Oklahoma's governor vetoes a medical marijuana regulation bill, Texas's governor signs into law a bill allowing murder prosecutions for fentanyl overdose deaths, and more.

Texas will now allow prosecutors to seek murder charges in cases of fentanyl overdoses. (Creative Commons)

Oklahoma Governor Vetoes Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has vetoed a bill that would have imposed more regulations on the state's medical marijuana industry, Senate Bill 437. Among other provisions, the bill would have required the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to maintain a registry of physicians recommending medical marijuana and would have required dispensary workers to comply with continuing education requirements. Stitt did not issue a veto message or give any other indication of why he vetoed the bill.

Opiates and Opioids

Texas Governor Signs into Law Bill Allowing Murder Charges for Fentanyl-Related Overdose Deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday signed into law House Bill 6, which increases penalties for selling and distributing fentanyl and allows prosecutors to seek murder charges for fentanyl makers or sellers if someone dies as a result of a fentanyl overdose.

"Fentanyl is an epidemic that very simply, is taking too many lives," Abbott said during the bill signing ceremony. "Because of the courageous partnership of grieving family members Texas legislators and our office, we are enshrining into law today new protections that will save lives in Texas."

The legislature's commitment to saving lives of fentanyl users only goes so far, though. A bill that would have legalized fentanyl test strips died in the Senate after passing the House.

Psychedelics

Rhode Island House Approves Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill. The House on Monday approved House Bill 5923, which would decriminalize the possession of personal use amounts of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms. The bill would also allow for the therapeutic use of psilocybin to treat chronic mental disorders if the Food & Drug Administration approves it.

"This is a step toward addressing mental health treatment in a modern way based on evidence and research," said bill sponsor Rep. Brandon Potter (D). "Psilocybin can be used safely, both recreationally and therapeutically, and for our veterans and neighbors who are struggling with chronic PTSD, depression and addiction, it can be a valuable treatment tool. Adults in our state deserve the freedom to decide for themselves and have access to every treatment possible, rather than have our state criminalize a natural, non-addictive, effective remedy."

The bill would allow people to possess up to one ounce of psychedelic mushrooms or grow mushrooms containing psilocybin at home for personal use. It would also require the Rhode Island Department of Health to create rules for the use of psychedelic mushrooms.

Companion legislation, Senate Bill 0806, awaits action in the Senate.

Asset Forfeiture

House Judiciary Committee Approves Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved HR 1525, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, clearing the way for a House floor vote on the measure.

Sponsored by Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Tim Walberg (R-MI), the act would increase the burden of proof on law enforcement and prosecutors to show that the seized property is related to criminal activity. It would also shorten the time authorities have to return seized goods. And it eliminates administrative forfeiture, forcing law enforcement to seek a court order before seizing property.

"This can create a perverse incentive to seize and sell the private property of potentially innocent citizens to increase agency revenues, despite some states' efforts to protect property rights," Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said. "The result is a system that unjustly infringes on the liberties of innocent American citizens."

American truckers are fed up with marijuana prohibition and testing policies, Rhode Island expunges 23,000 pot possession records, and more.

Still from the video showing Mexican soldiers detaining, then executing drug suspects.

Amid Industry Labor Shortage Worsened by Marijuana Drug Testing, Truckers Say Legalize It. An analysis of marijuana testing policies in the trucking industry conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) finds that a strong majority of truckers say federal marijuana laws need to change and most say that current marijuana testing policies are driving truckers out of the industry.

"More than half of all positive trucking industry drug tests are for marijuana metabolite," which can stay in a person's systems for weeks after consuming, the report, published on Monday, says. Federal prohibition "has been highlighted as a potential disincentive for drivers to stay in the industry, and it has even been argued that loosening the restrictions on marijuana use would make the industry more attractive and widen the potential labor pool."

The report found that 72.4 percent of licensed drivers support "loosening" cannabis laws and testing policies, while another 66.5 percent said that marijuana should be federally legalized. Also, 65.4 percent of motor carriers believe that current marijuana testing procedures should be replaced with methods that measure active impairment -- not the presence of metabolites, which stay in the system long after any impairment has ceased.

New York Attempts Crackdown on Unlicensed Weed Sales. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Thursday the launch of a multi-agency initiative to stop the sale of marijuana at unlicensed storefronts. They have popped up by the hundreds in the interregnum between the state legalizing weed and the still extremely limited advent of licensed adult use marijuana sales.

