New polls in New Jersey and Wisconsin show solid support for marijuana legalization, Chicago harm reduction pioneer Dan Big has died too early, the FDA approves clinical trials of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, an Ohio drug defelonization initiative is on the November ballot, and more.

magic mushrooms (Flickr/Green)

California Legislature Passes Bill to Overturn Old Marijuana Convictions. The state Senate Wednesday approved Assembly Bill 1793, which directs prosecutors throughout the state to overturn convictions for acts that are no longer illegal under the state's Prop 64 marijuana legalization initiative. The bill would also reduce many felony convictions for marijuana-related crimes to misdemeanors. It was approved by the Assembly in May and now goes to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown (D).

New Jersey Poll Shows Strong Support for Legalization. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday has support for marijuana legalization at 62%. Among respondents between 18 and 34, that figure was 90%. The poll comes as Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and legislative leaders push to get a legalization bill passed next month.

Wisconsin Poll Shows Strong Support for Legalization. A new Marquette Law poll has support for legalization in the Dairy State at 61%. Gov. Scott Walker (R) is opposed to marijuana legalization, calling it a gateway drug. He's polling at 46% in the same poll.

Medical Marijuana

Mormon Church Sends Out Letter Opposed Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative. The Salt Lake City-based Church of Latter Day Saints has mailed a letter to church members urging a "no" vote on the state's November medical marijuana initiative. The letter claims the measure would create "a serious threat to health and public safety, especially for our youth and young adults, by making marijuana generally available with few controls."

Psychedelics

FDA Approves Psychedelic Magic Mushrooms Ingredient Psilocybin for Depression Trial. The Food & Drug Administration has approved the use of psilocybin for a drug trial in treatment-resistant depression. Compass Pathways, a life sciences firm, now has a green light to perform the clinical trials. The phase two trial with 216 patients will get underway next month.

Harm Reduction

Chicago Harm Reduction Pioneer Dan Bigg Dead at 59. Dan Bigg, a co-founder of the Chicago Recovery Alliance and a long-time activist died Tuesday at his home. The cause of death remains undetermined pending further tests. He was a pioneering needle exchange worker in the 1990s and pushed for putting naloxone in the hands of drug users and their loved ones as opioid overdose deaths began to soar more than a decade ago. Friends and colleagues said that thousands of people who could have died from overdoses or infectious disease are alive today because of Bigg's stalwart activism. He will be missed.

Sentencing

Ohio Initiative Would Defelonize Drug Possession, Cut Sentences. Voters in the Buckeye State will vote on a constitutional amendment that would reduce penalties for non-violent drug crimes by making drug use and possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Issue 1 also bars the jailing of probationers merely for drug use or possession and allows sentence reductions of up to 25% for inmates who participate in rehabilitation, work, or educational programming.

The world loses a global drug reformer, the US Senate could act on a marijuana measure this week, they're still sorting out medical marijuana in Oklahoma, and more.

Kofi Annan. R.I.P. (Creative Commons)

US Senate Could Vote This Week on Amendment to Require Feds to Study Impact of Marijuana Legalization. The Senate could vote this week on an amendment to the Defense, Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services funding bill from Sen. Robert Melendez (D-NJ) that would direct those departments to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study cannabis tax revenues, rates of medicinal use, and opioid overdose rates in states where marijuana is legal. The amendment is similar to a standalone bill filed in the House last month by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HA), Carlos Curbelo (D-FL), and others.

North Dakota Cops Come Out Against Legalization Initiative. At its convention in Minot last Friday, the North Dakota Peace Officers Association approved a resolution opposing the state's marijuana legalization initiative. Police expressed concerns about drugged driving and "how at a high school football or soccer game someone can't smoke a tobacco cigarette, but they could smoke a marijuana cigarette." But initiative proponents said state smoking laws would apply to marijuana, too.

Medical Marijuana

Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Constitutional Amendment Initiative Fails to Make Ballot. An initiative that would have put the right to use medical marijuana in the state constitution will not appear on the November ballot. That initiative, State Question796, came up short on signatures. It needed more than 123,000 valid voter signatures but came up with only 95,000 raw signatures. Voters in Oklahoma approved a statutory medical marijuana initiative earlier this year.

Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Groups Agree on Proposed Bill. Advocates led by New Health Solutions have crafted a 202-page bill designed to get the state's nascent, voter-approved medical marijuana law up and running. The bill would postpone any limits on the number of business license holders for two years and eliminates a requirement that the state investigate proposed medical marijuana businesses and their backers before issuing licenses. It also lets residential landlords charge a $250 fee for marijuana use on their property, removes state restrictions on gun ownership with a medical marijuana license and would also protect employees working in infrastructure operations and maintenance who want to obtain a license. Advocates say the legislature needs to return in special session to iron out last-minute hitches and avoid delays in implementing the program. The Department of Health is supposed to begin accepting license applications on Friday.

