Tag: marijuana legalization

Here’s Where All Nine House Speaker Candidates Stand On Marijuana

As the U.S. House of Representatives enters its third week without a speaker, more GOP lawmakers with varying records on marijuana policy are making their bids for the nomination—including a member who has been arrested for cannabis and another who co-chairs a congressional psychedelics caucus.

Most of the candidates in the leadership race have voted in favor of cannabis banking reform, even if they’ve been unsupportive of broader legalization.

After Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted as speaker in a historic motion to vacate earlier this month—and the former conference nominees for the position, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), bowed out after failing to win a majority of votes on the House floor—the current cast of candidates includes nine Republican members who hope to receive their party’s nod before a potential floor vote this week.

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GOP Congressman’s Bill Would Cut Federal Funding For States And Tribes That Legalize Marijuana

Legislation introduced on Friday by a North Carolina congressman seeks to slash a portion of federal funding to individual U.S. states as well as Native tribes that legalize marijuana.

The so-called Stop Pot Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), would withhold 10 percent of federal highway funding to jurisdictions “in which the purchase or public possession of marijuana for recreational purposes is lawful.” Introduction of the bill comes less than a week before a tribe in Edwards’s home state votes on an adult-use marijuana legalization referendum.

Edwards argues that state and tribal laws allowing cannabis use by adults are an affront to U.S. law.

“The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law,” he said in a press release. “During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin.”

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Bipartisan Senators Say Marijuana Legalization Disrupts Cartels In Letter Challenging Proposed Menthol Cigarette Ban

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators are acknowledging that state-level marijuana legalization has disrupted the operations of international drug cartels as they raise concerns with the State Department over plans to ban menthol cigarettes and cap nicotine content.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said that prohibitionist policies for certain tobacco products would benefit the illicit market, which is continually evolving in response to new regulatory policies.

The lawmakers used cannabis as an example of how cartel operations shift depending on whether certain substances are prohibited or regulated. Legalization at the state level, they argued, has reduced demand for illicit marijuana.

“As it has become easier to sell marijuana products in the U.S., Mexican TCOs [transnational criminal organizations] have prioritized trafficking fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that are cheaper to manufacture, easier to transport, and generate more profit,” the senators—none of whom are vocal cannabis legalization advocates—said.

Republican senators, including Cassidy, Rubio and Hagerty, made the same point in a letter to the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month, imploring the agency to reconsider its plans to ban menthol cigarettes and cap nicotine content.

“TCOs have expanded their operations to include the production and distribution of cigarettes,” the bipartisan group wrote in the new letter to Blinken. “TCOs more generally have taken advantage of drug smuggling routes to import illegal cigarettes into the U.S., contributing to the significant use of smuggled cigarettes.”

The senators included a list of questions for the secretary of state about how the department is dealing with issues related to illicit tobacco trafficking. They asked about the status of interagency work to combat the problem, how efforts to limit tobacco use could empower traffickers and engagement with international partners to address the problem, for example.

“It is clear that threat actors—from transnational organized crime entities to terrorist organizations—are employing increasingly creative tools to subvert controls imposed by the U.S. and our international partners,” they said. “We appreciate the work that the men and women of the Department of State do in countering these efforts, and urge continued action to address these threats.”

The senators’ point about shifting trends in marijuana trafficking as states legalize is bolstered by a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that was released last year, showing how demand for illicit cannabis from Mexico has continued to drop as more states open regulated domestic markets.

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Ohio’s Local Health Departments Join Marijuana Legalization Opposition Campaign Ahead Of November Vote

An association representing Ohio’s 112 local health departments is opposing a marijuana legalization ballot measure set to go to voters in November, claiming the policy change would only contribute to drug-related problems in the state.

“Making marijuana more accessible through legal recreational use and retail sales hurts Ohio, creates serious new risks for children’s health and makes our workplaces and highways less safe,” the Ohio Association of Health Commissioners warned in a statement Tuesday. “With Ohio’s rates of opiate abuse and overdoses still among the highest in the country, we need to be helping Ohio find solutions to addiction, not facilitating it or the interests of an industry that profits from it.”

Ohio’s secretary of state’s office announced last week that advocates for the legalization measure turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, which prompted statements of support—and opposition—from stakeholders across the state. The health commissioners join the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and Adolescent Health Association, as well as law enforcement and some business groups, in advocating against the change.

Many of the new opposition group‘s claims treat as settled science issues that other say demand further investigation. For example, a recent federal research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that teen marijuana use has actually been in decline since legal retailers began opening. And a number of studies have associated cannabis use and legalization with reductions in the use of unregulated opioids, prescription drugs and other regulated substances.

Ohio currently ranks seventh among all U.S. states in terms of drug overdose death rates, after West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Delaware and New Mexico.

The campaign backing the measure, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that it’s “confident that Ohioans, just like voters in the states that have come before us, will see through these tired, debunked talking points.”

