medicine and behavioral therapy can provide together, so we need to increase the use of buprenorphine, which can help us treat opioid use disorder when combined with psycho-social support."

Ohio Bill Would Require Insurers to Cover Tamper-Resistant Drugs. A bipartisan pair of legislators have introduced a bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for tamper-resistant drugs that are more difficult to abuse. Reps. Robert Schrager (R-Findlay) and Nickie Antonion (D-Cleveland) said the measure is necessary because the long-term cost of opiate abuse in the state will cost the state millions of dollars. The bill has not yet appeared on the state legislative website.

Harm Reduction

West Virginia County to Begin Needle Exchange Program. Harrison County plans to move forward with a needle exchange/harm reduction program after hearing of the success of a similar program in Morgantown. The Morgantown exchange began in 2013, when 34 local residents tested positive for Hepatitis C. There have been 118 Hep C infections in Harrison County this year. It is a regional problem -- West Virginia and Kentucky have the highest Hep C infection rates in the country, many of them tied to intravenous drug use.

Illinois Governor Vetoes Heroin Bill Over Medicaid Treatment Funding [FEATURE]

Faced with a public health crisis related to heroin and prescription opioid use, the Illinois state government created a bipartisan Heroin Task Force in a comprehensive effort to address the problem from all angles. The task force created a set of policy recommendations that were embodied in House Bill 1, the Heroin Crisis Act.

Heroin is taking a toll not only in Chicago, but in its suburbs. (kirk.senate.gov)
The bill passed the House and Senate in May, and was sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) in June, where it sat on his desk until this week. On Monday, Rauner finally acted -- not by signing the bill, but by vetoing critical sections of it that he says the state cannot afford. He has now sent the bill back to the legislature and asked it to remove the offending sections.

But saying, "People are dying," the measure's House sponsor, Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), has vowed an effort to override the veto. An override could be within reach -- the bill passed by veto-proof majorities in both houses -- but for members of a governor's own party, a veto override is a hard vote to take.

Here's what the bill does:

  • It increases the availability of opiate overdose reversal drugs and requires private insurance to cover at least one of them, as well as acute treatment and stabilization services. It allows licensed pharmacists to dispense overdose reversal drugs, allows school nurses to administer them to students suffering from overdoses, and provides protection from civil liability for people who administer them in good faith.
  • It requires the Department of Human Services and the State Board of Education to develop a three-year pilot heroin prevention program for all schools in the state, requires the Department of Human Services to develop materials to educate prescription opiate users on the dangers of those drugs, and it requires the Department of Insurance to convene working groups on drug treatment and mental illness and on parity between state and federal mental health laws.
  • It intensifies the state's prescription monitoring program by tightening reporting requirements and it requires doctors to now document the medical necessity of any three sequential 30-day prescriptions for Schedule II opioids.
  • On the criminal justice front, it permits multiple chances at drug court and prevents prosecutors from unilaterally blocking entry to drug court, and it requires prosecutors and public defenders to undergo mandatory education on addiction and addiction treatment. It also increases criminal penalties for "doctor shopping" if fraud is involved.
  • It requires Medicaid coverage of all heroin treatment, including methadone and other opiate maintenance treatment, as well as all anti-overdose medications.

People lining up to buy heroin in Chicago. (Chicago PD)
It's the latter provision to which Rauner objects.

"I support all of the above measures and applaud the multifaceted approach to combating this epidemic in Illinois. Unfortunately, the bill also includes provisions that will impose a very costly mandate on the State's Medicaid providers. I am returning the bill with a recommendation to address that concern," he said in a veto statement.

"House Bill 1 mandates that fee-for-service and medical assistance Medicaid programs cover all forms of medication assisted treatment of alcohol or opioid dependence, and it removes utilization controls and prior authorization requirements," Rauner continued. "These changes would limit our ability to contain rising costs at a time when the State is facing unprecedented fiscal difficulties. Importantly, the State's Medicaid programs already cover multiple forms of medication necessary to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. But without adequate funding to support mandated coverage for all forms of treatment, regardless of cost, this change would add to the State's deficit."

His recommendation is simply to delete the language requiring Medicaid coverage.

Rep. Lang and other bill supporters aren't going for that.

"There's a human cost to not doing it," Lang said. "People are addicted, people are sick, people are dying. You want to talk about the costs of providing methadone and Narcan to addicts, but you forget totally that if you cure them or they get off the stuff, there's a savings to the Medicaid system on a different line item, because they're no longer in emergency rooms, they're no longer a burden to law enforcement."

