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Oklahoma Marijuana Legalization Initiative Defeated [FEATURE]

Voters in Oklahoma resoundingly rejected the State Question 820 marijuana legalization initiative Tuesday in an election where it was the only thing on the ballot. With 99 percent of the vote in, it was losing 38.3 percent to 61.7 percent.

Because marijuana was the only item on the ballot, the number of people voting was much smaller than in last November's general election. Then, more than 1.1 million people cast ballots, but this week, only 566,000, or about half as many voters, turned out.

The initiative should have been on last November's general election ballot. The group behind the measure, Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, turned in 69,000 more signatures than needed in a timely fashion, but private contractors hired by the Secretary of State's office took an excessive amount of time to verify the signatures.

Between that and questionable legal challenges from opponents, approval of the measure was so delayed that the state Supreme Court ruled weeks before the election that the measure would have to wait for the 2024 general election or until the governor or legislature calls a special election. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) then announced the March 7 date.

The measure would have allowed people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and eight grams of marijuana concentrates and grow up to six plants and six seedlings at home. It also would have protected parents from losing custody or visitation rights solely because of marijuana use and states that parolees and probationers cannot be punished for marijuana use. Nor could the odor of marijuana or burnt marijuana be used as probable cause for police to infer that a crime had been committed. And it included a provision for the expungement of some past marijuana offenses.

The measure would have up a system of taxed, licensed, and regulated marijuana commerce, but for the first two years, marijuana business licenses would go only to existing medical marijuana businesses that have been operating for at least a year. The state is now also under a moratorium on new grower, processor and dispensary licenses until August 2024, meaning any potential new pot business operators would have had to wait awhile to get in the game.

The state's robust -- some would say Wild West -- medical marijuana system may have convinced some voters that further moves were not necessary. Under Oklahoma law, medical marijuana can be recommended for just about any condition, and the state has nearly 400,000 enrolled patients -- about 10 percent of all adults in the state. There are also already some 12,000 licensed medical marijuana businesses, some of which have been in the news for unsavory reasons.

Tuesday's defeat may embolden marijuana critics in the state legislature to move to tighten controls on the state's medical marijuana program.

"The anti-revolutionary forces want to return Oklahoma to their dream of this bygone era," said Lawrence Pasternack, a legalization advocate who's written extensively about marijuana in the state. "They see marijuana as anathema to that dream."

Those forces would include Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and most of the state's Republican political establishment. Also prominent in the opposition camp was former Gov. Frank Keating, an ex-FBI agent, who headed the "no" campaign.

"Oklahoma is a law and order state," Stitt said after Tuesday's vote. "I remain committed to protecting Oklahomans and my administration will continue to hold bad actors accountable and crack down on illegal marijuana operations in our state."

It's been a tough run for marijuana legalization initiatives lately. Last November, Maryland and Missouri approved legal weed, but Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota did not. And now Oklahoma has joined that red state rejectionist club, and the Republicans are casting the hairy eyeball on the existing medical marijuana system.

DE House Approves Marijuana Legalization, Anti-Cartel Resolution Filed in House, More... (3/8/23)

The Oklahoma marijuana legalization initiative gets crushed at the polls, a bipartisan federal bill to ease the rescheduling of therapeutic psychedelics gets filed, and more.

A congressional resolution would authorize the use of military force against Mexican cartels on the Mexican side of the border.
Delaware House Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill; Marijuana Regulation Bill Pending. The House on Tuesday gave final approval to House Bill 1, which legalizes the possession of up to an ounce by adults. Bill sponsor Rep. Ed Osienski (D) is also sponsoring House Bill 2, which would set up a regulatory system for marijuana commerce. That bill has passed out of committee and is awaiting a House floor vote. Last year, Osienski took a similar bifurcated path, with the legalization bill passing but the regulatory bill failing. Gov. John Carney (D) then vetoed the legalization bill. This year, the legalization bill passed with a veto proof majority.

Hawaii Senate Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill. The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve a marijuana legalization bill, Senate Bill 669. The bill would legalize the possession of up to 30 grams, allow for the home cultivation of up to six plants, expunge past possession convictions, and reduce penalties for unlicensed cultivation and sales. The bill also contemplates the existing medical marijuana industry morphing into a full-fledged adult use marijuana market under the aegis of a Hawaii Cannabis Authority. The bill is now before the House.

