Expungement moves are happening in Arizona and Louisiana, Mexico's president says he could get behind peace agreements with drug cartels, and more.

Mexico's President Lopez Obrador says he would be open to a peace agreement with drug cartels. (Creative Commons)

Arizona Appeals Court Expands Scope of Marijuana Expungements. The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that expungement can be applied to sale-related marijuana offenses as well as possession offenses. State law reads that "possessing, consuming, or transporting" up to 2.5 ounces of weed or up to six plants are offenses eligible for expungement. In the case before the court, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that an expungement request for the offense of solicitation to commit possession of marijuana for sale did not comply with the state law, but the appeals court held that the offenses of "possessing" or "transporting" marijuana included marijuana for sale and ordered the lower court to grant the expungement request.

California Senate Approves Bill Barring Employers from Asking About Past Marijuana Use. The state Senate has approved Senate Bill 700, which would bar employers from asking potential new hires about past marijuana use. The vote was 29-9. The bill builds on existing employment protections enacted last year barring employers from penalizing most workers for off-duty marijuana use. The bill now heads to the Assembly.

Louisiana Marijuana Expungement Streamlining Bill Advances. A bill to streamline expungements for first-time marijuana possession offenders, House Bill 286, has already passed the House and on Wednesday was approved by the Senate Judiciary C Committee. The next stop for the bill is a Senate floor vote. Under current law, people seeking expungement for possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana have to wait five years after conviction. This bill cuts the waiting period to 90 days. But people would have to pay up to $300 in fees for the privilege.

International

. Responding to an activist's open letter to drug cartels asking them to stop the practice of forced disappearances—where people are not just killed but completely erased, their bodies dissolved in acid or burned to ash, and their friends and family are left with no idea of what happened to them—President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said he would support an agreement with some of the country's most powerful and violent drug cartels  if he helped stop the violence that has wracked the country for nearly two decades.

"I agree and I hope we achieve peace – that’s what we all want," AMLO said when asked about the proposed pact. "Violence is irrational and we’re going to continue looking for peace, to achieve peace and that is what we’re doing. And if there is an initiative of this kind, of course we support it."

The number of people who have been forcibly disappeared in Mexico in the last 15 years number more than 50,000, with around 40,000 of them disappearing during AMLO's term of office. Another 30,000 a year have died in cartel violence during his term. 

The Nevada Supreme Court protects workers who use medical marijuana, the District of Columbia moves to radically reform its medical marijuana program, and more.

Minnesota Medical Marijuana Program Adds New Qualifying Conditions. The state Department of Health has announced it is adding irritable bowel syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder to the list of qualifying medical conditions for the state's medical marijuana program. The changes will go into effect on August 1, 2023. "We are adding the new qualifying conditions to allow patients more therapy options for conditions that can be debilitating,"said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. Two other conditions, gastroparesis and opioid use disorder were not approved.

Nevada

Nevada Supreme Court Rules Workers Fired for Off-Duty Medical Marijuana Use Can Sue Former Employers. The state's highest court ruled Thursday that workers who are medical marijuana patients can sue their former employers if they have been fired for off-duty marijuana use. The ruling came in the case of Jim Roushkolb, a registered patient who used medical marijuana to ease PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health issues arising from a 1995 assault. His former employer, Freeman Expositions, fired him in 2018 after he tested positive for THC in the wake of a workplace incident where a plexiglass sheet fell and shattered. All employees at the scene were ordered to take drug tests, and Roushkolb was fired even though the company knew he was a medical marijuana patient.

Ohio

Ohio Bill Would Expand Medical Marijuana Access. A measure that has already passed the Senate, Senate Bill 261, would add new qualifying conditions but more importantly would also let doctors recommend medical marijuana for any condition they deem necessary. Proponents are now trying to get in through the House in what is left of the state legislature's lame-duck session . "I think that that’s the best path we can go on,"said bill sponsor Sen. Nicki Antonio (D-Lakewood). "I think there’s a lot of value in being able to have this treatment opportunity available to people as an alternative to all kinds of things that may have other side effects."

