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Sheriffs' Group Call on Congress to Act Against Cartels, DE Legal Pot Bill Advances, More... (3/16/23)

The Texas Senate has approved a bill raising fentanyl penalties, a Delaware Senate committee advances a pair of marijuana legalization and regulation bills, and more.

Fentanyl. Texas is the latest state to experiment with charging sellers with murder if an overdose happens. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Delaware Senate Committee Approves Marijuana Legalization, Regulation Bills. Marijuana legalization is one step closer after the Senate Health and Social Services Committee approved a pair of House bills that would legalize marijuana ( House Bill 1) and regulate legal marijuana commerce (House Bill 2). Last year,a similarly bifurcated legalization effort came up short, with the House failing to pass the regulation bill and Gov. John Carney (D) vetoed the legalization bill. But this year, House bill sponsor Rep. Ed Osienski (D) says he is "optimistic" and feels "pretty good" about being able to override any veto. Meanwhile, HB 1 now heads for a Senate floor vote, while HB 2 must first get past the Senate Finance  Committee.

Drug Policy

Texas Senate Approves Bill to Increase Fentanyl Penalties. The Senate on Wednesday approved Senate Bill 645, which would open the door for prosecutors to charge people who make and sell fentanyl with murder. The bill does so by classifying fentanyl overdoses as "poisonings." The bill would also make delivery of less than one gram of fentanyl a third-degree felony. It is currently a lower-level state jail felony. If someone dies because of that delivery, it becomes a second-degree felony. State jail felonies have a maximum sentence of two years, third-degree felonies garner up to 10 years, and second-degree felonies can earn up to 20 years. The bill now heads to the House.

Foreign Policy

National Sheriff's Association Calls on Congress to Take Immediate Action Against Mexican Cartels. In the wake of the killing of two US citizens in Matamoros, Mexico, last weekend and the ongoing fentanyl overdose crisis, an association representing some 3,000 county sheriffs is calling on Congress to act now against Mexican drug cartels. "The nation’s sheriffs strongly support the American people’s continued demand that our federal government use whatever means appropriate to combat these deadly cartels," Sheriff Jim Skinner, chair of the National Sheriffs’ Association Government Affairs Committee, said in a statement. The group is calling on Congress to use its authority to create a "comprehensive system of further manpower and other tools that prevent any illicit drugs from being produced, smuggled and sold on American streets." Some members of Congress have been calling for more action, including designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organization and even calling for US military action inside Mexico. 

DE House Approves Marijuana Regulation Bill, Federal Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed, More... (3/10/23)

Nevada lawmakers filed a bill to legalize magic mushrooms, bipartisan senators file a federal asset forfeiture reform bill, and more.

Mexican President Lopez Obrador flatly rejects calls from GOP lawmakers for US military force in Mexico. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Delaware House Passes Legal Marijuana Regulation Bill. The House on Thursday voted 27-13 to approve House Bill 2, which would set up a regulatory framework for adult-use marijuana sales. The move comes just days after the House approved House Bill 1, which would legalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults. Last year, the legislature passed marijuana legalization, only to see it vetoed by Gov. John Carney (D). This year, however, HB 1 passed with a veto-proof majority, and HB 2 passed with one fewer vote with one member absent. That single vote is the difference between a veto-proof majority and a lack of one. The bills must now pass the Senate being going to the governor.

Psychedelics

Nevada Magic Mushroom Legalization Bill Filed. State Sens. Rochelle Nguyen (D) and Fabian Donate (D) filed Senate Bill 242 Thursday. The measure would legalize the possession of up to four ounces of fungi containing psilocybin or psilocyn, the hallucinogenic compounds in magic mushrooms. The bill would also allow a research facility to ask for state approval to study the therapeutic effects of magic mushrooms as well as MDMA for mental health conditions. The bill also has two joint sponsors in the lower chamber, Assemblymembers Max Carter (D) and Elaine Marzola (D). It is currently pending in the Senate Health and Humau Services Committee.

