Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Feds Threaten To Make It Harder For Medical Marijuana Patients To Get State Gun Permits In Arkansas

Arkansas’s recently enacted law permitting medical cannabis patients to obtain concealed carry gun licenses “creates an unacceptable risk,” and could jeopardize the state’s federally approved alternative firearm licensing policy, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says.

The Arkansas law took effect in August, clarifying that a person’s status as a qualified patient in the state cannot be used “in determining whether an applicant is eligible to be issued a license to carry a concealed handgun.”

The policy change has apparently attracted the critical attention of federal officials at the Justice Department, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette first reported. A letter sent by Marianna Mitchem, chief of ATF’s Firearms and Explosives Industry Division, to the operations director for the Division of Arkansas Crime Information this week said there are “public safety concerns” with the law.

Mitchem advised the state official that Arkansas has been previously notified that a condition of its alternative gun licensing scheme, which allows gun buyers to receive approval by the state without going through a federal background check, is that firearms cannot be purchased by a “controlled substance user.” In the eyes of the federal government, that includes medical cannabis patients.

The letter contained a veiled threat, stating that if the state department did not answer two specific questions, it would warrant a reevaluation of Arkansas’s alternative gun permit policy.

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Weed Is Legal in Illinois. Police Searched His Car Anyway.

In June 2022, police in Illinois pulled over Prentiss Jackson for driving without his lights on. An officer with the Urbana Police Department subsequently claimed he could smell “a little bit of weed” coming from the car, leveraging that to search Jackson’s vehicle and ultimately kicking off a legal odyssey that would result in an 84-month sentence in federal prison.

At the officer’s request, Jackson handed over two grams of unburnt cannabis he kept in a baggie in his glove box. Possessing up to 30 grams is permissible under Illinois law. 

But when the officer demanded Jackson exit the vehicle, he ran—dropping a gun in the process. Prentiss was charged with possessing a firearm as a felon. Although Jackson sought to suppress the evidence from that search—invoking Illinois’ legal cannabis threshold and alleging that the officer lacked probable cause—Judge James E. Shadid of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois came down in favor of police, ruling that Jackson had run afoul of the state requirement to keep marijuana in an odor-proof container.

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USDA Says Genetically Modified Hemp Plant ‘May Be Safely Grown And Bred’ In The United States

A hemp plant genetically engineered to produce lower levels of the cannabinoids THC and cannabichromene (CBC) “may be safely grown and bred in the United States,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced.

The hemp plant was genetically modified and submitted for review by Growing Together Research, a biotechnology firm headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company announced earlier this year that it had achieved “the first known stable transformation and regeneration of multiple THC-free hemp cultivars” and in June announced it would work to increase THC production in cannabis plants.

“We reviewed the modified hemp plant to determine whether it posed an increased plant pest risk as compared to cultivated hemp,” USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said in a notice last week. “APHIS found this modified hemp is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated hemp.”

It its request for the USDA review, Growing Together Research said the changes are intended to make the engineered plants free of THC and CBC and also boost resistance to the herbicide bialaphos. It says genes in the new hemp plants came from multiple donor organisms, including plants, bacteria, a virus and at least one artificial sequence.

The company said in the request that it believes the intended resistance to the herbicide “is not expected to result in any other material changes to metabolism, physiology or development of the plant.”

The APHIS review focused on whether the new hemp plant poses a “plant pest risk.” The process, according to the agency, “examines the plant pests and diseases that are known to be associated with a commodity, identifies those pests that are likely to remain on the commodity upon importation into the United States, and evaluates the mitigations that may be required to avoid, reduce, or eliminate the risk of pest introduction into the United States.”

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Psychedelics plus psychotherapy can trigger rapid changes in the brain

The human brain can change—but usually only slowly and with great effort, such as when learning a new sport or foreign language, or recovering from a stroke. Learning new skills correlates with changes in the brain, as evidenced by neuroscience research with animals and functional brain scans in people. Presumably, if you master Calculus 1, something is now different in your brain. Furthermore, motor neurons in the brain expand and contract depending on how often they are exercised— a neuronal reflection of “use it or lose it.”