Oklahoma Marijuana Legalization Initiative Defeated. Voters on Tuesday decisively defeated a marijuana legalization initiative, State Question 820 by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent. See out feature story later today for full coverage.

Psychedelics-                                                                                          

Bipartisan "Breakthrough Therapies Act" Updated and Filed. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) on Thursday filed the "Breakthrough Therapies Act," which would streamline the federal rescheduling of drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA for therapeutic purposes. The bill would amend the Controlled Substance Act to create a pathway for current Schedule I drugs that could be deemed breakthrough therapies by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to qualify for a waiver under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and be moved to Schedule II, which is reserved for drugs with "currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions."

Missouri Therapeutic Psychedelic Bill Advances. The House Veterans Committee on Tuesday approved House Bill 1154, which would promote research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin. The bill passed out of committee on a unanimous vote. The bill now awaits a possible House floor vote, which is yet to be scheduled.

Foreign Policy

.Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Tim Walz (R-FL) on Monday filed a resolution, HJ Res. 18 "to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance into the United States or carrying out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere." The resolution is cutely titled "Authorization for the Use of Military Force to Combat, Attack, Resist, Target, Eliminate, and Limit Influence Resolution" or the "AUMF CARTEL Influence Resolution." The bill specifically lists nine Mexican drug trafficking organization to be targeted, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and Los Zetas. 

DOJ Now Accepting Pot Pardon Applications, OR House OKs Naloxone Expansion, More... (3/7/23)

The Justice Department signals it will appeal a federal court ruling invalidating the federal ban on guns for pot users, Colombia calls for coca leaf decriminalization, and more.

Naloxone opioid overdose reversal kit. The Oregon House has voted to expand access to them. (hr.org)
Marijuana Policy

Justice Department Now Accepting Applications for Pardons for Federal Marijuana Possession Offenders. Nearly five months after President Biden called for pardons for federal marijuana possession offenders, the Justice Department has begun accepting applications for those pardons. The move comes after a series of friendly public statement from the administration about the drug from both Attorney General Garland and the president. Last week, Garland said that Justice is working on a review of marijuana policy, and just days before that, President Biden mentioned the pardons in a Black History Month speech, saying "too many minorities are in prison" for marijuana use.

Justice Department Appeals Federal Court Ruling Striking Down Gun Ban for Marijuana Users. The Justice Department last Friday filed paperwork in US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma informing the court that it intends to appeal a judge's ruling there that found unconstitutional the federal prohibition on gun ownership for marijuana users. The Friday filing did not make a substantive argument but served primarily as a notification that an appeal was coming. In that district court ruling, Trump-appointed Judge Patrick Wyrick held that a recent Supreme Court ruling where the high court created a higher standard for policies that aim to restrict gun rights made the ban on gun possession unconstitutional.

Oklahoma Votes on Marijuana Legalization Today. In an election with no other issues or races on the ballot, voters will decide whether or not to approve a marijuana legalization initiative, State Question 820. The measure is opposed by law enforcement and most of the state's Republican political establishment. It would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and eight grams of marijuana concentrates and grow up to six plants and six seedlings at home. It also protects parents from losing custody or visitation rights solely because of marijuana use and states that parolees and probationers cannot be punished for marijuana use. Nor could the odor of marijuana or burnt marijuana be used as probable cause for police to infer that a crime had been committed. And it includes a provision for the expungement of some past marijuana offenses. It also sets a 15 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales.

Medical Marijuana

South Dakota House Approves Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill. In a narrow vote, the House on Monday approved Senate Bill 1, which expands the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use to include people afflicted with cancer, epilepsy, MS, ALS, PTSD, Crohn’s disease, aids, and HIV. The bill has already passed the Senate, but must go back for one more concurrence vote because it was modified in the House. If it wins that vote, it would then go to the desk of Gov. Kristi Noem (R).

Harm Reduction

Oregon House Approves Bill to Expand Naloxone Access. The House has approved a bill to more widely distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (Narcan), House Bill 2395, on a vote of 48-9. The bill declares a health emergency and will make overdose reversal kits available in libraries, churches, and other public buildings. It also allows police, firefighters, and EMTs to distribute the kits to drug users and their friends and family members, and it decriminalizes fentanyl test strips. The bill now heads to the Senate.

