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Seattle Mayor's Executive Order on Public Drug Use, UT MedMJ Workers Unionize, More... (9/29/23)

A former Michigan medical marijuana regulator heads to prison for bribery, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office rejects cocaine field tests as "unreliable," and more. 

Cocaine or not cocaine? A Florida sheriff's office is foregoing cocaine field tests after finding them unreliable. (Pixabay)
Medical Marijuana

Michigan Former Medical Marijuana Top Regulator Heads for Prison on Bribery Charges. The former head of the state's Medical Marihuana Licensing Board was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to soliciting and accepting bribes. Rick Johnson, a Republican who is also the former Speaker of the House, headed the now defunct board, which was in charge of reviewing and granting licenses for people seeking to grow and sell medical marijuana.

"Today's sentence sends a very strong message that public corruption will not be tolerated in the state of Michigan," Mark Totten, US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, said after the sentencing. "The length of this sentence reflects the seriousness of the offense."

Johnson admitted receiving at least $110,000 in payments, $20,000 in loans that did not have repayment terms, and "thousands of dollars" in services from a sex worker. Johnson chaired the board from 2015 to 2017. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) dismantled the board in 2019.

Utah Dispensary Workers Vote to Unionize with UFCW. Workers at the Dragonfly Wellness medical marijuana dispensary in Salt Lake City voted Tuesday to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The unionization vote involved 30 employees, who become the first in the state's medical marijuana industry to unionize.

"Employees included in the newly formed cannabis union include Dragonfly Wellness associates, team leads, drivers, delivery leads, inventory specialists, pharmacists, and head trainers," according to a UFCW Local 99 news release.

Drug Policy

Seattle Mayor Issues Executive Order Guiding Implementation of New Law Prohibiting Public Consumption of Drugs. On Thursday, Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) issued Executive Order 2023-006, guiding implementation and data collection related to the Public Safety and Health Response to the Opioid Crisis Ordinance prohibiting public consumption of fentanyl and other drugs. This follows Mayor Harrell’s April Executive Order addressing fentanyl and the synthetic drug crisis, part of the City’s dual public health and public safety approach to the issue, including advancing innovative treatment solutions to help people access services and get well. 

"Fentanyl and other dangerous drugs are killing people, causing harm, and creating unsafe conditions Downtown and in neighborhoods across Seattle. This law gives us another tool to help those in need access treatment and to keep sidewalks and neighborhoods welcoming for all residents, and my Executive Order provides needed implementation guidance and ensures we are collecting data to measure effectiveness," said Harrell. "We are committed to learning lessons from the past, holding traffickers, dealers, and those causing the most harm accountable, and helping people access treatment and care through diversion services." 

The Executive Order provides direction to officers on how to enforce the ordinance, including examples of how public use and possession can be established and factors that will guide the threat of harm assessment. The Executive Order makes clear that harm pertains to the impact on the ability of others to use shared public space and identifies areas that have a high likelihood of the presence of other community members and where the use of controlled substances impacts public safety and security.  

Mayor Harrell’s Executive Order also reaffirms that diversion is the preferred response to public use and possession offenses and sets expectations for how officers will handle situations where a threat of harm to others is not present. Mayor Harrell’s budget, announced earlier this week, includes millions toward diversion programs and efforts to provide treatment and curb overdose deaths. 

Lastly, the Executive Order calls for the collection of data to assess the scope of public use and possession of controlled substances to both better understand the problems facing the City and to create a baseline to measure the effectiveness of the ordinance and its enforcement. This includes analyzing data from Public Health — Seattle & King County, SPD, and other sources. 

The legislation passed by the Council and signed by Mayor Harrell will take effect next month. In effect, it will:  

  • Codify state law making public consumption of illegal drugs a gross misdemeanor in the City’s criminal code.   
  • For the first time in the City’s history, designate diversion and treatment as the preferred approach to addressing substance use issues – connecting people with care and responding to a public health crisis with evidence-based health solutions.   
  • Define a new threat of harm standard – differentiating between drug use that threatens others, recognizing the real and perceived danger of consumption of illegal drugs in public places, and aiming to support safe and welcoming neighborhoods by reducing public use. 

The ordinance, this Executive Order, and the forthcoming SPD policy are just one aspect of the City’s efforts to address the public health and safety concerns caused by synthetic narcotics.

Drug Testing

Florida Sheriff's Office Ends Use of "Unreliable" Cocaine Testing Kits. The Jacksonsville Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday it would stop using cocaine field tests after finding they generate false-positives for common over-the-counter medications. The office issued a memo ordering personnel to quit using the Scott Company cocaine kits immediately and return any unused ones.

Officers will now need to submit suspected cocaine to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory for formal testing. Only if it tests positive at the state lab should officers seek an arrest warrant.

While field test results are not by themselves sufficient evidence to prosecute a drug possession case, a positive field test had been enough for an officer to make an arrest, and defendants often plead in drug cases rather than take the cases to trial. Thus, it is possible false positives have resulted in wrongful arrests and convictions.

"Following a meeting this morning with law enforcement, we became aware that field test kits for cocaine have resulted in false positives. We immediately informed the Public Defender’s Office, Regional Conflict Counsel, the Chief Judge, and local Criminal Defense Bar of this development. We are conducting a thorough review of cases potentially implicated to determine what actions need to be taken moving forward to address this issue."

The office "is now exploring new product options for presumptive field-testing kits for cocaine for future use."

DHS Rolls Out Strategy for Combatting Illicit Opioids, UN Report Calls for Decriminalization, More... (9/20/23)

The Seattle city council voted to criminalize public drug use, the Czech drug czar suggests legalizing cocaine, and more. 

Drug Policy

DHS Rolls Out Strategy for Combatting Illicit Opioids. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday rolled out its plan to combat illicit opioids, releasing its Strategy for Combatting Illicit Opioids.

