Medical marijuana is killed in Kansas but survives in Kentucky, cocaine production hits an all-time high, and more.

The border "bomb" turned out to be a ball stuffed with sand wrapped in duct tape. (CBP)

Kansas GOP Lawmakers Kill Medical Marijuana Bill. Medical marijuana is dead for this session after Republicans in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee voted to "table" the medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 135. Both Democrats on the committee voted to keep the bill alive. The vote came after two days of hearings on the bill, including a full opposition slate of Republican state leaders, health officials, and law enforcement on Thursday.

Kentucky Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill. On the last day to keep the bill alive, the Senate voted Thursday to approve a medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 47. The bill allows for the use of medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions, but does not allow for smokeable marijuana. It does set up a system of taxed and regulated medical marijuana production and sales. The House could vote on the bill when the legislature returns for a one-day session at the end of the month.

Foreign Policy

Marjorie Taylor Greene Claims Cartels Left Bomb at Border; It Was a Ball of Sand. MAGA political arsonist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told her two million Twitter followers Wednesday that Mexican drug cartels had planted bombs on US soil at the border to terrorize Americans and kill or injure Border Patrol agents. She posted a picture of what turned out to be a ball stuffed with sand and covered with duct tape and claimed it was "explosive" and a "bomb," adding that "this changes everything" and calling on the US military to "take action" and "end this Cartel led war against America!" But Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz quickly shot down Greene's incendiary claim, tweeting that "During a Jan. briefing, leadership was notified that Agents found a duct-taped ball filled with sand that wasn't deemed a threat to agents/public." Greene has not deleted her post and instead doubled-down on her theory in response to the fact check. "That’s not what the border patrol agents are telling me," she retorted on Twitter. But the "bomb" is still just a bag of sand.

Harm Reduction

Mississippi Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Decriminalization Bill into Law. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has signed into law House Bill 722, which decriminalizes fentanyl test strips by removing them from the state's definition of drug paraphernalia. Use of the strips is aimed primarily at reducing drug overdoses by letting users know what is in their drug supply. As Reeves signed the bill into law, he could not resist taking a jab at the Biden administration: "I’ve signed HB 722 which decriminalizes fentanyl testing strips," he said. "It’s a sad reality that fentanyl overdoses are skyrocketing as a result of an open border." In reality, .fentanyl's role in fatal drug overdoses began about a decade ago and has increased steadily through both the Trump and the Biden administrations.

International

Cocaine Production at Highest Level Ever, UNODC Says. In a new report, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) finds that cocaine production is at its highest level ever as demand rebounded after the pandemic and new trafficking hubs emerged. Production rose a whopping 35 percent between 2021 and 2022, at least in part because of innovations in cultivating the coca plant and in converting coca leaf into cocaine. "The Covid-19 pandemic had a disruptive effect on drug markets. With international travel severely curtailed, producers struggled to get their product to market. Night clubs and bars were shut as officials ramped up their attempts to control the virus, causing demand to slump for drugs like cocaine," the report said. "However, the most recent data suggests this slump has had little impact on longer-term trends. The global supply of cocaine is at record levels," it said. UNODC said nearly 2,000 tons of cocaine were produced in 2020, a continuation of a "dramatic uptick in manufacture that began in 2014, when the total was less than half of today’s levels."

Last Year Saw a Surge in Drug Executions Worldwide. The number of people executed for drug offenses surged in 2022, according to a new report from drug policy reform group Harm Reduction International (HRI). The 1 cited at least 285 executions for drug offenses last year, more than double the 131 people executed in 2021. The number of people being handed out death sentences for drug offenses also grew, with at least 303 people in 18 countries facing the ultimate sanction. That is a 28 percent increase over 2021. The number of people currently on death row for drugs globally is now more than 3,700. HRI warned that the figures are low-balled because of the extreme secrecy surrounding the death penalty in countries that frequently resort to it, such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam.  

Nevada lawmakers filed a bill to legalize magic mushrooms, bipartisan senators file a federal asset forfeiture reform bill, and more.