Asset Forfeiture

Bipartisan Federal Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed. US Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)  and Tim Walberg (R-MI) on Thursday reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act), a comprehensive reform to our nation's civil asset forfeiture laws. The FAIR Act raises the level of proof necessary for the federal government to seize property, reforms the IRS structuring statute to protect innocent small business owners, and increases transparency and congressional oversight. Joining Walberg and Raskin as original co-sponsors of the FAIR Act are Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Joe Neguse (D-CO). "The lawless seizure and ‘forfeiture’ of people’s private property by police officers is becoming standard operating procedure in many parts of the country," said Rep. Raskin. "We want to restore the presumption of innocence, fair judicial process, and the opportunity to be heard. I’m proud to introduce this important bipartisan legislation with my friend Rep. Walberg to rein in civil asset forfeiture and restore due process rights."

International

International Narcotics Control Board Warns on Marijuana Legalization. As it launched its annual report Thursday, the International Narcotics Control Board issued a press release emphasizing its concerns with marijuana legalization. "Moves by a small number of governments to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis have led to increased consumption without explaining the potentially serious health dangers that users face from the drug" the INCB warned. That is leading to "negative health effects and psychotic disorders," the drug watchdog continued. In all jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, data show that cannabis-related health problems have increased," INCB said. It pointed out that between 2000 and 2018, "global medical admissions related to cannabis dependence and withdrawal increased eight-fold. Admissions for cannabis-related psychotic disorders have quadrupled worldwide."

Mexico President Tells GOP Lawmakers Urging US Military Force Against Cartels in Mexico to Take a Hike. Aiming directly at Republican lawmakers who have urged the Biden administration to unleash the US military against Mexican drug cartels on their own territory, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday flatly rejected the notion. "We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene and much less foreign armed forces to intervene in our territory," López Obrador said, adding that he would ask Americans of Mexican and Hispanic origin not to vote for Republicans if their "aggression" continued. Lopez Obrador also downplayed Mexico's role in fentanyl production and said Americans needed to solve their drug problem on their side of the border. Pressure to do something about the cartels has only risen as the US overdose death toll has risen and was ratcheted up this week by the kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros, two of whom were shot and killed by members of a Gulf Cartel-affiliated gang. 

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. 

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."

Biden Lays Out Plan to Tackle Fentanyl, Myanmar Meth Production, More... (2/8/23)

That Minnesota marijuana legalization bill keeps advancing, another senator joins the call for the drug czar to be reinstated to a cabinet-level position, and more.

The president used his state of the union address to lay out a plan to fight fentanyl and opioid overdoses. (whitehouse.gov)
Marijuana Policy

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins Yet Another Committee Vote. The marijuana legalization bill continues to advance, with the House version, House File 100, winning its seventh committee vote Tuesday in a voice vote at the Workforce Development Finance and Policy Committee. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill won its fourth committee vote earlier in the week. But after all those committee votes, the bills are still only about halfway through the committee process. Still, Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz (D) are confident the measure will become law before the summer is over.

Drug Policy

At State of the Union, Biden Lays Out Plan to Tackle Fentanyl and Opioid Overdose Epidemic. President Biden outlined his plan "to beat the opioid epidemic" by "disrupting the trafficking, distribution, and sale of fentanyl." That will include increased enforcement at points of entry, intercepting more packages of fentanyl coming through package delivery companies, working diplomatically to address the supply chain abroad, and increasing penalties for fentanyl suppliers. Biden also calling for "expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery," by delivering more naloxone, ensuring there is more drug treatment in jails and prisons, and expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder.

Another Senator Joins Call for Drug Czar to Be Reinstated as Cabinet Officer. Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has joined the list of senators and representatives calling on the Biden administration to restore the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar's office) to a cabinet-level position. "Elevating the post would enable ONDCP to more effectively coordinate drug control efforts across federal agencies and enhance the Biden administration’s response the opioid epidemic, a public health crisis that killsmore than 100,000 Americans each year." She joins Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), a member of the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, and Representatives David Trone (D-MD), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Annie Kuster (D-NH), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, who sent a letter to the White House last week urging the drug czar's reinstatement.

