Tag: the war on (some) drugs

I spent over £100,000 on therapy… but it was taking magic mushrooms that helped me conquer my OCD

On the surface, Pandora Morris, 35, has everything. She’s pretty, blonde, well-connected and has a posh London address – the type of woman you might see on the pages of society magazine Tatler.

But there is a sadness about her cornflower blue eyes which reflect a less golden story. Pandora, a lawyer by profession and scion of a large London banking dynasty, has spent decades battling obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which developed into a severe exercise addiction and eating disorder in her early teens.

It has been more than three years since her last ‘relapse’, and though wary of describing herself as ‘cured’, Pandora is now in a very different place to her condition before lockdown, when her heart rate fell to 31 and doctors told her that if she didn’t stop exercising eight hours a day and eat more than 700 calories, she would probably die.

When we meet, Pandora has just come from the studio where she is recording the second series of Hurt To Healing, the podcast she launched in October 2022, in which she interviews experts and those who have struggled with mental health issues.

Pandora certainly knows her subject. Her desperate parents spent the price of a small house on treatments — none of which, including seven months in an eating disorder clinic in South Africa, seemed to work long term.

Keep reading

Psychedelics Company Raises $100 Million in Push To Legalize Selling MDMA for PTSD

A key player in the competitive pharmaceutical psychedelics industry has raised over $100 million to fund a final push to get government approval to legally sell MDMA in the U.S. to those struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.  

The nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS, raised the money in a Series A funding round through a subsidiary previously known as the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, or MAPS PBC. In a release on Friday announcing the news of the cash infusion, the organization also said it was renaming the public benefit company Lykos Therapeutics.

Lykos is part of a growing number of players in the industry racing to get money as they push to get legal psychedelic drugs to market. Last month, the organization submitted an application to the FDA that included data from a series of clinical trials related to the use of MDMA for PTSD. The federal agency is currently deciding whether to officially review the application, a process that would take months. 

Keep reading

Minnesota Officials Form Interagency Plan To Rein In Sales Of High-THC Marijuana Being Sold As Legal Hemp

Minnesota’s cannabis regulators say they have a plan to fill a gap in state law that could be letting some hemp retailers sell marijuana flower without consequence.

Charlene Briner, the interim director of the new Office of Cannabis Management, said Thursday that she is working with other agencies to provide a temporary method to inspect and test raw cannabis flower to make sure it does not violate current law.

She said the agency will look into using inspectors from the Office of Medical Cannabis and the Department of Agriculture to exercise the Office of Cannabis Management’s authority to stop the sale of cannabis flower that is illegal marijuana masquerading as legal hemp.

“OCM is evaluating how to leverage existing enforcement capacity at the Office of Medical Cannabis to act on OCM’s behalf and how we can develop capacity to test raw cannabis flower,” Briner said.

“We’ll be sharing more about those plans as we put them in place,” she said.

To be legal to sell now, hemp flower must contain only 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less. Such hemp plants do not have enough THC to be intoxicating when eaten or smoked. But by processing the hemp for edibles and beverages, the THC content can be enhanced to produce an intoxicating effect.

Some hemp retailers and smoke shops have been selling raw cannabis flower that might or might not exceed those legal limits. Hemp inspectors have not acted against such sales—or even to test the flower—because while the Office of Medical Cannabis regulates hemp sales, the law doesn’t give it any authority over unprocessed flower.

The loophole became public late last year when former Office of Medical Cannabis director Chris Tholkes discussed it on the national podcast Weed Wonks. She said her inspectors have seen sales of raw cannabis flower that the stores claim is legal hemp but that the inspectors suspect is not.

Keep reading

South Dakota Lawmakers Vote To Fine Medical Marijuana Dispensaries That Don’t Warn Patients About Federal Gun Ban

A South Dakota legislative panel advanced two bills on Friday aiming to better inform patients about federal restrictions on firearm ownership for people who use marijuana. One would require that medical cannabis patient applications include a written warning about the gun ban, while the other would mandate that informational signs be posted on-site at dispensaries while instituting daily fines for businesses that don’t comply.