"Our nation continues to face an unprecedented epidemic of deaths from illicit synthetic opioids -- our citizens are dying every year at an unimaginable rate," said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger. "This is a bold and innovative strategy to stem the flow of dangerous narcotics and directly addresses the public health emergency this opioid crisis has become.

The "bold and innovative strategy" is heavy on law enforcement, which is no surprise for a law enforcement agency. Primary elements of the strategy include reducing the international supply of opioids, reducing the supply of opioids in the US, targeting "enablers" of drug trafficking organization, and working with private sector actors to better block drugs from entering the country.

The agency said it hopes to work with international partners to reduce the illicit importation of drugs into the country and that it will increase the number of HIS task forces targeting drug traffickers.

Seattle City Council Approves Ordinance Criminalizing Drug Posssession and Public Drug Use. The city council on Tuesday approved its own municipal version of the state's law barring public drug use, CB 120645. The measure creates the crimes of knowing possession of a controlled substance and use of a controlled substance in a public place.

A 2021 state Supreme Court decision threw out the state's felony drug possession law, but the legislature this year approved a bill making public drug use and possession a gross misdemeanor, allowing city attorneys to prosecute the drug charges. City Attorney Ann Davison proposed a bill for the city to confirm with state law, but the city council rejected that in June.

Mayor Bruce Harrell then formed a task force to draft a new proposal, which is what the city council approved this week. But the vote was not unanimous, with Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda voting no because it did not pay enough attention to diversion efforts.

"I want people to get access to public health services just as much as the people who testified in support of this legislation say they want," Mosqueda said. "But that is not what this legislation does. And without the funding that is purported to come with this bill, we have no assurances that there will be alternative structures and programs and diversion strategies to prevent people from going to jail. We do not have to pass this legislation."

International

UN Human Rights Office Report Calls for Shift from Punitive Drug Policies. A UN human rights report released Tuesday calls for a shift from punitive measures to address the global drugs problem to the use of policies grounded in human rights and public health, arguing that disproportionate use of criminal penalties is causing harm.

The report urges states to develop effective drug policies, including by considering decriminalization of drug possession for personal use. "If effectively designed and implemented, decriminalization can be a powerful instrument to ensure that the rights of people who use drugs are protected," it says.

"Laws, policies and practices deployed to address drug use must not end up exacerbating human suffering. The drugs problem remains very concerning, but treating people who use drugs as criminals is not the solution," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

"States should move away from the current dominant focus on prohibition, repression and punishment, and instead embrace laws, policies and practices anchored in human rights and aimed at harm reduction."

There has also been an increase in the use of the death penalty for drug-related convictions worldwide, contrary to international human rights law norms and standards. The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021, amounting to 37 percent of all executions recorded globally, the report states.

"The current overemphasis on coercion and control to counter drugs is fanning an increase in human rights violations despite mounting evidence that decades of criminalization and the so-called war on drugs have neither protected the welfare of people nor deterred drug-related crime," Türk said.

The report shows that an increasing number of countries across regions are adopting policies and practices that decriminalize drug use and treat drug usage as a public health and human rights issue, and applying evidence-based, gender-sensitive and harm reduction approaches. The High Commissioner called on states to build on this positive trend.

Czech Drug Czar Proposes Cocaine Legalization. National anti-drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril has suggested that cocaine could be the next drug, after marijuana, to be handled in a regulated, legal market. He emphasized the importance of tailoring drug policies to the risks of individual substances and argued that cocaine ranks lower in inherent risks than some other illicit substances.

But government officials were not in accord. Deputy Prime Minister Marian Jurečka, who serves as the chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), unequivocally rejected the idea of cocaine liberalization, declaring it unacceptable.

Narcan Maker Blocked OTC Sales to Boost Profits, AZ Weed Workers Strike, More... (9/18/23)

A proposed California initiative would warn fentanyl dealers they could be charged with murder in the event of an overdose death, clashes kill four Colombian soldiers ahead of scheduled peace talks with leftist rebels, and more.

Did profits matter more than lives for Emergent BioSolutions? (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Arizona Pot Workers On Strike Against Curaleaf. Workers at Curaleaf's Dispensary Midtown in Phoenix voted more than a year ago to unionize and seek a labor agreement with the company, but that has not happened yet. Instead Curaleaf has refused to begin union negotiations and fired worker Christian Tallabas for his union activity, so on Friday the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 led a day-long Unfair Labor Practices strike.

"It really grinds my gears how we have corporate from Curaleaf standing right behind this window," said Tallabas at a rally in front of the dispensary. "I personally think it is really disgusting and you should see the look on their faces. "We deserve to know what percentage of our tips we make when our customer service is making this company millions of dollars," he said.

"Not only do we not have a contract despite it being over a year, but there's so many different labor violations already on the books that the National Labor Relations Board has found that Curaleaf is responsible for," said Curaleaf employee Nick Fredrickson.

Joining the UFCW and Curaleaf workers at the rally were representatives of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Opiates and Opioids

California Initiative Would Warn Fentanyl Dealers They Could Be Charged with Murder. Organized by parents who have lost children to drug overdoses, an initiative that would warn fentanyl sellers they could be charged with murder in the event of a fatal overdose has been filed with the state attorney general. Judges would be required to tell people convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, possession of illicit drugs for sale, this:

"You are hereby advised that it is extremely dangerous and deadly to human life to illicitly manufacture, distribute, sell, furnish, administer, or give away any drugs in any form, including real or counterfeit drugs or pills. You can kill someone by engaging in such conduct. All drugs and counterfeit pills are dangerous to human life. These substances alone, or mixed, kill human beings in very small doses. If you illicitly manufacture, distribute, sell, furnish, administer or give away any real counterfeit drugs or pills, and that conduct results in the death of a human being, you could be charged with homicide, up to and including the crime of murder."

