On Thursday, Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Nancy Mace (R-SC1) introduced the Cannabis Users Restoration of Eligibility (CURE) Act, legislation to prevent prior or current marijuana use from becoming grounds for failing to receive a security clearance or for being found unsuitable for federal employment. The CURE Act will also allow for someone who has previously been denied a security clearance or a federal job based on marijuana use the chance to have that denial reviewed.

The bill would amend the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to limit the consideration of marijuana use when making a security clearance or employment suitability determination. "Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation, current or past use of marijuana by a covered person may not be used in any determination with respect to whether such person is eligible for a security clearance or suitable for Federal employment," the bill text specifies.

A security clearance is necessary for more than half of all federal jobs, including not only obvious positions in the defense, homeland security, and cybersecurity sectors, but even the people who clean the buildings or provide food services where those people work. That is more than three million federal military and civilian positions that require security clearances, along with another 1.2 million held by contract employees.

"Every year, qualified and dedicated individuals seeking to serve our country are unable to secure federal jobs and security clearances because the federal government has not caught up with the widely established legal use of medical and recreational cannabis,"said Rep. Raskin in a release announcing the bill. "I am proud to partner with my friend Representative Mace to introduce the bipartisan CURE Act that will eliminate the draconian, failed and obsolete marijuana policies that prevent talented individuals from becoming honorable public servants in their own government."

The CURE Act has been endorsed by the Drug Policy Alliance, the Due Process Institute, Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and the US Cannabis Council -- and these reform groups were eager to weigh in on it.

"DPA is excited to support legislation that can help end another pillar of the drug war and allow individuals to secure work," said Maritza Perez Medina, Director, Office of Federal Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). "Penalizing someone for drug use relies on an assumption that any drug use is problematic and that people who use drugs cannot be responsible employees. We know this is false. We hope this bill is just the start of other critical federal marijuana reforms."

"There are many talented and dedicated people who have used cannabis and want to serve their country," said Sgt. Terry Blevins, a former civilian investigator for the Department of Defense, Arizona Police Sergeant, and Board Member for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP). "Compromising recruitment by our federal agencies with antiquated cannabis laws makes our nation less safe in the face of security threats we face globally."

"For too long, the federal government has been denying Americans civil service opportunities solely because of its outdated attitudes toward cannabis and those who consume it," said Morgan Fox, Political Director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "Denying these millions of Americans consideration for employment and security clearances is discriminatory and it unnecessarily shrinks the talent pool available for these important jobs. NORML commends the sponsors for working to undo this policy and replace it with fair and sensible hiring and clearance practices that will put America on much stronger footing on the global stage."

"Millions of patriotic, conscientious Americans use cannabis legally each year, but they are consistently penalized by outdated federal regulations," said Ed Conklin, Executive Director, US Cannabis Council. "We strongly support the CURE Act because it will bring federal employment policies into line with the views of most Americans. Cannabis use should never prevent a qualified candidate from serving his or her country as a federal employee."

As of now, 38 states, three territories and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of marijuana, while 23 states, two territories and the District of Columbia have enacted measures to authorize and regulate marijuana for recreational adult use. Despite the rapid pace at which marijuana is being legalized, thousands of Americans are routinely denied security clearances and lose out on federal employment if they admit to using marijuana in a lawful way.

A GOP-led House committee has killed marijuana and psychedelic reform amendments to the defense spending bill, a Mexican drug cartel uses roadside bombs against the police, and more.

Marijuana Policy

House Committee Kills Every Marijuana and Psychedelic Amendment to Must-Pass Defense Spending Bill. The GOP-led House Rules Committee has killed more than a dozen bipartisan marijuana and psychedelic policy amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Republican leadership of the committee declined to accept any of them for floor votes. Among the proposed amendments killed was one to end marijuana testing for people trying to join the armed forces, one protecting federal workers from losing security clearances because of marijuana, one allowing servicemembers to use CBD and other hemp-derived products, and one investigating the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics.

Michigan Ends Pre-Employment Marijuana Screening for Most State Jobs. Following months of public comment, the Michigan Civil Service Commission has voted unanimously to adopt new rules ending the practice of pre-employment marijuana screening for most state workers. Under the new policy, most public employees will no longer be required to undergo pre-employment marijuana testing. (Exceptions to the new rules will remain for those in certain safety sensitive positions, like law enforcement personnel.) Those previously denied positions because of a failed marijuana test are also now eligible to immediately reapply for employment.

Psychedelics

California Psychedelic Legalization Bill Wins Another Committee Vote. A bill that would legalize the possession and use of certain psychedelics, Senate Bill 58, which has already been approved by the Senate, has now won a second committee vote in the Assembly. The measure passed the Assembly Health Committee on a 9-2 vote Tuesday. It must now pass only one more committee, the Assembly Appropriations Committee, before heading for an Assembly floor vote. The bill would legalize the "possession, preparation, obtaining, transfer, as specified, or transportation of" specific amounts of psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline for personal or facilitated use. Notably, "synthetic" psychedelics like LSD and MDMA would not be legalized, unlike the provisions of the previous version of legislation from Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).