Lawmakers in the state’s House Judiciary Committee approved both proposals, unanimously passing the measure to include a written warning on patient applications and voting 8–4 on requiring dispensary signs.

Both bills were introduced earlier this month, led by Rep. Kevin Jensen (R) in the House and Sen. Jim Stalzer (R) in the Senate, with multiple additional co-sponsors.

Jensen began his comments to colleagues at Friday’s hearing by saying he wanted to make it “perfectly clear that nothing in this bill precludes anyone from getting a medical marijuana card or using the card for whatever purposes.” But he pointed to federal rules prohibiting unlawful users of marijuana from obtaining guns, which he noted stretch back to 1968.

Pointing to a release from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) official in St. Paul regarding Minnesota’s legalization of adult-use cannabis, Jensen said federal law “does not provide any exception” for state-legal medical or recreational use.

“People are just totally unaware, and they could get caught,” Jensen admonished. “I almost hate to say this, but right now, if under Biden’s administration they wanted to enforce this law universally across the country, they would probably have 40 million people that they could arrest and confiscate all their firearms and ammunition.”

“That law already exists. If they enforced it right now, that could happen,” he added. “But that’s kind of a side note. The main issue with this bill is just a notification.”

Keep reading

12 State Attorneys General Tell DEA To Reschedule Marijuana As ‘Public Safety Imperative’

A coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general is urging the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to move forward with federal marijuana rescheduling, calling the policy change a “public safety imperative.”

In a letter led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) that was sent to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on Friday, the top state law enforcement officials said were “encouraged” to see the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommend moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) “in the interest of public health and safety.”

“For these reasons, we encourage the DEA to implement a final rule rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III based on the Federal Drug Administration’s [sic] scientific and medical conclusions,” they wrote. “We see this as a public safety imperative and write in support of this policy change.”

“As state attorneys general, we have a responsibility to protect consumers and defend public safety,” they said, adding that they remain concerned about the illicit cannabis market, unregulated sales of intoxicating hemp-based cannabinoid products and the “continuing proliferation of dangerous opioids.”

“State-sanctioned cannabis markets provide access to regulated products that are clearly safer to what individuals can buy on the street—and supporting the effective operation of these regulated markets thus fits with our commitment to addressing the opioid crisis and rising overdose deaths,” the officials said.

“The undersigned appreciate that rescheduling to Schedule III will allow the state-regulated cannabis industry to continue to set the standard for legal products and work to eliminate the illicit market and unregulated intoxicating hemp products that currently operate in interstate commerce. Regardless of the policy choices made, demand for these products will continue. Meeting this demand only in a regulated, legal marketplace better protects consumers.”

The letter also notes that tax revenue from regulated cannabis sales is “material,” contributing “billions of dollars” to state coffers. Moving cannabis to Schedule III would further allow licensed businesses to take federal tax deductions after being excluded form the scope of the 280E provision, which would help them “expand their investments into the state programs and focus on public health and safety in collaboration with law enforcements efforts.”

Keep reading

Illinois Supreme Court To Rule On Whether Smell Of Marijuana Alone Is Cause To Search A Vehicle

“Even the claim of smelling cannabis can be discretionary. Honestly, it can be made up sometimes when officers are being less than honest because there’s no way to challenge it.”

The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday as to whether the smell of cannabis alone is grounds for police officers to search a vehicle, marking a test of the state’s 2020 recreational marijuana legalization law.

The court heard two consolidated cases of individuals who were in vehicles that were searched after an officer used the smell of cannabis as probable cause.

In People v. Redmond, defendant Ryan Redmond was pulled over by Illinois State Police for an unsecure license plate and driving three miles per hour over the speed limit, court records show. Upon smelling cannabis, the officer searched the vehicle and found about one gram of cannabis in the center console. He later charged Redmond with a misdemeanor for failure to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container, according to court documents.

