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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.

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."

200 Familes Send Letter to Lawmakers Calling for a Health Response to ODs, Not Punishment [FEATURE]

In the face of the continuing overdose crisis and the regressive resort to punitive drug war tactics such as drug-induced homicide laws to combat it, a group of friends and family members of drug users, including many who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses, is calling on Congress to stand firm against looking to more criminalization and prosecution as a solution.

The people of Broken No More (broken-no-more.org_
In collaboration with the Drug Policy Alliance, the group, Broken No More, last week sent an open letter to lawmakers urging them to oppose more failed drug war policies and instead embrace evidence-based health responses proven to save lives and prevent other families from suffering the loss of loved ones.

"Opportunistic politicians supported by law enforcement are using the overdose crisis and parents’ grief to pass harsh drug laws that will only continue to fill our morgues and prisons," the open letter says. "Punitive laws will not bring our loved ones back, but they will subject other parents’ children to more suffering and deny them the support that can keep them alive.

The group makes concrete demands of Congress about what it does and does not want. It says "no more" to drug-induced homicide laws, new mandatory minimum sentencing laws, or new laws increasing penalties for the possession of personal use amounts of illicit drugs.

Instead, it calls for "health-based solutions focused on overdose prevention, harm reduction, and drug treatment," including drug decriminalization (with the savings invested in addiction services and social supports), the panoply of harm reduction measures from needle exchanges and drug checking to safe injection sites, effective voluntary drug treatment options (including access on demand for opioid disorder medications buprenorphine and methadone_, "reality based drug education," and removing civil punishments for drug use  (in food, housing, and employment).

"As a mother who lost her 16-year-old son to overdose, I strongly oppose imposing harsher penalties for those involved in drug-related deaths," said Tamara Olt, MD, executive director of Broken No More. "It is enough that one family has been devastated by the loss of their loved one. It is cruel and unjust for a second family to lose their child to incarceration and the laws will increase deaths by making people afraid to get help for someone experiencing an overdose. I support a health-based approach, harm reduction, and safer supply to cease the senseless and preventable overdose deaths that are increasing exponentially. No one is disposable."

"I lost my son, my only child, Jeff, to an overdose. But he didn’t have to die. There were two people with Jeff that day, one of whom had sold him the heroin he used. They could have called for help but, instead, they pulled him from the SUV and left him on a lawn. And while people will say that they were monsters, they weren’t. The monster was fear. Fear of the police. Fear of arrest. Fear of spending 20 years to life in prison. It was fear that killed my son," said Denise Cullen, LCSW, co-founder of Broken No More. "Criminalization and punitive drug laws have resulted in nothing but more imprisonment, more deaths, and more devastated families. We must, instead, invest in health-based solutions that will save the lives of the ones we love. Laws that charge people with murder for a drug-related death may sound like a good idea. Until that is, it’s your child that dies on a lawn."

"We stand behind the families who are bravely fighting for the right policy solutions so that no one else has to go through the heartbreak and pain they have experienced. Their voices are abundantly clear that the best way to address the overdose crisis is through continued investment in public health resources and services rather than doubling down on the deeply flawed, unjust, and failed punitive approaches of the past," said Emily Kaltenbach, senior director of state advocacy and criminal legal reform at the Drug Policy Alliance. "Turning to health solutions instead of punishment is the right way forward. People all across the country are looking for answers to the problems of public safety, mass criminalization, racist policing, addiction, overdose, and homelessness.  But we know that punishing people for possessing drugs for personal use is not the answer to these issues."

For a complete list of signatories go here. And it is not too late for other parents and family members who have lost loved ones to sign the letter here.

CA Assembly Approves Bill on Workers' Weed Rights, Aussie Decrim Fight, More... (9/14/23)

Philadelphia's city council takes preemptive steps to block dispensaries from transforming into adult-use retailers, New York regulators open the way for multistate operators to get into the retail weed business, and more.