Berkeley City Council Effectively Legalizes Some Psychedelics. The city council of the East Bay city voted Tuesday to effectively legalize a range of psychedelics by voting unanimously to make the enforcement of state and federal laws against psychedelic plants and fungi the lowest law enforcement priority. The resolution passed, however, bars the "giving away, sharing, distributing, transferring, dispensing, or administering" of psychedelics.

Sentencing

Nearly a Quarter Fewer Persons Were in Federal Prison for Drug Offenses in 2018 Than in 2013. The number of people held in Federal Bureau of Prisons' facilities on a drug offense fell 24% from fiscal yearend 2013 (94,613) to fiscal yearend 2018 (71,555), according to Sentencing Decisions for Persons in Federal Prison for Drug Offenses, 2013-2018, a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. These persons accounted for 51% of the federal prison population in 2013 and 47% in 2018.

Between 2013 and 2018, there were large decreases in persons serving time in federal prison for marijuana (down 61%), crack cocaine (down 45%) and powder cocaine (down 35%), with a smaller (4%) decline in persons imprisoned for opioids. These reductions were partly offset by growth in the number of persons serving time for heroin (up 13%) and methamphetamine (up 12%).

During the 5-year period, there was also a 33% decrease in the number of people in federal prison who, because of the type and amount of drugs involved in their offense, faced the possibility of mandatory minimum penalties at sentencing. A similar decline trend was observed in the number who ultimately received penalties (down 26%) and received relief from penalties (down 52%).

About 60% of all people in BOP custody for drug offenses at fiscal yearend 2018 had received mandatory minimum penalties: 22% for methamphetamine, 15% for powder cocaine, 14% for crack cocaine, 5% for heroin, 4% for marijuana and less than 1% for opioids. When the federal prison population was analyzed by persons who could have received penalties for their drug offense, those serving time for crack cocaine were more likely to receive penalties (94%) than those held for marijuana (82%), powder cocaine (81%), heroin (80%), methamphetamine (79%) or opioids (70%).

International

Montreal Police Raid Illegal Magic Mushroom Shop on Opening Day. FunGuyz, a chain of shops selling illegal magic mushrooms, has already had several of its stores raided in Ontario, and on Tuesday, it could add one in Montreal to the list. Montreal police raided the shop hours after it opened offering a menu of pills, dried mushrooms, and chocolate bars laced with psilocybin.

A FunGuyz spokesman called the raid a "simple" product seizure and a "waste of taxpayers' money." He said opening FunGuyz was a form of protest to challenge the illegality of psychedelic drugs. "We do expect the police to come in and raid us because obviously what we're doing, it's illegal," he said on Tuesday. "The idea behind everything is, are the police willing to… use the taxpayers' money for mushroom stuff?"

Mexican Drug Cartel Use Roadside Bomb to Kill Cops. Four police officers and two civilians were killed by a series of roadside bombs in the western state of Jalisco on Tuesday. Authorities said an anonymous caller reported a tip about a supposed clandestine burial site, and when police went to investigate, seven roadside bombs went off simultaneously. The blasts were so powerful they left craters in the road, destroyed at least four vehicles, and wounded 14 more people. The state prosecutor blamed an unnamed drug cartel. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has significant experience with improvised explosive devices, as well as bomb-dropping drones.

Ukraine Parliament Gives Initial Approval to Medical Marijuana Bill. The parliament has given initial approval to a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the country. It must still be approved in a second reading and then sent to President Volodymyr Zelensky for his signature. Zelensky has already said he supports the bill.

It has been nearly two years since Oregon voters approved Measure 110, a sweeping drug decriminalization and public health services funding initiative, and it still has strong public support. That could be because it is producing the kinds of results Oregonians want to see.

In voting for Measure 110, Oregonians sought to move the emphasis of drug policy from law enforcement to a public health approach, and that is what they are getting. Drug possession arrests, which had already dropped by half in 2020 because of the pandemic, significantly decreased after Measure 110 took effect on February 1, 2021, according to data from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, falling another 65 percent from the 2020 levels in the first six months of 2022.

And Measure 110, which tapped into marijuana tax revenues to fund a broad spectrum of addiction services -- from low-barrier drug treatment and peer support and recovery to overdose prevention and housing and employment support (but not drug treatment covered by Medicaid or insurance) -- is setting the stage for a massive expansion of those services by pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the field.

Late last month, the Oversight & Accountability Council, the body tasked with overseeing the distribution of the funding, approved the remainder of the initial $302 million made available under Measure 110, and on Tuesday, the Oregon Health Authority announced that it had finished awarding that money to more than 237 service providers in the form of grants.

With the state suffering more than a thousand overdose deaths in the past year, there is criticism that authorities have moved too slowly. Oregon Health Authority behavioral health director Steve Allen acknowledged as much, saying the agency had learned it needed to give more support and technical assistance to the volunteer committee tasked with grantmaking decisions.

"We understand the frustration this caused in our communities," Allen said. "When you do something for the first time you're going to make mistakes."