International

Colombia Vice President Calls for Coca Leaf Decriminalization at UN. Vice President Francia Marquez used an address at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to petition for the decriminalization of the coca leaf in the country's indigenous territories. "The time has come to sincerely put the debate on decriminalizing the use of coca leaf in ethnic and indigenous territories, continuing to criminalize the use of coca leaf will not allow Colombia to achieve total peace," she said. "Because we know that it has been this criminal, racial policy that has us as peoples suffering terrible humanitarian crises, it is the drug trafficking imposed from that criminal policy that today is generating armed conflicts in ethnic territories." Colombia will join Bolivia in petitioning the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove coca leaf from its list of prohibited substances. 

HI Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances, WA Senate Approves Bill Upping Drug Sentences, More... (3/6/23)

A long-shot marijuana legalization bill is filed in Florida, a fentanyl test strip decriminalization bill gets a hearing in Arkansas, and more.

The Washington Senate has approved a bill upping sentences for drug possession, including short mandatory minimums. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

Florida Marijuana Legalization Bill with Home Grow Filed. State Sen. Victor Torres (D-Kissimmee) has filed a marijuana bill that includes both home cultivation and social consumption spaces. The measure, Senate Bill 1576, would legalize the possession of up to 2.5 ounces and allow for home grows of up to six plants. Usage would be allowed in a "non-public space" with violators subject to a $100 fine. A "Division of Cannabis Management" within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would regulate legal marijuana commerce. The bill has not yet received a committee assignment, and its prospects are dim in the Republican-controlled legislature. On a different track, a marijuana legalization initiative campaign is in the midst of signature gathering.

Hawaii Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Committee Votes. A marijuana legalization bill, Senate Bill 669, is advancing in the Senate, having been approved by both the Consumer Protection and Ways and Means committees last Thursday. It now heads for a Senate floor vote. The bill emphasizes small operations, limiting grows to no more than 5,000 square feet. It includes a home grow provision, allowing for up to six plants, of which three can be flowering. The bill is expected to pass the Senate this week, but faces an obstacle in the House. House Speaker Scott Saiki (D) says the state is not ready for marijuana legalization and he plans on asking House committee chairs to work on it this summer—after the current session has ended. "It’s not as easy as just flipping a switch and saying marijuana is now legal," Saiki said. "There are a lot of issues related to how you set up the system how do you regulate the system."

Drug Policy

Washington Senate Approves Bill Upping Drug Possession Penalties. After hours of contentious debate, the Senate voted last Friday night to approve Senate Bill 5536, which increases penalties for drug possession. The bill is a response to a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling striking down the state's felony drug possession law because people could be prosecuted for unknowingly possessing drugs. Lawmakers responded by temporarily making drug possession a misdemeanor, but that measure expires in July. With this bill, drug possession remains a misdemeanor, but moves from a plain misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor, meaning violators face stiffer penalties than under the current system. The bill includes options for diversion out of the criminal justice system at each stage of the judicial process, but also includes mandatory minimum sentences of 21 days for a second offense and 45 days for a second offense if the person "willfully abandoned" or consistently failed to apply with treatment. The measure passed on a 28-21 vote and now heads to the House.

Harm Reduction

Arkansas Fentanyl Test Strip Bill Gets Hearing Today. A bill to clarify that fentanyl test strips are not classified as drug paraphernalia, Senate Bill 40, is set for hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Under current state law, possession of fentanyl test strips is a felony. That has not stopped groups like Northwest Arkansas Harm Reduction from distributing hundreds of the test kits, but harm reductionists are seeking formal legal protections. 

BC Company Awarded License to Make and Sell Cocaine, Voting Underway for OK Pot Initiative, More... (3/3/23)

A Florida marijuana legalization initiative is about halfway home on signature gathering, Arizona politics is roiled by an unsubstantiated charge that the Sinaloa Cartel is bribing state and county officials, and more.

A BC company has been awarded a license to make and distribute cocaine. (Pixabay)
Marijuana Policy

Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign Nears Halfway Point on Signature Gathering. Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind a marijuana legalization constitutional amendment, is nearing the halfway point in signature gathering, according to the state Division of Elections. The campaign had 420,000 valid voter signatures as of the end of February; it needs 891,589 valid voter signatures by February 1, 2024 to qualify for the 2024 ballot. That is, provided that the initiative passes muster with the state Supreme Court. In January, the campaign handed in enough signatures to trigger a Supreme Court review to ensure that the text does not violate the state's single subject rule and does not mislead voters. That analysis is still pending.

