Police accountability is the topic of the day in Congress and in Colorado, a Nebraska medical marijuana initiative campaign is in a final sprint for signatures, and more.

Newly hired or returning truck drivers catch a break from drug testing during the coronavirus disruption. (Creative Commons)

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Campaign Still Seeking Signatures. Backers of a medical marijuana initiative say they have some 60,000 valid voter signatures, but that's only half the total they need to qualify for the ballot. Nearly 50,000 of those signatures were gathered before lockdowns imposed because of the coronavirus, which brought signature-gathering to a near halt for months. Now, the campaign has less than a month to gather another 60,000 valid voter signatures.

Criminal Justice

Congressional Democrats Introduce Justice in Policing Act. In response to the outrage sweeping the nation over police killings of black Americans, on Tuesday House Democratic leaders introduced the Justice in Policing Act, the first-ever comprehensive approach to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust between law enforcement and our communities. The bill bars discriminatory profiling, bans chokeholds and no-knock drug raids at the federal level, mandates the use of bodycams by federal police, and establishes a National Police Misconduct Registry, among other provisions. Look for a Chronicle feature article on the bill tomorrow.

Colorado Police Accountability Bill Passes Senate. The state Senate on Tuesday approved SB20-217, the Law Enforcement Accountability and Integrity Act, with only one dissenting vote. The bill creates a police officer duty to intervene in the presence of unlawful police use of force, outlaws chokeholds, protects protesters from police violence, and removes the shield of immunity from police officers acting unlawful, among other provisions. The bill now moves to the House, where it had a hearing in the House Finance Committee Wednesday.

Drug Testing

Federal Trucking Regulators Extend Waiver on Pre-Employment Drug Testing. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended through September 30 a waiver on pre-employment drug testing requirements for truck drivers. The agency said that layoffs in the industry because of the coronavirus pandemic had reduced the pool of employees for random drug testing, the requirement for drug testing would impose burdens on trucking companies "at the very time they are attempting to return to expanded levels of operation."

Coronavirus hobbles yet another drug reform initiative, Amnesty International goes after Cambodia's drug war human rights abuses, and more.

Louisville drug raid victim, EMT Breonna Taylor (Handout)

Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative Suspends Campaign Due to Coronavirus. The Ohio Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol campaign is suspending its efforts to get on the November 2020 ballot. The group's initial petition was rejected by state officials, and the group has struggled with signature-gathering amidst social distancing measures inspired by the pandemic. "We made the decision early on that the health of our volunteers, supporters, medical marijuana patients and the general public would be our primary concern," said Tom Haren, a spokesman for the campaign. "As Ohio begins the process of reopening, we are evaluating our options and hope to have more to share soon." The campaign would need more than 450,000 valid voter signatures by July1 in order to make the ballot.

Medical Marijuana

Pennsylvania Court Rules Worker Fired After CBD Use Caused Failed Drug Test Can Receive Unemployment Benefits. A Commonwealth Court panel has ruled that a health care worker who used legal CBD oil to ease her cancer symptoms, subsequently failing a drug test and getting fired, is entitled to unemployment compensation. The court held that even though CBD is derived from marijuana, the woman violated neither the law nor any work rule of her employer by using it. The decision confirms an earlier ruling by the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, which was appealed by the employer, Washington Health.

Law Enforcement

Family of Louisville Woman Killed in Botched Drug Raid Files Lawsuit. A 26-year-old black Louisville woman who worked as an EMT was killed March 13 when police executing a no-knock search warrant for drugs shot her eight times after taking fire from her boyfriend, another apartment resident. Now, the family of Breonna Taylor has filed a lawsuit accusing officers of wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. The lawsuit alleges that the man police were seeking did not live in the apartment and was already in custody when the raid took place. None of the officers involved have been charged in the shooting, but Taylor's boyfriend, who was not injured in the incident, now faces charges of first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer.

International

Amnesty International Denounces Cambodia Drug War Excesses. The Cambodian government's three-year long "war on drugs" campaign has fueled a rising tide of human rights abuses, dangerously overfilled detention facilities, and led to an alarming public health situation -- even more so as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds -- while failing in its stated objective of curbing drug use, a new investigative report by Amnesty International published Wednesday charges. The new 78-page report, Substance abuses: The human cost of Cambodia's anti-drug campaign, documents how the authorities prey on poor and marginalized people, arbitrarily carry out arrests, routinely subject suspects to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and dispatch those who can't buy their freedom to severely overcrowded prisons and pseudo "rehabilitation centers" in which detainees are denied healthcare and are subjected to severe abuse. "Cambodia's 'war on drugs' is an unmitigated disaster -- it rests upon systematic human rights abuses and has created a bounty of opportunities for corrupt and poorly-paid officials in the justice system," said Nicholas Bequelin, Regional Director at Amnesty International.