The state Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance conducted inspections of storefront businesses not licensed to sell marijuana and issued notices of violation and orders to cease unlicensed activity.

"New York is proud to have undertaken the most equitable legal cannabis roll-out in the nation and the State will not stand idle as unlicensed operators break the law and sell untested products to underage New Yorkers," Gov. Hochul said. "These enforcement actions are critical steps to protect and help those individuals who were promised a shot to start a legal business and be successful. Additionally, these unlicensed operators undermine the State's efforts to generate substantial funds for a social equity fund that will go into the communities that have been hardest hit by over-prosecution of the cannabis laws in the past."

Hochul signed legislation allowing for these expanded enforcement actions against unlicensed marijuana businesses to take place. The legislation allows the Office of Cannabis Management to give out civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses with fines of up to $20,000 a day. It also makes it a crime to sell cannabis and cannabis products without a license.

Rhode Island Expunges 23,000 Pot Possession Charges. State court officials announced Thursday that they had complied with the state's new marijuana legalization law by expunging more than 23,000 pot possession cases. That law not only legalized marijuana, it provided for the automatic expungement of pot possession charges -- but not charges for growing or selling weed.

"The automatic expungement of marijuana charges has been an organizational feat," said State Court Administrator Julie P. Hamil. "There has been coordination at every level of the Judiciary to execute this process in a timely and holistic fashion."

International

Video of Mexican Army Executing Drug Suspects Sparks Investigation. After a video posted on social media showed a group of soldiers pulling five men from a vehicle in Nuevo Laredo, then beating them before fatally shooting them, and then staging an apparently fake shoot-out and placing weapons near the bodies of the slain men in a bid to cover their tracks, Mexican authorities are now investigating the extrajudicial execution.

The military has been accused in numerous cases of kidnapping, torturing, or killing drug suspects, especially as it plays an ever greater role in prosecuting the country's war against violent drug cartels. But it has also had an aura of impunity, with soldiers rarely facing any consequences for brutal and illegal actions.

Now, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has weighed in, saying: "Apparently, there was an execution, which cannot be allowed. We are not the same as the previous governments. So, when there is abuse, when there is an excess, when human rights are violated, those responsible must be punished. And the process to deepen the investigation has already begun. There is no cover-up because we do not tolerate the violation of human rights."

Time will tell about that.

With final votes approving the House File 100 marijuana legalization bill in the House and Senate last week, Minnesota is only a governor's signature away from becoming the 23rd state to legalize marijuana and the second, after Delaware to do it this year. And in comments after the legislature sent him the bill, Gov. Tim Walz (D) has made it crystal clear that he will sign the bill into law -- with a "big" ceremony after Memorial Day.

Minnesota State Capitol (Pixabay)

"When the bill reaches my desk, Minnesota will become the 23rd state in the nation to legalize adult-use cannabis," Walz said. "It's going to take a while. We have to put the regime into place. We’ll have to make sure the licensing stands up. And what we've said is -- what you're going to have certainty about is -- is that you're going to know what the product you're buying is, there's going to be a regulated, safe environment and we're going to be able to stand that up," he vowed.

As for phased legalization, with the August date for the end of pot prohibition and legal commerce beginning after regulators set up a system, "I think the legislature did a smart thing here," Walz said. "I think this is what Minnesotans expect. We've seen it in other states that it worked. We have the advantage of learning from what they did."

The state is moving quickly. The Office of Cannabis Management, which will be the regulator but which has not even been officially formed yet, already has its own web site. It contains information for recreational marijuana users, medical marijuana patients, people who want to get into the industry, and people seeking information about expungements. "We're going to be working on the expungements to get people back to where they should have been, and then we will set up the infrastructure to make sure that we're licensing and regulating the dispensaries," Walz said.

"We've been working on this for about four years, talking to people in Vermont and Colorado. We want to make it a smooth transition. But I think the biggest thing is that, on August 1, just making sure we're not going to spend precious dollars in our policing focusing on possession of cannabis, rather than looking at other crimes we should be working on," he said. "It just takes a little bit of time. We'll implement it. We'll get it in. And I think this is the direction Minnesota wanted us to go."