Early Voting Now Underway for Oklahoma Marijuana Legalization Initiative. Early voting is now underway for the State Question 820 marijuana legalization initiative. Election Day itself is next Tuesday. SQ 820 would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and eight grams of marijuana concentrates and grow up to six plants and six seedlings at home. It also protects parents from losing custody or visitation rights solely because of marijuana use and states that parolees and probationers cannot be punished for marijuana use. Nor could the odor of marijuana or burnt marijuana be used as probable cause for police to infer that a crime had been committed. And it includes a provision for the expungement of some past marijuana offenses.

Politics

Bizarre Charge That Arizona Governor, Other State Leaders Are Taking Bribes from Sinaloa Cartel. Last week, the Joint Elections Committee led by Republican election conspiracy theorist Sen. Wendy Rogers heard completely unsupported testimony from a local insurance agent that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Attorney General Adrian Fontes, and the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors were among state officials taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. Since then, even Republican officials have been distancing themselves from the charge, while Democrats are blasting Republicans for turning the legislature into a "circus show" that provides a forum for outrageous election fraud conspiracies. "It is dangerous," Hobbs said. "It makes the legislature, quite honestly, a laughing stock, and Arizona by extension, and I hope folks are held accountable for this."

International

Health Canada Issues License to British Columbia Company to Make and Sell Cocaine. Health Canada has issued a license to a British Columbia company, Adastra Labs, to produce, sell, and distribute cocaine. The agency said Adastra is licensed to use cocaine for "scientific and medical purposes only" and that it "cannot sell products to the general public." Last week, Adastra announced that it had received approval to "interact with" up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves to manufacture and synthesize the drug. It said it is exploring "commercialization" of cocaine to provide a safe supply of the drug. But Health Canada said Adastra can only sell cocaine to other controlled drug dealer's license holders, such as pharmacists, practitioners, hospitals, or researchers. The province has decriminalized the possession of up to 2.5 grams of cocaine and other drugs, but BC's decriminalization does not envision legal cocaine sales. 

Attorney General Garland Talks Pot on Capitol Hill, TN MedMJ Bill Killed, More... (3/2/23)

California legal marijuana sales revenues decrease for the first time ever, a fourth Michigan city endorses natural psychedelic decriminalization, and more.

Attorney General Merrick Garland says DOJ is "still working" on marijuana policy. (DOJ)
Marijuana Policy

Attorney General Says DOJ Still Working on Federal Marijuana Policy Approach. In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland (D) said the Justice Department is "still working on marijuana policy" and that a broader review of marijuana's scheduling status was being led by federal health officials. "I think that it’s fair to expect what I said at my confirmation hearing with respect to marijuana and policy, that it will be very close to what was done in the Cole Memorandum," he said, referring to an Obama-era policy that directed federal prosecutors to generally not interfere with state cannabis laws but which was later rescinded by Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "We’re not quite done with that yet,"Garland said of the marijuana policy review. Garland added that the Justice Department had prioritized finalizing a memo of crack cocaine prosecutions, which has now been completed.

In Sign of Legal Industry's Woes, California Marijuana Sales Declined for First Time Since Legalization. According to the state Department of Tax and Fee Administration, legal marijuana sales totaled $5.3 billion last year, down 8.2 percent from the $5.77 billion in 2021. That marks the first time sales have decreased since the state launched its recreational marijuana market five years ago. Industry observers point to high taxes and the limited number of pot shops for the decrease. As one Emerald Triangle pot farmer, Johnny Casali of Huckleberry Hill Farms explained: "Most of us farmers have been trying to tell the state [regulators] that the marketplace is imploding,"says Casali. "The drop in retail sales means the customer is tired of paying the exorbitant taxes and are now buying it from a friend of a friend or the guy on the corner."

Medical Marijuana

Tennessee Medical Marijuana Bill Killed in Committee. No medical marijuana for you, Tennesseans! At least not yet. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on a near party-line vote Wednesday to kill Senate Bill 1104, which would have set up a system of medical marijuana access in the state. Meanwhile another medical marijuana bill, House Bill 172,was "taken off notice" last week, meaning it is effectively dead for this session. Maybe next time.

Psychedelics

Fourth Michigan City Decriminalizes Natural Psychedelics. Move over, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Hazel Park—Ferndale has now joined the group of Michigan cities to embrace psychedelic reform. On Monday night, the city council voted unanimously to approve a resolution decriminalizing "entheogenic plants and fungi," such as psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, and its chemical compound, DMT. The resolution makes the "investigation and arrest of persons for planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with, or possessing Entheogenic Plants or plant compounds which are on the Federal Schedule 1 list" the lowest law enforcement priority for the city The ordinance was pushed by the local Decriminalize Nature affiliate, Decriminalize Nature Ferndale. 

