Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Nebraska Judge Rejects Officials’ Move To Amend Medical Marijuana Ballot Challenges She Has Already Dismissed

A Lancaster County District Court judge has overruled two final attempts to amend legal challenges against Nebraska’s two medical cannabis petitions.

In a five-page order Thursday morning, District Judge Susan Strong denied requests from John Kuehn (R), a former state senator and former State Board of Health member who brought the initial lawsuit, and Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) to amend their complaints.

Strong said the amendments would not affect the outcome of the lawsuit that she had already dismissed last week, and for which she had already anticipated the legal arguments.

The dismissal upheld the ballot certification of two measures from the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign to legalize and regulate the drug. Voters passed the two measures, and state constitutional officers certified those election results Monday, including Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R), whose office defended Evnen in the Kuehn-led lawsuit.

The medical cannabis laws to legalize and regulate the drug are set to take effect by December 12.

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U.S. Taxpayers Spent Almost $13B To Fund Global War On Drugs In The Past Decade, Report Shows

Nearly $13 billion in U.S. taxpayer money has gone to fund worldwide counternarcotics activities since 2015, often coming at the expense of efforts to end global poverty while at the same time contributing to international human rights violations and environmental harms. That’s according to a new report issued on Wednesday by two organizations critical of the war on drugs.

The 47-page document, jointly published by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and Harm Reduction International (HRI), consists of what it describes as a “follow-the-money data analysis” that looks at anti-drug spending allocations across various government departments as well as case studies from Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines.

Authors wrote that the analysis “demonstrates how U.S. assistance has supported and expanded destructive and deadly anti-drug responses in low- and middle-income countries around the world.”

The $13 billion figure, the report says, “is more taxpayer money than the U.S. government spent over that decade on primary education or water supply and sanitation in low- and middle-income countries” and also greater than U.S. foreign aid over the same period “for all of Southern Africa or Central America.”

It’s also “about 300 times the total amount of U.S. foreign aid over that decade for women’s rights organizations in low-and middle-income countries around the whole world,” it adds.

DPA said in an email about the report that the topic is “especially timely as President-elect Trump and members of his administration threaten to ramp up the global war on drugs and increase punitive responses to international drug markets.”

For fiscal year 2025 alone, the report says, President Joe Biden “requested $1 billion for international ‘counternarcotics’ activities,” about half of which ($480 million) would be allocated to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while about $350 million would have gone to the State Department.

“The role of the United States in exporting the destructive war on drugs to other countries is unparalleled,” DPA and HRI said in an executive summary of the findings. ”

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Nebraska AG Prepares To Ask Supreme Court To Overturn Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Measures

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office filed a second “amended cross-claim” Friday on behalf of Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) in a lawsuit against two successful medical cannabis measures.

The brief formally adds allegations of circulator fraud and widespread malfeasance to Evnen’s complaint. However, Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong anticipated those arguments already last Tuesday when she dismissed the case and ruled in favor of the ballot sponsors behind Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.

The AG’s Office has not formally filed an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court, but Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) told the Nebraska Examiner on Monday that his office was “taking advantage” of court rules that allow a party to formally amend a cross-claim, even after a verdict, to conform to the evidence presented at trial.

“It’s just a post-trial motion,” Hilgers said Monday. “We want to make sure our case is fully prepared for an appeal.”

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Psilocybin therapy offers relief from multiple psychiatric symptoms in cancer patients

New research published in Nature Mental Health indicates that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may offer comprehensive mental health benefits for individuals experiencing cancer-related distress. The study found that this treatment not only reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression but also reduced interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, obsession-compulsion, and somatization. These findings suggest that psilocybin could provide an innovative approach to addressing the profound psychological challenges associated with cancer.

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is a relatively new approach that combines the administration of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound derived from certain mushrooms, with guided psychotherapy. Unlike traditional psychiatric medications, which are often taken daily and may take weeks to show effects, research suggests that psilocybin can produce rapid and lasting relief after just one or two carefully supervised sessions.

These sessions typically include preparation with a trained therapist, the psilocybin experience itself in a safe and supportive setting, and follow-up therapy to help process and integrate the experience. This method has shown promise in treating mood and anxiety disorders, particularly for patients facing existential challenges such as life-threatening illnesses.