Mexican President Lopez Obrador flatly rejects calls from GOP lawmakers for US military force in Mexico. (Creative Commons)

Delaware House Passes Legal Marijuana Regulation Bill. The House on Thursday voted 27-13 to approve House Bill 2, which would set up a regulatory framework for adult-use marijuana sales. The move comes just days after the House approved House Bill 1, which would legalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults. Last year, the legislature passed marijuana legalization, only to see it vetoed by Gov. John Carney (D). This year, however, HB 1 passed with a veto-proof majority, and HB 2 passed with one fewer vote with one member absent. That single vote is the difference between a veto-proof majority and a lack of one. The bills must now pass the Senate being going to the governor.

Psychedelics

Nevada Magic Mushroom Legalization Bill Filed. State Sens. Rochelle Nguyen (D) and Fabian Donate (D) filed Senate Bill 242 Thursday. The measure would legalize the possession of up to four ounces of fungi containing psilocybin or psilocyn, the hallucinogenic compounds in magic mushrooms. The bill would also allow a research facility to ask for state approval to study the therapeutic effects of magic mushrooms as well as MDMA for mental health conditions. The bill also has two joint sponsors in the lower chamber, Assemblymembers Max Carter (D) and Elaine Marzola (D). It is currently pending in the Senate Health and Humau Services Committee.

Asset Forfeiture

Bipartisan Federal Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed. US Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)  and Tim Walberg (R-MI) on Thursday reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act), a comprehensive reform to our nation's civil asset forfeiture laws. The FAIR Act raises the level of proof necessary for the federal government to seize property, reforms the IRS structuring statute to protect innocent small business owners, and increases transparency and congressional oversight. Joining Walberg and Raskin as original co-sponsors of the FAIR Act are Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Joe Neguse (D-CO). "The lawless seizure and ‘forfeiture’ of people’s private property by police officers is becoming standard operating procedure in many parts of the country," said Rep. Raskin. "We want to restore the presumption of innocence, fair judicial process, and the opportunity to be heard. I’m proud to introduce this important bipartisan legislation with my friend Rep. Walberg to rein in civil asset forfeiture and restore due process rights."

International

International Narcotics Control Board Warns on Marijuana Legalization. As it launched its annual report Thursday, the International Narcotics Control Board issued a press release emphasizing its concerns with marijuana legalization. "Moves by a small number of governments to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis have led to increased consumption without explaining the potentially serious health dangers that users face from the drug" the INCB warned. That is leading to "negative health effects and psychotic disorders," the drug watchdog continued. In all jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, data show that cannabis-related health problems have increased," INCB said. It pointed out that between 2000 and 2018, "global medical admissions related to cannabis dependence and withdrawal increased eight-fold. Admissions for cannabis-related psychotic disorders have quadrupled worldwide."

Mexico President Tells GOP Lawmakers Urging US Military Force Against Cartels in Mexico to Take a Hike. Aiming directly at Republican lawmakers who have urged the Biden administration to unleash the US military against Mexican drug cartels on their own territory, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday flatly rejected the notion. "We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene and much less foreign armed forces to intervene in our territory," López Obrador said, adding that he would ask Americans of Mexican and Hispanic origin not to vote for Republicans if their "aggression" continued. Lopez Obrador also downplayed Mexico's role in fentanyl production and said Americans needed to solve their drug problem on their side of the border. Pressure to do something about the cartels has only risen as the US overdose death toll has risen and was ratcheted up this week by the kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros, two of whom were shot and killed by members of a Gulf Cartel-affiliated gang. 

The Minnesota marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, so does a North Carolina medical marijuana bill, and more.

Products containing the unscheduled anti-depressant tianeptin, AKA "gas station heroin." (WZDK screen grab)

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins One More Committee Vote. The bill, House File 100, won its 10th House committee vote Tuesday, passing out of the House Finance and Policy Committee. Meanwhile, the companion bill in the Senate is before the Health and Human Services Committee, which acted on several amendments but ran out of time before finishing its work on the bill for the day.