District of Columbia

DC Council Approves Bill to Eliminate License Caps, Promote Equity, Provide Tax Relief, More. The city council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that broadly reworks the city's medical marijuana program. The measure needs to pass a second reading at a yet unspecified date before going to the mayor's desk. The bill would eliminate caps on licenses for marijuana businesses, provide tax relief to operators, encourage greater social equity, create new businesses categories for on-site consumption lounges, and provide a pathway for current gray market "gifting" operators to enter the licensed market. The Medical Cannabis Amendment Act would also codify that adults can self-certify as medical marijuana patients. The bill was carried by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) on behalf of Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).

A Nevada judge orders marijuana removed from the state's Controlled Substances Act, the Germans roll out a marijuana legalization plan, British cops plan a crackdown on recreational drug users, and more.

Famartin via Wikimedia

Maryland Poll Has Strong Support for Marijuana Legalization Referendum. A new poll from Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore has support for the Question 4 marijuana legalization referendum at 63 percent, with only 25 opposed and 12 percent undecided. The poll results are in line with a pair of September polls, one of which had support at 59 percent and the other of which had support at 72 percent. Voters will be asked "Do you favor the legalization of the use of cannabis by an individual who is at least 21 years of age on or after July 1st, 2023, in the state of Maryland?" and if the measure passes, it would automatically implement an already approved bill that would create basic rules and regulations for an adult-use marijuana program.

Nevada Judge Orders Marijuana Removed from State List of Controlled Substances. A judge in Clark County (Las Vegas) ruled last Wednesday that the state pharmacy board lacks the authority to regulate marijuana and marijuana derivatives under state law since voters legalized the substance and ordered the board to remove marijuana from the state's controlled substances list. If the board "designates a substance as a 'controlled substance' but the designation falls outside the authority delegated by the ​​Legislature, the designation is invalid," wrote District Court Judge Joe Hardy. That same judge ruled in September that classifying marijuana as a Schedule I substance was unconstitutional because voters had legalized medical marijuana in 1998. "The Board exceeded its authority when it placed, or failed to remove marijuana, cannabis, and cannabis derivatives on its list as Schedule I substances," Hardy wrote in that case.

International

Afghanistan Bans Hookahs, Fruit-Flavored Tobacco. The Taliban has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, banning the smoking of fruit-flavored tobacco (shisha) and the hookahs (water pipes) used to smoke it. The Taliban considers shisha as an intoxicant. The ban was announced in western Herat province earlier this month, and it is not clear whether it extends to the whole country. The Herat Café Owners Association said the ban had cost some 2,500 jobs in the province, which already faces a dire economic situation. But Azizul Rahman Mohajer, the provincial head of the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said hookahs are "against Sharia" and smoking shisha "harms our bodies and causes tobacco addiction, which can spread widely in society."

Australian Capital Territory Decriminalizes Drug Possession. A drug decriminalization measure introduced as a private member's bill by Labor MLA Michael Pettersson won in the territorial legislature last week. The new law will not be implemented for a year to "allow for appropriate police training." Under the new law, people caught with personal use amounts of drugs will face a referral to drug treatment or a maximum $100 fine instead of time in prison.

British Cops to Target Recreational Drug Users in Holiday Enforcement Blitz. Police in Dorset have announced Operation Scorpion, a winter drug enforcement operation that will see a shift in focus from dealers to recreational users of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and MDMA. Police in Avon & Somerset, Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucester will be joined by British Transport Police for a series of crackdowns on the night-time economy. Police will focus on city and town centers across the region. "Illegal drug use is just that -- illegal -- and the partners of Op. Scorpion will continue to work together - targeting criminality, taking drugs off our streets, sharing intelligence, protecting the vulnerable and putting a ring of steel around the South West," police said. They are also taking a hard line on marijuana, arguing that "cannabis is not the benign drug those seeking to make a profit would have you believe."

Germany Unveils Marijuana Legalization Plan. The health ministry last Wednesday rolled out a marijuana legalization plan that includes the decriminalization of the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana as well as allowing for the sale of marijuana to adults in a regulated marketplace. The German government will also consult with the European Union's executive commission to ensure that the legalization plan. Berlin will check with the European Union's executive commission to ensure it complies with EU laws and will move forward "on this basis" only if whether the plan approved by the German government is in line with EU laws and would proceed with legislation "on this basis" only if the EU approves.