The proposed initiative also includes criminal penalties of 10 to 12 years for a subsequent conviction or guilty plea.

The initiative campaign comes after grieving parents were unable to get a bill to the same effect through the legislature. The bipartisan bill had 41 cosponsors but died in the Senate Public Safety Committee.

"This is a disgusting display of a legislative committee holding hostage 40 million people and their safety and security, all in the name of political, ideological gameplay," fumed Matt Capelouto, who lost a daughter to a fentanyl overdose. "What all of us want here is to protect people from the enduring, the never-ending pain of someone being killed by a drug dealer selling poison. And they won’t do it. They won’t even pass a bill that contains a warning — a freaking warning."

The initiative takes the form of a statutory amendment, which means it will need some 874,641 valid voter signatures within 180 days of the beginning of signature-gathering, or by the first week of July 2024 at the latest.

Harm Reduction

Narcan Maker Blocked OTC Sales for Years in Bid to Boost Profits. Emergent BioSolutions, the manufacturer of the opioid overdose reversal product Narcan, has finally allowed it to be sold over-the-counter (OTC), but only after delaying for five years.

"I’m not sure that OTC is the answer," Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, then Emergent’s top executive, told investors during a November 2018 earnings call. In December 2018, the company’s then president, Robert Kramer, cautioned "against a rush to an over-the-counter solution for this current crisis," citing concerns about Narcan awareness and insurance coverage.

But the head of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said the bottom line was profits. "I think the problem is that the financial model doesn’t appear to be working for the company, so they’re not motivated to do it," FDA head Robert Califf said at a 2022 conference. "We can’t order companies to go over-the-counter."

Emergent only relented late last year after a competitor prepared its own bid for OTC approval of naloxone. That came after Emergent spent years using the courts and regulatory agencies to stop other naloxone products from entering the market. It had also moved to lock up lucrative state contracts, "hindering broader distribution of the antidote while the opioid crisis worsened," the Washington Post reported Monday.

"It’s a strategy that’s cost lives," said Jennifer Plumb, a doctor and Democratic state senator in Salt Lake City who serves as medical director of the Utah naloxone program.

International

Four Colombian Soldiers Killed in Clash with FARC Dissidents Ahead of Peace Talks. Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC dissidents known as Estado Mayor Central were set to begin Monday, but their prospects were clouded by a weekend clash that left four soldiers dead.

The Estado Mayor Central broke with the FARC in 2016, when the main body of the leftist guerrilla group signed a peace agreement with the government and has been involved in coca and cocaine trafficking. They had agreed in April to hold talks with the government about a ceasefire.

The soldiers were killed in a clash in Narino, close to the Ecuadorian border and the region of the country with the most coca production. Colombia is the world's largest producer of coca and cocaine. Control over the lucrative drug traffic has fomented conflict in the area for decades, where left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and apolitical drug cartels spend their time fighting each other and the Colombian state.

SAFE Banking Act Committee Vote Coming Soon, BC Bans Drug Possession Near Parks, Playgrounds, More... (9/15/2023)

Fentanyl in stimulants like meth and cocaine is driving a fourth wave of opioid overdoses, Vancouver's pioneering safe injection site marks 20 years in service, and more.

The InSite safe injection site in Vancouver, which marks 20 years of operation this week. (PCS Community Services Society)
Marijuana Policy

Senate Banking Committee Set to Vote on SAFE Banking Act by Month's End. The Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on the SAFE Banking Act (S.1323) on September 27, "a Senate source familiar with the discussions" told Marijuana Moment Friday.

That source confirmed earlier media reports that the vote was coming. The date is not yet official, so it could change, but the expectation is that it will take place the week of September 25, the source said.

What amendments—if any—will be offered or adopted remains unclear, although there has been talk about revisions to a key section on broad banking regulations, as well as changes concerning Small Business Administration access and stock uplisting for the marijuana industry.

Drug Policy

Fentanyl-Adulterated Meth and Cocaine Is Driving a Fourth Wave of Drug Overdoses. A study published Thursday in the scientific journal Addiction finds that drug overdoses involving both fentanyl and cocaine or methamphetamine have increased 50-fold since 2010, now account for nearly one-third (32 percent) of all fatal overdoses and are responsible for some 35,000 deaths.

"We're now seeing that the use of fentanyl together with stimulants is rapidly becoming the dominant force in the U.S. overdose crisis," said Joseph Friedman, the lead author of the study and a researcher at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "Fentanyl has ushered in a polysubstance overdose crisis, meaning that people are mixing fentanyl with other drugs, like stimulants, but also countless other synthetic substances."

The authors described the phenomenon as a "fourth wave" of the ongoing opioid crisis that began with the rise in prescription opioids around the turn of the century, followed by the rise of heroin around 2010 as authorities tightened the screws on prescription opioid prescribing and the arrival of fentanyl around 2013.

International

Vancouver's Safe Injection Marks 20 Years in Operation This Week. Vancouver Coastal Health and the PHS Community Services Society, the two groups that run InSite, the city's pioneering safe injection site—the first one in North America—are celebrating 20 years of operation this week. On Friday, they met in front of the East Hastings Street location to commemorate the occasion.

"Insite was a really important step forward in terms of drug policy and harm reduction, and to be here 20 years after we opened, it just feels incredible," said Jeff West, manager of harm reduction for Vancouver Coastal Health. "Not only was Insite important to the community as a safe space, a symbol of a more progressive drug policy, it also is a really important public health intervention," said West.

PHS first set up InSite as an unsanctioned site and only later got permission from Health Canada to operate, but it has been there ever since. And it has done so with the approval of local, provincial, and federal authorities, as well as Vancouver Police and the Coastal Health Authority. It survived a challenge from the Conservative national government of Stephen Harper, which was slapped down by the Supreme Court.

