Another Republican files another border fentanyl bill, Seattle's mayor has a plan to deal with open-air drug use, and more.

As part of a criminal justice reform bill signed into law by Gov. Pritzker (D), Illinois will reduce drug testing of parolees.

Hickenlooper Reintroduces Bill to Prepare Federal Government for Marijuana Legalization. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) recently reintroduced the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult Use Regulated Environment (PREPARE) Act, a bill that directs the Attorney General to develop a framework for federal cannabis regulation. Though cannabis is currently illegal at the federal level, many states have followed Colorado's safe and legal model. The PREPARE Act establishes a federal commission, modeled after Colorado's regulatory commission, to advise the government on proper safeguards for federal cannabis legalization.

>"Colorado's is the model for a safe, well-regulated marijuana market," said Hickenlooper. "Let's build on that success with federal regulation."

The PREPARE Act-established federal commission would advise on the development of a federal regulatory framework modeled after state cannabis regulations, consider barriers and suggestions for regulating cannabis similar to alcohol, identify ways to remedy the disproportionate impact cannabis prohibition has had on minority, low-income, and veteran communities, and include representatives from relevant federal agencies and offices, individuals nominated by Senate and House leadership, industry representatives, and representatives of state and local governments.

Drug Policy

House Republican Files Bill to Confiscate Cartel Assets, Use Them to Pay for Border Wall. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) has filed the Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act, which would allow US authorities to seize the assets of Mexican drug cartels and use them to construct a wall at the southern border and to fight fentanyl.

The measure would establish two funds at the Treasury Department, the "Southern Border Wall Fulfillment Fund" and the "Combating the Fentanyl Epidemic Fund." Both funds would be run by the Department of Homeland Security.

"Criminal drug traffickers have smuggled enough fentanyl into our country to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States, and tragically, too many families know the pain of losing a loved one to this deadly crisis. We must fight fire with fire to protect our families, our children, and our communities," Feenstra said in a statement.

According to the DEA, however, the vast majority of drugs smuggled into the US from Mexico go through ports of entry, not unwalled portions of the border.

Seattle Mayor Unveils New Proposal to Fight Open-Air Drug Use. Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) on Monday announced a new plan to cut down on open-air drug use in the city and increase access to addiction treatment. The plan will include guidance to police on when to make an arrest and make drug possession a gross misdemeanor, bringing the city into conformity with state law. The state's drug possession statute had to be redone after the state Supreme Court threw it out in the Blake case in 2021.

"What's the same is it adopts the state law that we call the post-Blake Fix, and under the post-Blake Fix, you may recall, the officers were required to give referrals before arrests were made," said Harrell. "The legislature came out with the fix. That's what's the same, is that we are adopting the state law. What's quite different is we went more specific on what an arrest looks like and what it should not look like. It also brings in the threat of harm standard, which makes it clear, that if people are a threat to others, if they are in an area where people are trying to catch the bus, or where they are trying to shop or bring their kids in a stroller, these areas need to be safe, and it gives us the ability to make arrests when they need to happen," said Mayor Harrell.

The plan also includes $27 million to invest in facilities, treatments and services to address the opioid crisis. The measure needs to be approved by city council members, which Harrell said he is confident will happen and before a two-week break at the end of the month.

Drug Testing

Illinois Governor Signs Bill to Limit Drug Testing of Parolees. Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has signed into law a criminal justice reform bill, Senate Bill 423, that limits drug testing of parolees, among other provisions.

"Today, I will sign legislation that focuses our Mandatory Supervised Release system on creating successful outcomes for those who were formerly incarcerated and improves the safety and peace of our communities," Pritzker said in a statement last Friday. "This legislation supports the reintegration of individuals into the community while lowering the possibility of recidivism, increasing public safety, and lowering taxpayer costs," he added.

Singapore has executed one drug offender with another set for later this week, the Florida ACLU joins the fight for a marijuana legalization initiative, and more.

The gallows. Singapore's implement of choice for dealing with drug traffickers, even small-time ones. (Pixabay)

Florida Supreme Court Grants AG's Request for More Time to Challenge Marijuana Legalization Initiative. The state Supreme Court on Monday granted a request from Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) for more time to challenge a marijuana legalization initiative from Smart & Safe Florida. She now has until August 2 to make her argument that the initiative does not meet state requirements to be on the November 2024 ballot.

Smart & Safe Florida opposed the seven-day extension, arguing instead for a two-day extension, but the Supreme Court gave Moody the whole seven days.

If the high court approves the initiative or fails to issue a ruling by April 1, 2024, would be set to appear on the November 2024 ballot. Since it takes the form of a constitutional amendment, it will need 60 percent of the vote to pass.

Florida ACLU Joins Fight Over Getting Marijuana Legalization Initiative on the Ballot. The ACLU of Florida filed a brief on Monday backing the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative and calling out the state Supreme Court for the way it has handled ballot initiatives in recent years, turning the process into an "acrobatic exercise."

"The ACLU is arguing that the Supreme Court now has a history over the last several years in Florida of striking down these initiatives," ACLU attorney Will Cooper said. "If the Supreme Court really does want to let the people speak and get out of the business of striking these initiatives down and acted by the people of Florida, I think they certainly have a sufficient basis to let it stand," he added.