MN Legal Pot Bill One Step Closer, Feds to Start Limiting Telehealth Prescriptions, More... (3/1/23)

North Carolina's Senate gives initial approval to a medical marijuana bill, New Jersey lawmakers pass a bill giving pot businesses the ability to take state business tax deductions, and more.

Benzodiazepines such as Valium will be subject to tighter telehealth prescribing rules as the COVID emergency ends. (CC)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances Yet Again. The Senate version of the bill, Senate File 73, passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday, bringing the number of Senate committees to approve the bill to six. A companion bill in the House has already passed 10 House committee. Democratic-Farm-Labor (DFL) Party officials, who control both the legislature and the governor's office, are confident the bill will pass and be signed into law in short order.

New Jersey Lawmakers Ease Tax Penalty for Marijuana Businesses. Legislators in Trenton gave final approval Monday to a bill that would allow the state's legal marijuana industry to take state business tax deductions like any other legal business in the state, Senate Bill 340. The measure would uncouple the state's corporate business tax from federal rules that bar marijuana businesses from getting deductions and credits on federal taxes. The Senate took a final vote Monday, months after the House passed a companion version of the bill last October. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy (D).

Washington Bill to Bar Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing Advances. The state Senate has approved Senate Bill 5123, which would end almost all pre-employment marijuana testing in the state, on a 28-21 vote. There are exceptions for the airline industry, federally regulated jobs that require drug testing, and "safety sensitive" positions. The bill now heads to the House.

Medical Marijuana

North Carolina SenateGives Initial Approval to Medical Marijuana Bill. The state Senate on Tuesday voted to approve  Senate Bill 3, the North Carolina Compassionate Use Act, on a second reading. It still needs to be approved in a third reading before being sent to the House, and that is expected to happen within a few days. House leaders said they were positioned to pass the bill, too, despite having blocked a similar bill last year. The bill would allow patients with a specified list of ailments to use medical marijuana and buy it from licensed dispensaries. The bill contains neither home cultivation nor social equity provisions.

Drug Policy

Feds Will Start Limiting Telehealth Prescriptions for Painkillers, ADHD Drugs. Federal officials are tightening access to certain drugs with a potential for abuse after rules were loosened during the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration will require an in-person appointment rather than a telehealth appointment for patients to obtain an initial prescription for opioid pain relievers and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs like Adderall and Ritalin. Refills could be obtained via telehealth, though. The DEA is also tightening up access to drugs such as codeine, Xanax, Ambien, and buprenorphine. People will be able to get an initial 30-day prescription for such drugs via a telehealth appointment but will have to see a doctor in person to get a refill. The new rules are set to go into effect on May 11, when the coronavirus public health emergency ends.

NH Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins House Vote; Bolivia, Colombia Seek UN Move on Coca, More... (2/23/23)

An Idaho medical marijuana initiative didn't get past the signature gathering stage, US correctional populations declined in 2021, and more.

Chewing coca leaf in Bolivia. Bolivia and Colombia want the UN to remove coca from prohibited drug list (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Initial House Vote. The House voted 234-127 Wednesday to send a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 639, to the House Ways and Means Committee, clearing a path for it to win final passage in the House. The bill would set up a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce with the Liquor Commission in charge. Cultivation would be taxed at 15 percent, with most revenues going toward reducing the state's pension liability and the state's education trust fund. The House has repeatedly passed legalization bills in recent years, only to see them die in the Senate. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has also been an opponent; he says he does not expect a legalization bill to reach his desk this year.

Medical Marijuana

Idaho Medical Marijuana Initiative Campaign Comes Up Short on Signatures. Kind Idaho, the group behind an effort to get a medical marijuana initiative on the 2024 ballot, announced Wednesday that it had come up short on signatures. The group said it had managed to collect only about 10 percent of the nearly 70,000 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. It cited organizational problems and a lack of national support for the effort.