The DEA no longer considers Epidiolex a controlled substance, the girl who was the poster child for CBD has died of suspected coronavirus complications, and more.

DEA Relaxes Rules for Only Federally Approved Drug Derived from Marijuana. The DEA on April 6 notified GW Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Epidiolex, which is derived from CBD, that it no longer considers the drug a controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act. The change is effective immediately. Epidiolex remains a prescription medication, but now, doctors who prescribe it do not have to be in the DEA's drug monitoring program.

Colorado

Charlotte Figi, Colorado Girl Who Inspired CBD Movement, Dies of Possible Coronavirus Complications at Age 13. Charlotte Figi, the namesake for Charlotte's Web CBD products, died last week of complications from suspected coronavirus, her family has reported. Figi suffered from Dravet Syndrome, a form of epilepsy, which left her suffering from hundreds of small and large seizures a day. Pharmaceutical treatments proved ineffective, and her parents then turned to CBD products, which reduced her seizures dramatically and allowed her to be weaned off anti-epileptic medications. "Charlotte is no longer suffering," reads a post on the family's Facebook page. "She is seizure-free forever. Thank you so much for all of your love."

Idaho

Idaho Medical Marijuana Initiative Campaign Suspended Because of Coronavirus Pandemic. An effort to put a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in November is over. The Idaho Cannabis Coalition announced April 2 that it is suspending its signature gathering campaign because of the coronavirus pandemic. It only had until May 1 to turn in signatures, so the suspension marks the effective end to the effort this year.

New Jersey

Worker Fired by Amazon for Medical Marijuana Wins Key Decision in Federal Court. A former Amazon warehouse worker who sued in New Jersey state court after being fired for using medical marijuana has won a preliminary victory. Amazon had responded to the lawsuit by moving to have the case heard in federal court, where the worker had little chance of winning since marijuana remains prohibited under federal law. But late last week, the federal court allowed the worker's request to remand the case back to state Superior Court.

Ohio

Ohio Okays Curbside Pickup for Medical Marijuana Sales. The state has determined that medical marijuana dispensaries are "essential" businesses during the coronavirus crisis and are being allowed to sell their products via curbside pickup. The state Board of Pharmacy approved a temporary guideline to allow the practice last week. While a Cleveland-area dispensary is the first to implement curbside service, all dispensaries in the state have been cleared to do so as well.

Elizabeth Warren rolls out a plan for a just and equitable marijuana industry, a Hawaii bill would protect medical marijuana patients from being fired or not hired because of positive drug tests, and more.

Elizabeth Warren. (Tim PierceCreative Commons) https://www.flickr.com/photos/qwrrty/815200

Elizabeth Warren Releases Plan for Just and Equitable Marijuana Industry. Democratic presidential contender and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released her plan for a Just and Equitable Cannabis Industry. The plan calls for passage of a marijuana legalization bill similar to the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, the appointment of law enforcement agency heads who support legalization, the expungement of past marijuana convictions, and protections for immigrants, among other provisions.  

Medical Marijuana

Hawaii Bill to Protect Patients' Employment Rights Advances. A bill that would protect medical marijuana cardholders from being fired or not hired because they tested positive for marijuana is advancing in the legislature. Instead of a drug test, cardholders could undergo a "fit-for-duty" test that measure impairment, not metabolites. The bill excludes law enforcement and prison guards, other public safety workers, and health care workers who administer drugs to patients. The state Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee and the state Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill Friday with some amendments. It now heads for a Senate floor vote.

Kratom

Missouri House Passes Kratom Regulation Bill. The House has approved House Bill 2061, which would require more regulation for kratom products. The bill creates the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which orders "sellers of kratom products to ensure that their products are not adulterated with dangerous substances." The bill would also ban the sale of kratom to people under 18. The bill now heads to the Senate.

Methamphetamine

West Virginia Bill Would Increase Meth Sentences. The Senate last Thursday approved Senate Bill 502, which would increase sentences for methamphetamine offenses to make them as severe as those for narcotics offenses. Under current law, meth possession can net up to five years, but under this bill that would rise to 15 years. Sponsor Sen. Sen. William Ihlenfeld (D), a former U.S. attorney, said that law enforcement and prosecutors told him that increasing sentences would have "a positive effect" in deterring meth-related crime. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and is already being taken up in the House.

(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.)