Tag: the war on (some) drugs

It’s Time to Decriminalize Personal Possession of All Drugs. Yes, All of Them 

Drug addiction is a chronic disease. It alters the way the brain works, stripping people of self-control and their ability to resist further drug consumption. Yet unlike responses to other diseases, in the United States, arrests and incarceration serve as the primary treatment for drug addiction.

This approach has been a failure. It’s time to treat drug addiction as a public health matter and not a criminal law one. This begins by investing in a treatment infrastructure and decriminalizing the personal possession of drugs.

Police in the United States make 1.16 million arrests a year for drugs. The vast majority of these arrests, 87 percent, are for personal possession or use of drugs, meaning that police arrest a person for drug possession, not drug selling, every 32 seconds. Drug arrests represent the number one activity that police engage in, at nearly 2.5 times the volume of arrests for all FBI-classified violent offenses combined (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault). Despite people of all races using drugs at similar rates, Black people comprise 27 percent of all drug-related arrests—even though they make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population. There are about 350,000 people incarcerated in jails and prisons for drugs.

Yet for all these arrests and incarceration, we have little to show for it, other than more people in handcuffs and jail cells. New data released just last month revealed that nearly 110,000 people in the United States died from drug-involved overdoses in 2022, compared to fewer than 20,000 in 1999. The CATO Institute estimates that taxpayers spend approximately $47 billion a year on drug prohibition. In the 23 years that drug overdoses rose from 20,000 to 110,000 a year, taxpayers spent more than $1 trillion.

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I Went to Rehab for Alcoholism 18 Times. Only Psychedelics Helped

I met Amanda at a pain therapy clinic in Zurich last December. She was sitting on a chair, hands folded neatly in her lap – she’d come here with her husband Tim for one of her regular visits to neurologist Livia Granata, one of the few specialists in Switzerland offering psychedelic therapy. 

British-born Amanda is 50 years old and has been an alcoholic for two decades. She also struggles with severe depression and anxiety stemming from childhood trauma. It took a lot for her to share her story, so she asked to be referred to on a first-name basis to protect her and her husband’s privacy. 

For the past seven years, Amanda hasn’t lived in her flat with her partner and their children, but outside on the balcony. She stays in an improvised shelter her husband made for her, only going in to use the toilet – and the pandemic only further tightened the grip her anxiety disorders have on her life.

A year ago, Amanda probably wouldn’t have shown up for this appointment at all, either cancelling at the last minute or simply letting it pass. Over the years, she’s been through too many treatments – experimental therapies that brought little to no relief. But in April 2022, she found her way to the clinic – and to the first treatment she felt ever truly worked.

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People Who Use Marijuana Are Half As Likely To Develop Type 2 Diabetes, New Meta-Analysis Finds

People who use marijuana are about half as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis of scientific studies.

Researchers at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran published the study in the journal Phytotherapy Research this month, expanding on the scientific literature examining the effects of cannabis on glucose regulation and insulin secretion that are tied to the chronic disease.

To investigate the relationship, the researchers analyzed 11 relevant surveys and four epidemiological cohort studies that were published in scientific databases such as PubMed up through July 1, 2022.

They found that the incidence of type 2 diabetes among people who consume marijuana “was 0.48 times lower than in those without cannabis exposure.”

“A protective effect of cannabis consumption on the odds of diabetes mellitus type 2 development has been suggested,” the paper says. “Yet given the considerable interstudy heterogeneity, the upward trend of cannabis consumption and cannabis legalization is recommended to conduct studies with higher levels of evidence.”

Prior studies have similarly linked marijuana to lower rates of type 2 diabetes, which is the version of the disease where patients produce low amounts of insulin and can become resistant to the hormone.

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German Govt Okays Plan To Legalise Recreational Cannabis

The German government approved a draft law Wednesday legalising the purchase and possession of small amounts of cannabis for recreational use, despite criticism from opposition politicians and judges.