"Insite saves lives. Its benefits have been proven," wrote Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin in her decision.

British Columbia to Ban Drug Use Near Parks and Playgrounds. The province has decriminalized the possession of personal use amounts of illicit drugs in a bid to get a grip on the overdose crisis, but now British Columbia Premier David Eby legislation is being drafted to ban drug use near parks and playgrounds.

The provincial Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said Thursday that the federal government had approved the changes expanding the are where drug possession remains illegal.

Drug possession was already prohibited on school grounds and at child care facilities, but as of next Monday, it will also be prohibited within 15 meters of playgrounds, water parks, and skate parks.

Public intoxication remains a crime.

"I hope and expect that people, even when struggling with addiction, will understand the importance that we've all got to live in the community together, and if there's a place that's funded and safe and appropriate to use, that you should be going to that health-care site rather than to a site that's used by children," Premier Ebe said.

Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Population and Public Health, said in an interview Thursday that the province is "tweaking" its decriminalization policy "in response to some pushback from mayors who are saying 'this isn't working particularly well for us because it's disempowering the police.'"

Haden said the province's move is not "dealing with the real problem of prohibition." "We have a supply-chain problem that decriminalization isn't resolving," he said. "It's the supply-chain problem that's actually killing people."

CA Natural Psychedelic Legalization Bill Goes to Governor, Colombia Cocaine Production at All-Time High, More... (9/11/23)

You could soon be able to get some munchies when you buy your weed in California, Afghanistan is the world's fastest-growing meth producer, and more.

Colombia continues to crank out cocaine. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

California Senate Approves Marijuana Café Bill. The Senate has approved Assembly Bill 374, which would allow marijuana retailers to offer food and drinks in they get local approval. The bill has already passed the Assembly, but because it was slightly amended in the Senate, it must return to the Assemly for a final concurrence vote before heading to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

The bill would let local governments authorize the preparation and sell of non-marijuana food and drinks. Sale of alcohol would continue to be prohibited, as would the smoking of tobacco.

The bill would also authorize "live musical or other performances on the premises of a retailer or microbusiness licensed under this division in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed, and the sale of tickets for those performances."

Psychedelics

California Natural Psychedelic Legalization Bill Heads to Governor's Desk. A bill that legalize the possession of personal use amounts of natural psychedelics, including ibogaine and psilocybin (magic mushrooms)—but not peyote—has won final passage in the legislature and now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Senate Bill 58, filed by Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), was first introduced in 2021 but was pulled by Weiner after it was heavily amended in the Assembly during the last session. But it came back this session and has now made its way through the legislative process.

The bill would allow people 21 and over to possess up to four grams of mescaline, one gram of DMT, and one gram each of psilocybin and psilocyn.

Newsom has until Oct. 14 to make a decision on the bill becoming law. If approved, it would go into effect in 2025.

International

UNODC Says Afghanistan is World's Faster-Growing Meth Producer. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOD C) reported Sunday that Afghanistan has became the world's fastest-growing manufacturer of methamphetamine. The report comes as the Taliban are busily prosecuting a crackdown on opium production.

Afghan meth production derives largely from legally available substances or the ephedra plants, which grows in the wild in the region, UNODC said. It said Afghan meth production could disrupt the synthetic drug market and fuel addiction. Afghan meth has been seized in Europe and East Africa.

Afghan meth seizures rose from less than 100 pounds in 2019 to nearly 6,000 pounds in 2021.

Annual meth seizure totals from inside the country rose from less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in 2019 to nearly 2,700 kilograms (6,000 pounds) in 2021, suggesting increased production, the report said. But it couldn’t give a value for the country’s meth supply, the quantities being produced, nor its domestic usage, because it doesn’t have the data.

Angela Me, the chief of the UNODC’s Research and Trend Analysis Branch, said  that making meth, especially in Afghanistan, had several advantages over heroin or cocaine production. "You don’t need to wait for something to grow," said Me. "You don’t need land. You just need the cooks and the know-how. Meth labs are mobile, they’re hidden. Afghanistan also has the ephedra plant, which is not found in the biggest meth-producing countries, Myanmar and Mexico. It’s legal in Afghanistan and it grows everywhere. But you need a lot of it."

UNODC Says Colombia Coca Cultivation at All-Time High. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported Sunday that coca leaf cultivation in Colombia last year was at the highest level recorded since the agency started monitoring the crop in 2001. Coca cultivation was up 13 percent over 2021, and that generated 1,400 tons of cocaine, up from 1,738 in 2021.

Most Colombian cocaine is destined for markets in the US and Europe.

Key coca growing areas, accounting for two-thirds of national production, are the southern departments of Narino and Puumayo on the Ecuadorian border and North Santander on the Venezuelan border. Nearly half of Colombia's coca production is located on indigenous lands or in parks and nature reserves.

Scottish Lord Advocate Endorses Safe Injection Sites. The senior law enforcement officer in the Scottish government, the Lord Advocate, has issued a position statement on safe injection sites saying it would not recommend the prosecution of people using a safe injection site. The Lord Advocate provides legal advice on the full range of the government's responsibilities, policies, and legislation, including advice on the legal implications of government proposals. : 

"On the basis of the information I have been provided, I would be prepared to publish a prosecution policy that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot safer drugs consumption facility," Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said.

"I have not been asked to sign-off or approve any facility and it would not be appropriate for me to do so. However, prosecution policy is for me alone to set and this policy, and the consequences which flow from it, have been considered deeply and thoroughly. 

"The requested statement will not extend to any criminal offences other than possession of controlled substances, contrary to section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It does not amount to an exclusion zone whereby a range of criminality is tolerated. 

"Police Scotland have operational independence and it has been of the utmost importance to me to ensure that Police Scotland retain the ability to effectively police the facility and ensure that the wider community, those operating the site and

The Lord Advocate's decision has been shared with the Scottish Parliament cross-committee on tackling drug deaths and drug harm on September 11. 

