Amsterdam wants a city district to be part of a national regulated marijuana supply experiment, Florida's attorney general challenges a marijuana legalization initiative, and more.

Florida becomes the latest state to decriminalize fentanyl test strips. (Creative Commons)

Florida Attorney General Files Challenge to Marijuana Legalization Initiative. Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) this week filed a challenge to the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative with the state Supreme Court, arguing that it should not appear on the November ballot.

In her brief filed with the court, Moody argued that the measure misleads voters because it fails to make plain that marijuana is and would remain illegal under federal law. Moody also told the court that although it had approved similar language in other marijuana legalization initiatives, it was wrong to do so: "In previously approving similarly worded ballot summaries, the court erred," she wrote.

The ballot summary does say that the initiative does not change federal law, but that statement is "inadequate to resolve the confusion," Moody wrote.

Supreme Court approval is the last step for the initiative before it can appear on the November ballot. If it does, it will need 60 percent of the vote to be approved.

Harm Reduction

Florida Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Bill into Law. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed into law Senate Bill 164, which decriminalizes fentanyl test strips by removing them from the state's definition of drug paraphernalia. Some 6,000 Floridians died of fentanyl overdoses in 2020, but a test strip decriminalization bill was defeated last year after some lawmakers said the move encouraged drug use.

International

Luxembourg Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill. Deputies approved limited marijuana legalization bill, Bill 8033, on Wednesday. The bill allows people to grow up to four plants at home and consume the fruits of their harvest at home. But use or possession of up to three grams outside the home can bring a fine of between 25 and 500 Euros, and offenses involving more than three grams can bring fines of up to 2500 Euros and jail terms ranging from eight days to six months.

The Pirate Party criticized the bill as "false legalization" because it does not address black market dealing.

Amsterdam Wants City District to Be Part of National Marijuana Cultivation Trial. Amsterdam has nominated the Amsterdam-Oost district to take part in a national experiment to regulate the supply of marijuana to coffeeshops, the city announced Wednesday. uring the experiment, which is expected to run for four to five years, coffeeshops will sell regulated, quality-controlled marijuana produced by selected growers.

Mayor Femke Halsema and city aldermen argued for the city to be included in the experiment because "the results of the experiment may eventually lead to changes in the tolerance policy, which may greatly affect the coffeeshops and cannabis market in Amsterdam." The city had initially been excluded from the trial because it had too many coffeeshops, but the cabinet recently decided to allow city districts to participate. With 100,000 inhabitants and 10 coffeeshops, Amsterdam-Oost now meets the qualifying conditions.

But the Ministers of Justice and Security and Health, Welfare, and Sport will have to decide whether the Amsterdam-Oost district can be included in the experiment. The other municipalities set to participate are Groningen, Almere, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Zaanstad, Hellevoetsluis, Breda, Tilburg, Maastricht and Heerlen.

A pair of senators file a bill to allow Mexican troops to be trained by the US military to fight drug cartels, the FDA issues its first draft guidance on psychedelics, and more.

GOP presidential contender Ron DeSantis does not want to free the weed. (florida.gov)

Federal Ban on DC Weed Sales Advancing Again in This Congress. A Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill that includes a ban on legal marijuana sales within the District of Columbia advanced in Congress last week. The spending bill was approved last Thursday by the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. The ban on DC weed sales was included as a rider to the spending bill, a move Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) denounced as "outrageous."

DC voters approved marijuana legalization in 2014, but Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) has used riders ever since to block the District from allowing sales by barring the use of any federal funds to do so. The riders survived even when Democrats controlled the House and now, under Republican control of the House, is included in the base spending bill.

Ron DeSantis Says He Would Not Decriminalize Marijuana if Elected President. President Ron DeSantis would not decriminalize marijuana, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said at a campaign event last Thursday. DeSantis was responding to a question from a person representing wounded veterans who asked him to "please" decriminalize the plant.

"I don't think we would do that," DeSantis responded, then pointed to Florida'' medical marijuana program, saying it "actually allowed access" for veterans to use marijuana, but that it was "controversial because obviously there's some people that abuse it and are using it recreationally."

He also made familiar claims about marijuana potency and repeated unfounded assertions that marijuana is being adulterated by other drugs such as fentanyl.

Psychedelics

FDA Issues First Draft Guidance on Clinical Trials with Psychedelic Drugs. The US Food and Drug Administration last Friday published a new draft guidance to highlight fundamental considerations to researchers investigating the use of psychedelic drugs for potential treatment of medical conditions, including psychiatric or substance use disorders. This is the first FDA draft guidance that presents considerations to industry for designing clinical trials for psychedelic drugs.

There has been growing interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs in recent years. They are being evaluated for use in the potential treatment of conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders and other conditions. However, designing clinical studies to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these compounds presents a number of unique challenges that require careful consideration.

