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

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

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

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

Foreign Policy

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

Harm Reduction

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

International

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

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

A Kentucky medical marijuana bill faces a looming Senate deadline, Vermont lawmakers file a number of drug reform bills, and more.

The Rio Grande River. There be cartels on the other side, and the GOP wants to call them "terrorists." (C)

Kentucky Medical Marijuana Bill Wins Senate Committee Vote, Must Pass Full Senate Tomorrow or Die. A bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state, Senate Bill 47, was approved by the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee on Tuesday. It must pass the Senate by Thursday, the last day of the session before the veto period, or it dies. If it passes the Senate, it would then go to the House, which returns for a final day of legislative action on March 30. The House has passed medical marijuana bills twice in recent years and is thought to still have support for it.

Drug Policy

Vermont Lawmakers File Four Different Drug Policy Reform Bills. Drug policy reform is on the agent in Montpelier this session, with four separate drug policy reform bills already filed. House Bill 423 would decriminalize the possession of personal use amounts of all drugs, as would Senate companion legislation, Senate Bill 119. The bills would also decriminalize "dispensing" drug amounts below the personal use threshold as well as establishing a pilot drug checking program.

Two other bills focus specifically on psychedelics. House Bill 439 would effectively legalize the possession of psilocybin, mescaline, and peyote by removing them from the states definition of hallucinogenic drugs, while Senate Bill 114, would remove only psilocybin from the state’s definition of hallucinogens.

The first three bills are destined for judiciary committees in the respective chambers, while the fourth bill is before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. If any of them pass out of the legislature, they face possible vetoes from Gov. Phil Murphy (R).

Foreign Policy

House Republicans File Bill Designating Mexican Drug Cartels Terrorist Organizations. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and 20 House Republicans have introduced a bill designating four Mexican drug trafficking organizations as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). The four groups are the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste, the Cartel de Sinaloa, and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion. The Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act would also require the Department of State to issue a report to Congress within 30 days of enactment on the cartels listed above and any additional cartels that meet the criteria for designation as an FTO. For each additional cartel that meets the criteria of an FTO, the Department of State is required to designate each of those cartels as an FTO within 30 days after the report is submitted to Congress. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has threatened to file similar legislation in the Senate but has yet to do so.

International

Germany to Move Forward with Marijuana Legalization After "Very Good Feedback" from the European Union. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Tuesday that the government would bring a revised marijuana legalization proposal before legislators "in the next few weeks" after receiving "very good feedback" from European Union (EU) officials. Germany has conditioned its advance of marijuana legalization on approval from the EU to ensure it would not put it in violation of international obligations. Lauterbach said some changes would be made to the bill to "take into account European regulations and what should or should not be notified," but did not specify what those changes would entail. 

The Justice Department is open to Sentencing Commission marijuana guideline reforms, a Texas bill to remove jail time for pot possession advances, and more.

It's not just opiates. A settlement between drug distributors and states is leaving lots of patients in the lurch. (DEA)

Justice Department Backs Proposed Marijuana Sentencing Guideline Reform to Treat Past Convictions More Leniently. The Justice Department is in agreement with a US Sentencing Commission proposal to update sentencing guidelines to treat past marijuana possession offenses more leniently. Such a move would align with the Biden administration's "sentiment" toward reforming marijuana policy. The backing by DOJ came last Wednesday when a federal prosecutor testified at a public hearing on the proposal in support of it. The Sentencing Commission had made the recommendation back in January. The commission's proposal does not remove marijuana convictions as a criminal history factor, but it would "include sentences resulting from possession of marihuana offenses as an example of when a downward departure from the defendant’s criminal history may be warranted."

Bipartisan Bill Punishing Illegal Marijuana Grows Filed. Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Scott Peters (D-CA) have filed the Targeting and Offsetting Existing Illegal Contaminants (TOXIC) Act, which would provide funding to clean up toxic wastes at marijuana grows on federal lands and increase criminal penalties "for using banned pesticides in illegal cannabis cultivation to a maximum of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in criminal fines to establish parity with the criminal penalties for smuggling banned pesticides into the US." The same pair filed the same bill in the last Congress, but it went nowhere.