The other case, People v. Molina, involved defendant Vincent Molina, who was a passenger in the vehicle when an Illinois State Police trooper smelled cannabis and searched the car, finding a small box of rolled joints, according to court records. Molina told the trooper he had a medical marijuana card prior to the search, the records state. Molina was charged with unlawful possession of cannabis by a passenger in a motor vehicle for not storing the cannabis in an odor-proof container.

Lawyers for Molina and Redmond argued the smell of cannabis alone should not be probable cause to search a vehicle given that the substance is no longer illegal in Illinois.

But Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office argued the law requires drivers to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container. Thus, the presence of cannabis odor is grounds for a search, even if the passenger is possessing an amount under the legal limit or has a medical marijuana card.

“It remains illegal to use cannabis in a vehicle and to transport cannabis in a vehicle in a container that is not odor-proof,” a November brief filed by Raoul reads. Thus, “the odor of cannabis—whether in raw or burnt form—continues to provide police with probable cause to search.”

Mitchell Ness, assistant attorney general, continued the argument before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“Cannabis is no longer contraband in every circumstance, but that doesn’t absolve the person from following the laws that are in place,” he said.

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said the central matter of the cases was roadway safety.

“The concern here is the safety of the public driving down the highway and impaired drivers,” Theis said at the oral arguments. “We’re concerned about drunk drivers, and we’re concerned about high drivers.”

Nationwide and state-level chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed a brief in support of Molina and Redmond, writing that allowing the odor of cannabis as cause for searching a vehicle will lead to biased enforcement against Black and Latino Illinoisans.

“There is a decades-long pattern of police in this state using pretext like cannabis odor to disproportionately stop and search Black and Latino drivers,” the brief reads. Illinois’ stop and search policy “unfairly subjects (Black and Latino drivers) to at-will intrusions of their privacy and relegates them to second-class citizenry.”

The organizations argued the legalization of cannabis means its presence is not indicative of contraband or crime.

Keep reading

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Field Drug Tests and Wrongful Convictions

This report provides the first-ever comprehensive analysis of presumptive drug field test usage across law enforcement agencies in the United States. Inexpensive and fast, these tests have become a tool of choice for law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, they are notoriously imprecise and are known to produce “false positives,” leading to frequent wrongful arrests and wrongful convictions.

Utilizing a nationwide survey of agencies, the report offers national estimates on the frequency of test usage, finding that each year approximately 773,000 drug-related arrests involve the use of presumptive tests. Although the true error rate of these tests remains unknown, estimates based on the imperfect data that are available suggest that around 30,000 arrests each year involve people who do not possess illegal substances but who are nonetheless falsely implicated by color-based presumptive tests. On a per capita basis, Black Americans experience these erroneous drug arrests at a rate 3x higher than White Americans.

While factors like eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, or prosecutorial misconduct have been previously cited as leading causes of wrongful convictions, these new results indicate that the use of presumptive field tests in drug arrests is one of the largest, if not the largest, known contributing factor to wrongful arrests and convictions in the United States.

Keep reading

Feds Will Release Marijuana Rescheduling Memo And Related Documents ‘In Their Entirety’ In Response To Lawsuit

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has agreed to release documents related to its recommendation to federally reschedule marijuana “in their entirety” amid litigation over a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that was filed by a lawyer last year.

“Good afternoon and thank you for your patience,” a Department of Justice attorney handling the case said in an email to attorney Matt Zorn on Thursday. “The agency has advised that it will release the letter and its enclosures in their entirety.”

Zorn posted a screenshot of the email on his blog, noting that the release could mean that “rescheduling is imminent—or not.”

When the government announces a marijuana rescheduling through a Federal Register notice, he pointed out, it would “attach the letter and its enclosures” to that posting.

