Tag: legalized marijuana

GOP Congressman Says ‘I Don’t Care’ If Rolling Back Marijuana Rescheduling Would Hurt Republican Party

A GOP congressman says “I don’t care” whether rolling back the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling move under a potential Trump presidency would hurt the Republican party, because he feels more strongly that the modest reform would endanger public health.

At the Republican National Committee conference last week, longtime prohibitionist Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) was asked about the potential political ramifications of a rescheduling reversal under a second Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress.

He put it bluntly: “I don’t care whether it’s good for the party or not. I don’t care. It’s not good for your health.”

“My opinion is always the same: It’s not healthy for you. It’s bad. I think it’s bad policy,” Harris told Marijuana Moment.

The congressman is well known for his opposition to cannabis reform. In addition to championing a long-standing appropriations rider that’s blocked Washington, D.C. from legalizing marijuana sales for a decade, he’s also pushed the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject the Justice Department proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), for example.

But while Harris suggested that the rescheduling move would increase access to a substance he views as dangerous, a Schedule III reclassification would not federally legalize marijuana. The main effects of the policy change would be removing research barriers linked to Schedule I drugs and allowing state-licensed cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions available to other industries.

The congressman said in the new interview with Marijuana Moment that he has “no idea” how former President Donald Trump, who was officially named the party’s presidential nominee for the third time at the GOP convention, will approach marijuana policy issues. “You’ve got to ask Mr. Trump,” he said.

Pressed on the fact that red and blue states alike have increasingly moved to enact legalization, Harris claimed that he’s “in the company” of experts such as National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow in opposing the policy.

“If we’re outliers, well, you know, sometimes outliers are right,” he said.

Harris has previously suggested that the NIDA director “adamantly opposed” the rescheduling proposal—despite the fact that her agency officially concurred with the recommended policy change, as well as the Volkow’s repeated public comments criticizing research barriers imposed by cannabis’s current Schedule I status.

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Trudeau’s Signature Pot Legalization Is Failing On All Fronts

Isaac Newton said he lost money on the South Sea Bubble financial collapse because, although he could track the movement of stars, he could not calculate the madness of men.

In Canada, the legalization of cannabis in October 2018, unleashed a mania that has seen nearly 1,000 companies receive federal production licences and retailers open nearly 3,500 stores selling cannabis products across the country. It is a short street indeed that doesn’t have a pot shop on it.

The Cannabis Act was a cornerstone piece of legislation for the Trudeau government — a welcome end to 94 years of failed prohibition and an attempt to make Canada safer by closing down the black market in unregulated pot.

It hasn’t quite worked out that way and now there are dire warnings that the onerous federal regulatory and tax regime is in danger of killing the nascent licensed production market.

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DOJ Doubles Down On Claim That Medical Marijuana Patients ‘Endanger Public Safety’ If They Own Guns

The Justice Department is doubling down on its position that medical marijuana patients who possess firearms “endanger public safety,” “pose a greater risk of suicide” and are more likely to commit crimes “to fund their drug habit”—justifying, in the government’s eyes, a federal ban on gun ownership by cannabis consumers.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that upheld the constitutionality of governments setting certain gun restrictions in a case centered around domestic violence-related prohibitions, the justices remanded a pending cannabis and Second Amendment rights case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

Late last week, plaintiffs and DOJ submitted briefs in a separate case that responded to the potential implications of the high court’s latest decision for the federal statute barring gun ownership by cannabis consumers.

In the filings submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, DOJ urged the panel to affirm an initial district court ruling that deemed the cannabis and firearms ban to be constitutional, while appellants are requesting a reversal of the order.

This is the latest development in the two-year case, with a group of Florida medical cannabis patients arguing that their Second Amendment rights are being violated because they cannot lawfully buy firearms so long as they are using cannabis as medicine, despite acting in compliance with state law.

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Hawaii Governor Signs Bill Creating Expungement Task Force That’s Expected To Consider Marijuana Conviction Relief

Hawaii’s governor has signed into law a bill to create a task force charged with crafting legislation that would expunge certain criminal records, likely including some past marijuana arrests and convictions.

Gov. Josh Green (D) signed the so-called Clean Slate Expungement Task Force bill on Tuesday, a day before a signature deadline for measures passed this session by lawmakers. The legislation does not explicitly mention cannabis, but marijuana-related offenses are widely expected to be included in the task force’s discussions, and organizations named as members of the new body have focused significantly on cannabis this session.

Reform advocates welcomed the news, saying that removing blemishes from peoples’ criminal records would help remove barriers to housing, education and employment.

“I believe in redemption. I believe in second chances,” Rep. David Tarnas (D), the bill sponsor, said at a press conference alongside the governor on Tuesday. “And in Hawaii, we have a system for record clearance and expungement, which is very challenging. There are tens of thousands of individuals who qualify to have their records expunged, and yet it is so difficult to do that. Very few people do it.”

