Congress could move on both sentencing reform and industrial hemp in the lame duck session, HHS recommends banning kratom, Thailand moves to legalize and regulate both kratom and medical marijuana, and more.

Despite spending $8 billion to suppress the poppy crop, the situation in Afghanistan is "worse than ever," a new report finds.

Federal Sentencing Reform Bill Set to Advance. Key senators have reached a tentative agreement on a major criminal justice reform bill that is being supported by presidential advisor and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. The proposed legislation would boost rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and give judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses. The measure has support from both liberal and conservative groups, ranging from the ACLU to the Fraternal Order of Police and groups supported by the Koch brothers.

Marijuana Policy

Michigan Prosecutors Start Dropping Marijuana Cases. Local prosecutors are beginning to announce the dropping of charges in pending marijuana cases after voters last week voted to legalize the drug. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said last Friday that "there will no longer be any prosecutions for possession or use of marijuana" in his jurisdiction, and other DAs are expected to follow suit.

Texas Lawmaker Files Marijuana Decriminalization Bill. State Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) has prefiled a marijuana decriminalization bill for the 2019 legislative session. "Civil penalty legislation is the first thing I've filed on the first day of filing for the 86th Session. There's been an incredible swell of bipartisan support since last session, and the official Texas Republican and Democratic platforms both approve of this kind of reform now," Moody said in a press release. "I'm optimistic that this will be the session we finally see smarter, fairer marijuana laws in Texas."

Medical Marijuana

Connecticut Adds Chronic Neuropathic Pain to List of Qualifying Conditions. The General Assembly's Regulations Review Committee has agreed that chronic neuropathic pain associated with degenerative spinal disorders is eligible for treatment with the drug. That makes it the 31st specific condition considered a qualifier for medical marijuana.

Industrial Hemp

McConnell Says Hemp Provision Will Be in Farm Bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Friday that completing work on a new farm bill is a top priority and that a provision to fully legalize hemp cultivation will be included.

Kratom

HHS Recommends Banning Kratom. The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that kratom be placed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. HHS sent a letter to the DEA saying that two chemicals in the herbal supplement should be Schedule I. The recommendation is in line with past public statements from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who calls kratom "an opioid" and says it has been "associated" with dozens of deaths.

International

Thai Congress Proposes Legalizing Kratom, Medical Marijuana. The National Legislative Assembly has officially proposed allowing the licensed use of medical marijuana and kratom. The two drugs would be placed in a legal category that would allow their licensed possession and distribution. The Health Ministry will review the proposal before submitting it to the cabinet, which could amend it before returning it to the legislature. The entire process could be completed by year's end.

Foreign Policy

Afghan Opium Problem "Worse Than Ever," Inspector General's Report Finds. Despite the US spending more than $8 billion to reduce opium cultivation in Afghanistan, the problem is "worse than ever," a new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) finds. "No counterdrug program undertaken… by the United States, its coalition partners, or the Afghan government resulted in lasting reductions in poppy cultivation or opium production," the report stated.

A new Pew poll shows continuing majority support for marijuana legalization, Mexico's president-elect talks legalizing opium production for the medical market, Texas's governor gets behind reducing pot penalties, and more.

Mexican President-Elect Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador is talking about legalizing opium production again. (Creative Commons)

New Pew Poll Has Continued Strong Support for Marijuana Legalization. More than six out of 10 Americans (62%) say marijuana should be legalized, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. That's largely unchanged from last year when the figure was 61%. Among Democrats, 69% support legalization; among independents, the figure is 75%, but only 45% of Republicans support it.

Texas Governor Proposes Lessening Possession Punishments. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced last Friday that he favors dropping the maximum penalty for marijuana possession from six months in jail to a fine and no jail time. Such a move would not be decriminalization, though, because possession would remain a misdemeanor, although a less serious one.

International

Ireland Should Decriminalize Drugs, Report Says. A new report from the Ana Liffey Project and the London School of Economics says treating people caught with small amounts of drugs as criminals is "counter-productive". Instead, the report says, such offenses should be decriminalized. "The evidence is pretty clear that decriminalization is the smarter way to deal with this issue, that you shouldn't be giving young people, or anyone for that matter, criminal records for possessing certain substances or consuming certain substances," said Dr. John Collins from the London School of Economics International Drug Policy Unit. "That, ultimately, is just an ineffective way and an ineffective use of police resources."

United Kingdom to Allow Medical Marijuana by Prescription Starting Next Month. Beginning next month, people in the UK will be able to obtain cannabis oil containing THC through prescriptions. The Home Office will reportedly announce the rescheduling of marijuana in parliament within the next two weeks, and patients will be able to obtain prescriptions within a matter of weeks after that.

Mexico President-Elect Says He Will Look at Legalizing Some Drugs. President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he would consider legalizing certain drugs as part of a broader strategy to fight crime and poverty. He also said he would consider paying farmers more for their corn as a means of reducing the planting of opium.

Mexico Defense Minister Says Legalizing Opium for Medical Use a "Way Out" of Violence. Defense Minister General Salvador Cienfuegos said last Friday that legalizing opium for medicinal use could help reduce violence among drug gangs fighting over control of poppy fields and trafficking routes in the country's southwest. Legalization "is already on the table. I think it can be a way out of the problem," Cienfuegos said when asked about violence in the state and proposals to regulate opium production.

