A Massachusetts bill would prioritize treatment over jail for probationers who fail drug tests, a new study finds no increase in crime near New York City's safe injection sites, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Maryland Starts Accepting Adult-Use Marijuana Business Applications. The Maryland Cannabis Administration began accepting applications for business licenses on Monday. A total of 179 of them are up for grabs. Interested parties have until December 12 to apply.

In the first round of licensing, the state will issue 75 standard dispensary licenses, 16 standard grower permits, 32 standard processor licenses, 24 micro-grower permits, 24 micro-processor licenses, and eight micro-dispensary permits.

Successful applicants must have already completed a social equity verification process that's currently closed, though the state has yet to process all the submissions.

Successful applicants will need at least 65 percent ownership held by a verified social equity applicant. Applicants are limited to one application per license type and no more than two applications in this current round.

Drug Testing

Massachusetts Bill Would Prioritize Treatment Over Jail for Probationers Who Fail Drug Tests. A bill that says that a probationer's positive drug test result should not result in imprisonment, Senate Bill 982, got a hearing Wednesday in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Similar legislation has been filed in previous sessions but has never gone anywhere.

This time around, mental health and addiction experts, as well as attorneys, were there to urge lawmakers to get it right.

"I saw hundreds of individuals placed in custody for merely relapsing, a symptom of their substance use disorder," said Deborah Goldfarb, Director of Behavioral Health at Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction. "A correctional environment is not one that fosters recovery. And not only were folks not receiving appropriate treatment in custody, they are ripped away from any treatment connections they have."

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Ruth Balser (D) and state Sen. Cindy Friedman (D), says that a positive drug or alcohol test or other signs of relapse would not be considered a probation violation if someone is following a treatment plan, trying to get care or has completed a program and is complying with other conditions of probation. The bill would also prohibit the courts from ordering more substance use testing than required by a treatment provider.

"There is growing concern about the increasing problem of drug use and public policymakers are becoming more educated," Balser said. "So I'm hopeful the legislature will be receptive to changing policies to better reflect the science about the best way to respond to those with substance use disorders."

No vote was taken.

Foreign Policy

Biden, Xi Announce Deal Cracking Down on Fentanyl Exports. President Joe Biden (D) and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping announced an agreement for China to crackdown on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid linked to about two-thirds of all US drug overdose deaths.

Under the agreement, China will crack down on chemical companies to halt the flow of fentanyl and the source material used to make it. That may be easier said than done, though, given that China has some 400,000 chemical companies.

The US, for its part, will lift longstanding restrictions on China's forensic police institute. China has long complained that the US should not expect cooperation on fentanyl when it has placed restrictions on the institute.

The agreement came as Biden and Xi met on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, their first encounter in more than a year as tensions between the two countries heightened.

Harm Reduction

New Study Finds No Outsized Increase in Crime Near New York City Safe Injection Sites. An important new study published in JAMA Open Network finds that violent and property crime near the city's two safe injection sites did not increase anymore than crime in similar neighborhoods across the city. The finding came even as police conducted 83 percent fewer drug arrests near the sites, presumably to avoid scaring drug users away from the sites).

The study should work to blunt some criticism of safe injection sites, which critics have claimed contribute to criminality in neighborhoods where they are located.

"We did not observe any increase in crime or disorder or any of the things that people worry about when they see an overdose prevention site opening," said a study co-author, Brandon Del Pozo, an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University and a former New York Police Department precinct commander and police chief of Burlington, Vermont.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the federal agency that funded the study, said the study was consistent with past research into safe injection sites, and that even though the new study is preliminary data, "what it does show is that having these safe injection sites is not associated with an increase in violence."

Sweden is moving to broaden access to the opiate overdose drug naloxone, one of three Vancouver magic mushoom shops raided by police last week has reopened and the other two will be reopening shortly, and more.

International

UN Says Afghan Opium Production Dropped 95 Percent After Taliban Ban. For decades, Afghanistan has been accurately described as the world's largest opium producer. Not anymore. Opium poppy production has dropped dramatically since the Taliban banned the cultivation of the plant last year.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that poppy cultivation dropped to just 26,700 acres this year, down from more than 500,000 acres in 2022, resulting in a 95 percent decrease in production and limiting supply to 333 tons.

Since opium production has provided a livelihood for millions of Afghans and two-thirds of the population is already in need of humanitarian aid, imposition of the ban is having severe economic consequences, the UNODC said.

"Over the coming months Afghanistan is in dire need of strong investment in sustainable livelihoods to provide Afghan farmers with opportunities away from opium," Ghada Waly, the executive director of UNODC. "This presents a real opportunity to build towards long-term results against the illicit opium market and the damage it causes both locally and globally."