Competition for New York marijuana retailer licenses is going to heat up. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

California Assembly Approves Bill to Stop Employers Asking About Past Marijuana Use. The Assembly on Wednesday approved Senate Bill 700, which would bar employers from asking job applicants about past marijuana use. The bill has already passed the Senate, but because of technical amendments made in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, it must go back to the Senate for a final concurrence vote.

"It is unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis," the bill says, although it lays out certain exceptions, such as for public safety-sensitive and law enforcement positions.

The measure builds on a law passed last year that bars employers from penalizing most workers for using marijuana in compliance with state law. That law makes it

unlawful for employers "to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing a person, if the discrimination is based upon" off-duty marijuana use or drug tests that reveal cannabinoid metabolites.

New York Regulators Open Adult-Use Retail Sales Licenses to Multistate Operators. The Office of Cannabis Management, which regulates legal marijuana in the state, voted Tuesday to allow state medical marijuana operators to apply for adult-use retail marijuana licenses, clearing the way for multistate operators to enter the largest weed market on the East Coast.

Multistate operators snapped up most of the 10 "registered organization" permits to seek the new licenses. The Office will accept applications for retail or microbusiness licenses from October 4 though December 23.

"Today marks a pivotal step toward expanding and sustaining the state’s medical program and creation of an economically viable and equitable adult-use cannabis industry in New York," said Barry Carmody, a spokesperson for the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association (NYMCIA).

Not everybody was as happy with the decision as NYMCIA. "Today’s Cannabis Control Board meeting opened the door for big cannabis to come in and compete with New York-based businesses," the Cannabis Association of New York (CANY), which represents small and state-based businesses, said in a statement.

Philadelphia City Council Overrides Mayor's Veto of Bill to Block Medical Marijuana Dispensaries from Transforming into Adult-Use Retail Outlets. Adult-use marijuana is not yet legal in Pennsylvania, but the city council passed a bill to block existing medical marijuana dispensaries from transforming themselves into adult-use retail outlets once that happens. Mayor Jim Kenney (D) then vetoed that bill, but now the city council has voted unanimously to overturned that veto.

The bill says that medical marijuana dispensaries "shall not include a person authorized to dispense marijuana for recreational or other nonmedical purposes."

Kenney's veto came because he believes the bill "creates unnecessary complexity" by setting special rules that only apply to a small section of the city (where dispensaries are) and because it was premature given that marijuana is not yet legal in the Keystone State. "Furthermore, the mayor wants to avoid creating barriers to local businesses who want to expand their current portfolios in the event that the laws change," said Sarah Peterson, a spokesperson for the administration.

But in overriding the mayor's veto, the council adhered to a tradition of voting in support of members of districts on matters of land use and streets in their district.

International

Australian Federal Opposition Seeks to Overturn Drug Decriminalization Law in Australia Capital Territory. New laws in the Australia Capital Territory (Canberra) that decriminalize the possession of personal use amounts of drugs go into effect next month, but some federal politicians want none of it and are now trying to overturn it.

Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash of the national Liberal Party has filed a bill to do that—a private senator's bill called the Australian Capital Territory Dangerous Drugs Bill 2023 – which will be debated next month.

Likewise, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton declared himself dumbfounded by decriminalization. "I am totally shocked and dismayed at what the ACT government is doing," he said. "As a former police officer, I know that our hard-working law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to keep drugs off the streets and to keep our community safe, yet here we see this crazy government legislation that gives a green light to drug use and drug importation to Canberra.  The ACT government is rolling out the red carpet for drug use and more crime. It is effectively welcoming more ice, heroin, cocaine, MDMA and speed on our streets."

Canberra politicians, however, remain unbowed.

In a statement, ACT Labor senator and former chief minister Katy Gallagher said the laws were a "matter for the ACT Assembly".

"The ACT Assembly is a mature parliament, democratically elected by ACT voters," said ACT Labor senator and former chief minister Katy Gallagher. "I have spent my career in public life supporting the rights of Canberrans to determine the laws, policies and programs under which they are governed, and I will continue to do so despite the attempts by the federal opposition to try to undermine them."

Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee is also standing up for her constituency. "The Canberra Liberals will always stand up for territory rights and I am very concerned about any step to diminish that," she said. I do not agree with this action taken by the federal Coalition to seek to overturn legislation that was passed by the ACT Assembly."

 

She said while she disagreed with decriminalization, it was up to local voters—not national politicians—to make the decision by replacing the current government.

CO Lawmakers Call for Safe Injection Sites, CA Psychedelic Decrim Bill Heads for Final Vote, More... (9/5/23)

A North Carolina Republican congressman files a bill to punish localities that legalize marijuana, Peruvian Shining Path remnants tied to the cocaine trade clash with Peruvian army troops, and more 

Magic mushrooms and other natural psychedelics would be decriminalized under a California bill that heads for a final vote. (CC)
Marijuana Policy

North Carolina Congressman Files Bill to Punish Legal Weed States. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) has filed a bill that would punish states or reservations where marijuana is legal by withholding 10 percent of highway funding to them. Edward's Stop Pot Act, filed last Friday, targets jurisdictions "in which the purchase or public possession of marijuana for recreational purposes is lawful."

It was spurred by his ire at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which will vote on whether to legalize marijuana this week. He argues that such laws are an affront to federal law.

"The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law," he said in a press release. "During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin."

The tribe does not think much of Edwards' move. Principal Chief Richard Sneed noted that Edwards is "a non-Indian, elected official telling a sovereign tribal nation how they ought to handle their business" and that he "overstepped his authority."

Psychedelics

California Psychedelic Decriminalization Bill Heads for Assembly Floor Vote. A bill to decriminalize certain plant- and fungi-based psychedelics is heading for a final Assembly floor vote after clearing a final committee vote last Friday. Senate Bill 58 , from Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) has already passed the Senate and cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday.

The bill would decriminalize plant-based and other natural hallucinogens such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline, but in deference to the Native American Church, not peyote. Police would be unable to charge those in possession of personal use amounts of those substances, which range from two grams for psilocybin to 15 grams for ibogaine. The substances would remain illegal for minors.

The bill is a scaled back version of a bill first filed by Weiner in January 21 that would also have decriminalized synthetic psychedelics, such as ketamine, LSD, and MDMA. And as doubts lingered over whether the bill could pass this year, Weiner amended it to add a provision requiring the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to create a workgroup tasked with studying and making recommendations on the establishment of a framework for the therapeutic use of psychedelics.

"I’m particularly excited to see that a vote will be held for decriminalizing psychedelics, an idea whose time has come I," said Weiner."I look forward to working with my colleagues and a wide array of stakeholders to deliver these bills to the governor."

But whether Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will sign the bill remains an open question.

"The bill does have a good shot of passing the Assembly," said former police officer and current drug counselor Marty Ribera. "But Newsom is the big one. He’s looking to run for president either next year or in 2028, and being the Governor who legalized a bunch of drugs would not be a good look."

Harm Reduction

Colorado Legislative Opioid Study Committee Calls for Safe Injection Sites. Lawmakers last year tried and failed to clear the way for safe injection sites last year, and this year they will be back again. The legislature's opioid study committee has called for a bill to be drafted to allow cities to create "overdose prevention centers" or safe injection sites.

The committee vote followed party lines, with Republicans opposed.

The need is evident. Opioid overdose deaths, most implicating fentanyl, rose 50 percent from 2019 to 2020 and another 27 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Safe injection sites are arguably illegal under federal law, specifically the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which forbids the use of premises for illicit drug use—the crack house act. The Trump administration Justice Department sued to block a Philadelphia safe injection site, but the Biden Justice Department is now in negotiations that could clear the way for it to open.

Rhode Island has authorized safe injection sites, but the only locally-authorized sites opened in New York City in late 2021. And now, the US attorney there is making noises calling into question whether they can remain.