The purpose of the draft guidance is to advise researchers on study design and other considerations as they develop medications that contain psychedelics. Within the draft guidance, the term psychedelics refers to "classic psychedelics," typically understood to be drugs such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that act on the brain's serotonin system, as well as "entactogens" or "empathogens" such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Foreign Policy

Cornyn, King Introduce Bill to Increase US-Mexico Military Cooperation to Combat Cartels. US Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Partnership for Advancing Regional Training and Narcotics Enforcement Response Strategies (PARTNERS) Act, which would allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to train Mexican military forces in the United States to combat cartels in Mexico.

The PARTNERS Act would create a military-to-military pilot program through the DoD to bring Mexican military forces to the US to receive tactical training that they can employ in Mexico to counter transnational criminal organizations (TCO), including cartels, weapons dealers, drug traffickers, and human smugglers.

(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.)

Florida's attorney general has a couple more weeks to try to take down a marijuana legalization initiative, Jammu & Kashmir cracks down on opium cultivation, and more.

The Mexican military is under scrutiny for the apparent execution of five men in Nuevo Laredo. (Creative Commons)

Florida Supreme Court Grants Attorney General Two-Week Extension to Submit Brief Opposing Marijuana Legalization Initiative. The state Supreme Court last Friday granted Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) a two-week extension to submit her brief opposing the marijuana legalization constitutional amendment from Smart & Safe Florida. The initiative campaign has already gathered enough valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2024 ballot, but Moody will argue that it violates the state's constitution's single-subject rule for ballot measures.

Clemency and Pardon

Faith and Justice Organizations Urge Biden to Grant Clemency for People Sentenced Under Crack Cocaine Guidelines. Thirteen faith and justice organizations have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to grant clemency to people convicted of federal crack cocaine offenses. The signers include the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and Drug Policy Alliance, while faith organizations include the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration and the National Council of Churches.

"It is unacceptable that we know of glaring injustices in our criminal legal system, but see little action from those with the responsibility to change the law," the organizations wrote. "[Y]ou have the power of executive clemency to grant pardons and commutations to thousands of people impacted by unjustly punitive crack cocaine sentencing guidelines."

Under the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, enacted in a moral panic after the cocaine overdose death of basketball star Len Bias, a person found with five grams of crack faced the same sentence as one found with 500 grams of powder cocaine, a 100:1 sentencing disparity, even though there is no chemical difference between the two forms of the drug. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity to 18:1 and under President Biden's direction, and prosecutors were instructed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to not automatically charge crack and powder cocaine offenses differently.

Still, "[t]housands of people are serving out harsh, unjustifiable sentences because of the crack disparity, while thousands of others still face legal discrimination from governments, landlords, and employers because of a criminal record for a federal crack conviction."

Foreign Policy

US Musician Arrested on Drug Charges in Russia. Travis Michael Leake, a US citizen long resident in Moscow who has been involved in the music scene in the Russian capital, has been arrested on drug charges as the US and Russia face their deepest diplomatic crisis in a generation. He appeared in court Saturday on drug trafficking charges "involving young people" and will be held behind bars at least until August 6, when he faces his next court appearance.

The State Department said officials were aware of reports that a US citizen was detained in Moscow, adding that the department "has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad." The agency declined to provide further details, citing privacy considerations.

Leake becomes at least the third US national to be arrested in Russia since the Russian military invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was released in a prisoner swap after serving nearly a year in a Russian prison, while Gershkovich remains behind bars awaiting trial.

International

Jammu and Kashmir in Crackdown on Opium Cultivation. Law enforcement authorities have destroyed 150 acres of opium poppy crops since April 2023 as part of the government's "act tough policy" against a rising "drug menace."

"On a vast scale, we have damaged the poppy crop. Eighteen FIRs [investigative files] have been recorded thus far this year. Majority of the poppy is grown in Kulgam and other districts of south Kashmir, where our teams are constantly monitoring the situation," said Excise Commissioner Pankaj Sharma. "We are taking action as well as destroying the poppy wherever it is being cultivated to send a deterrent to people indulging in this thing."

The law enforcement agencies continue to combat the problem of illegal marijuana and opium growing at a local level. "Under the NDPS Act [drug law], we are arresting people found indulging in drug trafficking as well as cultivation of poppy," a Police official said. "Drug traffickers will be dealt with harshly, and no one will be spared. According to the NDPS Act, we will begin attaching the property of drug traffickers."

Mexican Soldiers Caught on Video Executing Five Alleged Cartel Members Will Face Military Justice, Defense Department Says. Mexico's defense department announced Saturday that 16 soldiers will face military charges in the killing of five men in the border city of Nuevo Laredo last month. They are being held in a military prison in Mexico City and face charges of violating "military discipline" in the executions, which were caught on security camera video.

The military trial is independent of any charges that could be brought by civilian prosecutors. Under Mexican law, soldiers accused of abusing civilians must be tried in civilian courts, but can also be tried in military tribunals.