The new law will “bring together people in a task force to figure out what is the best way for us to have a comprehensive framework for all clemency efforts in the state, including pardons, expungement and record sealing, so that we make it more accessible to people.”

Carrie Ann Shirota, policy director for ACLU of Hawai’i, told Marijuana Moment that the group strongly supports Clean Slate laws that expand expungement and record-sealing through the use of technology.

“SB 2706 creates an Expungement Task Force that brings us one step closer to ensuring that all people have access to opportunity,” she said. “Having a record should not be a barrier to helping individuals provide for themselves and their families, nor should it be a life sentence to poverty. At its heart, Clean Slate is about a shot at redemption and facilitating workforce development.”

Research shows that a year after record clearance, people are more likely to be employed and earn higher wages, Shirota added.

The new body will include state officials—including the attorney general, chief justice, public defender and some prosecutors—as well as representatives from various advocacy groups, including ACLU, the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), the Hawaii Innocence Project and others.

In a statement to Marijuana Moment, LPP said it’s “honored to be part of the expungement task force to ensure all Hawaiians with cannabis charges have their records expunged.”

“Our appointment to the Clean Slate task force will help ensure the state-initiated cannabis expungement bill signed by Governor Green is implemented with fidelity,” said LPP Policy Manager Adrian Rocha, “and can serve as the foundation for broader record relief moving forward.”

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U.S. Supreme Court Sends Marijuana And Gun Case Back To Lower Court, Emboldening DOJ’s Defense Of Firearm Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court has sent a case concerning gun rights for marijuana consumers back down to a lower court after issuing a potentially relevant ruling in a separate Second Amendment case, and the Justice Department is now reiterating its position that cannabis use warrants a ban on firearm ownership.

The high court has remanded several gun cases to their respective lower courts in light of the ruling in United States v. Rahimi, which affirmed the government’s right to restrict gun rights for a man with restraining orders for domestic violence. The cases heading back to lower levels include at least one related to the cannabis ban, and DOJ is now arguing that the SCOTUS decision “undermines” a federal court’s ruling that deemed the prohibition for marijuana consumers to be unconstitutional last year.

In a supplemental letter brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where the United States vs. Daniels case was remanded by SCOTUS, the Justice Department said history “supports the government’s authority to disarm categories of persons whose firearm possession would endanger themselves or others.”

“Consistent with that principle, Congress may temporarily disarm unlawful users of controlled substances during periods of active drug use, when they present a special danger of firearm misuse,” it said. “The Supreme Court’s decision in Rahimi also is in tension with this Court’s opinion in United States v. Daniels, which made some of the very methodological errors that Rahimi corrected to find Section 922(g)(3) unconstitutional as applied to a marijuana user. The district court’s judgment should be reversed.”

DOJ has argued in multiple federal cases over the couple year that the statute banning cannabis consumers from owning or possessing guns is constitutional because it’s consistent with the nation’s history of disarming “dangerous” individuals.

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New York Dispensary Launches ‘Illegal Cannabis Buyback’ Program, Enticing Consumers To Transition To Legal Market With Discounts

A New York marijuana dispensary is taking steps to help eradicate illicit cannabis businesses that have proliferated in the state by offering discounts and benefits to people who transition to the legal market.

Housing Works, the parent company of the state’s first legal adult-use dispensary Housing Works Cannabis Co, announced the “illegal cannabis buyback” program on Thursday. As regulators continue their push to shut down unlicensed operators, the company is providing consumers with incentives to transition to the legal market.

From July 1 to September 1, any person who provides proof of membership at an illicit operator will get a free membership at Housing Works Cannabis Co’s “co-conspirator program,” which includes 25 percent off their first purchase and a 10 percent discount on all their purchases for the next year. The membership normally costs $25.

“This buyback initiative is crucial not only for the health and safety of our customers, which is always our top priority, but also for the legal business operators and those who have fought hard for a place in New York’s legal cannabis market,” Sasha Nutgent, director of retail at Housing Works Cannabis Co, told Marijuana Moment.

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Portland Baseball Team Becomes First Sports Team to Legally Sell THC Products During Games

The Portland Pickles baseball organization will become the first sports team in the United States to sell marijuana-based products during a live sporting event legally.

In an announcement, the Pickles revealed they have a new partnership with Cycling Frog, which sells THC-based seltzer drinks.

The team will start selling the THC-based seltzer drinks at their stadium on June 18th.

According to Oregon Live, the Seltzer drink contains 2MG of THC and 4MG of CBG and is available in lemon and passion fruit flavors.