Ramaswamy Talks Drug Decriminalization, SD 2024 Legal Pot Initiative Coming, More... (8/15/23)

The National Governors Association has a plan for dealing with drug overdoses, Peru and the US have renewed an agreement to force down drug smuggling aircraft, and more.

GOP presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy breaks with Republican orthodoxy on drug policy. (CC -- Gage Skidmore)
Marijuana Policy

South Dakota Activists to Try Again with 2024 Marijuana Legalization Initiative. Local activists are hoping the third time is the charm when it comes to legalizing marijuana possession in the state. A 2020 legalization initiative was approved by voters only to be shot down by a state Supreme Court acting at the behest of Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and her political allies, and a 2022 legalization initiative was narrowly defeated at the polls.

Now, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws has filed initial papers for a 2024 legalization initiative. This measure would legalize the possession of up to two ounces by people 21 and over and allow for the home cultivation of up to six plants. The initial draft contains no mention of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce.

The public now has until August 21 to comment on the draft. Once state authorities have okayed petitions for circulation, supporters will need 17,509 valid voter signatures by May 7, 2024 to qualify for the 2024 ballot.

Drug Policy

National Governors Association Releases Roadmap for Tackling Drug Overdose Epidemic. The National Governors Association (NGA) released a roadmap to help support Governors and state officials in developing policy solutions to address unprecedented opioid overdose rates. Titled Implementing Best Practices Across the Continuum of Care to Prevent Overdose, the roadmap outlines concrete solutions across the full spectrum of health services: foundations, prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.

Developed in coordination with the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, the roadmap is based on the contributions of more than 30 subject matter experts and 20 states and territories -- providing Governors with 17 specific, actionable recommendations to prevent overdose across five pillars of the Substance Use Disorder Continuum of Care.

An update to NGA's 2016 roadmap, the new publication reflects the evolving nature of the ongoing drug overdose epidemic and includes strategies specific to the rise of illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The roadmap highlights 10 states' initiatives that exemplify best practices and innovative strategies in overdose prevention.

Vivek Ramaswamy Breaks with GOP Pack on Drug Decriminalization. Republican presidential nomination contender Vivek Ramaswamy is creating some space in a crowded field by edging away from the Republican consensus on a hardline drug policy. While on the campaign trail, he has frequently addressed issues around the war on drugs and the toll of fentanyl overdose deaths.

"You don't hear me talk about the war on drugs. I'm not a war on drugs person," Ramaswamy said while appearing at an event in New Hampshire in June. "I am probably the only person in the modern history" of the party to talk about "off ramps" for people trying to get off drugs, including the use of "psychedelics, from ayahuasca to ketamine," he said.

"I'm eyes wide open and willing to be bold in crossing boundaries we haven't yet crossed to address the demand side of this as well," Ramaswamy said. "I think in the long run, and I'm talking about over a long run period of time, decriminalization, serially, is an important part of the long run solution here… That's gotta be part of the solution," he later added.

Similarly, last month, he said that rather than being "a war on drugs guy," he was "actually a path to legalization guy for a lot of different drugs, and a path to reasonable decriminalization. Many veterans are dying of fentanyl. I think fewer would be dying if there was access to ayahuasca, if there was access, legal access, to psychedelics more broadly. We can talk about, we can have a reasonable conversation about ketamine and others. So, I'm in that direction," he said.

He also argued that marijuana should be decriminalized now. "We got to catch up with the times. It's not a popular position in the Republican Party, but I'd just, again, I guess I'm going to speak the truth. Whether you vote for me or not is your choice. I think the time has come to decriminalize it," he said.

International

Peru, US Revive Air Security Agreement to Combat Drug Trafficking. The government of President Dina Boluarte has announced an air security agreement with the US that aims to prevent drug smuggling aircraft from entering Peruvian airspace. The agreement revives a bilateral security agreement with the US that was ended 20 years ago after Peruvian fighter jets downed a civilian aircraft with American missionaries aboard, killing one missionary and her infant daughter.

It will different this time, said Peruvian Defense Minister Jorge Chaves, who emphasized that any interdictions of aircraft under the agreement will be carried out through nonlethal means.

"With this, Peru will be able to exercise and use non-lethal air interdiction. Drug gangs and cartels are notified," said Alberto Otárola Peñaranda, President of the Council of Ministers. "The country will start an intense fight against the entry of illegal planes that violate our sky. We will act without contemplation to intercept them," he stressed.

Swiss Court Rules That Small Amounts of Drugs Should No Longer Be Confiscated. The Federal Tribunal, the country's highest court, ruled recently that people caught with "small amounts" of illicit drugs should be able to keep them. The decision came in a marijuana case, but is likely to also be applied to other drugs, such as cocaine, according to Swiss legal experts.

It is unclear, however, what "small amounts" means for different drugs. And it is important that the different cantons develop coordinated definitions and approaches since they are the government units that will implement the changes.

(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.)

Supreme Court Puts Hold on Sackler OxyContin Settlement, Ecuador Killing Linked to Drug Gangs, More... (8/11/23)

The NAACP reiterates its call for marijuana legalization and adds a call for workers' rights, Ron DeSantis doubles down on harsh rhetoric directed at Mexican drug cartels, and more.

OxyContin (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

NAACP Renews Support for Marijuana Legalization, Adds Call to Protect Industry Workers' Rights. That National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has adopted a resolution reiterating its support for federal marijuana legalization and added a new call to protect workers' rights in the fledgling industry. The resolution was adopted late last month at the NAACP's 114th National Convention.

"NAACP calls for the legalization and de-scheduling of cannabis at the federal level and reaffirms its past resolutions on cannabis, the cannabis industries, decriminalization, and equity, and expresses an intent to advocate for federal, state, and local medical and adult-use cannabis legislation that includes labor peace agreements as a condition of licensure," the resolution says.