International

Myanmar Now a Leading Methamphetamine Producer. Long known for its opium production, Myanmar is now a leading global producer of methamphetamine, according to academic researchers, who cite massive meth seizures in the region (more than 170 tons) and point to armed groups who used to rely on opium revenues switching to meth production after government crackdowns on the poppy. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime puts the value of the regional meth trade at $61 billion a year, and the researchers say organized crime groups are trafficking Myanmar meth to "high value markets," such as Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. 

BC Drug Decriminalization Now in Effect, MN Legal Pot Bill Continues to Advance, More... (2/1/23)

The North Dakota House kills an effort to allow medical marijuana patients to use edibles, a Republican congressman files a marijuana rescheduling bill, and more.

No medical marijuana edibles for you, North Dakota! (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

GOP Congressman Files Marijuana Rescheduling Bill. For the third Congress in a row, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has filed a bill that would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The measure, HR 610, says "the Attorney General of the United States shall, by order not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this section, transfer marijuana…from schedule I of such Act to schedule III of such Act." Such a move would not legalize marijuana, but would, Steube says, "drastically expand" opportunities for research and study.

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Wins More Committee Votes. The marijuana legalization bill continues to move forward. The House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill, House File 100, on Tuesday, becoming the fifth House committee to do so. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill passed the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee on Monday, becoming the fourth Senate committee to do so. Lawmakers have said the bill could face as many as 12 committee votes, meaning the measure is currently three-fourths of the way home. Democrats hold majorities in both houses, as well as the governorship, and are confident the bill will pass and be signed into law in short order.

Medical Marijuana

North Dakota House Kills Bill to Allow Edibles. The House on Tuesday killed a pair of bills that would have made medical marijuana edibles legally available to patients. The House Human Services Committee had amended elements of House Bill 1202 and House Bill 1164 into HB 1202, but the full House killed HB 1202 on a 55-37 vote (it needed two-thirds to pass) and killed HB 1164 on a 20-72 vote. Under the initiative approved by voters in 2016, patients are limited to using dried buds or THC products such as concentrates and tinctures—not edibles. Bill supporters said edibles are a healthier and more accurate means of dosing medical marijuana, but the legislature wasn't listening.

International

Drug Possession is Now Decriminalized in Canada's British Columbia. An exemption to the country's federal drug laws that allows British Columbia to engage in a three-year experiment with drug decriminalization is now in effect. The move is an effort to fight the province's drug overdose crisis. BC accounts for about a third of all Canadian drug overdose deaths, with more than  10,000 overdose deaths in the province since 2016, more than 4,500 of them in the last two years. Under the decriminalization program, possession of up to 2.5 grams of substances such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine is no longer a criminal offense. Supporters of the program say it will reduce stigma and enable healthier outcomes for drug users. 

CT Legal Adult Pot Sales Begin Tomorrow, OH Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Decrim Bill, More... (1/9/23)

A Mexican judge has blocked the extradition of El Chapo's son to the US, you can now get a license to grow your own marijuana in Missouri, and more.

You can grow your own pot plants in Missouri -- if you get a license from the state. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy

Connecticut Adult Marijuana Sales Begin Tomorrow. Adult legal marijuana sales are set to begin tomorrow, January 10. At least nine existing medical marijuana dispensaries have undergone the bureaucratic steps necessary to transition to adult sales tomorrow, with up to another 40 that could open by the end of the year. Initial sales will be limited to a quarter ounce of buds or its equivalent per transaction. The restrictions are in place to ensure adequate supply for medical marijuana patients and will be reviewed over time. Dispensaries in New Haven, Branford, Torrington, Newington, Stamford, Willimantic, Danbury, Montville and Meriden successfully completed the necessary steps to convert to a "hybrid license" and will be allowed to sell to all adults beginning tomorrow.