Heroin and opiate addiction is a serious problem in Illinois. The rate of drug overdose deaths has nearly doubled since 1999, and in the Chicago suburbs, people have been dying of drug overdoses at a rate of three per day since 2012. In the state as a whole, 633 people died of heroin overdoses last year, with nearly half (283) in Chicago.

At the same time as the problem with heroin and prescription opioids has been deepening, the state's ability to provide treatment has been decreasing. According to a report this month from the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, the state's ranking for drug treatment capacity has fallen from 28th in the nation in 2009 to 47th this year. This as demand for heroin and opiate treatment statewide is increasing dramatically. In Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, 35% of drug treatment admissions are for heroin, more than twice the national average.

The consortium's director and the study's lead author, Kathleen Kane-Willis, noted that Illinois is one of only a few states nationwide that doesn't allow Medicaid coverage of opiate maintenance treatment.

"We're going to pay for not paying," she said.

But bill supporters could also find the votes to override the veto. Rep. Lang says that is what's he going to try to do, and with a 114-0 vote in the House and a 46-6 vote in the Senate the first time around, he has plenty of supporters to ask. If that happens, Illinois will get the drug treatment it needs, and Rauner will still be able to maintain his fiscally conservative credentials.

Springfield, IL
United States

Chronicle AM: AK Regulators Want to Ban MJ Social Clubs, ME Gov Threatens to Call Out Guard, More (8/11/2015)

Alaska regulators want to ban marijuana social clubs, Chris Christie signs a bill allowing methadone in drug court programs, a new report says Illinois needs to do better on heroin treatment, Russia wants to censor Reddit, and more.

People lining up to buy heroin in Chicago. Illinois ranks 44th in spending for heroin treatment. (Chicago PD)
Marijuana Policy

Alaska Regulators Want to Ban Marijuana Social Clubs. The Marijuana Control Board has presented its final set of proposed regulations and is generating controversy with a provision that bans social clubs. The board argues that since Alaska law doesn't allow BYOB bars, it shouldn't allow BYOM clubs.

California Governor Signs Law Targeting Illegal Pot Grows. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) last Friday signed a law that will impose steep fines on marijuana grows that cause environmental harm by dumping chemicals and wastewater, removing trees, and killing animals. The measure is Senate Bill 165. Last year, investigators found more than 135 dams or diversions in rivers and streams linked to marijuana cultivation, resulting in the theft of about five million gallons of water.

California Governor Signs Bill to Increase Penalties for Residential Butane Hash Oil Manufacture. Gov. Brown also last Friday signed Senate Bill 212, which will increase penalties for people caught making butane hash oil. The process has been linked to numerous fires and explosions in the state.

Medical Marijuana

Massachusetts Advocates Protest Slow Pace of Medical Marijuana Implementation. Led by the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, protestors held a vigil on the stops of the State House this week in memory of patients who had died before they could get access to medical marijuana and to protest the slow pace of implementation of the state's medical marijuana law. Three years after voters approved it, the state's first dispensary just opened. Click on the link for more.

Drug Courts

New Jersey Governor Signs Bill Allowing Medication Assisted Treatment in Drug Courts. Gov. Chris Christie (R) has signed into law Senate Bill 2381, which will allow people under the jurisdiction of the state's drug courts to complete their programs while using opiate-substitution medications, such as methadone and buprenorphine. Despite decades of evidence and the recommendations of treatment providers and even the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, most drug courts in the state required clients to quit medication-assisted treatment to complete the program. "Medication assisted treatment for drug court attendees, like all other clinical decisions made by a provider for their patient, is a critical component in a person's treatment and recovery plan. I thank the governor for his support of this legislation and his continued leadership and support of Drug Court programs," said Senator Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex).

Drug Treatment

Illinois Doesn't Adequately Fund Drug Treatment and Wants to Cut It Even More, New Report Says. A report released today by the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy found that the state ranked 44th in the nation in state funded treatment admissions for heroin and that Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R) proposed budget would slash funding by another 61%. Chicago ERs rank first in the country in emergency room visits for heroin use, and Cook County is number one in the nation for arrestees who test positive for the drug. Click on the consortium link to read the report.

Law Enforcement

Maine Governor Threatens to Call in National Guard to Fight Drugs. Tea Party Gov. Paul LePage (R) today reiterated his threat to call in the National Guard to fight the state's "drug epidemic" if legislators don't give him his way. The legislature has rejected his repeated demands that it deal with the drug issue primarily by hiring more agents at the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and while it did agree to fund six additional agents, two prosecutors, and two judges, that wasn't enough for LePage, who called it "chump change." It's not clear just what LePage what have the Guard do. Click on the link for much more.