The huge contraction in supply from Afghanistan -- estimated to supply around 80% of the world's illegal opium - could eventually lead to a drop in opium use internationally, but it also risked escalating the global use of alternatives such as fentanyl or synthetic opioids, the UNODC said.

Vancouver Magic Mushroom Shops Reopen After Being Busted Last Week. Long-time Vancouver, British Columbia, drug activist Dana Larsen spent seven hours in jail and saw his trio of magic mushroom shops shut down in a police raid last week, but he has already reopened one of them and says the other two are restocking and will be open soon.

Larsen has shops on East Hastings Street, West Broadway Avenue, and Granville Street. The East Hastings shop is the one that has already reopened.

Vancouver Police said they executed search warrants at the stores as part of an investigation into the illicit sale of psychedelic drugs and that officers seized "a variety of controlled substances." Larsen was not charged last week, but police said they would make charging recommendations to prosecutors once they finished their investigation.

"We have been clear that anyone who breaks the law by illegally trafficking controlled drugs and substances could be arrested and charged with a criminal offence," said Sgt. Steve Addison. "This includes people who traffic drugs for profit from unlicensed and illegal retail businesses."

Larsen said he "will try to be better prepared" if the police come back again. "People go through a lot worse things, but it's no fun sitting in a jail cell for seven hours. It's no fun that all of your products are taken," he said. "Our staff are very upset, some of them are quite worried about their future and their job and whether they want to keep working here."

Sweden to Expand Naloxone Access. Faced with a rising drug overdose toll -- more than 900 cases a year -- the national government is working to implement a new, knowledge-based drug policy aimed at reducing overdose deaths by 20 percent within the next five years.

A key part of the strategy will be expanding access to the opiate overdose reversal drug naloxone. Under current law, only doctors and nurses can prescribe naloxone, but the new measure would make it accessible outside healthcare facilities and it would be distributed for free.

But legal obstacles remain and the government is still navigating the regulatory landscape to allow for broader access. Still, Sweden is now prioritizing pragmatism over prohibitionist ideology and moving to adopt harm reduction techniques.

A Kansas poll has two-thirds support for marijuana legalization, a bipartisan group of lawmakers calls on DEA to deschedule marijuana, and more.

Marijuana Policy

31 Bipartisan House Lawmakers Push DEA To Consider 'Merits' of Marijuana Legalization as It Completes Scheduling Review. A coalition of 31 bipartisan House lawmakers has sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to take into account congressional and state marijuana legalization efforts as it carries out a review into cannabis scheduling. They also criticized the limitations of simple rescheduling as they push for complete a complete removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The letter last Friday to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, with lead signatures from Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL) says that the review represents a "necessary step in the work to end the federal government's failed and discriminatory prohibition of cannabis." As DEA completes its review, the lawmakers said that the law enforcement agency should consider that Congress has been working to comprehensive reform federal cannabis laws.

The letter says that "the administration and relevant agencies such as yours should recognize the merits of full descheduling and work with congressional leaders to ensure this happens," adding that prohibition "does not reflect the will of the broader American electorate" and "it is time that [DEA's] work fully reflects this reality as well."

Other signatories of the letter Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Lou Correa (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Katie Porter (D-CA), David Trone (D-MD) and others.

Kansas Poll Has Two-Thirds Support for Marijuana Legalization. A new poll from Fort Hays State University has support for marijuana legalization in the state at 67%, even as Republican legislators continued to block any progress toward that goal or even toward allowing medical marijuana. Kansas does not have a citizens' initiative process that would allow the public to get around recalcitrant lawmakers.

Republican Sen. Rob Olson, who held Statehouse committee hearings for a medical marijuana bill last year, said Senate President Ty Masterson and Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley -- both Republicans -- don't want a bill to pass. "The majority of the state (does) want medical marijuana," Olson said, "and I don't see a reason why we don't pass a bill."

"We get support from quite a few legislators," said Cheryl Kumberg, President of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition Kumberg, "but the ones that are in power are not supportive for various reasons, and they don't let it go forward."

Drug Policy

California Governor Announces San Francisco Task Force Will Treat Overdoses as Homicides; Advocates Decry Move. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced last Friday a joint law enforcement task force that will treat overdoses as homicide in the city, fulfilling a law enforcement promise made by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins back in October 2022.

"Making sure that these dealers are admonished, that should they be connected to selling fentanyl to someone who overdoses, that they could be charged with murder because we have to hold these people accountable," Jenkins said in an October 2022 debate. "The objective is to make sure that we are looking into who is selling fentanyl to the individuals who are dying of overdoses on our streets every day that may allow my office to pursue murder charges against those sellers," said Jenkins.

"These people who are dealing these drugs need to be held accountable in a way they have not been before," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "The objective is to make sure that we are looking into who is selling fentanyl to the individuals who are dying of overdoses on our streets every day that may allow my office to pursue murder charges against those sellers," said Jenkins.