Medical Marijuana

North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Senate. A year after the Senate approved a medical marijuana bill only to see it die in the House, the bill, Senate Bill 3, is back and moving again. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to two more committees, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Rules and Operations Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote. Although the House last year declined to take up the measure, the Republican House Speaker, Rep. Tim Moore, has suggested that the bill could pass with "the right restrictions." The bill would allow medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions and an advisory board could expand that list.  

Anti-Depressants

Mississippi Bill Would Ban Anti-Depressant Known as "Gas Station Heroin." The anti-depressant drug tianeptine, which works as an opioid agonist, is being sold as a "dietary supplement" in pill form in products such as Za Za and Tianaa. The drug is not sold as a pharmaceutical product or scheduled in the US, but a bill that would ban it, House Bill 4 has passed the House and is pending in the Senate. It would make it a schedule one drug, effectively banning it. Some state residents blame it for deaths, although it is unclear whether it is actually to blame.

Methamphetamine

Meth-Related Deaths Skyrocketed in Past 20 Years, But Most Also Involved Opioids. A new study from the University of Illinois finds that methamphetamine-related deaths increased a staggering 50-fold between 1999 and 2021, but that most of those deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl. In 1999, 608 deaths were attributed to meth. By 2021, the number had skyrocketed to nearly 52,400. In 2021, 61 percentof fatal meth overdoses also involved heroin or fentanyl, "The staggering increase in methamphetamine-related deaths in the United States is largely now driven by the co-involvement of street opioids," said lead researcher Rachel Hoopsick, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UI. "Mixing methamphetamine and opioids isn’t a new phenomenon. Although there has been an increase in the popularity of using these types of substances together, what has truly changed is the toxicity of the unregulated street drug supply, predominantly of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. I believe that this is the primary driver of the increase in deaths."

The North Dakota House kills an effort to allow medical marijuana patients to use edibles, a Republican congressman files a marijuana rescheduling bill, and more.

No medical marijuana edibles for you, North Dakota! (Creative Commons)

GOP Congressman Files Marijuana Rescheduling Bill. For the third Congress in a row, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has filed a bill that would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The measure, HR 610, says "the Attorney General of the United States shall, by order not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this section, transfer marijuana…from schedule I of such Act to schedule III of such Act." Such a move would not legalize marijuana, but would, Steube says, "drastically expand" opportunities for research and study.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins More Committee Votes. The marijuana legalization bill continues to move forward. The House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill, House File 100, on Tuesday, becoming the fifth House committee to do so. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill passed the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee on Monday, becoming the fourth Senate committee to do so. Lawmakers have said the bill could face as many as 12 committee votes, meaning the measure is currently three-fourths of the way home. Democrats hold majorities in both houses, as well as the governorship, and are confident the bill will pass and be signed into law in short order.

Medical Marijuana

North Dakota House Kills Bill to Allow Edibles. The House on Tuesday killed a pair of bills that would have made medical marijuana edibles legally available to patients. The House Human Services Committee had amended elements of House Bill 1202 and House Bill 1164 into HB 1202, but the full House killed HB 1202 on a 55-37 vote (it needed two-thirds to pass) and killed HB 1164 on a 20-72 vote. Under the initiative approved by voters in 2016, patients are limited to using dried buds or THC products such as concentrates and tinctures—not edibles. Bill supporters said edibles are a healthier and more accurate means of dosing medical marijuana, but the legislature wasn't listening.

International

Drug Possession is Now Decriminalized in Canada's British Columbia. An exemption to the country's federal drug laws that allows British Columbia to engage in a three-year experiment with drug decriminalization is now in effect. The move is an effort to fight the province's drug overdose crisis. BC accounts for about a third of all Canadian drug overdose deaths, with more than  10,000 overdose deaths in the province since 2016, more than 4,500 of them in the last two years. Under the decriminalization program, possession of up to 2.5 grams of substances such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine is no longer a criminal offense. Supporters of the program say it will reduce stigma and enable healthier outcomes for drug users.