International

Australian Parliamentary Committee Approves Medical Marijuana. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has recommended that a Green-sponsored medical marijuana bill be passed. The committee called for the bill to be amended to set up a medical marijuana regulatory agency. The bill has cross-party support in the parliament.

Russia Threatens to Block Reddit Over Single Thread on Drugs. The Kremlin's increasingly busy Internet censor has warned that the popular website Reddit will be blocked unless it deletes a thread about growing marijuana plants. The censor said Reddit has so far failed to respond to demands that it delete the thread and asked readers to reach out to Reddit to tell its editors to check their emails. The censor has also blocked Wikipedia pages about how to smoke pot, online anonymity services, Pirate Bay, and made similar threats against YouTube.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. 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.)

For Some, Best Cure for Heroin May Be Legality

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

It may seem counterintuitive, but the best way to deal with heroin addiction among some hardcore users may be to give them heroin. That's the takeaway from a seminal study just published by the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Prescription diamorphine could be preferable to street heroin. (New Jersey State Police)
The study, "Heroin on trial: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials of diamorphine-prescribing as treatment for refractory heroin addiction," focused on the findings of six randomized controlled trials on supervised injectable heroin treatment in six different countries: Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Canada, and England.

What the meta-analysis found across all trials was a greater reduction in the use of illicit "street" heroin in patients receiving pharmaceutical heroin compared to the control groups (who generally only received methadone). "Heroin-prescribing, as a part of highly regulated regimen, is a feasible and effective treatment for a particularly difficult-to-treat group of heroin-dependent patients," the study concluded.

It's not just heroin users who benefit. In most of the trials, the researchers found reductions in criminal justice, imprisonment, and health care costs, while finding no negative effects on public safety.

Providing heroin to especially treatment-resistant users is known as heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) or heroin maintenance therapy. While heroin maintenance trials have been underway in several European countries, as well as Australia, and Canada, none have ever been done in the United States.

"The feasibility and effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment has, once again, been borne out in the scientific literature," said Lindsay LaSalle, a harm reduction attorney with the Drug Policy Alliance. "The question that remains is not whether heroin maintenance is backed by science, but whether it will ever be backed by politicians and government officials in the United Sates. As of now, the only thing that stands in our way is ideology and stigma."

Nevada became the first state to try to break down the walls preventing heroin maintenance trials when state Sen. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) introduced a bill that would have created a four-year heroin maintenance pilot project. But that bill didn't pass.

Chronicle AM: Study Supports Prescription Heroin, States Want Feds Out of MJ Policies, More (8/06/15)

The DEA admits the screamingly obvious, the National Council of State Legislatures tells the feds to let states set their own pot policies, another South Florida community decriminalizes, and more.

Prescription heroin. A new study says it is a useful treatment for some addicts. (wikipedia.org)
Marijuana Policy

Finally, DEA Head Admits Heroin More Dangerous Than Marijuana. Former DEA chief Michele Leonhart just couldn't wrap her head around that notion, and her successor, Chuck Rosenberg, was struggling last week, when he conceded that marijuana is "probably not" as bad as heroin. But Wednesday, Rosenberg came clean, admitting that "heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana."

National Council of State Legislatures Passes Motion Calling for Feds to Butt Out of State Marijuana Laws. The resolution passed today declares that states should have the right to set their own marijuana and hemp policies. "States are increasingly serving as laboratories for democracy by adopting a variety of policies regarding marijuana and hemp," the preamble says, adding that "the federal government cannot force a state to criminalize cultivating, possessing, or distributing marijuana or hemp -- whether for medical, recreational, industrial, or other uses -- because doing so would constitute unconstitutional commandeering." Click on the link to read the resolution.

Arizona Legalization Initiative Has Already Gathered 50,000 Signatures. The Marijuana Policy Project-backed Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced Wednesday that it had already gathered 50,000 signatures to get its legalization initiative on the November 2016 ballot. The group needs 150,000 valid voter signatures by July 2016 to qualify. If gatherers keep up their current pace, they could have 300,000 or so signatures by then. They need a cushion to account for gathered signatures that are invalidated, and that would provide one.

Another South Florida Community Decriminalizes. Hallandale Beach has become the first Broward County city to decriminalize pot possession after commissioners Wednesday night approved the measure. People caught with 20 grams or less will be ticketed and fined $100 instead of being arrested. Miami-Dade County passed a similar measure in July. West Palm Beach and Palm Beach counties are also expected to vote on a similar measure.