In the call to protect workers' rights, the resolution points out that "the majority of people in the cannabis industry will be workers rather than owners" and advocates that "the workers who grow, process, test, distribute, and sell cannabis deserve a fair and safe workplace and family-sustaining job like every other worker."

And that means union representation, the resolution said: "Access to union representation, training and apprenticeship will help ensure that a broad range of workers can benefit from the cannabis industry, especially workers from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition in the past," it says.

Opiates and Opioids

Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal that Protects Sackler Family. The US Supreme Court on Thursday put a hold on a bankruptcy deal with Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, that capped liability for the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, at $6 billion and would have shielded family members from any further civil lawsuits over the opioid epidemic sparked by the introduction and massive marketing of OxyContin.

The Supreme Court issued the order in response to a Justice Department filing objecting to the settlement. The department argued that it allowed Sackler family members to hide behind legal protections meant for debtors in "financial distress," not billionaires. It said it would hear arguments in December to seek whether the settlement complies with the US bankruptcy code.

Under the deal, the Sacklers had agreed to pay billions in exchange for full immunity from all civil cases. The Supreme Court's order is likely to delay payments to the thousands of plaintiffs who have sued Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers.

Foreign Policy

Ron DeSantis Says He Is Open to Using Drones Against Mexican Drug Cartels. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has once again identified Mexican drug cartels as one of his favorite targets as he seeks to gain traction against former President Donald Trump. At a campaign event in Iowa Thursday, he said he would be open to using drone strikes against Mexican drug cartels.

"We will absolutely reserve the right if they're invading our country and killing our people," DeSantis said in response to a voter's question. When asked to clarify, he said: "I said I would use whatever force we need to defend the country. We'd be willing to lean in against them, and we reserve the right to defend our country," he added.

Earlier in the campaign, DeSantis called for the use of deadly force against migrants suspected of trafficking drugs, a call he reiterated Thursday. "We're authorizing deadly force. They try to break into our country? They will end up stone-cold dead," he said to a rousing round of applause.

International

Ecuador Presidential Candidate's Assassination Linked to Local Drug Gangs with Ties to International Drug Trafficking Organizations. Anti-corruption crusader, journalist, and former legislator Fernando Villavicencio was shot and killed at a campaign event in Quito Tuesday evening not long after receiving threats from local gangs tied to Albanian, Colombian, and Mexican drug cartels.

The assassination came amid a rising tide of violence linked to conflicts betwee two gangs, Los Choneros and Los Lobos. Los Choneros are linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, while Los Lobos have ties to competing international drug organizations. In recent months, judges, prosecutors, journalists, politicians and political candidates have been killed in gang attacks, with the mayor of the western city of Manta assassinated just two weeks ago. Gang-related violence has also roiled the country's overcrowded prisons, with some 600 inmates killed in three separate bouts of prison rioting.

Ecuador is not a producer of cocaine, but is bordered by leading producer countries Colombia to the north and Peru to the south and is an increasingly important transshipment point for cocaine headed to North America and Western Europe.

"The killing of Fernando Villavicencio is a wake-up call for Ecuador's democracy," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The rise of organized crime is putting the lives of Ecuadorians and their institutions at risk. Urgent, rights-respecting security policies are needed to protect them effectively."

In response to the violence, President Guillermo Lasso has declared a range of localized states of emergencies, suspending constitutional rights. The government has also deployed the military and conducted prison raids. After the killing of Villavicencio, Lasso expanded the state of emergency across the entire country.

But Human Rights Watch said what the country needs is to address the root causes of criminality, including high levels of poverty and social exclusion. The authorities should seek to permanently reduce the power of organized crime groups, including by considering alternative approaches to drug policy that would reduce the profitability of the illegal drug trade, the group said.

"The ongoing states of emergency have not made Ecuadorians safer," Goebertus said. "The government needs to put in place an effective and legitimate security policy that protects them and seeks to dismantle organized crime groups.

(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.)

Chronicle Book Review: When Crack Was King

When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey (2023, One World Press, 427 pp., $30 HB)

Black journalist Donovan X. Ramsey grew up in Columbus, Ohio, in the crack-dominated 1980s and 1990s, where he learned "crackhead" as an insult before he even knew what it meant. One reason he didn't know what it meant was because no one in the community talked openly about the drug crisis ripping through Columbus and other cities across the country after crack took off in the early '80s.

Later, that silence struck him as weird. "It was like growing up in a steel town where nobody talked about steel," he writes in When Crack Was King. After establishing himself as a freelance journalist whose credits include the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic and Ebony, Ramsey set out to chronicle the crack epidemic of his youth. Five years and hundreds of interviews later, this book is the result.

One place where Ramsey makes an invaluable contribution is in setting the stage for the arrival of crack. He writes about the victories and promise of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and how, as the country began exporting manufacturing jobs abroad in the 1970s and '80s, the Black vision of achieving the American dream turned to grief and despair. It wasn't just declining economic prospects, though; it was a determined political counterattack led by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan that, based on Nixon's 1968 Southern strategy, demonized the Black community, unleashing our decades-long experiment with mass incarceration and filling prisons with Black bodies.

Grief and despair may have weakened Black defenses against crack and made it all to easy to slip into the drug's intense embrace -- and crack addiction ruined the lives of countless people -- but it was the flipside of grief and despair that make the crack trade so attractive to so many. With the civil rights revolution of the 1960s came aspirations toward Black upward mobility, as evidenced by popular culture programming such as Fresh Prince of Belair, The Jeffersons, and the Cosby Show, and in Black neighborhoods across the country where good jobs were vanishing, involvement in the crack trade offered not only upward mobility and its outward signs -- expensive cars, gold chains, high-dollar sneakers, and the like -- but for many in the industry, the more basic goal of finding enough money to put food on the table. If grief and despair drove use, envy and foreclosed opportunity drove the corner rock-slingers and those who rose above them into the trade.