"Apparently this was an execution, and that cannot be permitted," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday during his daily news briefing. "Those responsible are about to be turned over to the appropriate authorities. "This incident is the second mass killing of civilians by the military in Nuevo Laredo this year. On February 26, soldiers shot and killed five young men riding in a vehicle who were unarmed. Angry neighbors then attacked the soldiers, beating some of them. Federal prosecutors have filed homicide against four soldiers in that case."

A major civil and human rights group comes out against one federal fentanyl bill, bipartisan senators and representatives file another one, and more.

Fentanyl. The deadly drug continues to generate bills in Congress. (Creative Commons)

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Ready for Final Votes This Week. House and Senate conference committee negotiators have resolved the remaining differences between the House and Senate marijuana legalization bills and ready to send the final bill to floor votes in both chambers this week. The final sticking points were on the marijuana tax rate and appropriating revenue. Negotiators agreed to the 10 percent retail sales tax in the Senate bill (the House had voted for 8 percent to be adjusted every two years) and agreed that 80 percent of marijuana revenues will go to the state and 20 percent to local governments to cover expenses related to implementing legalization.

Medical Marijuana

Nebraska Activists File Papers for 2024 Medical Marijuana Initiative. The group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has filed papers to mount petition drives to put a pair of medical marijuana initiatives on the 2024 ballot. One would set up the doctor/patient system, while the other would regulate the industry. Activists have been trying for eight years to get the legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill, to no avail. Last year, a signature-gathering effort for a medical marijuana initiative came up short because financial problems blocked the group from hiring professional petitioners.

"We have no choice but to keep petitioning our government," said group spokeswoman Crist Eggers. "The legislature refuses to act despite the will of over 80% of Nebraskans, from all parties, regions, ages, etc., supporting this."

Asset Forfeiture

New York Senate Committee Passes Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeiture and Opt State Out of Federal Forfeiture Program. The Senate Codes Committee on Monday approved a bill that would end civil asset forfeiture, Senate Bill 2192. Under the bill filed by Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D) forfeiture could only occur if the "prosecuting authority secures a conviction of a crime that authorizes the forfeiture of property and the prosecuting authority establishes by clear and convincing evidence the property is an instrumentality of or proceeds derived directly from the crime for which the state secured a conviction." The bill would also address "policing for profit" by requiring that forfeiture proceeds go to the state general fund. Currently, the seizing agency gets to keep up to 60 percent of the proceeds. And the bill would opt the state out of the federal "equitable sharing" program that allows law enforcement agencies to skirt state asset forfeiture laws by handing cases off to the feds, who then return most of the money to the seizing agency. The bill now heads to the Senate Finance Committee.

Drug Policy

Bipartisan Bill Aims to Counter National Security Threat of Illicit Drug Trafficking. US Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) are leading a bipartisan effort directing increased federal attention to fentanyl trafficking by utilizing the tools of the Department of Defense (DoD) and involving Mexico as an active partner to combat this crisis and disrupt drug cartel and trafficking activity.

The Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act of 2023 would attempt to address cross-border drug trafficking by:

• Declaring fentanyl trafficking a national security threat stemming from drug cartels and smugglers,
• Directing the Pentagon to develop a fentanyl-specific counter-drug strategy, including enhanced cooperation with foreign nations,
• Requiring the Secretary of Defense to increase security cooperation with the Mexican military, and
• Addressing coordination efforts between the military and federal law .enforcement agencies.

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Opposes HALT Fentanyl Act. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights on Wednesday sent a letter to the House leadership to express its "strong opposition" to H.R. 467, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

"This bill permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances (FRS) on schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) based on a flawed class definition," the letter says. "Additionally, it imposes mandatory minimums and fails to provide an offramp for removing inert or harmless substances from the drug schedule. The class wide scheduling that this bill would impose would exacerbate pretrial detention, mass incarceration, and racial disparities in the prison system, doubling down on a fear-based, enforcement-first response to a public health challenge. Under the class wide control, any offense involving a "fentanyl-related substance" is subject to federal criminal prosecution, even if the substance in question is helpful or has no potential for abuse."

The Leadership Conference represents more than 230 national organizations.

International

Singapore Executes Marijuana Offender for Second Time in Three Weeks. For the second time in three weeks, Singapore has hung a man for trafficking marijuana. The unnamed 37-year-old Malay Singaporean was executed at dawn Wednesday at Changi Prison for trafficking about 3.3 pounds of pot. On April 26, Singapore executed Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, for trafficking 2.2 pounds of pot despite an international outcry. Under Singapore law, trafficking more than 1.1 pounds of pot can garner a death sentence. The city-state halted all executions during the coronavirus pandemic, but hanged 11 people last year -- all for drug offenses.

"If we don't come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come," said Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty in Singapore.