“Ohio’s current system of prohibition does not work,” said campaign spokesman Tom Haren. “We know that there is an adult-use market in Ohio today. It is called the illicit market. It is completely unregulated, products are not tested and products are not taxed. Also, drug dealers in the illicit market are happy to sell to children without ever checking for ID. This is a reality that is bad for the health of Ohioans.”

In states that have legalized, Haren added, “We know that usage among minors and adolescents does not change. We know that regulation does not adversely affect the workforce, and we also know that it is a boon for state tax revenue.” The measure’s 10 percent proposed tax, for example, “will generate more than $100 million every year to fund substance abuse and addiction treatment.”

In fact the state could see between $257 million and more than $400 million annually in tax revenue through legalization, according to a recent analysis from Ohio State University researchers.

Voters, for their part, appear to be leaning in favor of legalization. A USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University poll published in July found that about 59 percent of Ohioans supported legalizing the possession and sale of cannabis for adults 21 and older. Just 35 percent were opposed.

Republicans officials in Ohio remain divided on the issue. Gov. Mike DeWine said last week that he believes “it would be a real mistake for us to have recreational marijuana,” adding that he visited Colorado following its move to legalize in 2012 and saw what he argued is an “unmitigated disaster.”

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GOP Congressman Threatens Indian Tribe With Loss Of Federal Funding Over Marijuana Legalization

A Republican congressman from North Carolina is urging members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to reject a referendum next month that would legalize marijuana on tribal land, warning that the move would mean a loss of federal funding under a bill he plans to introduce.

In an op-ed published last week in The Cherokee One Feather, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) acknowledged that Congress cannot stop the EBCI referendum, set for September 7, from going forward. But he appealed to the tribe’s members to vote against it.

“I proudly consider the tribe my friends, and I respect their tribal sovereignty,” the freshman House member wrote. “But there are times when friends disagree, and I must do so regarding this question of legalizing recreational marijuana. The tribe’s rights should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation.”

Passage of the legalization referendum would bring legal cannabis sales within a short drive of many people in North Carolina, where both medical and adult-use marijuana remain illegal under state law. Sales on EBCI land under the proposal would be open to all adults 21 and older, regardless of tribal membership. And as Edwards noted, the tribe has land holdings “all over western North Carolina.”

“To allow our citizens to travel only a few miles to buy and use this common gateway drug,” wrote Edwards, who opposed cannabis reform in North Carolina during his time as a state senator, “would be irresponsible, and I intend to stop it.”

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Minnesota Governor Dismisses Claims That State Constitution Lets People Sell Homegrown Marijuana Without A License Following Legalization

The governor of Minnesota is pushing back against a legal argument that the state Constitution allows people to sell their homegrown marijuana without obtaining a license, stating that it was “not our intention” to authorize that type of commerce under the legalization legislation he signed into law this year.

While adults 21 and older may now possess, cultivate and gift cannabis under the law that took effect at the beginning of the month, retailers (beside those operated by tribes) are not expected to open for at least another year. As the law was being drafted, however, some advocates said that Section 7, Article XIII of the Minnesota Constitution gave farmers another option to begin marijuana sales outside of the licensing scheme.

That section, enacted in 1906 after a farmer was penalized for selling melons out of his wagon, states that “any person may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him without obtaining a license.”

It doesn’t specify what kinds of products may be sold—and now that cannabis is legal, certain advocates are making the case that the policy is applicable to homegrown marijuana. Others want lawmakers to revise the new legalization law so that it explicitly protects the rights of farmers to sell their own cannabis without a license.

Gov. Tim Walz (D), a strong proponent of the state’s legalization law, said during a press conference last week that he and lawmakers didn’t intend to create that alternative commerce pathway, though he didn’t necessarily speak to the merits of the constitutional argument. He said he hasn’t had any “substance conversations” with legislative experts or commerce officials about the possibility.

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Missouri Marijuana Businesses Could Lose Licenses Over Violations At Events They Organize Under New Rules

As Missouri went to celebrate the first 4/20 after the state legalized recreational marijuana, a licensed cannabis business in Kansas City organized a huge festival.

For the first time, people were able to smoke pot openly at a large public event in Missouri, with approval under local government rules.

“It was the first of its kind,” said Amy Moore, director of the state’s cannabis regulation, during a legislative committee hearing in May.

Organizers did an “excellent job” of trying to adhere to state regulations, Moore said, but other events haven’t gone as well. Regulators at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services have had trouble holding medical-marijuana businesses accountable for things that went against their rules.

“If a licensee chooses to organize or offer an event to the public, they should be responsible for what happens,” Moore said of businesses that landed state licenses to grow or sell marijuana.

So when the new cannabis regulations go into effect on Sunday, officials will have that power to hit marijuana facilities with fines, suspend their operations or even revoke their licenses if they host events where unlawful activity occurs.