As Ramsey narrates the history of crack, When Crack Was King provides a useful corrective to the hysterical coverage the drug got amidst the epidemic. He demolishes the notions of "crack babies" and "super predators," and exposes "crack heads" as real human beings with problems, not zombie harbingers of the apocalypse. And he dissects the draconian drugs laws passed amid the moral panic around the death of basketball star Len Bias -- laws that led to tens of thousands of Black men and women disappearing behind bars for years or decades. If crack decimated inner city neighborhoods, so did the war on crack.

(As for crack destroying the inner city, comedian Chris Rock had something to say about that: "Crack is everywhere, crack everywhere… you know what they say? 'Crack is destroying the black community.' 'Crack is destroying the ghetto.' Yeah, like the ghetto was so nice before crack! They say that shit like everybody had at least a mansion, a yacht and a swimming pool… then crack came by and dried it all up!)

One of the more unique and enrichening features of When Crack Was King is Ramsey's use of the stories of four survivors of the crack era to paint a deeper portrait of the drug's impact. We meet Lennie Woodley, a girl from a broken family in South Central Los Angeles, where factory jobs had fled, leaving "gangbangers, hustlers, and pimps" to fill the vacuum. Fleeing sexual abuse by an uncle, she took to the streets as a young teen, falling into a life of prostitution salved by crack addiction. It is not a pretty story, but it brings home some ugly realities.

We also meet Elgin Swift, a white kid from poor, multi-racial Yonkers, New York, whose dad was a crack addict and who slung rocks on the side to make enough money for food, bus fare, and other household essentials. He came through the crack era wounded but sound and, having parlayed his crack-selling skills toward more socially acceptable ends, now runs a chain of automotive dealerships.

And then there's Shawn McCray from the projects in Newark, whose basketball prowess got him into college and who barely escaped a prison sentence for selling crack when a judge showed him mercy. He stayed on the edges of the life, though, until dozens of his friends in the city's notorious Zoo Crew crack-selling machine were wrapped up and marched off to prison in a massive bust. After that, McCray walked away, turning his attention to youth athletics. He is now a major figure in Newark youth athletic programs.

Crack didn't destroy Elgin Swift or Shawn McCray, but the drug and society's response to it -- repression -- deeply impacted their lives.

And then there's Kurt Schmoke. Ramsey profiles the man who became the first Black mayor of Baltimore and who in 1988, in the midst of the crack wars, became the first major politician to call for drug decriminalization. That hasn't happened yet (except in Oregon), but Ramsey holds him up not only as a profile in courage but in pragmatism. Schmoke may not have achieved decrim, but he delivered the first major blow to the drug war paradigm by speaking out. (And he managed to get city-sponsored needle exchanges going in 1994)

A heady mix of urban ethnography, social history, and political and cultural critique, When Crack Was King is a worthy addition to the literature of the drug.

San Francisco Jail Being Filled with Drug Law Violators, Partisan Gap in Support for Legal Weed, More... (8/9/23)

The man who was once Colombia's most powerful cocaine traffickers gets decades in US prison, New Hampshire will study the state liquor store model for potential legal marijuana sales, and more.

Open-air drug scene in San Francisco's Tenderloin. There is a crackdown going on. (AdamChandler86)
Marijuana Policy

Gallup Poll Now Has Republican Majority for Marijuana Legalization but Partisan Gap Remains. New polling data from Gallup on partisanship among the American electorate shows that a majority of Republicans -- 55 percent -- now support marijuana legalization, but Democrats supported it at a much higher level -- 83 percent. Support among independents was not measured.

While Democrats have historically been more likely to be legalization supporters, the partisan gap has widened over the past decade because support among Democrats has risen much faster than among Republicans. Overall, though, support for legalization among all Americans remain near or at an all-time high -- with majorities of self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all backing legalization.

New Hampshire Governor Signs Bill for Commission to Study State Marijuana Sales. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has signed into law House Bill 611, which will create a commission to study on how the state could handle legal marijuana sales in a way similar to the state liquor store model already in place in the Granite State.

"New Hampshire has an opportunity to safely regulate the sale of marijuana with a model few others can provide," Sununu said. "By establishing a commission to study state-controlled sales, this bill will bring stakeholders from across New Hampshire together to ensure that preventing negative impacts upon kids remains our number one priority."

The state-control model of cannabis legalization the governor favors was met with widespread skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature earlier this year, but the legislature has failed to pass any form of legalization so far.

Drug Policy

Former Leader of Colombia's Gulf Clan Cartel Sentenced to 45 Years in US Prison. On Wednesday, Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, known by various aliases, including "Otoniel," a citizen of Colombia, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry to 45 years’ imprisonment for engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise as a leader of the multibillion-dollar paramilitary and drug trafficking organization known as the "Clan del Golfo" (CDG -- the Gulf Clan).

Úsuga David was also sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment for engaging in a maritime narcotics conspiracy and 45 years' imprisonment for engaging in a narcotics importation conspiracy. The sentences will run concurrently. As part of the sentence, the Court ordered Úsuga David to pay $216 million in forfeiture. The defendant pleaded guilty to all three charges in January 2023.

Úsuga David controlled an armed force of about 1,800 men, mainly recruited from former rightist paramilitary groups and operated Colombia's biggest drug trafficking organization until his arrest in 2021 by the government of Conservative then-President Ivan Duque. He was then extradited to the US to face charges, although there are also suggestions that he was extradited to avoid having him answer questions that could link rightist paramilitaries to Conservative Party politicians.