For cancer patients, the psychological toll can be overwhelming, often manifesting as depression, anxiety, and emotional distress that significantly affect quality of life and clinical outcomes. Standard treatments, including therapy and antidepressant medications, frequently fall short in effectiveness and may be accompanied by delayed onset or undesirable side effects. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy offers a potential alternative, with rapid and sustained benefits.

While prior research has demonstrated psilocybin’s ability to reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients, many individuals with cancer experience additional mental health symptoms, such as interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, somatization, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. These symptoms exacerbate the emotional burden of cancer, yet their response to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy had not been systematically investigated.

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Biden’s Pardon Of Son’s Drug-Related Crimes Draws Calls From Advocates To Free Marijuana Prisoners

President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, for drug-related and other crimes is drawing cries from criminal justice and marijuana policy reformers, who call the action hypocritical and say the president should do more to grant clemency to cannabis prisoners before his term expires next month.

“In pardoning Hunter Biden, the president noted that despite believing in our justice system, sometimes the outcome of that process is not fair or just,” said Sarah Gersten, executive director and general counsel for Last Prisoner Project (LPP), a nonprofit that focuses on drug policy reform. “That is certainly the case for the nearly 3,000 cannabis prisoners who remain incarcerated federally for activity that has been widely legalized.”

Biden over the weekend pardoned his son, who had been convicted on felony gun and tax charges earlier this year. Three of those convictions were related to lying on a federal form about drug use when buying a gun in 2018, a time when he was using crack cocaine.

In a statement, the president said his pardon reflected the belief that his son was “being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” noting that “people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.”

That’s a claim that even some Republicans have echoed. Following the convictions, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said Hunter Biden “might deserve to be in jail for something, but purchasing a gun is not it.”

“There are millions of marijuana users who own guns in this country, and none of them should be in jail for purchasing or possessing a firearm against current laws,” the congressman said.

Then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a supporter of cannabis reform, said at the time that the “Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb.”

Nevertheless, advocates point out that thousands of people are still behind bars for cannabis-related offenses.

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Legal Plunder: Indiana Police Prey On Packages Transiting Huge FedEx Hub

From a federal government operating far beyond the bounds of the Constitution to law enforcement agencies routinely entering private property without warrants, tyranny takes many forms in the United States. However, few are as shocking to the sensibilities as civil asset forfeiture, the controversial practice that empowers police to seize money, cars, trucks, houses or anything else they merely accuse of having a link to criminal activity — regardless of whether the property owner is charged with a crime.

Civil asset forfeiture is an affront to anyone who’s sincerely committed to the American justice system’s cornerstone presumption of innocence. With law enforcement typically keeping some or all of the assets that are seized, the practice has rightly been called “policing for profit.”

I’ve previously examined the raw tyranny of civil asset forfeiture, spotlighting the story of a Mississippi man who took $42,300 in cash to Houston with the intent of buying a second semi truck for his fledgling trucking business, only to have it seized — or, in legal jargon, “forfeited” — by Harris County police, who pulled him over for allegedly following the vehicle in front of him too closely.

Now I’m compelled to share a new example of this legalized theft — the most brazenly unjust and opportunistic one I’ve encountered yet: In an ongoing, multi-million-dollar racket in Indianapolis, police are routinely seizing cash they find in FedEx packages that happen to be routed through that company’s second-largest hub.

Like bears wading into a river teeming with salmon, state and local Indiana police officers routinely stride up to the conveyer belts at FedEx’s sprawling Indianapolis facility, where tens of thousands of packages flow by every hour, pouncing when they see a package with traits that meet their absurdly broad definition of “suspicious.”

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Nebraska Judge Dismisses Legal Challenges To Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Measures

A Lancaster County District Court judge has dismissed major legal challenges against Nebraska’s two medical cannabis petitions, although the ruling is likely to be appealed.

District Judge Susan Strong, in a 57-page order Tuesday afternoon, said the “case was about numbers.” However, the lawsuit brought by John Kuehn, a former Republican state senator and former State Board of Health member, and aided by Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office fell “well short” of invalidating enough petition signatures secured for ballot access by this summer, Strong concluded.

The Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign had two measures on the ballot, one to legalize medical cannabis and the other to regulate it. The campaign needed 86,499 valid signatures on each petition.

When Evnen certified the measures for the November ballot, he said they both exceeded that number by almost 3,500.

Strong ruled Tuesday that the “presumption of validity” was lost for 711 signatures on the legalization petition and 826 on the regulatory petition.

“In a record of this size, it is likely, perhaps inevitable, that the Court has made some mathematical errors,” Strong wrote. “It is also possible that the Court missed a few petitions that should lose their presumption of validity under this Court’s reasoning.”

Strong cautioned that the judgment wasn’t based on the inclusion or exclusion of a few petitions and that, either way, Evnen and Kuehn “would still fall short” of challenged signatures.

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Trump Announces 25% Tariff on All Products From Mexico and Canada Until Illegal Alien Invasion is Stopped, Will Impose Additional Tariff on China Over Fentanyl

President Trump on Monday evening announced a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada until the illegal alien invasion is stopped.

More than 15 million illegal aliens – mostly military-age males – poured over the border since Joe Biden was installed in January 2021.

Biden’s “border czar” Kamala Harris did absolutely nothing to stop the invasion of illegals so President Trump is ready to stop the invasion on day one of his second term.

Trump said that Mexico and Canada have all the power to stop the illegal alien invasion and the tariff will remain in place until the flow of Fentanyl and illegals stops.

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before. Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” Trump said on Truth Social on Monday evening.

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New York’s Legal Marijuana Market Set To Pass $1 Billion In Sales By End Of 2024

New York’s legal marijuana market is expected to hit a major milestone in the next month as retailers pass $1 billion in products sold since stores opened two years ago.

As of last week, the total sales figure stood at $863.9 million—up from $500 million in August, according to data from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The state is set to surpass the billion-dollar sales mark by the end of December, officials predict.

“These numbers clearly indicate that New York is open for business,” John Kagia, OCM’s policy director, told the New York Post, which first reported the impending $1 billion milestone. “There’s strong momentum behind the market right now.”

After a slow rollout in its first year marked by lawsuits and other delays, legal marijuana sales in New York have picked up significantly in the past several months. Regulators say that’s the result of more licensed businesses opening as well as what they describe as a successful crackdown on unlicensed shops.

This spring, for example, officials in New York City launched Operation Padlock, an enforcement initiative meant to shutter illegal storefronts. Since then, licensed shops that were open before the operation began have since seen sales climb 105 percent, according to an OCM survey.

A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) told the Post that enforcement actions statewide shut down more than 1,000 illegal dispensaries.

“Her policies have helped transform the industry, increase revenues for local businesses and spur reinvestments in the communities most harmed by historical wrongs—all while building the most equitable cannabis market in the nation,” the spokesperson said.

Hochul argued in June that there’s a direct correlation between the stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales.

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Trump’s FDA Pick Thinks Marijuana Is A ‘Gateway Drug’ That Causes Heart And Mental Health Problems

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a medical marijuana skeptic, promoting claims that cannabis use is linked to cardiovascular issues and mental health problems for youth. He has also suggested that marijuana is a gateway drug.

Marty Makary, a surgeon and medical commentator, has been selected to serve as FDA commissioner in the incoming Trump administration—a critical role as far as federal cannabis policy is concerned.

While the Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect’s choice for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that oversees FDA supports ending marijuana prohibition and legalizing certain psychedelics for therapeutic purposes, Makary has been critical of cannabis use.

In September, he said that “people think marijuana today is the marijuana of hippies and that it’s entirely safe—but marijuana today is roughly 20 times more potent.”

“Even though it may have lower health complications in adults, that may not be true for adolescents where their mind is still developing,” he said on the mindbodygreen podcast. “The drug may have a different impact on young, healthy teenagers.”

“Some studies have found that among teenagers who use marijuana the risk of a psychosis diagnosis later in life goes way up—as many as 25 percent of people who consume it,” Makary said in the comments, which were first flagged by Cultivated Media, adding that he’s “not making a statement about the legalization or non-legalization,” but “to suggest that it is entirely safe is not consistent with the real scientific literature.”

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