“There would be a call to make on whether whatever happened…was really due to the way they organize their event and the format that they provided for the behavior at issue,” she told legislators in May.

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Republican Senators Admit Marijuana Legalization Disrupts Cartels As They Urge FDA To Reconsider Menthol Cigarette Ban

A group of four Republican senators who do not support marijuana legalization has admitted that the policy change disrupts illegal sales by cartels. The acknowledgement comes in a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider plans to ban menthol cigarettes and set nicotine content limits, arguing that the prohibition and strict regulations could benefit illicit trafficking operations.

Writing to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on Monday, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) unwittingly made the case for the legalization and regulation of controlled substances.

The main point of the letter is to express concern FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban, which the senators said could “empower” transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to “exploit black market opportunities that such policies could create.”

The senators aren’t in favor of cannabis legalization, but they did also—apparently inadvertently—make the case for that reform.

“While the primary threat from Mexican TCOs come from trafficking in illicit drugs, these organizations have diversified their activities in response to changing conditions,” they said. “As it has become easier to sell marijuana products in the U.S., Mexican TCOs have prioritized trafficking fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that are cheaper to manufacture, easier to transport, and generate more profit.”

In other words, the GOP senators are acknowledging that as Americans in more states have the opportunity to buy legal cannabis from licensed retailers, the market share for unregulated marijuana trafficked by cartels is shrinking—and as a result they are having to scramble to sell other substances to make up their losses.

That’s also the conclusion of a federal law enforcement agencies, as well as the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which released a report on the trafficking trend last year.

The head of the labor union that represents U.S. Border Patrol agents also acknowledged in 2020 that states that legalize marijuana are disrupting cartel activity.

In light of what’s been observed with marijuana, the senators are cautioning against opening up a new illicit market for menthol cigarettes by enacting a federal ban, tacitly acknowledging the failures and consequences of prohibition.

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Florida Supreme Court Gives Attorney General More Time To Argue Why Marijuana Legalization Should Be Blocked From 2024 Ballot

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday granted the state attorney general’s request for more time to file a brief arguing why voters should not get a chance to decide on a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2024 ballot.

On the same day that Attorney General Ashely Moody (R)—whose office is seeking to invalidate the cannabis measure—filed a motion seeking the one-week extension, the court agreed to the delay.

The attorney general—as well as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Drug Free America Foundation—told the court that they had “numerous other responsibilities during the relevant period.” The official also previously requested a two-week deadline extension for initial briefs that the court granted.

Moody’s latest request noted that her office is tied up with fundamental administrative tasks, as well as filing briefs in two other unrelated court cases. Also, it pointed out that the court allowed ACLU of Florida to file its own brief two days after the last response deadline for supporters of the legalization measure.

“As a result, the current deadline gives the opponents just three business days to respond to the arguments in that brief,” the motion said.

Overall, Moody is arguing that the way the initiative’s ballot summary is written is affirmatively misleading to voters on several grounds, which she says is grounds to invalidate the proposal

The attorney general’s office said that they discussed the deadline extension request with the Smart & Safe Florida campaign, which opposed a one-week extension but would accept a shorter two-day delay. Instead, the court granted the full request, making the deadline for a reply brief August 2.

“Multiple extensions of time for the same filing are discouraged,” the court said on Monday. “Absent extenuating circumstances, subsequent requests may be denied.”

State officials have already affirmed that the campaign collected enough valid signatures to secure ballot placement.

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It’s the Summer of 2023, and Cannabis Remains Federally Illegal. What’s Happening?

It was big news last fall when President Joe Biden pardoned federal offenders who had been charged and convicted of federal cannabis possession.

For over 50 years, since President Richard Nixon signed the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, cannabis has been a Schedule I federally controlled illegal drug, classified just like heroin and LSD.  Yet, Biden’s pardon proclamation did not make cannabis federally legal. However, tucked into Biden’s 2022 executive order was something no president to date has done: Biden directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to “review” the legal classification of cannabis.

No formal announcement on the status of that review has been made since then.

Just two months after issuing the 2022 pardon proclamation, Biden also ramped up cannabis research expansion by signing into law the 2022 Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act. This legislation opened up even more federal research by finally streamlining the approval process for the federal scientific studies. For the first time in American history, there now exists a cannabis medical study law that requires the U.S. attorney general to review medical study proposals within a 60-day period or request that applicants provide additional information. As of yet, though, there’s no real sense of the impact this legislation has had on actual medical cannabis research.

Before these presidential moves, the medical research of cannabis’s health benefits was almost solely the province of the states. In fact, Pennsylvania, which legislatively legalized in 2016, was the first state to require medical cannabis research as part of its medical legalization regime. Since then, other states like California and Colorado have established state-sponsored research programs, but Pennsylvania remains the nation’s first to select and pair state universities with cannabis producers to collect data and study cannabis’s efficacy. 

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