Maryland House Approves Legal Marijuana Regulation Bill. The House voted last Friday to approve a measure to create a legal framework and tax structure for legal marijuana sales, House Bill 556. The bill now goes to the Senate, which is also advancing its own separate regulatory measure. If the legislature can come to agreement, legal sales could begin as early as July 1. The bill passed by the House would allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to obtain dual licenses to sell recreational marijuana. The bill also contains equity provisions giving licensing priority to minority owners in communities adversely affected by the war on drugs.

Texas Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Wins Committee Vote. The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee voted unanimously last week to approve a bill to decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, House Bill 218. Possession of less than two ounces is currently a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. Under this bill, possession would still be a misdemeanor (so not technically decriminalization), but without the possibility of arrest of jail time. Instead, offenders would be cited and fined up to $500. The bill now awaits a House floor vote.

Opiates and Opioids

US Opioid Settlement Causing Problems for Patients. The $21 billion settlement between pharmaceutical distributors and attorneys general in 46 states over the companies' role in the early stages of this century's opioid epidemic is having unintended consequences not only for opioid patients, but also for people trying to obtain controlled substances to treat many conditions, including anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and addiction. As a result of the settlement, the distributors are now tightening rules for these drugs, resulting in the cancellation of tens of thousands of drug orders and leaving patients in the lurch. The new controls have created "havoc in pharmacies, said Ilisa Bernstein, chief executive of the American Pharmacists Association. "They have patients coming in to get medication, and they can’t have it. It's disrupting patient care." 

Indiana marijuana reform bills appear dead in the water, Lindsay Graham will file a bill designating Mexican cartels as terrorists organizations, and more.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is ready to go to war with Mexican cartels. (senate.gov)

Indiana Marijuana Legalization, Medical Marijuana Bills Not Moving. Lawmakers filed both a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 1039 and a medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 237, in January, but neither of them is moving. The legalization bill has been referred to the House Committee on Public Health, and the medical marijuana bill has been referred to the House Committee on Health and Provider Services, but neither has seen any action and none is scheduled.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Two More Committee Votes. The marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, has been approved by the House Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee, marking the 12th committee it has passed. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill, passed its ninth committee, bringing the bill ever closer to final floor votes in each chamber. Gov. Tim Walz (D) is pushing lawmakers to get it done this session, and lawmakers are confident it will happen.

Psychedelics

Washington Senate Approves Scaled-Back Psychedelic Research Bill. The Senate has approved Senate Bill 5623, which originally would have set a therapeutic psychedelic services regime similar to the one now in place in Oregon, but was amended to merely creating a task force to promote research into psilocybin and developing a path toward legal access to the drug. After being amended, the bill passed the Senate on a 41-7 vote, and now heads to the House.

Foreign Policy

Lindsay Graham to File Bill Designating Cartels as Terrorist Groups, Setting Stage for Military Force. Sen, Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said Monday that he plans to file a Senate bill that would designate Mexican drug trafficking organizations as terrorist groups, clearing the way for the US to use military force against the heavily-armed cartels. Appearing on Fox New in the wake of the killing of two Americans by apparent drug gang members in Matamoros last weekend, Graham said: "I would do what Trump did. I would put Mexico on notice. If you continue to give safe haven to fentanyl drug dealers, then you’re an enemy of the United States. Seventy to one hundred thousand people have died from fentanyl poisoning coming from Mexico and China and this administration has done nothing about it," he claimed falsely. Citing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week by former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, Graham unveiled his plan for the bill: "[Following Bill Barr’s idea,] I’m going to introduce legislation, to make certain Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations under U.S. law and set the stage to use military force if necessary to protect America from being poisoned by things coming out of Mexico." Barr's op-ed called for "a far more aggressive American effort inside Mexico, including a significant U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence presence, as well as select military capabilities."