People may wish their brains could change faster—not just when learning new skills, but also when overcoming problems like anxiety, depression, and addictions.

Clinicians and scientists know there are times the brain can make rapid, enduring changes. Most often, these occur in the context of traumatic experiences, leaving an indelible imprint on the brain.

But positive experiences, which alter one’s life for the better, can occur equally as fast. Think of a spiritual awakening, a near-death experience or a feeling of awe in nature.

Social scientists call events like these psychologically transformative experiences or pivotal mental states. For the rest of us, they’re forks in the road. Presumably, these positive experiences quickly change some “wiring” in the brain.

How do these rapid, positive transformations happen? It seems the brain has a way to facilitate accelerated change. And here’s where it gets really interesting: Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy appears to tap into this natural neural mechanism.

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Florida Is Giving Foster Children Powerful Psychotropic Drugs Without Proper Records, Audit Finds 

An audit conducted this summer revealed that children in Florida’s foster care system are being prescribed powerful psychotropic medications at alarmingly high rates. In many cases, state child welfare officials are failing to properly document prescriptions, resulting in children taking powerful medications with scant medical records available to justify them.

Over 2,200 children that are currently in Florida’s foster care system—around one in 10—are prescribed psychotropic medications, reported the Tampa Bay Times. For foster children over the age of 13, more than one in three are on this kind of medication, which includes treatments for conditions like ADHD, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.

According to state rules, “the physician or psychiatric nurse recommending the psychotropic medication is required to complete and sign a medical report,” and each prescription “is required to be documented on a medication log. The case manager must obtain the medication logs at each home visit and include the medication logs in the child’s case file” with the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN), the state’s child welfare agency.

Yet a state audit released in July found “no records of the psychotropic medications prescribed in the case file in the state’s primary case management system,” according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Logs that record the frequency and dosage of psychotropic medication were missing from 66% of case files reviewed, and authorization records were not found in more than one-third of the case files.”

Even more troubling, the audit found that the state welfare agency did not document prescriptions in 57 out of the 60 cases of children prescribed opioid medication that were reviewed. 

“These documentation deficiencies occurred because the State agency did not have adequate controls to ensure the [child protective investigators] and case managers maintained the children’s case files in FSFN in accordance with State requirements,” the audit reads. “Without adequate controls in place, the State agency could not ensure that children in foster care received the necessary monitoring and care. As a result, the children’s quality of care and health and safety may have been at risk.”

This lack of documentation has had severe effects on many children in Florida’s foster care system. Without proper documentation, children can end up taking unnecessary medications or not getting the prescriptions they actually need.

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Cops and Reporters Are Still Hyping the Halloween Threat Posed by Strangers With Cannabis Candy

It’s October, which means it is time for alarmist cops and credulous reporters to start warning parents about the purported menace of cannabis edibles in trick-or-treat bags. KSNT, the NBC affiliate in Topeka, Kansas, got a jump on that annual rite last month, when it amplified a “community advisory” from the St. Mary’s Police Department about “THC-infused gummies and snacks marketed to children ahead of the holidays.”

That framing is misleading in at least two ways. First, it assumes that producers of marijuana edibles that resemble popular candy brands are targeting children, who cannot legally buy such products even in states where adults can, as opposed to nostalgic grownups with a sweet tooth. Second, it implies that nefarious adults are apt to distribute THC treats on Halloween, requiring extra vigilance by parents who already worry about the danger allegedly posed by needles, glass shards, or poison that might be lurking in their kids’ candy hauls.

The KSNT story features a photograph of cannabis candy made in California, where medical marijuana was legalized in 1996, followed by recreational marijuana in 2016. At a glance, the package looks a lot like cherry-flavored Airheads Xtremes, a blatant trademark violation that surely is cause for concern at Perfetti Van Melle, which makes the genuine article. But the package carries several clues that the product is not intended for children. The front includes a “medicated candy” descriptor, along with a state-mandated cannabis label and a statement of THC content. A label on the back warns: “Contains Cannabis, A Schedule I Controlled Substance. Keep out of Reach of Children.”