Missouri Home Cultivation Licenses Now Available. People who want to grow their own under the state's new marijuana legalization regime will have to be licensed to do so, and those licenses are now available. Personal cultivation application forms and instructions are available from the Missouri Cannabis Regulation Division. The license costs $100 and must be renewed annually. People can grow up to six clones, six nonflowering plants, an six flowering plants at the same time. Missouri is the only state to impose a licensing requirement on home growers.

Harm Reduction

Ohio Governor Signs Fentanyl Test Strip Decriminalization Bill into Law. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has signed into law House Bill 456, which decriminalizes the possession of fentanyl test strips as part of an effort to reduce overdoses. The new law exempts the test strips from the definition of drug paraphernalia. The move makes Ohio the 32nd state to move to decriminalize fentanyl test strips, with a half dozen doing so last year.

International

Mexican Judge Halts Extradition of El Chapo's Son to US. A day after 29 people, including 10 soldiers, died in a wave of violence following his arrest in Culiacan, the extradition of Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, to face charges in the United States has been blocked by a Mexican judge. In the ruling last Friday, the federal judge also suspended a ban on Guzman from communicating with his legal team and family. Guzman faces charges on a US warrant dating back to September 2019. He had been arrested in Culiacan in October 2019 but was quickly released on orders of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador because of violent cartel retaliation.

Philadelphia Safehouse, DOJ Agree to Mediation on Safe Injection Site [FEATURE]

For nearly four years, the Philadelphia nonprofit Safehouse has seen its effort to open a safe injection site in the city stymied by a federal court case brought against it by the Trump administration Justice Department. And although the Trump administration is now history, the Biden Justice Department has continued to pursue the case even as the number of overdose deaths in the city mounts.

The Insite safe injection site in Vancouver. Philadelphia wants one, too. (vch.ca)
But now, Safehouse and the Justice Department (DOJ) have agreed to move their case about the legality of safe injection sites out of a federal district court and into mediation before a federal magistrate, a maneuver that advocates hope can speed up the resolution of the case and get the sites up and operating.

"We agreed with the Department of Justice to move in this direction to reach a settlement and get the lawsuit resolved," Safehouse vice-president Ronda Goldfein told the Philadelphia Inquirer. While declining to further characterize confidential settlement negotiations, she said the group's goals "have not changed" and that Safehouse seeks "a resolution that all parties can live with that give us the opportunity to save lives."

The move comes as the Biden DOJ has hinted at a possible softer stance toward safe injection sites. DOJ did not go to court to block local officials in New York City from allowing two safe injection sites to open in late 2021 or to block state officials from allowing them in early 2022. And DOJ had indicated it was engaged in settlement talks with Safehouse in February 2022.

At that time, DOJ said that it was "evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety."

But that was nearly a year ago, and Safehouse's patience is wearing thin. Just last month, after having repeatedly gone along with DOJ requests for continuances, Safehouse balked. It told the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that it would no longer agree to any additional delays, while the DOJ argued that it needed until February to proceed. The court compromised, requiring that DOJ reveal its position in the lawsuit by January 9.

With the mediation agreement between Safehouse and DOJ, that January 9 date is now moot, but Safehouse is convinced the move will result in a speedier resolution of the case and allow it to finally get into the business of saving lives.

"Since the DOJ commenced this litigation in 2019 until the end of 2021, more than 3,600 lives have been lost in Philadelphia to the opioid overdose crisis. Based on 2022 projections, that number will grow to almost 5,000 deaths," Safehouse said. "Safehouse and those that need its life-saving services have waited long enough."

Meanwhile, there are other signs the federal government may be warming to the harm reduction intervention. In a November report, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service highlighted the "uncertainty" of the federal government's position on safe injection sites and suggested blockages could be overcome by approving an amendment to the annual DOJ funding bill precluding it from spending any funds to go after safe injection sites, much as has been successfully done to protect medical marijuana laws in the states.