The US attorney general admits states can make their own pot laws, a new report finds racial disparities in marijuana enforcement in the New York suburbs, a Mexican governor calls for legal opium production, and more.

Jeff Sessions acknowledges states' rights even on marijuana policy. (Senate.gov)

Attorney General Sessions Acknowledges States Can Set Own Marijuana Laws. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, while staunchly sticking up for federal marijuana prohibition, acknowledged Thursday that states can set their own pot laws. Responding to a reporter's question in Boston, he said the Justice Department will continue enforcing federal marijuana laws, but added: "Personally, my view is that the American republic will not be better if there are marijuana sales on every street corner, but states have a right to set their own laws and will do so, and we will follow the federal law," he said.

Report Finds Racial Disparities in Suburban NYC Pot Arrests. A report from the WESPAC Foundation, Westchester Coalition for Police Reform, and the Drug Policy Alliance released Thursday finds that marijuana prohibition in suburban Westchester County has largely targeted people of color and that the harms of prohibition have been visited almost entirely on them. While black people account for only 14% of the county's population, they made up more than half (52%) off all pot possession busts. Latinos were similarly arrested for pot possession at disproportionate rates. The report also noted the targeting of youth. Some 58% of people arrested for pot possession were 25 or younger.

International

UN Chief Warns Colombia It Must Consolidate Peace. In a report to the UN Security Council released Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the Colombian government must address major challenges and consolidate peace. He said there is no greater challenge than bringing development, security, and the rule of law to "vast expanses of the country that continue to be prey to violence" and that the challenges to peace included continued violence in conflict zones. "The proliferation of illegal groups and the growth of the coca economy, as well as frustration and fears among former combatants and among communities who feel bypassed by the peace process, leave no doubt as to the magnitude of the challenges that await the new government, Colombian institutions and civil society alike," he said.

Governor of Mexico's Guerrero Wants Opium Production Legalized. Hector Astudillo, governor of the south-central state of Guerrero, Mexico's leading opium production region, said he supports the incoming government's plan to explore regulating opium production for pharmaceutical use. "It's time," Astudillo told Mexican radio. "I'm delighted that a different way of dealing with the poppy is finally going to be explored." Astudillo himself had floated the same idea back in 2016. "To curb the violence, we must look for another approach to poppy cultivation, not only in Guerrero but in the golden triangle," he said, referring to the region in the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Durango where large quantities of marijuana and poppies are grown. "Because it's such an important ingredient for medicine, the poppy could be used for medical purposes, as is being done in other countries," Astudillo added.

NFL players respond to a challenge from President Trump with one of their own, Massachusetts gets its first licensed marijuana cultivator, a US watchdog notes that Afghan opium production is at record highs despite the billions we've spent to suppress it, and more.

The US has spent billions to suppress the Afghan opium crop. It hasn't worked, a watchdog says. (UNODC)

Massachusetts Approves First Provisional Marijuana Growing License. A year and a half after voters legalized marijuana in the Bay State, the Cannabis Control Commission has awarded its first provisional license to a marijuana grower. Sira Naturals of Milford has been awarded a Tier 3 cultivation license, which means it can grow marijuana on up to 20,000 square feet of its cultivation facility. Sales are supposed to begin on July 1, but the state has yet to license any retailers.

Medical Marijuana

Arkansas Supreme Court Removes Cultivator License Roadblock. The state Supreme Court Thursday threw out a ruling that effectively blocked the state's five approved medical marijuana cultivators from receiving licenses. The ruling ends a series of legal challenges to the awarding process from applicants who did not receive licenses and removes an injunction blocking the state from moving forward with licensing.

Sentencing and Pardons

NFL Players Ask Trump to Change Excessive Sentences for Nonviolent Drug Offenders. A group of NFL players organized as the Players Coalition wrote a New York Times op-ed challenging President Trump to pardon more nonviolent drug offenders. They said they were pleased by Trump's pardon of Alice Marie Johnson, who had served 20 years of a life sentence for a first-time drug conviction, but noted that "there are a lot of people out there like Ms. Johnson that should be pardoned that don't know a celebrity or an NFL player." The players said that while Trump had challenged them to come up with more names for pardons, that's not the solution: "A handful of pardons will not address the sort of systemic injustice that NFL players have been protesting," the letter to the New York Times read. "These are problems that our government has created, many of which occur at the local level. If President Trump thinks he can end these injustices if we deliver him a few names, he hasn't been listening to us."

Foreign Policy

Afghan Opium Production at Record Levels Despite Nearly $9 Billion in US Anti-Drug Efforts, Watchdog Finds "There's more opium being grown now than when we started, there's more heroin being produced than when we started, there's more heroin being exported, there are more profits from the heroin going to the Taliban and to the other terrorist groups than when we started," said John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). "If you apply all of the tests, we failed." The latest SIGAR report finds that opium production has topped 9,000 metric tons this year. The US has spent $8.7 billion trying to suppress the crop since it invaded in late 2001.