Psychedelics

Minnesota Lawmakers File Bills to Create Psychedelics Task Force to Plan for Legalization. Lawmakers have filed identical bills in the House and Senate that would create a task force to study the potential legalization of substances such as ibogaine, MDMA, and psilocybin. Senate File 1954 and House File 1884 would establish a Psychedelic Medicine Task Force to "advise the legislature on the legal, medical, and policy issues associated with the legalization of psychedelic medicine in the state." The task force "survey existing studies in the scientific literature on the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic medicine in the treatment of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder, and any other mental health conditions and medical conditions for which a psychedelic medicine may provide an effective treatment option." The bill says the number of substances under its purview "may include but is not limited to the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, bufotenine, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 2C-B, ibogaine, salvinorin A, and ketamine."

Sentencing

US Correctional Population Continued to Decline in 2021. The total correctional population in the United States fell 1 percent from yearend 2020 to 2021, according to statistics in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 – Statistical Tables and Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021, two reports released Thursday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The number of persons held in prison or jail or supervised in the community on probation or parole decreased by 61,100, down to an estimated 5,444,900. Overall, an estimated 1 in 48 U.S. residents age 18 or older were under correctional supervision at yearend 2021, down from 1 in 47 in 2020. Over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, the U.S. correctional population declined 22 percent. A drop in the number of persons supervised in the community on probation accounted for 65 percent of this overall change, while decreases in the number of persons incarcerated in state and federal prison accounted for 26 percent of the change.

In 2021, the U.S. incarceration rate increased for the first time in 15 years. However, the rate was still lower than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic rate of 810 per 100,000 in 2019. The increase in the incarceration rate was driven by a 16percent growth in the number of persons housed in local jails, which held an additional 87,200 persons from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, the community supervision rate fell to a 21-year low of 1,440 persons on probation or parole per 100,000 adult U.S. residents, after declining each year since it peaked at 2,240 persons per 100,000 in 2007. At yearend 2021, an estimated 3,745,000 adults were under community supervision, down 136,600 persons from January 1, 2021.

Changes in the demographic characteristics of the US correctional population were small from 2020 to 2021 but were greater than 20 percent over the decade from 2011 to 2021. The number of males in the total correctional population declined less than 1 percent (down 28,300) from 2020 to 2021, while the number of females decreased 3 percent (down 32,800). Compared to 2011, the number of males under correctional supervision in 2021 declined by 21percent and females decreased 25 percent. Over that same decade, the number of black persons under correctional supervision decreased more than 27 percent, while the number of Hispanic persons declined 21 percent and whites declined 20 percent.

International

Bolivia and Colombia Ask UN to Remove Coca from List of Prohibited Narcotics. The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that it and the government of Bolivia will jointly ask the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to drop coca leaf from its list of prohibited substances and acknowledge the plant's traditional uses in Andean culture. "Bolivia and Colombia consider it is the moment to once again put this issue on the table," said Colombian vice-minister for multilateral affairs Laura Gil. "To remove the coca leaf - the leaf, not cocaine - from the prohibited substances list," she said. Bolivian President Luis Arce said last month that his government would seek for coca leaves to be removed from the list so they can be commercialized. 

Meth-Related Deaths Skyrocketed in 20 Years, MS Bill Would Ban "Gas Station Heroin," More... (2/22/23)

The Minnesota marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, so does a North Carolina medical marijuana bill, and more.

Products containing the unscheduled anti-depressant tianeptin, AKA "gas station heroin." (WZDK screen grab)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins One More Committee Vote. The bill, House File 100, won its 10th House committee vote Tuesday, passing out of the House Finance and Policy Committee. Meanwhile, the companion bill in the Senate is before the Health and Human Services Committee, which acted on several amendments but ran out of time before finishing its work on the bill for the day.

Medical Marijuana

North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Senate. A year after the Senate approved a medical marijuana bill only to see it die in the House, the bill, Senate Bill 3, is back and moving again. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to two more committees, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Rules and Operations Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote. Although the House last year declined to take up the measure, the Republican House Speaker, Rep. Tim Moore, has suggested that the bill could pass with "the right restrictions." The bill would allow medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions and an advisory board could expand that list.  

Anti-Depressants

Mississippi Bill Would Ban Anti-Depressant Known as "Gas Station Heroin." The anti-depressant drug tianeptine, which works as an opioid agonist, is being sold as a "dietary supplement" in pill form in products such as Za Za and Tianaa. The drug is not sold as a pharmaceutical product or scheduled in the US, but a bill that would ban it, House Bill 4 has passed the House and is pending in the Senate. It would make it a schedule one drug, effectively banning it. Some state residents blame it for deaths, although it is unclear whether it is actually to blame.