International

Peru Clashes Between Military and Shining Path Leave Six Dead. Remnants of the Shining Path, a Maoist insurgency from the 1980s that left tens of thousands dead and has since devolved into players in the coca and cocaine trade, clashed with an army patrol Monday, leaving four soldiers and two Shining Path members dead.

The early morning attack by the rebel traffickers came in the province of Huanta in the Ayacucho region—the historic Shining Path stronghold.

"During the confrontation, the security forces managed to kill two terrorist criminals, who fell with their long-range weapons," the army said in a press release. "Unfortunately, during this action, four brave members of the armed forces died, whose remains will be transferred shortly to the city of Huamanga." The army said three wounded soldiers were also transferred to a nearby hospital.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte paid tribute to the soldiers shortly afterwards on social media, referring to the Shining Path as "narcoterrorists."

The violence occurred in the Valley of Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM), a center of coca cultivation and cocaine production. In 2021, the government estimated that 70 percent of the country's total coca leaf production came from the VRAEM. The VRAEM is also the last outpost of the Shining Path. 

HHS Recommends Rescheduling Weed, Coalition Seeks to Undo OR Drug Decriminalization, More... (9/30/23)

A new poll has an Ohio marijunaa legalization initiative garnering strong support, Colombia tries again on marijuana legalization, and more.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro backs marijuana legalization. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

HHS Recommends Moving Marijuana to Lower Scheduling Category. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended loosening restrictions on marijuana after undertaking a review request from the Biden administration. HHS is recommending that marijuana be placed on Schedule III, the same schedule as ketamine or testosterone.

"As part of this process, HHS conducted a scientific and medical evaluation for consideration by DEA. DEA has the final authority to schedule or reschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act. DEA will now initiate its review," a DEA spokesperson said.

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, in the same category as heroin and LSD. Schedule I is reserved for substances with no medical use and a high risk of abuse. Moving marijuana from Schedule I to a lesser schedule could be the first step toward federal marijuana legalization.

Ohio Poll Has Solid Majority for Marijuana Legalization Initiative. Buckeye State voters head to the polls in a little more than two months to vote on a marijuana legalization initiative from the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, and a new poll has the initiative well-positioned to win.

A survey from Fallon Research and Communications has support for the initiative at 59 percent. The heuristic for initiative campaigners is that they want a 10 percent cushion going into election day to account for last minute undecideds breaking the wrong way, so this poll has the campaign very close to the promised land.

Sixty-eight percent of Democrats support the initiative, as do 62 percent of independents and 48 percent of Republicans. While Democratic and independent support has been stable, support among Republicans has jumped eight points over a similar poll last year.

The initiative's odds are also helped by the presence on the ballot of a measure seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state—another issue that should increase liberal and progressive turnout.

Drug Policy

Oregon Coalition Seeks to Undo Drug Decriminalization. A coalition of political, business, and civic leaders wants to undo Measure 110, the 2022 voter-approved initiative that decriminalized the possession of personal use amounts of drugs and mandated the use of marijuana tax revenues to provide drug treatment and other services to users. The coalition is calling for drug possession to be made a misdemeanor and for drug treatment whether the user wants it or not.

"We are seeking to fix and improve Measure 110," said Max Williams, former state lawmaker and former executive director of the Oregon Department of Corrections. "Our goal isn’t to repeal the law. It’s to improve it," he claimed.

Also part of the effort are Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton, political consultant Dan Lavey, who heads a group pushing Portland leaders for action on drugs, homelessness, and related issues, and Paige Richardson, a political strategist who has run multiple ballot campaigns. Meanwhile, failed independent gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson is trying to raise money to pursue a ballot measure undoing Measure 110 next fall.

The folks who supported Measure 110 are not impressed. "It’s disappointing that anyone would propose the failed policies of our past and lack of any real solutions," said Tera Hurst, who leads the Oregon Health Justice Recovery Alliance. "It would be harmful, it would be deadly and extremely expensive and it would set our state back years."