And just days before that report was released, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow tacitly endorsed the idea of authorizing safe consumption sites. Research has found that the intervention "has saved a significant [percentage of] patients from overdosing."

Now, if only the DOJ can find a way to get out of the way. Or if it cannot or will not, it will be time to go back to court.

MS Makes Naloxone Available for Free, PA Fentanyl Test Strips Now Decriminalized, More... (1/4/23)

Violence continues in Ciudad Juarez in the wake of a deadly Sunday prison break, Mississippi has created a web site where residents can order free naloxone, and more.

fentanyl test strips (Creative Commons)
Harm Reduction

Mississippi Makes Naloxone Available for Free. After nearly 600 people died of drug overdoses in 2021, the last year for which full numbers are available, the state is moving to ease access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (Narcan). The Department of Health has begun a program under which people need only log onto a state website, answer a few questions, and watch a training video, and the department will then send them a free naloxone kit. Or they can download a voucher and have it filled at a local pharmacy. To apply for the free Narcan, visit odfree.org/get-naloxone.

Pennsylvania Law Decriminalizing Fentanyl Test Strips Now in Effect. A new law, Act 111, that decriminalizes fentanyl test strips went into effect Monday. The law achieves this by amending the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act of 1972 to no longer define the test strips as drug paraphernalia. Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are a low-cost method of helping prevent drug overdoses and reducing harm. FTS are small strips of paper that can detect the presence of fentanyl in all different kinds of drugs (e.g., cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin) and drug forms (pills, powder, and injectables).

International

Sinaloa Cartel Gang Leader Among Those Who Escaped in Ciudad Juarez Prison Attack. Among the 27 prisoners who successfully fled a Ciudad Juarez prison as it was attacked Sunday was Ernesto "El Neto" Pinon, the long-imprisoned leader of the Mexicles, a Juarez gang affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel. The attack and jailbreak left 10 guards and seven prisoners dead, with two escaped prisoner later killed by authorities. Pinon had been jailed at the prison since 2010 on a 224-year sentence for murder. Authorities blamed the prison assault on the Mexicles, saying it was attacked by at least 25 of them. Also among the escapees was the Mexicles' number-two man, Cesar Vega.

Death Toll Rises as Mexican Authorities Hunt Down Juarez Prison Attackers, Escapees. At least seven people were killed in a gunfight as Chihuahua state investigators worked to hunt down the perpetrators of Sunday's attack on a Ciudad Juarez prison, as well as 25 prisoners who escaped. The attack was orchestrated by the Mexicles, a Juarez gang long affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel, who long-imprisoned leader and his number two were among the escapees. In the Tuesday shootout, two state investigators and five Mexicles members died.

This Year's Top Ten Domestic Drug Policy Stories [FEATURE]

The good, the bad, and the ugly in US domestic drug policy this year.

Drug overdoses hit a record high in 2022, but may have peaked. (Creative Commons)
1. Overdose Deaths Appear to Have Peaked but Are Still at Horrid Levels

According to Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in December, the nation's fatal drug overdose epidemic has peaked. After reaching a record high of more than 110,000 fatal overdoses in the 12-month period ending in March, that number declined to 107,735 in the 12-month period ending in July, the last month for which data is available. That is a two percent decline from the March high.

While the decline is welcome, drug overdose numbers are still 25 percent higher than they were two years ago and double what they were five years ago. According to the CDC, synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, were implicated in more than two-thirds of overdose deaths and stimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine were involved in nearly one-third. But some fraction of stimulant-implicated overdose deaths are not caused by the stimulants themselves but by stimulant users being exposed to drugs cut with fentanyl.

2. Neither Marijuana Legalization nor Banking Access Pass Congress

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed to make passage of a marijuana legalization bill a priority in this Congress, but it didn't happen. While the House passed a legalization bill, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3617) in April, Schumer and congressional allies didn't even roll out a draft version of their Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act until this July -- 18 months after this Congress began -- and it never exhibited enough bipartisan support to go anywhere in the evenly divided Senate.