KSNT nevertheless describes the product as “disguised THC candies.” Citing police, it says “the THC edibles are very dangerous in the hands of children and are disguised as popular brands such as Air Heads, Fruit Gushers, Sour Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Buzzy Peaches and Cherry Blasters.” The implication is that the manufacturers want to trick kids into getting high, although it’s not clear why that would be a sensible business strategy. And while the reference to “the holidays” implies that the risk of dangerous confusion is especially acute around Halloween, the article cites no evidence to support that premise.

That’s par for the course with Halloween-related warnings about cannabis edibles, which police departments and news outlets have been issuing for many years despite a dearth of actual incidents involving malicious distribution of such products to children. “Doctors are warning about the risks of dangerous drugs being mistaken for candy,” WLS, the ABC affiliate in Chicago, reported last year. “Those incidents increase around Halloween, especially now with some drugs looking more and more like colorful treats.”

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US Signs Deal That Will Allow Military Deployments to Ecuador

The Biden administration has quietly struck a deal with Ecuador to deploy troops to the country and patrol the waters off its coast to combat drug cartels, the Washington Examiner reported on Friday.

Select members of Congress were informed of the agreements on Wednesday during a closed-door briefing with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who was in Washington to sign the deals.

The State Department did not publicize the agreements, but a State Department official confirmed the deals were signed in comments to the Examiner. The maritime deal will allow the US Coast Guard to patrol waters off Ecuador’s coast, an area where Colombian cartels transport cocaine.

The second agreement outlines the terms by which the US troops could be deployed to Ecuador, known as a status of forces agreement. The details of the agreement are not known, and it’s also unclear if it means a US troop deployment is imminent.

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California Governor Signs Bills To Let Doctors Prescribe Psilocybin And MDMA If They’re Federally Rescheduled And To Change Marijuana Testing Rules

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has signed a bill that would allow doctors to immediately start prescribing certain currently illicit drugs like psilocybin and MDMA if they’re federally rescheduled, and he also approved separate legislation to amend THC variance testing requirements for marijuana.

The governor signed off on the measures—which are just two of more than a dozen cannabis and drug policy reform proposals on his desk—on Saturday.

AB 1021, sponsored by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D), Isaac Bryan (D) and Corey Jackson (D), says that, if the federal government reschedules any Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), California health professionals will automatically be able to legally prescribe and dispense it.

This could be especially relevant to the psychedelics psilocybin and MDMA, which have been designated as breakthrough therapies by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are expected to be approved for medical use as early as next year.

Following a recent Phase 3 clinical trial, a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature last month found that treatment with MDMA reduced symptoms in patients with moderate to severe PTSD. The findings mean federal regulators could consider approving the drug for wider use as soon as next year.

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SEALs, Other Navy Special Warfare Troops To Be Randomly Tested For Performance Enhancing Drugs

The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command will begin randomly testing its personnel for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), following allegations that such drugs are in widespread use among the Navy’s special warfare community.

Rear Adm. Keith Davids, the commander of NSW, announced the command will introduce incremental, random force-wide urinalysis testing starting in November.

“My intent is to ensure every NSW teammate operates at their innate best while preserving the distinguished standards of excellence that define NSW,” Rear Adm. Davids said in a Friday press statement.

NSW is most known for its Navy SEAL teams but the command is also responsible for training and deploying Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen and Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians.

Illicit substances have been a persistent concern throughout the military, even in the special operations community. Some leaders have balked at testing regimens for performance-enhancing drugs because they are often highly specialized and costly and require contracting through a limited number of labs that do such work. The military services have done occasional tests when they perceive a problem with an individual service member, but they must get special permission from the Pentagon to do routine, random testing.

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