North Dakota activists cry foul over a financial summary of their legal pot initiative, the South Caroline Supreme ourt upholds civil asset forfeiture, and more. 

Coca farmers are clashing with each other in Bolivia. (DEA)

Colorado Bill to Protect Marijuana-Using Workers Filed. Even though Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana, it still does not have protections in place for people fired or not hired for using it. That could change under newly filed House Bill 1152 , which would not only protect workers from adverse consequences for off-the-job marijuana use but also allow medical marijuana patients to consume their medicine at work. Past attempts to pass such legislation have failed and the state Supreme Court has held that employers can fire medical marijuana users for off-duty use.

Missouri Lawmaker Files Marijuana Legalization Bill, Urges Special Session to Consider It. In a bid to fend off a marijuana legalization initiative, Amendment 3, Rep. Ron Hicks (R) filed his Marijuana Freedom Act on Wednesday, one day after a judge cleared the way for the initiative to be voted on in November. The bill is a revised version of a bill he filed earlier this year and advanced through committee during the regular legislative session. He is calling on Gov. Mike Parson (R) to include the bill in a pending special session, even though Parsons said recently he would not include it.

Nevada Judge Rules Pharmacy Board's Classification of Marijuana as Schedule I Substance Unconstitutional. District Judge Joe Hardy Jr. ruled Wednesday that the state Board of Pharmacy’s classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug is unconstitutional. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Nevada, which argued that marijuana doesn't meet the definition of a Schedule I drug under state law because it has accepted medical uses. The judge agreed: "The constitutional right to use marijuana upon the advice of a physician does establish that marijuana has an accepted medical use and treatment in the United States," Hardy said.

North Dakota Activists Accuse State of Misleading Voters About Marijuana Legalization Initiative. Backers of the Initiated Statutory Measure No. 1 marijuana legalization initiative say the state's ballot summary misleads voters about the costs of the measure by failing to include any revenues from legalization in the summary. The state's fiscal summary reads as follows: "The estimated fiscal impact of this measure beginning in 2023 through the 2025-2027 Biennium is Revenue of $3,145,000 and Expenses of $4,985,000." That does not include revenues from legal marijuana, which would be taxed at 5 percent by the state, up to an additional 3 percent by localities, and a possible excise tax. Dave Owen, the chairman of New Approach North Dakota, called the fiscal summary "obviously incomplete" and "intentionally misleading." The state claims it is unable to calculate potential revenues, but an economics professor at North Dakota State University was able to come up with a projection that the state would get about $6 million in pot taxes each year.

Medical Marijuana

Oklahoma Is Arresting Pregnant Women for Using Marijuana. At least 26 women have been charged with felony child neglect since 2019 for using medical marijuana. That offense carries a sentence of up to life in prison, although defendants have typically pleaded guilty and received probation. At least eight of those women were registered medical marijuana patients. According to National Advocates for Pregnant Women, this is the only state to prosecute pregnant women for medical marijuana use. The prosecutions involving medical marijuana are "inconsistent with state law,"said Ryan Kiesel, a civil rights attorney and former Oklahoma lawmaker. "Those women are protected as medical marijuana patients under the law,"Kiesel said. "It’s important to remember, if you have a medical marijuana license, you are under the care of a physician."

Asset Forfeiture

South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Civil Asset Forfeiture Law But Urges Legislative Reform. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the state's civil asset forfeiture law but suggested the legislature could reform the law to make it more fair to seizure victims. "Several states have amended their statutory schemes to impose more stringent requirements on the government; however, the fact that certain states have legislatively altered their civil forfeiture laws provides no support for judicially changing ours,"the order said. "Legislative alteration might be a good thing, but we are not called upon to decide whether a change in the law would be wise."

International

. The leader of an anti-government coca growers union faction, Freddy Machicado, was arrested Wednesday for his role in protests that resulted in the burning of a "parallel" coca market in La Paz. He is being held at a police headquarters in El Alto, a La Paz suburb. For weeks, Machiado had led weekly protests against the market, which is operated by another faction of the Adepcoca union close to the government. Its leader, Arnold Alanes, who claims leadership of the union even though a majority of affiliates reject his leadership. There are only two officially sanctioned legal coca markets in the country, but Alanes' "parallel" market had operated unimpeded by the government.