Schumer and his Senate allies also repeatedly blocked efforts to get a bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses access to financial services through the Senate. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (HR 1996) passed the House in April, and Senate allies tried repeatedly to attach it as an amendment to various spending bills, only to be stymied by Schumer and his holdouts for full-blown legalization. At year's end, though, while Schumer was finally ready to move forward with it, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) came out in opposition, helping to scuttle one last effort to tie it to a defense appropriations bill.

3. With Biden's Signature, A Standalone Marijuana Reform Bill Becomes Law for The First Time Ever

For the first time ever, Congress passed and in December the president signed into law a stand-alone marijuana reform bill, the bipartisan Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (HR 8454). Some marijuana reform measures have been passed before, but only as part of much broader appropriations bills. The aim of the bill is to facilitate research on marijuana and its potential health benefits. The bill will accomplish this by streamlining the application process for scientific marijuana studies and removing existing barriers for research by allowing both private companies and research universities to seek DEA licenses to grow their own marijuana for research purposes.

4. Three More States Legalize Marijuana

In May, Rhode Island became the 19th state to legalize marijuana when the General Assembly passed and Gov. Dan McKee signed into law the Rhode Island Cannabis Act. Sales to any adult over 21 at medical marijuana dispensaries that acquired "hybrid retail licenses" began in December.

And in November, voters in Maryland and Missouri approved marijuana legalization initiatives. Maryland's Question 4 came not from the people but from the legislature and amends the state constitution and mandates that the General Assembly "shall provide for the use, distribution, possession, regulation and taxation of cannabis within the state." Missouri's Amendment 3 overcame multi-sided opposition not only from the usual suspects in law enforcement and the political establishment but also from civil rights groups and marijuana industry insiders to eke out a narrow victory. As of December 8, possession of up to three ounces by adults is no longer a crime, but sales to adults will not begin until next year.

But there were also losses at the ballot box this year. The Arkansas Adult Use Cannabis Amendment garnered only 43.8 percent of the vote, while North Dakota's Initiated Statutory Measure No. 1 managed only 45.1 percent, and South Dakota's Initiated Measure 27 came up short with only 46.6 percent of the vote. The South Dakota defeat was especially bitter, given that just two years ago, voters there approved a broader marijuana legalization initiative with 54 percent of the vote only to see it invalidated by the state Supreme Court.

5. The Year of Fentanyl Test Strip Decriminalization

Fentanyl test strips, which detect the presence of the powerful synthetic opioid in all different kinds of drugs (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, etc.) and formulations (pills, powders, and injectables) are recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a valuable harm reduction strategy and are increasingly seen by the states as a crucial tool in the fight to reduce drug overdose deaths. When the Biden White House first endorsed their use in 2021, they were considered illegal drug paraphernalia in a majority of states.

Not anymore. As of the end of 2022, 31 states have now legalized or decriminalized fentanyl test strips, with Alabama, Georgia, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Wisconsin doing so this year alone. But that leaves 19 states, mostly in the South and including Florida and Texas where they remain banned.

6. Colorado Becomes Second State to Approve Natural Psychedelic Reforms

Three years after voters in Denver opened the door to psychedelic reform by approving a municipal initiative that made possession of psilocybin mushrooms the lowest law enforcement priority, voters statewide have approved an initiative that decriminalizes plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics and creates a program for the therapeutic administration of such substances. On Election Day, voters approved Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act, with 53.55 percent of the vote. The victory makes Colorado the second state to enact reforms decriminalizing a natural psychedelic and setting up a program for therapeutic use. Oregon voters led the way on that by approving Measure 109 in 2020.