But people directly involved on the ground are skeptical. "I think really what we're concerned about is how is this policy going to be implemented and recognizing that the law enforcement activities to date, including increases in law enforcement overall have not reduced the suffering that we're seeing on the streets," Michael Discepola, the Director of Health at the nonprofit GLIDE said. "One of the challenges I think that this type of policy creates is, I think drug dealers also prevent overdoses because we get Narcan in their hands, and will this prevent other individuals on the street from being willing to get involved to be able to reduce overdose on the street," he said.

The Gubbio Project is a another nonprofit helping people on the streets. "I understand people's desire for accountability but the question is what are they trying to achieve? Punishment does not reduce use," said Lydia Bransten, director of the Gubbio Project.

And the San Francisco Public Defender issued the following statement last Friday: "The task force's announcement today is another step in the wrong direction toward the continued revival of the failed War on Drugs in SF... Threatening to charge people with murder is unfortunately likely to result in more overdoses, as people will be afraid to call for help."

International

After Indigenous Healer Stabbed in Peru, Indigenous Medicine Conversation Fund Calls for Increased Protection of Ayahuasca, Other Traditional Medicines. A French tourist is being held in jail as he awaits trial for attacking Don Pedro Sinuiri Barta, a 76-year-old ancestral healer (Onanya), in his home village of Nueva Betania in northeastern Peru on the morning of October 11. Sinuiri, who was seriously injured after being stabbed multiple times, has provided healing for many decades to local and international people in his practice, which incorporates the use of plant medicines, including ayahuasca. This is the second such violent attack against Shipibo ancestral healers in the last five years, with the previous incident in 2018 resulting in the death of Olivia Arevalo.

The young French tourist who traveled with his mother was reportedly seeking cocaine from community members and had not used ayahuasca before the attack.

"This tragic episode, yet again, underscores the risks to Indigenous healers and the urgent need to support them in their efforts to protect and preserve traditional medicines," said Miriam Volat, director of the Indigenous Medicine Conservation (IMC) Fund, which stands in support of Sinuiri, his family, and his Shipibo community in this time of healing. Sinuiri's son, Jheison Romulo Sinuiri Ochavano, is president ofOrganización Intercultural Oni Xobo, an IMC Fund-supported project focused on the preservation and conservation of the Shipibo culture, including ancestral medicine practices.

This is not the first time a foreigner has harmed an Indigenous Shipibo healer. In 2018, a Canadian man shot and killed ancestral healer Olivia Arevalo at her home in an urban community near Coronel Portillo in northeastern Peru. Community members quickly retaliated and the man was killed by a mob that had formed. In this case, Indigenous community members chose to trust the judicial system and, after apprehending the assailant, turned him over to police. The family, local Indigenous Organizations, and the Shipibo people, more broadly, continue to demand justice for Sinuiri.

The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund seeks to educate the public, including the psychedelics boom, about the need to protect five traditional medicines -- Ayahuasca, Toad, Iboga, Peyote, and Mushrooms -- and their related ecologies, which are threatened by the combined crises of climate change, commercialization, overharvesting, and cultural appropriation. In the year since its launch, IMC Fund has raised more than $10 million to support 22 Indigenous-led conservation projects in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Gabon, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. To learn more about the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, go to: www.imc.fund.

New York is rolling out a drug checking program, Seattle begins a crackdown on public drug use, and more.

Drug Policy

Oregon Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Measure 110 Issues. Two years after voters approved Measure 110, which decriminalizes drug possession and allocates hundreds of millions of dollars in marijuana tax revenues to drug prevention and treatment, the measure is under concerted attack. With concerns over overdoses and public drug use rising, a legislative joint committee on addiction met last week with Measure 110 on its mind.

"The crisis that we are facing in our addiction system is not a big-city crisis or a rural-community crisis, it's not a Republican crisis, it's not a Democrat crisis or an Independent crisis, this is a crisis in all of Oregon," said Sen. Kate Lieber, D-Portland, who chairs the committee.

Lieber vowed that the committee would examine all aspects of the crisis and consult with a broad range of experts to come up with policy solutions that lawmakers could address in the 2024 legislative session. Democrats hold a majority in the legislature and have not committed to repealing Measure 110, but Lieber said it could use some adjustments.

"It is clear that the ballot measure that Oregonians passed in 2020 is not delivering what we need it to deliver, and we need to make systemwide change to try to address this issue," she said.

Her Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, was more inclined to attack Measure 110.

"I agree that Measure 110 is not delivering. In fact, I think it has been a massive failure. I think it was born to fail for a couple of reasons. One, is that there was not on-demand treatment that was ready to go when decriminalization happened, and I think that was a huge mistake," he said. "I also think that community harm reduction was not really contemplated with Measure 110 and making sure that those who are causing harm to the community through addiction get to treatment and recovery."