International

Kofi Annan Dead at 80. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has died at age 80. He was also a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which issued the following statement on his death: "It is with deep sadness and a tremendous sense of loss that the members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy have learned of the passing of their esteemed colleague Kofi Annan today, Saturday, 18 August 2018. A former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Commissioner Annan worked tirelessly for peace throughout his life, and addressed the many challenges confronting the world with wisdom and pragmatism. He initiated the move towards eradicating extreme poverty with the Millenium Development Goals and contributed considerably to the global response to HIV.Mr Annan convened the West Africa Commission on Drugs and remained a dedicated member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. He was an ardent advocate for a more humane approach to drug control, stating: "I believe that drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrong government policies have destroyed many more." In his work with the Commission, he displayed the same commitment to protect the dignity, health and human rights of all. Mr Annan will be forever remembered for his contribution to global peace and his profound love and dedication to humanity. The members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy join millions around the world in honoring his memory and express their deep condolences to his family for this great loss."

A new bill in Guam would allow home cultivation, Oklahoma officials still have issues with the voter-approved medical marijuana initiative, and more.

Guam Bill Would Allow Home Cultivation. Five years after the US territory legalized medical marijuana, access issues have prompted Sen. Louis Muna to file a bill that would allow patients to grow their own at home. The bill got a public hearing Tuesday night, with mostly positive testimony. No word yet on it will get a committee vote.

Michigan

Michigan Lawmakers Call on Governor to Prevent Shutdown of Unlicensed Dispensaries. Temporarily operating dispensaries have permission to stay open until September 15 as they try to obtain state licenses, but a group of state legislators says the state is moving too slowly with licensing and are asking Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to prevent the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation from sending out cease and desist orders to unlicensed businesses on September 16. More than 637 businesses have applied for licenses, but only 16 have been issued so far, and there is only one more licensing board meeting before the deadline. The legislators are calling for the deadline to be extended so patients aren't left in the lurch.

Ohio

Ohio Deadline for Getting Program Up and Running Goes Up in Smoke. The state's medical marijuana program is supposed to be up and running by September 8, but that isn't going to happen. The state Department of Commerce is still selecting businesses that will be issued cultivation licenses. The department says it can issue up to 18 of those licenses before September 8, but that means the first crops won't be ready until November.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Agencies Still Have "Concerns" Over Legal Medical Marijuana. Interim health commissioner Tom Bates told lawmakers last Wednesday that the Health Board still had concerns about how medical marijuana will be implemented and that a special session of the legislature may be needed to see the program properly implemented. The board wants lawmakers to amend the law so that, among other changes, commercial grows are indoor only, patient home grows are prohibited or require a special license, smokable marijuana is prohibited, THC levels are limited to 12% or less, a pharmacist is required on-site at dispensaries, and that a list of qualifying conditions for patients be created. Some of the changes are among those recommended in the Health Board's first try at setting interim rules, which were retracted in the face of loud public opposition. Any effort to re-adopt them is certain to lead to renewed clamor.

[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visit MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]

North Dakota becomes the second state (after Michigan) to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative this year, Denver's mayor comes around on legal pot, the UN will review marijuana's status under international law, and more.

Denver's mayor opposed marijuana legalization, but now has seen the light. (Creative Commons)

North Dakota Legalization Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot. The secretary of state's office announced Monday organizers of a marijuana legalization initiative had handed in enough valid voter signatures to qualify their measure for the November ballot. That makes North Dakota the second state to qualify a legalization initiative for November: Michigan activists did so earlier this year.

Denver Mayor Changes Tune on Legalization. Mayor Michael Hancock campaigned against the state's successful 2012 legalization initiative, but after five years of legal weed, he's singing a different tune. Prompted by a recent report that touted the city's accomplishments with legal marijuana, Hancock now says the city's approach "is working." He noted that the city was the first large city in the country to take on the "daunting challenge" of legalization, "and we are having success."

International

UN Launches First-Ever Full Review Of Marijuana's Status Under International Law. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) will launch a first-ever in-depth review of whether marijuana is properly scheduled under international drug control treaties. The group held a "pre-review" earlier this year. "A pre-review is the first step of the ECDD's assessment process, where it is determined whether there is enough robust scientific information to proceed to the next step, called a critical review. This initial evaluation is also an opportunity to identify gaps in the available scientific data. A critical review is carried out when there is sufficient scientific evidence to allow the ECDD to make an informed recommendation that the substance be placed under international control, or if its level of control should be changed."

Canada's British Columbia Begins Drug Testing in Provincial Cities. Responding to a large number of opioid overdose deaths in the province, BC Interior Health has begun funding full-time drug testing services in seven cities in the province. The program provides fentanyl testing strips to local service providers.

Colombia's Defense Minister Says Government Will Forcibly Eradicate Coca Crops. Defense Minister Guillermo Botero said last Friday the government has decided to forcibly eradicate coca crops in the country. Former President Juan Manuel Santos had ended forced eradication in a bid to reduce associated violence, but new President Ivan Duque will go ahead despite the potential for violence in a move that is sure to please the United States.