Proposition 122 has two main prongs: First, it decriminalizes the personal use, possession, and cultivation by people 21 and over of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline (not derived from peyote), psilocybin, and psilocyn, as well as providing for the sealing of conviction records of people who have completed sentences for the use or possession of those substances. The measure sets no personal possession limits. Second, it creates a "natural medicine services" program for the therapeutic administration of the specified psychedelics and creates a rubric for regulated growth, distribution, and sales of those substances to entities within the program. Only psilocybin and psilocin would be okayed for therapeutic use until 2026. Then regulators could decide on whether to allow the therapeutic use of DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline.

7. Marijuana Social Consumption Lounges Spread

Ever since the first states legalized marijuana a decade ago, one question for users was where to go to smoke their newly legal product. Most states ban smoking outdoors in public or indoors pretty much anywhere except one's home -- and even that can be an issue if your landlord isn't down with it. One solution is allowing places for marijuana users to toke up in a convivial setting, the marijuana social consumption lounge, whether as part of a retail shop or as a standalone business.

Social consumption lounges are now legal in 11 states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Nevada -- although they are not actually up and running yet in some of them. Massachusetts has two lounges now operating; in New Jersey, regulators just approved rules for them; in Nevada, regulators just issued 20 provisional licenses; in New York, they're still waiting for regulators to act; and in California, the state's dozen or so lounges are set to double in number as more localities okay them. Meanwhile, the nation's capital could be next: In the District of Columbia, the city council just approved a bill allowing them.

8. Safe Injection Sites Are Operating in the United States

Safe injection sites, the harm reduction intervention proven to save lives after years of operation in more than a hundred cities in Australia, Canada, and Europe, are finally getting a toehold in the US. New York City's two safe injection sites have just celebrated their first birthdays after opening in late 2021, and in Rhode Island, a two-year pilot program is underway.

But there will be no safe injection sites in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill that would have allowed pilot programs in major cities across the state. And the fate of a proposed Philadelphia safe injection site -- and the Biden administration's attitude toward them -- remains in doubt. That facility was initially blocked by the Trump Justice Department, and two years later, the Biden Justice Department has yet to substantively respond to lawsuit from the site's would-be operators. Just this month, a federal judge gave DOJ just 30 more days to respond. A positive response would remove the obstacle to further expansion of such sites that fear of federal prosecution brings. Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service has thoughtfully released a report about other options for getting them up and running, such as passing budget amendments similar to those blocking the Justice Department from interfering in marijuana laws.

9. In DC and New York City, Gray Market Weed Finds a Way

In both the nation's capital and the nation's largest city, unregulated marijuana vendors have popped up to supply pent up demand as both cities endure legalization without legal marijuana sales. In New York City, it's only a matter of time before taxed, licensed, and regulators marijuana retailers are able to open, but in the interregnum between legalization and legal access, the pot scene has gone hog wild with marijuana being sold everywhere -- head shops, bodegas, even from folding tables on street corners -- with one particularly hysterical estimate putting the number at "likely tens of thousands of illicit cannabis businesses." The market isn't waiting for the regulators, and its emergence could undercut the legal businesses waiting in the wings. The city has undertaken limited enforcement efforts, but to little effect so far.

In Washington, DC, a congressional rider barring taxed and regulated marijuana sales has seen something similar, but with a DC twist: a multitude of shops that will "gift" you marijuana when you purchase some other item. The stores call themselves I-71 shops, after the 2014 initiative that legalized marijuana in the city and they even have their own industry association, which estimates there are a hundred or so of them. The city vowed a crackdown in August, but put that on hold the following month.

10. For the First Time, SAMSHA Funds Harm Reduction

In December 2021, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that it would for the first time ever make grants available to harm reduction groups to "help increase access to a range of community harm reduction services and support harm reduction service providers as they work to help prevent overdose deaths and reduce health risks often associated with drug use." SAMSHA would make available $10 million a year in grants for the next three years.

And this year, the first tranche went out. Some 25 different programs from the Lost Dreams Awakening Center in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, to the Mile High Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in Denver, to the Los Angeles County Health Department got grants this year, almost all of them for $398,960. It's a drop in the bucket compared to federal spending on prohibition -- and compared to harm reduction's full funding needs -- but it's a start.

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