In the past five years, the Supreme Court has reviewed nine initiatives, striking down four of them, as well as refusing to review another initiative, effectively killing it. In the five year period before that, the high court reviewed seven initiatives and struck down none of them.

International

Peru's Surging Cocaine Trade is Overrunning Remote Indigenous Territories. In Ucayali department, which is a lowland jungle region bordering Brazil, coca has arrived, and the trade is threatening the reserves of the isolated tribespeople who inhabit the area. It is an area largely bereft of state services, including an anemic state security apparatus, a situation that has created "an open door" for the drug trade, say drug experts and indigenous communities.

Coca production has expanded from the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM) to far Ucayali, where land under cultivation has spiked nearly five-fold in the past five years. Nearly 35,000 acres of coca was grown on land belonging to some 295 native communities. Nationally, coca cultivation increased by 18 percent from 2021 to 2022.

"Ucayali has practically wide open borders and strategic positioning," said Frank Casas, an expert on Peru's drug trade. "Within the last three years, the region has become a high production area, and not only in terms of coca, but also in the production and commercialization of cocaine to international markets."

Singapore Hangs Drug Offender, Another Hanging Set for Friday. Singapore authorities hanged a 56-year-old man, Mohammed Aziz Hussain, after he was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking less than two ounces of heroin. And it is set to hang a woman, Saridewi Djamani, 45, on Friday for trafficking slightly more than an ounce of heroin in 2018.

The local Transformative Justice Collective and international human rights groups called on the government to halt the pending execution and end the resort to the death penalty. It had been under a moratorium during the coronavirus pandemic, but has returned with a vengeance last year with 15 drug offenders executed since then.

"Singaporean authorities must immediately stop these blatant violations of the right to life in their obsessive enforcement of misguided drug policies," Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary-general of the International Federation of Human Rights, said in a statement.

A joint statement by Transformative Justice Collective and other groups noted that Law Minister K. Shanmugam reportedly acknowledged in a 2022 interview that Singapore's harsh policy on drugs has not led to the arrest of the so-called drug kingpins.

"Instead of disrupting drug cartels… the government of Singapore deliberately retains capital drug laws that, in practice, operate to punish low-level traffickers and couriers, who are typically recruited from marginalized groups with intersecting vulnerabilities," the statement said.

New York GOP politicos want to ban public pot smoking, California is paying meth users who test negative, and more.

Magic mushrooms are among the natural psychedelics that are now the lowest law enforcement priority in Minneapolis. (CC)

New York Republicans Want to Ban Public Marijuana Use. Republican state lawmakers are calling for a ban on public marijuana smoking and have proposed a bill, Assembly Bill 7612, that seeks to achieve that end by allowing local governments to put bans in place at the county or municipal level. The bill also would require local governments to affirmatively act to allow public marijuana use.

"State residents, including children, are now regularly assailed with the pungent odor of marijuana on public sidewalks, in parking lots and other public spaces," said Sen. George Borrello (R), sponsor of the Senate version of the bill (Senate Bill 7604). "Many New Yorkers don't want to be exposed to either the effects of marijuana smoke or its smell and don't want their children subjected to it."

The Republican bills seek fines of up to $125 for public marijuana consumption.

Drug Treatment

California Fights Meth Addiction with Gift Cards. After receiving a waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state is beginning a pilot program in 24 counties to treat methamphetamine dependency by contingency management, a non-pharmaceutical intervention that reduces use by paying program participants who stay off the drug. Successful participants get gift cards for not testing positive for meth.

Without the federal waiver, the program had been blocked because the state could not cover the costs of the program. California is the first state in the nation to obtain such a waiver.

Among the localities participating in the pilot program are Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. In the latter city, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital opened enrollment for the pilot program last week and ultimately seeks to serve 50 participants. They will be tested once or twice a week and will receive a $10 gift card each time they test negative, up to $599. That's the limit because payments of $600 or more need to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

A similar program in the Department of Veterans Affairs has been ongoing since 2011 and has proven successful.

Psychedelics

Minneapolis Mayor Makes Psychedelics Lowest Law Enforcement Priority. Mayor Jacob Frey (DFL) last Friday issued an executive order making the use and possession of certain psychedelic drugs the lowest law enforcement priority. That makes the city the latest major city after Denver, Detroit, and Washington, DC, to adopt a more permissive stance toward psychedelics. A number of smaller cities have also enacted psychedelic reforms.

Frey said he hoped the move would contribute to national rethinking of prohibitionist drug laws and that it would draw attention to the role plant-based psychedelics can play for people dealing with depression, trauma and addiction.

"We have a mass proliferation of deaths of despair," he said, citing the nation's high rates of suicide and opioid abuse. "This is something that is known to help."

International

Albania Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana. The parliament last Friday voted 69-23 to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. It is not clear how it will be regulated, but the government believes legalizing it can boost tax revenues.

The country had been a leading illegal marijuana producing country in Europe, but after a police officer was killed raiding a marijuana operation in 2014, the government instituted a crackdown on the black market, which at the time accounted for more than two-thirds of the country's gross national product.

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.

There has been a remarkable drop in federal drug prisoners in recent years. (Creative Commons)

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.