International

Colombia Tries Again on Marijuana Legalization. After a two-year effort to legalize marijuana failed on a final vote in the Senate at the end of the last legislative session, proponents are back to try again this session. A marijuana legalization bill has cleared the first of eight debates that must occur over another two-year period..

"Today…we start again a path full of challenges to start writing a new story in the fight against drugs. We need to move forward in a change in drug policy," said  Rep. Juan Carlos Losada.

President Gustavo Petro is a global drug reform advocated and has touted the benefits of marijuana legalization, saying it would help the national economy.

"We’ll see if [cannabis can be] exported and we’ll earn a few dollars because half of humanity [has legalized it]," President Petro said.

Trump Calls for Military Force Against Mexican Cartels, India Pols Call for Legal Opium, More... (8/22/23)

A Republican congressman threatens an Indian tribe over marijuana legalization, some surprising talk from politicians in the Punjab, and more

Mexican President Lopez Obrador does not think much of the tough talk coming from GOP politicians. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

GOP Congressman Threatens North Carolina Tribe with Loss of Federal Funding over Marijuana Legalization. The state's Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is set to vote on a referendum to legalize marijuana on tribal land in September, but now US Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) is warning that it could pay a price if it does. Edwards said the plans to introduce a bill—he says he will call it the Stop Pot Act—in Congress that would "defund governments that ignore federal law.

"I proudly consider the tribe my friends, and I respect their tribal sovereignty," the freshman House member wrote. "But there are times when friends disagree, and I must do so regarding this question of legalizing recreational marijuana. The tribe’s rights should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation. To allow our citizens to travel only a few miles to buy and use this common gateway drug would be irresponsible, and I intend to stop it."

Edwards, who opposed all efforts to reform marijuana laws while in the state legislature, including even medical marijuana, warned that legalization would lead to impaired driving, "drug tourism,"  hard drug sales, and unspecified "criminal activity that would inevitably follow."

"It is important that the tribe understands they will be voting on a measure that, if enacted, could soon be very costly," Edwards wrote. But only if his yet-to-be-filed bill actually becomes law..

Drug Policy

Trump Would Deploy US Military to Fight Drug Cartels. As part of a broader strategy to crack down on immigration and the border that includes vetting migrants to ensure that no "Marxists" are let it, Donald Trump plans at least two policies that take direct military aim at Mexican drug cartels.

The first policy would deploy Coast Guard and US Navy ships to stop drug smuggling boats and the second would designate drug cartels as "unlawful enemy combatants," which would allow the US military to target them in Mexico. That is the same designation used to detain 9/11 suspects for decades at Guantanamo.

Trump is only the latest Republican presidential contender to seek GOP political points by taking aggressive aim at the Mexican cartels, and none of it is going over very well with Mexico. Amidst similar talk earlier this year, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador warned that Mexico is "not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government’s armed forces intervene."

International

Politicians in India's Punjab Call for Legal Opium Production, Sales. Amidst rising drug overdose deaths and growing drug mafias, some politicians in Punjab are calling for the legalization of opium and other drugs.

Former Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, who had in 2016 even moved a private member’s bill in Parliament seeking to decriminalize opium, marijuana and poppy husk, said legalizing the sale of such drugs can severely wound drug mafias. "It will cut the ground from under their feet," he said. "It would also add to the state's revenue. Let there be an atmosphere of fearlessness that users can get the drugs from a reliable, legal, authenticated legal force," he said.

"This is the history of opium—that no one died by consuming it, nor anyone had to sell his house and property," said senior Alkali leader Sikander Singh Maluka, comparing its relatively mild effects to those of heroin and other synthetic drug. "There could be a rare exception who may have consumed it in large quantity."

"A user is never a promoter," said Gandhi. "The promoter of drugs is mafia which has vested interests. Crores of rupees are at stake. Not all, but many police officers, renowned politicians and many bigwigs are involved in drugs, not only in India but all across the world. It is the drug mafia, be it in Latin America, North America, South America, India, Brazil, or other countries for that matter. There are drug lords. And whatever success people have got against them is only after decriminalizing drugs. Portugal is one great example. The Portuguese government has done this. There was lot of crime because of drugs, lot of HIV and other communicable diseases by the use of intravenous injections and it (Portugal) had topped this table in entire Europe, but now it is at the bottom only because of decriminalizing all drugs."