"Otoniel led one of the largest cocaine trafficking organizations in the world, where he directed the exportation of massive amounts of cocaine to the United States and ordered the ruthless execution of Colombian law enforcement, military officials, and civilians," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. "This sentence sends a clear message: the Justice Department will find and hold accountable the leaders of deadly drug trafficking organizations that harm the American people, no matter where they are and no matter how long it takes."

San Francisco Jail Population Jumps as Drug Arrests Mount. For the first time in years, the jail population in the city has hit the 1,000 mark, driven largely by a renewed emphasis on drug arrests. The average daily jail population was 1,277 in 2019 and dropped to 850 in 2020 amidst the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Even though crime reports in the city are down slightly over last year, drug arrests are up a dramatic 36 percent, especially since the city launched an initiative on May 30 to arrest people for public drug use. That push tipped the jail population past the 1,000 mark; it hit 1,001 on Tuesday.

David Mauroff, executive director of a nonprofit called the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, which provides resources to people who are awaiting criminal trial, said the increase in arrests has squeezed his organization's ability to properly serve clients.

"The city has now decided that arrest, prosecution and incarceration is the answer to our public safety issues," Mauroff said. "It's been demonstrated by volumes of research and science that the war on drugs failed."

Drug arrests are not the only thing fueling the jail population jump. The Public Defender's Office has been holding sit-in all summer to protest court backlogs that have denied more than 1,100 people the right to a speedy trial. The office said 115 people have been held in jail for months or even years past their speedy trial deadlines.

OH Legal Weed Initiative Hands in Final Signatures, Brazil Drug Raids Leave 45 Dead, More... (8/3/23)

It looks like Ohioans will get to vote on marijuana legalization this year, Singapore hangs yet another drug offender, and more.

Cocaine -- an Australian lawmaker says legalize it. Black market cocaine also finances conflict in Colombia. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign Hands in Final Signatures. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has handed in an additional 6,545 raw signatures after it came up 679 valid voter signatures short in its initial round of signature gathering. That should guarantee that their proposed marijuana legalization initiative will be on the November 2023 ballot.

"Today, our Coalition submitted 6,545 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State, well above the 679 required to get on the ballot this November. I cannot express our thanks enough to everyone who came out to support this effort," said coalition spokesperson Tom Hare. "This submission validates what we've said all along: Regulating marijuana is popular in Ohio," he said. "We're looking forward to giving Ohio voters a chance to make their voices heard at the ballot this fall."

Under the initiative, people 21 and over can purchase and possess up to 2 ½ ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants, or 12 plants per household. The initiative also envisions a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce with a 10 percent tax on sales.

The initiative would need 50 percent of the vote plus one to win. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll last month had support at 58.6 percent.

International

Australia New South Wales Lawmaker Calls for Cocaine Legalization. In the wake of a series of high-profile shootings and killings in Sydney in the past month, a New South Wales Green member of the state parliament is calling for cocaine legalization.

"The worst thing for the drug lords right now would be a legal market, that's what they would fear the most," MP Cate Faehrmann said on Tuesday. "The war on drugs has well and truly failed. We're just doing the same thing day in day out. I think the only people who think that what we're doing is good is the criminals themselves."

The comments come as the Labor Party plans to hold a drug summit in the near future. In the meantime, NSW Liberal Party Shadow Health Minister Matt Kean said calls for legalization undermined the efforts of police and argued that policymakers' focus should be on "strong law and order policies."

Brazil Police Raids Kill At Least 45 People in Past Week. In a series of raids against drug trafficking gangs carried out after the killing of a police officer a little more than a week ago, police have killed at least 45 people. Ten were killed in the Complexo da Penha favela in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, 19 were killed in clashed with military police between Friday and Monday in Salvador, and the death toll has risen to 16 in an ongoing operation in the Baixada Santista region of Sao Paulo.

Human rights groups denounced the action in Baixada Santista as a revenge-motivated massacre, with residents also reporting threats and cases of torture.

"What happened in Guarujá was a massacre. The deaths were deliberate… The state of São Paulo must contain this wave of violence," said Dimitri Sales, president of the state council on the defense of human rights (Condepe).

The raids are all part of something called Operation Shield, which is aimed at the drug trade. The governor of Sao Paulo has said the operations were "clean" and that all the victims were suspected criminals, sparking even more concern from human rights groups.

"It is extremely concerning that the governor and security secretary declare that there were no [human rights] abuses before an investigation is even held… [This] is effectively an endorsement of arbitrary practices," said Oscar Vilhena, a lawyer and member of the Arns Commission, a human rights organization.

Colombia Signs Truce Agreement with National Liberation Army. The left-leaning government of President Gustavo Petro and the leftist guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional -- ELN) began a six-month truce Thursday, marking the beginning of an effort to reach a permanent peace agreement with the country's last remaining rebel group.

The government reached a peace agreement with the leftist guerrillas of the FARC, a much larger force, back in 2017, but FARC dissidents remain in the field. Like the ELN and rightist paramilitaries, all of the groups are involved in the lucrative cocaine trade.

More than 450,000 Colombians are estimated to have been killed in the multi-sided conflict that has gone on since the 1960s, much of it financed by the cocaine trade. The ceasefire is supposed to end attacks between guerrillas and Colombian security forces and can be extended in January if progress is made during peace negotiations.

Singapore Executes Third Drug Offender in Little More Than a Week. For the third time in less than 10 days, Singapore has executed a person convicted of a drug offense. Mohamed Shalleh Abdul Latiff, 39, was hanged at Changi Prison for trafficking under two ounces of heroin.

Mohamed Shalleh's hanging comes only days after authorities in the city-state executed Saridewi Binte Djamani, 45, and Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, 57, for drug trafficking, prompting an outcry from the United Nations and human rights organizations. At least 16 people have been hanged for drug offenses since Singapore ended a pandemic-related moratorium on the death penalty.

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