Under the bill (about to become law), people 21 and over will be able to possess up to two ounces in public as of August 1. They will also be able to grow up to eight plants at home, four of which can be in flowering, and they can possess up to two pounds of the fruits of their harvest at home. People can also transfer up to two ounces without remuneration to other adults.

Also beginning August 1, certain misdemeanor marijuana records will be automatically expunged. A new bureaucratic entity, the Cannabis Expungement Board, will also consider some marijuana felonies for relief, including potential sentence cuts for those still behind bars.

The legal marijuana commerce is expected to take between a year and 18 months to get up and running with licenses issued and sales underway by then. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to get combination licenses to compete in the adult use market as of March 1, 2025.

Cities and counties cannot ban legal marijuana businesses, but they can impose "reasonable" regulations. They can also chose to operate their own dispensaries, like a state liquor store.

Retail marijuana sales will be taxed at 16.875 percent, which adds a 10 percent pot tax to the state's 6.875 percent sales tax. Four-fifths of marijuana tax and fee revenue will go to the state's general fund, with some funds earmarked for grants to marijuana businesses and drug treatment efforts. The other 20 percent will go to local governments.

The law will also allow onsite consumption for special events, as well as marijuana delivery services.

The new law will attempt to address equity concerns by scoring applicants higher if they live in low-income neighborhoods, have marijuana convictions or family members with them, or are military veterans with less than an honorable discharge because of a marijuana-related offense.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is liking what it is seeing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

"The majority of Minnesota voters support repealing marijuana prohibition and replacing this failed policy with legalization and regulation," NORML's Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. "Passage of this legislation is the result of years of grassroots activism by consumers and stakeholders, including Minnesota NORML. In fact, the impetus for the formation of Minnesota NORML was based upon a police raid and resulting marijuana arrest. These sorts of destructive actions are now poised to come to an end in Minnesota."

And perhaps that can be a lesson to the state's prohibitionist neighbors in the Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Minnesota is one Senate vote away from legalizing marijuana, the RESTORE Act gets reintroduced, and more.

Minnesota House Gives Final Approval to Marijuana Legalization Bill. The House on Friday voted to approve a marijuana legalization bill that is a conference committee compromise of House and Senate versions of the legislation. The Senate could vote on the bill as soon as later today. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz will sign it into law once it reaches his desk. The final agreement sets possession limits at two ounces for flowers and allows for the home cultivation of up to eight plants, four or which can be mature. The measures also include the automatic review and expungement of certain marijuana-related offenses and sets up a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce. Retail sales will be taxed at 10 percent and on-site consumption will be allowed at permitted events. The two marijuana bills are Senate File 73 and House File 100.

Drug Policy

RESTORE Act Introduced in Congress to Lift SNAP Felony Drug Ban. The RESTORE Act -- legislation that would immediately repeal the lifetime federal ban on individuals with felony drug convictions from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- was introduced Thursday in the Senate by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and in the House by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) with Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL) as a cosponsor. Initial Senate cosponsors include Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN).

In 1996, Congress imposed the lifetime SNAP ban as a part of the welfare legislation signed by President Clinton. Although states can opt-out of enforcing this ban, state policymakers must affirmatively do so, and 22 states continue to limit SNAP eligibility for people with felony drug convictions. The RESTORE (Re-Entry Support Through Opportunities for Resources and Essentials) Act fully repeals this federal ban and eliminates the ability of states to continue to deny SNAP eligibility due to a felony drug conviction. The legislation also codifies a USDA administrative waiver to SNAP state agencies that allows individuals to apply for SNAP 30 days prior to their release from incarceration.

Over 150 organizations have endorsed the RESTORE Act, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Alliance To End Hunger, and the American Public Health Association.

Harm Reduction

Minnesota Governor Signs Bill Legalizing Drug Paraphernalia, Residue, Testing, and Syringe Services. Gov Tim Walz (DFL) has signed into law an omnibus criminal justice and public safety bill that includes provisions legalizing the possession of drug paraphernalia, clarifying that small amounts of drug residue are no longer a basis for a drug possession charge, authorizing "syringe service centers" that can do needle exchanges, give referrals to treatment to mental health and social services, test for blood-borne pathogens, and removing statute language that currently prohibits possession of products use for "testing the strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance."