Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Maryland Senate Committee Approves Bill To Protect Medical Marijuana Patients’ Gun Rights Under State Law

A Maryland Senate committee has approved a bill that’s meant to protect gun rights for medical marijuana patients under state law.

About one week after the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee first took up the legislation—as well as a separate proposal to let police search vehicles based on the smell of cannabis—members unanimously passed the firearms bill on Wednesday.

There was no discussion, except that the chair briefly pointed out that “we’ve passed the bill like probably five times” over recent sessions, though the reform has not yet been enacted into law.

Sen. Mike McKay (R) is sponsoring the current legislation, which would protect the rights of registered medical cannabis patients to buy, own and carry firearms under Maryland law, even though they are still restricted from doing so under federal statute.

The Maryland legislature also took up the issue around this time last year, with the House Judiciary Committee holding a hearing on a separate but related measure to ensure medical marijuana patients’ gun rights are protected.

The issue has been raised in multiple state legislatures and federal courts in recent years, as marijuana and gun rights advocates challenge the constitutionality of the federal ban that currently prevents cannabis consumers from owning firearms.

Keep reading

Arizona Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Service Centers

An Arizona Senate committee has unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that would legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.

Shortly after a coalition of Republican senators, first responders and military veterans held a press conference to raise attention to the benefits of psychedelic medicines, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee convened for a hearing where members discussed the psilocybin legislation, which is sponsored by the chairman, Sen. T. J. Shope (R), and voted to pass it 7-0.

The measure would allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could administer the psychedelic.

The senator’s bill would significantly expand on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.

Under the new bill, an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board would be established, comprised of members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would be among the members.

Keep reading

Arizona Lawmakers Approve Bill To Allow Interstate Marijuana Commerce

An Arizona House committee has approved a bill to authorize interstate marijuana commerce, pending a change in federal policy.

After initially rejecting the legislation from Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R) in a split 5-5 vote on Wednesday, the House Commerce Committee reconsidered the measure later in the meeting, reversing course and approving it, 6-4.

If ultimately enacted, Arizona would be joining three other West coast states—California, Oregon and Washington State—that have already adopted laws allowing their governors to enter into agreements to permit marijuana imports and exports between consenting jurisdictions, all of which are principally contingent on federal law changing or guidance explicitly tolerating the commerce.

“The reason I’m running this is because I’m a big believer in interstate commerce,” Wilmeth, who chairs the committee, said at the hearing. “And my understanding is, if we don’t do something like this before the feds legalize it, then we would have to wait a year, maybe two years, for our statute to catch up to whatever the feds do.”

“They could legalize it next week or in 10 years. We really don’t know. But the point of me running this bill this year, this moment, is to be prepared so that when it does come, we can go off to the races and our marijuana industry can be be successful and beneficial in every way possible,” the chairman said. “Obviously, that topic is divisive. Some people don’t like marijuana. I’ve never used this stuff. I don’t care for it either. But that’s not the question of this bill today. It is merely about the commercial commerce side of it.”

Under the Arizona bill, interstate cannabis commerce agreements would need to “ensure enforceable public health and safety standards and include a system to regulate and track the interstate delivery of marijuana and marijuana products.”

Keep reading

Georgia $150M class action lawsuit accuses STIIIZY, Cookies, others of selling marijuana as hemp

A federal racketeering lawsuit filed in Georgia last week alleges that California cannabis brand leaders STIIIZY and Cookies – along with 12 co-conspirators – illegally sold marijuana products that had been intentionally mislabeled as federally-legal delta-8 hemp goods, and asks for a minimum of $150 million in damages.

The class action suit, filed Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in the northern district of Georgia, claims that resident Hannah Ledbetter was misled by the defendants into purchasing the federally illegal marijuana products that had been sold as federally legal hemp goods that included 0.3% delta-8 THC or less, which is the federal threshold for legal hemp products.

“Defendants have conspired to import, manufacture, distribute, and possess illegal (delta-8) THC vape pens that are marijuana” and not hemp under federal law, the suit charges. “This scheme could only be accomplished through a pattern of racketeering activity.”

The suit asserts that Ledbetter carefully inspected the product labels prior to purchase “because she did not want to break the law.”

Rather, the suit claims, the products that Ledbetter ultimately bought – at multiple retail chains that do business in Georgia – were found to have delta-9 THC “far above what is allowed by law,” according to third-party testing results.

STIIIZY IP LLC, Cookies Creative Consulting & Promotions, and their partners “have facilitated the manufacturing, distribution, and/or sale of illegal marijuana to thousands of people over the course of the last four years,” the suit charges

Keep reading

New Mexico Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Psilocybin Therapy And Research Resolution

A New Mexico Senate committee has unanimously approved a bipartisan resolution requesting that state officials research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and explore the creation of a regulatory framework to provide access to the psychedelic.

The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee voted 7-0 to pass the resolution from Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt (R) and Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) on Saturday.

As “memorial” legislation, the bicameral proposal wouldn’t be binding. Rather, it would represent a formal request for the state Department of Health to “study the efficacy of using psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic treatments and the establishment of a program for psilocybin mushrooms to be used for therapeutic medical treatments.”

The whereas section of the resolution cites various studies supporting the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin for conditions such as major depression and substance misuse, while pointing out that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated the psychedelic as a “breakthrough therapy.”

To that end, the measure states that the health department should look into “necessary statutory or regulatory framework for developing” a state-level psilocybin program.

“This can help people very potentially, and so what we’re trying to do in a bipartisan way is ask the Department of Health to recognize that we want them to get going to start looking at this,” Steinborn said during Saturday’s committee hearing.

The measure “really seeks to expand therapeutic options for New Mexicans,” he said.

Keep reading

South Dakota Governor Signs Bill Requiring Medical Marijuana Patients To Acknowledge Federal Gun Ban

The governor of South Dakota has signed a bill into law that will require patients to check off a box on medical marijuana card applications affirming that they’re aware that federal law prohibits cannabis consumers from buying and possessing firearms.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R) gave final approval to the legislation on Monday—about two weeks after it cleared the legislature. The measure represents a slightly dialed-back version of the original bill from Rep. Kevin Jensen (R), as it previously would have required prospective patients to sign their name on the application to acknowledge the federal gun rule.

Last month, a South Dakota Senate committee rejected a separate, more controversial House-passed bill that would have required medical marijuana dispensaries to post notices at their businesses warning patients about the federal gun ban for cannabis consumers. Those that failed to post the warnings would have faced daily fines.

The House advanced both gun-related cannabis measures last month, but the Senate committee only passed the amended version of the bill to mandate that patients fill out the checkbox for the firearm disclosure on their applications.

“It does nothing but inform the people,” Jensen said of his bill at last month’s committee hearing.

The governor said the gun legislation, as well as four other unrelated public health-centered measures she signed on Monday, “will keep South Dakotans safe and healthy.”

Keep reading

Indiana House Panel Approves Psilocybin Research Bill That Already Passed Full Senate

An Indiana House committee has approved a Republican-led bill that would fund clinical research trials into psilocybin that has already cleared the full Senate.

After adopting one amendment, the House Public Health Committee advanced the legislation in a 12-1 vote on Tuesday.

“This is not fringe science at this point, so my original intent was to elevate this potential,” Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R), the bill’s sponsor, told panel members ahead of the vote. “It creates hope for people that currently are in hopeless situations.”

“I think it’s important that we get clear right up front that this bill does not make anything legal that’s illegals today,” he said, highlighting the research-focused nature of the legislation.

Rep. Brad Barrett (R), who chairs the committee, said he was initially “incredibly skeptical” of psilocybin’s therapeutic potential but was moved by testimony he heard during an interim study session on the issue that lawmakers convened last year and “left there with the same kind of feeling” that Charbonneau expressed about the psychedelic’s ability to help people.

Last week, the Senate passed the psychedelics measure in a 47-1 vote. That followed the proposal being passed unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Health and Provider Services Committee.

Keep reading

DEA Failed To Explain Rejection Of Psilocybin Waiver To Treat Cancer Patients, Federal Appeals Court Challenge Says

Lawyers for a doctor in Washington State seeking to legally use psilocybin for end-of-life care argue in a new federal appeals court filing that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) failed to explain a key decision when it denied him access to the psychedelic. They’re asking judges to reverse that move, calling it arbitrary and capricious, and order the government to review the matter anew.

The opening brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week is the latest development in what’s become a years-long effort by Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute to treat terminally ill cancer patients with psilocybin.

The new action takes aim against DEA’s decision in 2022 to deny Aggarwal’s requests to access psilocybin under state and federal right-to-try (RTT) laws, which give patients with terminal conditions the opportunity to try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use.

Washington State adopted a right-to-try law in 2017, and then-President Donald Trump signed the federal Right to Try Act the following year. Dozens of other states have enacted their own right-to-try policies.

Over the years, Aggarwal has presented DEA with multiple proposals in order either to legally cultivate or otherwise obtain psilocybin to treat his patients, arguing that the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) must accommodate a path to legally accessing the substance under RTT laws.

“DEA has rejected each request,” the new brief says, “but has never addressed the arguments that Dr. Aggarwal has raised in support of them.”

Keep reading

FDA Grants Priority Review Of MDMA-Assisted Therapy For PTSD, Psychedelics Drug Development Company Says

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review MDMA-assisted therapy as a potential treatment option for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the application has been granted priority status, according to the psychedelics-focused drug development company that’s leading the effort.

About two months after Lykos Therapeutics (formerly MAPS Public Benefit Corporation) submitted the new drug application (NDA) for MDMA in combination with psychotherapy, FDA granted it priority review last week and has set a target date for determination by August 11, the company announced on Friday.

If the NDA is ultimately approved, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would then need to reschedule MDMA accordingly. It would become the first psychedelic in history to be approved as a pharmaceutical, to be administered in tandem with talk therapy and other supportive services.

“Securing priority review for our investigational MDMA-assisted therapy is a significant accomplishment and underscores the urgent unmet need for new innovation in the treatment of PTSD,” Lykos CEO Amy Emerson said in a press release. “We remain focused on working with the FDA through the review process and preparing for a controlled launch with an emphasis on quality should this potential treatment be approved.”

Keep reading

Pennsylvania Governor Says Lawmakers ‘Don’t Even Have A Choice’ But To Legalize Marijuana As Other States Move Ahead

Pennsylvania’s governor says he thinks officials in the state “don’t even have a choice anymore” on legalizing marijuana, and he feels there’s bipartisan momentum that lawmakers should leverage to get the job done.

With neighboring states such as Ohio enacting legalization in recent years, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said last week that “this really comes down to an issue now of competitiveness,” as the state is currently “losing out on 250 million bucks a year in revenue that could go to anything from economic development, education, you name it.”

“The reality is, as long as we have safeguards in place to make sure our children aren’t getting their hands on it—it’s just like, we don’t want our kids out drinking, right?” he said. “And a lot of that is going to be a burden on parents and schools and others to make sure we educate on that. Then I think this is something we’ve got to compete on.”

“I actually think we don’t even have a choice anymore given the way in which this is moving so quickly across our region and across the country,” Shapiro told WILK News Radio, adding that he’s personally “evolved on” the issue and wants a legal cannabis market “focused on lifting up Pennsylvania businesses in the process—not these big national conglomerates—and we’re empowering people in local communities to it that I think some good can come from it.”

The governor made the comments days after unveiling a budget proposal that calls for marijuana legalization to be enacted this year, with sales beginning as early as next January.

Cannabis reform has stalled in the Pennsylvania legislature over recent sessions, but Shapiro said he sees a path forward this year.

Keep reading