Addiction Treatment

Important Study Finds Heroin-Assisted Treatment Benefits Users and Society. A research review published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found that heroin-assisted treatment (or heroin maintenance) is effective for patients who have not responded to other treatment options, such as residential treatment or methadone. "Heroin-prescribing, as a part of highly regulated regimen, is a feasible and effective treatment for a particularly difficult-to-treat group of heroin-dependent patients," the study concluded.

Chronicle AM: Two OH Legalization Inits Falter, One Going Strong; NC Harm Reduction Bill Passes, More (6/10/15)

Only one Ohio marijuana legalization initiative is still trying to make the ballot this year -- and looks like it will -- South Dakota could try for the third time to approve medical marijuana, a harm reduction measure passes in North Carolina, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Ohio Legalization Initiative Backers Say They Have Enough Signatures to Qualify. Proponents of the ResponsibleOhio legalization initiative, which would divvy up commercial grows to only 10 investors, say they have collected enough signatures to qualify for the November 2015 ballot. The group's executive director, Ian James, said the group has collected more than 550,000 voter signatures. It needs 305,000 valid voter signatures to qualify, and it still has three more weeks of petitioning to go. The group said it also conducted a robust voter registration campaign along with its signature drive.

Two Ohio Legalization Initiatives Give Up on 2015. The Better for Ohio and Ohio Rights Group legalization initiatives are dead for this year after organizers for both groups conceded they will not have the required number of valid voter signatures by July 1 to qualify for the November 2015 ballot. Both groups will continue to gather signatures for 2016.

Medical Marijuana

South Dakota Medical Marijuana Initiative Filed. A state activist has filed the explanation for a medical marijuana initiative with the state attorney general's office. Once it is reviewed and approved, proponents will then have 180 days to come up with 13,871 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. Medical marijuana initiatives have twice been defeated in the state. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Drug Treatment

New York Legislature Approves Bill to Encourage Medication-Assisted Treatment for Drug Court Participants. The state Senate Tuesday approved Senate Bill 4239-B, which bars drug courts from removing drug court participants for using drugs like methadone and buprenorphine as part of a drug treatment program. The measure has already passed the Assembly. Advocates are now pressing Gov. Cuomo (D) to sign the bill into law.

Harm Reduction

North Carolina Legislature Passes Bill Strengthening 911 Good Samaritan Law. The state legislature has approved Senate Bill 154, which strengthens the state's 911 Good Samaritan law by extending protections from arrest to include not revoking someone's probation or parole, not charging underage victims of alcohol overdoses with a crime, and by clarifying that pharmacists are permitted to dispense naloxone with a physician's standing order.

Chronicle AM: Christie Would Roll Back Legalization, Colombia Ex-Prez Says Give Drugs to Addicts, More (6/8/15)

Chris Christie speaks out against marijuana legalization, Ohio officials try to block a legalization initiative, employee hair drug testing becomes the law in Louisiana, a former Colombian president calls for drug legalization and supplying some addicts with drugs, and more.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stands firm against marijuana legalization. (nj.gov)
Marijuana Policy

Chris Christie Would Roll Back Marijuana Legalization. In an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, said he would move against states where marijuana is legal. Host John Dickerson asked if he would "return the federal prosecutions in these states like Colorado, Washington state" and Christie replied "Yes." Dickerson asked him again, and Christie said "Yes" again. Christie also called the drug war a failure and said he favored increased drug treatment.

Ohio Official Moves to Block Legalization Monopoly. State Auditor David Yost is floating a proposal designed to invalidate the legalization initiative most likely to make the ballot, or at least a provision of it. The controversial ResponsibleOhio measure would divvy up 10 commercial marijuana-growing facilities to people or groups who have already invested in the campaign. Yost has proposed a constitutional amendment that would require future initiatives that have provisions for "special interests" to undergo a two-stage process. If Yost's amendment passed with more votes than ResponsibleOhio's, it would prevent the monopoly provision of the ResponsibleOhio initiative from taking effect (and very possibly the entire initiative). Click on the link for more intricacies.

Medical Marijuana

No Medical Marijuana for Alabama. The legislative session ended last Thursday, and medical marijuana legislation died without action. Again.

Drug Testing

Louisiana Governor Signs Employee Hair Drug Testing Bill. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) last Friday signed into law a bill that lets employers drug test employees' hair. Hair drug tests can detect use as far back as 90 days, as opposed to two or three days for urine tests (or two or three weeks for marijuana). While employee drug testing is allowed under state law, there were no regulations for hair drug testing in place until the passage of House Bill 379.