During the hearing, lawmakers heard from addiction prevention and recovery experts, none of whom would go so far as to recommend repealing Measure 110. Instead, they said that the state's addiction treatment and recovery systems are understaffed and underfunded.

Seattle Police Crack Down on Public Drug Use as New City Ordinance Goes into Effect. Last month, the city council passed an ordinance criminalizing public drug use and possession under municipal law, and last Friday, police began emphatically enforcing it. Squads of police officers swept through two neighborhoods -- Little Saigon and downtown Pine Street -- and arrested about two dozen people.

Ten people were jailed, mostly on outstanding felony warrants, while another 15 people who were arrested were referred to case workers and released.

Police Chief Adrian Diaz said the department would conduct similar operations on a weekly basis.

"We are going to be compassionate in our approach to getting people connected with services while still making sure our city streets are safe," he said.

But opponents worry the law will punish people for addictions and called it a new version of the war on drugs, which subjected Black and brown people to disproportionate enforcement. And they noted that access to treatment remains severely limited.

"Data shows the minute you're arrested, there are cascading consequences for your stability," said Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda , who opposed the new law. "People are more likely to die while in jail due to withdrawal or die upon release due to overdoses," she said. "We don't want public consumption throughout the streets, but we do not have the treatment resources necessary to implement this policy."

Harm Reduction

New York State Department of Health Announces Drug Checking Programs The New York State Department of Health's Office of Drug User Health (NYSDOH-ODUH) has implemented four drug checking programs operated by state funded Drug User Health Hubs (DUHH). Drug checking is used as a consumer safety tool -- either before or after consumption -- and a method to engage people who use drugs (PWUD) in other harm reduction services. This information can help inform the larger PWUD community about new or emerging adulterants in the local drug supply and how to decrease their risk of overdose from dangerous substances like fentanyl.

"As new or dangerous substances, including fentanyl, continue to appear in the drug supply, the risk of overdose for people who use drugs continues to rapidly increase," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "Given this ever-changing landscape, these essential comprehensive drug checking services will help protect New Yorkers and help us to better understand the local drug supply and improve overall drug user health."

The technology used to test for drugs produces results within minutes and provides the technician the ability to determine the chemical composition of the sample. To ensure that technicians can interpret test results accurately, the NYSDOH-ODUH has contracted with an experienced drug checking consultant who provides training and ongoing technical assistance.

For further support, the drug checking program also includes the use of a confirmatory laboratory that allows DUHH to send residual amounts of inactivated drug samples to the lab and in compliance with Drug Enforcement Administration and postal regulations. Technicians will send the first 150 residual samples to the laboratory for additional testing to confirm the accuracy of initial analysis. The laboratory providing the additional analysis utilizes gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), which is regarded as a gold standard for drug testing.

"The unregulated drug supply is increasingly unpredictable and dangerous. Having comprehensive drug checking available is a strategy to decrease potential harms, including overdoses, and supports our ongoing work to expand and enhance harm reduction services across New York State," said Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham.

The drug checking programs are located in Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Mohawk Valley, the Capital Region and Long Island. The program involves staffing and training at each participating DUHH. Governor Kathy Hochul specifically mentioned in her 2023 State of the State Address the expansion of drug checking technology within DUHHs to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of substances before and after use. This enhanced technology will be available at Drug User Health Hubs so that individuals can test their drugs to mitigate drug-related harms and prevent overdose.

International

Irish Parliamentarians Call for "Radical Change" in Drug Policy After Citizens' Assembly Recommends Decriminalization. Over the weekend, the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use voted to recommend that the country move toward a "comprehensive health-led" approach to drug policy, including a form of drug decriminalization. In response, a cross-party group of parliamentarians is calling for a "radical change" in drug policy.

In a statement on Monday evening, a group parliamentarians, including politicians from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Labor, and People Before Profit, said that the decision by the Citizens' Assembly "reinforces the case for radical change in Irish drug policy".

"We urge the Oireachtas [the parliament] to assign the report, when published, to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice to allow them carry out detailed deliberation and to propose draft legislation," the statement reads. We emphasize the need for detailed analysis and recommendations on the decriminalization of the drug user and regulation of cannabis."

Mexican Cartel Guns Down 13 Cops in Guerrero. Supposed cartel gunmen ambushed police in Coyuca de Benitze, Guerrero, on Monday, leaving 13 dead, including the local police chief and municipal security secretary. This was only the latest in a growing number of deadly attacks against police in the region.

At least 34 police officers have been killed in Guerrero so far in 2023 -- one-tenth of the total number of police killed countrywide -- making it the second most dangerous state for law enforcement.

The state has been plagued by turf wars between various drug trafficking organizations, who seek to dominate both the opium and marijuana-growing mountainous interior and the consumer market in the tourist city of Acapulco and other coastal resort areas.