Ross Campbell, the Pickles’ VP of Business Development, said, “The Portland Pickles have a responsibility in the sports industry to take leaps and set a precedent of innovative partnerships.”

Fans who want to purchase the drink must be over 21.

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Congressman Seeks To Block Feds From Seizing Marijuana From State-Legal Businesses Amid New Mexico Border Patrol Controversy

U.S. border patrol agents would be prevented from using its funds to seize marijuana from state-licensed businesses under a newly filed amendment to a large-scale spending bill.

Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) submitted the amendment for consideration as part of 2025 Fiscal Year appropriations legislation covering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The move appears to be responsive to recent reporting about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cannabis from state-legal businesses in New Mexico over recent months.

The amendment, which would need to be made in order for floor consideration by the House Rules Committee, reads:

SEC_. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to seize cannabis or products containing cannabis that are possessed, sold, or transferred by a cannabis distributor, licensed by a State, or a business in a State where cannabis has been legalized for recreational or medicinal use.

This is the latest in a series of drug policy-related amendments to be filed from lawmakers across the aisle that they’ve sought to attach to spending bills. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has also filed an amendment to the DHS measure—as well as to separate appropriations legislation covering State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs—that would prevent the relevant agencies from testing job applicants for cannabis in states where it’s legal.

While Garcia has repeatedly attempted to enact that reform as part of numerous legislative packages, this is the first time that the language of the Vasquez amendment has been introduced.

The Rules committee is expected to meet next week to decide which amendments to the bills can receive floor votes.

The controversy over CBP seizures of marijuana from state-licensed businesses has prompted responses from multiple levels of government.

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New York Senators Call For Investigation Of State’s Marijuana Social Equity Fund After Exposé Of ‘Predatory Deals’

Citing an investigation by THE CITY, two state senators have called for New York’s social equity cannabis fund to cease issuing loans to dispensary operators and for any “trapped in these predatory deals to be made whole.”

“What this story describes is not a social equity fund. We must get to the bottom of this,” State Sens. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Gustavo Rivera (D-The Bronx) asserted in a joint statement that pointed to the high interest rates and start-up costs highlighted in the article.

They called for an investigation by the state’s inspector general of the public–private fund, which was designed to finance a form of reparation for people whose lives had been disrupted by decades of racially discriminatory drug laws.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office has repeatedly refused to answer detailed questions from THE CITY seeking greater clarity about the fund’s operations.

THE CITY’s investigation found that officials of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, or OCM, had repeatedly warned the governor’s office for months about how the cannabis investment fund was being managed. They raised red flags about how dispensary operators were being loaded with steep costs and trapped in loans with strict terms that they believed were likely to lead to defaults. And OCM’s own counsel warned in an email that the licensees would likely default on their loans under the proposed terms.

The story was based on more than 500 internal agency emails, memos and presentations from July 2022 to July 2023 when the state was having trouble opening more than just a handful of dispensaries.

Calling the fund’s practices “unscrupulous,” the legislators said, “We must take action to redress these loan agreements.”

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Youth Marijuana Use In Colorado Continues To Decline Since Legalization Took Effect, Contradicting Prohibitionist Fears

Rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado declined slightly in 2023—remaining significantly lower than before the state became one of the first in the U.S. to legalize cannabis for adults, contradicting prohibitionist arguments that the reform would lead to increased underage consumption.

That’s according to the latest biannual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which found that past-30-day use of cannabis among high schoolers was at 12.8 percent in 2023, a dip from the 13.3 percent reported in 2021.

In fact, since the first retail cannabis shops opened in Colorado in 2014, youth marijuana use has gradually declined. It’s fallen nearly 7 percentage points since 2013, when past-30-day use among high schoolers was at 19.7 percent.

The latest data is all the more notable when considering the dip since 2021, as some expected rates would have increased given that COVID social distancing restrictions were lifted and students generally returned to in-person schooling.

“We were very happy to see that dramatic historical drop, but assumed that the drop was at least partially because many youth were schooling from home during the pandemic and not around peers, which was why the dramatic decrease occurred,” Eric Escudero, communications director for the Denver’s Department of Excise & Licenses and the Office of Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. “We were bracing for a massive surge today in youth who said they used marijuana in Denver. And it did not happen.”

In addition to the regulatory safeguards that have been put in place under legalization, Escudero also pointed to the government’s cannabis tax-funded investment in youth prevention.

“Denver led the way as the first American city with legalized recreational marijuana, and we made a promise that we would use a portion of marijuana tax dollars on youth prevention,” he said. “We have kept that promise with one of the most highly successful youth marijuana usage prevention campaigns in U.S. history.”

For advocates, the new report reinforces a key argument in favor of adult-use legalization. That is, enacting a system of regulated sales where ID checks are mandated would mitigate youth access issues and actually lead to decreased underage use.

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