SAMHSA Seeks Comments on Hair Testing For Drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) has published a request for information about hair testing for drugs as it seeks to update and revise standards for laboratory drug testing procedures for federal workers. Click on the link for more details.

International

UAE Moves to Ban Five New Synthetic Drugs, Three Drug Plants. The United Arab Emirates is moving to ban synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, phenethylamine, piperazine and tryptamine, as well as the kava, kratom, and salvia divinorum plants. The Health Ministry has proposed the move, but the Council of State must approve it.

Indonesian Experts Call for Evidence-Based Public Health Response to Drugs. A selection of Indonesian experts and academics has called on the government to commit itself to using scientifically proven public health approaches to drug use and to reject hard line but ineffective strategies, such as forced drug treatment and the use of the death penalty. Click on the link for more.

Colombia Ex-President Calls for Drug Legalization, State to Provide Drugs to Addicts. Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, long a critic of drug prohibition, told the Global Commission on Drug Policy last Thursday that some drugs should be legalized and others provided to addicts by the state. Such moves would allow governments to better control their use, he said. Click on the link for more.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. 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.)

Chronicle AM: ID CBD Bill Passes, Another OH Legalization Init, NV Heroin Maintenance Hearing, More (4/7/15)

Busy busy in Ohio, Arizona Supreme Court upholds patient rights, Idaho legislature approves CBD bill, Nevada legislature hearing about heroin-assisted treatment today, Rand Paul announces, and more.

Pharmaceutical diacetylmorphine AKA diamorphine AKA heroin. It could be coming to Nevada. (wikipedia.org)
Marijuana Policy

Another Ohio Legalization Campaign Gets Underway. Cleveland-based Ohioans to End Prohibition has begun initial signature-gathering for a proposed 2016 initiative that would allow adults to grow up to six plants and possess up to 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and would allow for marijuana commerce. The group needs to get a thousand valid voter signatures before moving to the next phase, where state officials will vet the initiative's language. The group would then need to gather more than 300,000 signatures to qualify for the 2016 general election ballot. Another group, Responsible Ohio, is already gathering signatures for a 2015 initiative.

Medical Marijuana

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Probationers Can Use Medical Marijuana. In two rulings today, the state high court barred courts and prosecutors from denying registered patients the right to use medical marijuana while on probation or parole. The cases are Arizona v. Farrell and Reed-Kaliher v. Arizona.

Connecticut Legislative Committee Approves Medical Marijuana Expansion.The committee endorsed Senate Bill 1064 after lengthy debate. The bill would be a significant expansion of the state's medical marijuana system and would allow children with specified diseases to participate, but they wold be limited to using low-THC, high-CBD cannabis oils. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Idaho Legislature Approves CBD Cannabis Oil Bill. A bill that appeared dead only a week ago has now passed both houses of the legislature and heads for the desk of Gov. Butch Otter (R). The bill is Senate Bill 1146.

Illinois Officials Ponder Adding 14 More Qualifying Conditions. The state Medical Cannabis Advisory Board is now reviewing 22 petitions requesting the addition of some 14 diseases or medical conditions to the list of those that qualify for medical marijuana. The board will hold a hearing in May and then make recommendations to the director of the Department of Publich Health, who will make the ultimate decision. Click on the link to see the whole list.

Drug Policy

Rand Paul Announces Republican Presidential Nomination Bid. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul today announced he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. Paul has been a voice for drug reform in the Senate, calling for the federal government to let states set their own marijuana policies and filing bills on sentencing reform, industrial hemp, and medical marijuana.

Heroin

Nevada Senate Holding First Ever US Hearing on Heroin Maintenance. The state Senate is holding a hearing on Senate Bill 275, which would establish a four-year heroin maintenance (or heroin-assisted treatment) pilot program. This is the first time such a proposal has gotten a legislative hearing anywhere in the US. Witnesses will include Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann and Dr. Martin Schecter, principal investigator for Canada's North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI).

Harm Reduction

Pennsylvania State Police to Start Carrying Opiate Overdose Reversal Drug. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) formally announced today that state troopers will start carrying the opiate overdose reversal drug naloxone. About 30 states have naloxone legislation, but in only a few do police forces routinely carry the drug.

International

Chile Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances. A bill that would allow people 18 and older to grow up to six marijuana plants passed the congressional health committee Monday and now goes for a floor debate in the Chamber of Deputies. If the bill passed the chamber, it then goes to the Senate. The bill also allows people to possess up to 10 grams, but bars the public use of pot. Chile already allows for medical marijuana and was preparing for its first legal harvest this week.

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