But now the money is out there, and it will help fund 237 service providers in 36 Behavioral Health Regional Networks (BHRNs), aimed at ensuring that help is available in even the most remote rural corners of the state. That includes 111 groups providing screening and behavioral health needs assessments, 112 groups doing individual intervention planning, 113 groups doing low-barrier drug treatment, 172 groups doing peer support and mentoring, 88 groups providing housing services, 84 groups providing harm reduction services, and 51 groups doing job support.

The money is going to allow these groups to expand their services by hiring and training new staff, securing additional facilities, buying vehicles for mobile support services, and even purchasing housing.

"Measure 110 changes the system so that there is no wrong door to access services," said Tera Hurst, Executive Director of the Health Justice Recovery Alliance. "Thanks to Measure 110, you don't have to get arrested before you are maybe offered help. Measure 110 is changing the addiction recovery service landscape so that regardless of the path, supportive services will be more readily available closer to home."

"It's been a long road, but we're ecstatic to see all of the Measure 110 funding for the 2021-2023 biennium finally being approved and going out to service providers to expand critical addiction services in Oregon communities. This is the first step in ensuring Oregon delivers on its promise of replacing a criminal legal approach to drugs with a public health approach and offering the rest of the country a glimpse of what is ultimately possible when we offer people support instead of punishment," said Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which was a key supporter of Measure 110 and which is partnering with the Health Justice Recovery Alliance on implementation.

Even with the slow rollout, Oregonians are liking what they are seeing. A poll released this month by Data for Progress found majority support for Measure 110 in every region of the state -- even the conservative eastern an southwestern areas -- and a strong bipartisan majority who agree that problematic drug use should be treated as a public health issue, not one for the criminal justice system.

When asked whether Measure 110 should remain in place, 58 percent said yes. That included 82 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents, but only 31 percent of Republicans.

The polling suggests that tying drug decriminalization to the expansion of recovery services is key to getting it over the finish line. When asked about individual components of the program, 91 percent supported peer mentoring, 90 percent supported employment help, 86 percent supported funding addiction recovery, 84 percent supported housing assistance, but only 62 percent supported harm reduction measures and only 61 percent supported decriminalization itself.

It is almost as if Oregonians made a bargain with themselves: Give us strong measures to aid recovery and we will grudgingly accept such vanguard measures as harm reduction and decriminalizing drugs. These pollsresults should send a clear message to people contemplating future decrim initiatives about how to broaden support for them.

California medical marijuana patients get more protections, so do District of Columbia city employees, and more.

California

California Governor Signs Bill Protecting Medical Marijuana Patients from Healthcare Discrimination. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has signed into law Assembly Bill 1954, barring doctors from discriminating against patients based on a positive test for THC if the patient is a registered medical marijuana user. The bill adds that healthcare professionals cannot be punished for treating a patient who uses medical marijuana in compliance with state law. He also signed into law Senate Bill 988, which amends an existing law that permits registered patients to use medical marijuana products at hospitals. It would repeal a provision that currently requires that "health care facilities permitting patient use of medical cannabis comply with other drug and medication requirements."

Nebraska

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Attempt by Medical Marijuana Campaign to Block Nebraska Ballot Process. As medical marijuana campaigners ran into problems with signature gathering earlier this summer, they sued, arguing that the state's requirement that initiative campaigns not only reach a certain statew0ide signature threshold but also get signatures from at least 5 percent of voters in at least 38 of the state's 93 counties violated free speech and equal protection rights. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the ACLU prevailed in district court in June, winning a temporary injunction suspending the 5 percent requirement. But state officials appealed, and the US 8th Circuit quickly put a hold on the judge's order pending an appeals court ruling. That ruling came Wednesday, when a split panel of the court ruled for the state. "The district court abused its discretion by granting the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction,” Judges Raymond Gruender and David Stras ruled. Judge Jane Kelly disagreed, writing that "if the right to vote is fundamental, I see no reason why it should not apply equally to the initiative process at the heart of Nebraska’s electoral and legislative system." The campaign and the ACLU said the effort would continue and that they may seek a ruling from the full 8th Circuit.

Washington, DC

DC Court Reverses Firing of Government Worker Who Tested Positive for Marijuana. An administrative court in the DC Office of Employee Appeals (OEA) has reversed the firing of medical marijuana patient and city government employee who was accused of being high on the job and later tested positive for marijuana. The employee argued that the city's communications office falsely accused her of being impaired because her eyes were red and she was talking quietly. She pointed out that her eyes were red because she had spent the previous night at a hospital sitting beside a relative who had overdosed. She also presented a valid medical marijuana patient card. The court held that the communications office was negligent in how it handled the process for reasonable suspicion of impairment from drugs. The judge noted that supervisors allowed her to continue working after they accused her of being impaired: "Because Employee was allowed to perform her duties and did in fact adequately do so after being observed by her supervisors, I find that [the supervisors] did not reasonably believe that Employee’s ability to perform her job was impaired. As such, I further conclude that a reasonable suspicion referral was unwarranted," the judge wrote in the ruling.