Zorn last month obtained more than 250 pages of the rescheduling advisory letter and supporting documents sent by HHS to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last year, though the vast majority were released only in highly redacted form.

In a phone interview with Marijuana Moment, Zorn said the new development comes after a “little scuffle” with the federal government over the timeline in his FOIA lawsuit. The Justice Department had filed a motion to vacate a deadline for summary judgement that was set for January 18, and while Zorn said he would typically accept such a request, he instead filed an opposing brief and the judge ultimately denied the government’s motion.

He added that, “realistically, the lawsuit could have accelerated” the timing of the government’s scheduling announcement, though it’s also possible that just the letter will be released without DEA immediately announcing a decision in the ongoing scheduling review.

In October, HHS released a highly redacted version of the one-page letter from the health agency to DEA in response to public records requests by news organizations such as Marijuana Moment and lawyers, including Zorn.

Shane Pennington, a lawyer who co-writes the On Drugs blog with Zorn, applauded his colleague’s work in pushing for the documents to be released.

“Matt has demonstrated once again that litigation is a powerful tool for unlocking doors, solving problems, and doing the ‘impossible,’” he told Marijuana Moment in an email. “I’m proud to work with him on On Drugs and so many other projects.”

Broadly, the documents are believed to discuss new scientific information that’s come to light in recent years, which HHS suggests might necessitate rescheduling marijuana.

Keep reading

Marijuana Social Equity Programs Should Be Redesigned To Directly Support People Harmed By Criminalization 

Ohio voters recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana by adults. In total, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana use, and Florida, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin may all soon join these ranks. This metaphorical genie is not going back in the bottle, nor should it because drug prohibition breeds violence and has ruined many lives.

As part of the growing bipartisan recognition that cannabis should be legal and the failed war on drugs has wrongly imprisoned many Americans, social equity programs are increasingly included in marijuana legalization efforts. Social equity programs are intended to deliver restorative justice to persons who were imprisoned or otherwise impacted through the enforcement of drug prohibition policies. Ohio’s marijuana initiative makes it the 17th state to create a statewide social equity program. 

Most states, including California, New York, Arizona and Michigan, and cities, like New York City and Oakland, have implemented social equity programs in two ways. First, they reserve a subset of available cannabis business licenses for individuals who meet the legal definition of a “qualified social equity applicant.” These definitions vary, but no jurisdiction identifies them solely as individuals who were arrested or incarcerated for a marijuana-related offense. 

Instead, individuals typically qualify for licenses that allow them to enter the legal cannabis industry because they lived in a neighborhood that had disproportionately high arrest rates or below-average income. Persons never directly affected by the drug war can frequently access these benefits on equal terms with those affected. Often, large corporate interests have hired or partnered with individuals who meet social equity criteria to act (often unwittingly) as mere figureheads on license applications.

Keep reading

Fifth Michigan City Approves Local Psychedelics Decriminalization Resolution

Another Michigan city has approved a resolution to locally deprioritize enforcement of laws against psychedelic substances, while expressing support for a statewide bill to legalize certain etheogenic plants and fungi.

On Tuesday, the Ypsilanti City Council took testimony from supporters and passed the psychedelics measure in an unanimous 6-0 vote.

The whereas section states that psychedelics can “catalyze profound experiences of personal and spiritual growth, have been shown by scientific and clinical studies and traditional practices to be beneficial to the health and well-being of individuals and communities in addressing” conditions such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

It also points out that the Washtenaw County District Attorney’s office expressed support for a similar resolution that was adopted in Ann Arbor in 2020.

The latest measure specifically says that it is not intended to legalize the commercial sale of psychedelics, but it makes the arrest and investigation of people for psychedelics-related activities such as possession and cultivation “the lowest law enforcement priority for the City of Ypsilanti.”

It also declares that “city funds or resources shall not be used in any investigation, detention, arrest, or prosecution arising out of alleged violations of state and federal law regarding the use of Entheogenic Plants.”

Keep reading