(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.)

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.)

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.

Manhattan US Attorney Warns on Safe Injection Sites, Ayahuasca Church Moves to Maine, More... (8/8/23)

Four veterans are suing New York marijuana regulators over the application of social equity provisions, New Hampshire's governor signs a fentanyl and xylazine test strip decriminalization bill into law, and more.

Fentanyl test strips are now decriminalized in New Hampshire. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

New York Lawsuit Challenges Application of Marijuana Social Equity Provisions in State Law. Four veterans have filed a lawsuit against the state's marijuana regulators, the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board. The lawsuit charges that although service-disabled veterans are listed as a sub-group of social equity applicants who are supposed to be prioritized for licenses, the regulating agencies have established a process that makes having a marijuana-related criminal conviction an initial eligibility requirement, disqualifying disabled vets who would otherwise be eligible under the social equity provisions.

"The statute specifically included those individuals as individuals that would be prioritized with respect to applying for and gaining approval of an adult use retail license," said plaintiff's attorney Matt Morey. "The regulations that were then adopted, well not necessarily prohibiting any disabled service veteran from applying, they would have to then satisfy the other various CAURD (conditional adult-use retail dispensary) requirements, which is that they were convicted of a marijuana-related offense prior to March 31 of 2021," Morey said.

The lawsuit has resulted in temporary injunction from the judge in the case that bars the state from issuing any new licenses or approving any new retail outlets to open. That injunction will last at least until Friday when the judge will hear arguments about whether the current program is constitutional.

Psychedelics

Ayahuasca Church Moves to Maine. A church that uses ayahuasca as a sacrament in its services has relocated from New Hampshire to Maine. The church, Pachamama Sanctuary, has obtained 40 acres of land in Casco to serve as a retreat center and spiritual sanctuary.

"People in the community come here to make a connection with the spirit, with God, higher power, whatever they decide to call it," said Derek Januszewski, founding pastor of the church.

Januszewski said the church moved not because of legal hassles in New Hampshire -- there were none -- but because of zoning problems with their old building.

Although ayahuasca contains DMT, a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, the US Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that a small religious sect originating in Brazil, the Uniao Do Vegetal (Union of the Vegetable) was entitled under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to use it for religious purposes. It is not clear if the Pachamama Sanctuary is part of that church.

Harm Reduction

Manhattan US Attorney Warns He Could Shut Down New York City Safe Injection Sites. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said Monday that two city-approved safe injection sites are operating in violation of state and federal law and that he could be forced to act if the situation does not change.

"I have repeatedly said that the opioid epidemic is a law enforcement crisis and a public health crisis," said Williams. "But I am an enforcer, not a policymaker." The situation is "unacceptable," he added. "My office is prepared to exercise all options -- including enforcement -- if this situation does not change in short order."

Although widely accepted in Europe, Australia, and Canada, safe injection are considered illegal in the US under the "crack house statute," which bars people from maintaining property where controlled substances are consumed. A Philadelphia safe injection site effort was blocked by the Trump-era Justice Department, and that case remains unresolved as the Biden Justice Department attempts to negotiate a settlement.

But faced with a growing drug overdose crisis, New York City did not wait for the resolution of that case or for lawmakers to change state law and instead okayed two safe injection sites in December 2021.

New Hampshire Decriminalizes Fentanyl, Xylazine Test Strips. Late last week, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed into law House Bill 287, which decriminalizes fentanyl and xylazine test strips by removing them from the state's definition of drug paraphernalia.

Fentanyl was implicated in 410 of the state's 486 drug overdose deaths last year.

Under previous state law, only needle exchange programs were allowed to distribute test strips. People in possession of test strips who were not needle exchange workers or clients could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

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