Methamphetamine

Meth-Related Deaths Skyrocketed in Past 20 Years, But Most Also Involved Opioids. A new study from the University of Illinois finds that methamphetamine-related deaths increased a staggering 50-fold between 1999 and 2021, but that most of those deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl. In 1999, 608 deaths were attributed to meth. By 2021, the number had skyrocketed to nearly 52,400. In 2021, 61 percentof fatal meth overdoses also involved heroin or fentanyl, "The staggering increase in methamphetamine-related deaths in the United States is largely now driven by the co-involvement of street opioids," said lead researcher Rachel Hoopsick, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UI. "Mixing methamphetamine and opioids isn’t a new phenomenon. Although there has been an increase in the popularity of using these types of substances together, what has truly changed is the toxicity of the unregulated street drug supply, predominantly of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. I believe that this is the primary driver of the increase in deaths."

Former Mexico Top Cop Found Guilty of Drug Trafficking, NM Safe Injection Site Bill Moves, More... (2/21/23)

The Republican-led Virginia House kills another drug reform bill, Iowa House Democrats roll out a marijuana legalization bill, and more.

Genaro Garcia Luna. The former Mexican top cop found guilty in federal court in of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel (CC)
Marijuana Policy

Iowa House Democrats File Marijuana Legalization Bill. House Democrats introduced a marijuana legalization bill Tuesday, part of a broader "People over politics" agenda that also includes lowering taxes, protecting abortion rights, and supporting public over private education. The bill, which is not yet available on the legislative website, would legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and "use new tax revenue to invest in education and local communities." But Republicans control both houses of the legislature and there is as yet no indication they will be willing to advance the bill.

Virginia House Kills Marijuana Business Tax Relief Bill. A bill to provide tax relief for marijuana businesses by allowing them to claim exemptions at the state level they are barred from claiming at the federal level under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E has died in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. Senate Bill 1095 had already cleared the Senate, only to be killed on a 4-2 party line vote in a House Finance subcommittee. The House this year has been where drug reforms go to die. Earlier last week, it killed a bill to start adult-use marijuana sales and a measure to reschedule psilocybin and create a therapeutic use advisory board.

Virginia Poll Has Solid Majority Support for Retail Marijuana Sales. When House Republicans last week killed a bill to allow adult-use retail marijuana sales, they were going against the will of the voters, according to a new poll. The survey from Christopher Newport University had support for legalizing the retail sale of marijuana products at 60 percent, with only 34 percent opposed. But in killing the bill, the House Republicans were enacting the will of Republican voters, who narrowly opposed allowing retail sales by a margin of 47 percent to 44 percent.

Harm Reduction

New Mexico Safe Injection Site Bill Wins Committee Vote. A bill to provide for the creation of state-funded "overdose prevention centers," House Bill 263, is advancing, having won its first committee vote Monday. The bill passed the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 5-3 party line vote. The vote came after Republican Rep. Harlan Vincent called safe injection sites "drug dens." The measure would protect participants and workers from criminal liability "for any action or conduct that occurs on the site of a harm reduction program or overdose prevention program," but expressly bars drugs from being sold, purchased, traded, or "otherwise provided" to program users. After the vote, the House Republican Campaign Committee echoed Rep. Vincent, saying in a tweet that the Democrats "passed legalized drug dens."

Law Enforcement

Mexico's Former Top Cop Found Guilty of Drug Trafficking in NYC Trial. Genaro Garcia Luna, who acted as head of Mexico's equivalent of the FBI and was Public Security Minister under former President Felipe Calderon, was found guilty Tuesday of taking millions of dollars from the Sinaloa Cartel in a trial in federal court in Brooklyn. It was Calderon and Garcia Luna who launched the modern era of Mexico's drug war by sending in the armed forces, unleashing more than a decade of deadly violence as drug cartels fought each other and various law enforcement and military formations allied with those factions. Garcia Luna is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be tried for drug offenses. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

International

Australia's Queensland Moves to Depenalize Drug Possession. The government of the state of Queensland told the state parliament Tuesday that it will amend its drug laws so that people caught carrying small quantities of any illicit substances will not be subject to criminal charges until a fourth offense. A first offense would merit a warning, while second and third offenses would see police offering up drug diversionary programs. This is the same approach that the state uses for small-time marijuana possession and that most other states already use for all illicit substances. Only the Australian Capital Territory has formally decriminalized drug possession. 

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