The bill, which still needs to go through parliament, would allow adults to possess up to 25 grams (0.9 ounces) of cannabis and grow up to three plants for personal use.

People will also be allowed to join non-profit “cannabis clubs” of up to 500 members where the drug can be legally cultivated and purchased.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called the draft law “a turning point” in Germany’s attitude towards cannabis.

The more relaxed approach would crack down on the black market and drug-related crime, ease the burden on law enforcement and allow for safer consumption of marijuana, he said in a statement.

Minors will still be prohibited from using the drug, and the government will launch a campaign warning of the health risks for young people especially, he added.

“Nobody should misunderstand the law. Cannabis use will be legalised. But it’s still dangerous,” Lauterbach said.

The proposed legislation is a flagship project of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition and would leave Germany with one of the most liberal cannabis policies in Europe.

But the draft law is less ambitious than what was originally envisioned.

Plans to allow the widespread sale of cannabis in licensed stores were dropped in April after the European Commission raised concerns.

With its current plan, Germany’s coalition government has taken “a significant step towards a progressive, realistic drug policy”, said Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir.

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States With Legal Medical Marijuana See ‘Significant And Sizable’ Reductions In Health Insurance Premiums, Study Finds

A new study in the International Journal of Drug Policy found that states with legal medical marijuana enjoyed significant reductions in health insurance premiums compared to states where cannabis remained completely illegal.

Analyzing a decade’s worth of private health insurance data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, researchers determined that in the years following a state’s implementation of a medical cannabis law, premiums dropped dramatically.

While the reductions were modest immediately following implementation, the study found that by seven years afterward, annual premiums had fallen $1,663 compared to states in the control group. Similar reductions were seen after eight years ($1,542) and nine years ($1,626), indicating that the decline was fairly stable over time.

“Although the effect does not begin until seven years post-medical cannabis law implementation,” the authors conclude, “there is a significant and sizable reduction in health insurance premiums” in states that legalize medical marijuana.

“Due to the nature of insurance pooling and community rating,” they add, “these savings are appreciated by cannabis users and non-users alike.”

As the study’s authors point out, the findings undermine concerns that legalization would risk increasing healthcare costs. “Initial concerns about medical cannabis legalization leading to increases in medical care costs, which would be reflected in higher insurance premiums, appear to be unfounded,” they wrote.

Researchers were specifically looking at individual private health plans rather than employer-sponsored insurance plans or Medicaid. The study notes that health insurance spending in the U.S. accounts for between 16 percent and 34 percent of the average household budget.

In an attempt to control for other variables, authors focused on states where only medical marijuana was legal, excluding from the analysis states where adult-use legalization was already in effect. States in the control group, meanwhile, included those without medical cannabis or those that had passed but not yet implemented a such a policy

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Study Shows Marijuana Is ‘Significantly Associated’ With Reduced Use Of Unregulated Opioids

A new federally funded study has found that marijuana is “significantly” associated with reduced opioid cravings for people using them without a prescription, suggesting that expanding access to legal cannabis could provide more people with a safer substitute.

Researchers at the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use and UCLA surveyed 205 people who use cannabis and opioids without a prescription from December 2019 to November 2021, aiming to test the theory that marijuana represents an effective harm reduction tool amid the overdose crisis.

The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, found that 58 percent of participants reported that their motivation to use marijuana was to reduce opioid cravings. And a multivariable analysis showed that cannabis use “was significantly associated with self-reported reductions in opioid use.”

The researchers said that, to their knowledge, this represents the first study of its kind to specifically investigate “outcomes of intentional cannabis use to manage opioid cravings” among those who are using painkillers that they may be getting from the illicit market, which comes with a risk of obtaining contaminated products.

“These findings indicate that cannabis use to manage opioid cravings is a prevalent motivation for cannabis use among [people who use unregulated opioids] and is associated with self-assessed reductions in opioid use during periods of cannabis use,” the study authors wrote. “Increasing the accessibility of cannabis products for therapeutic use may be a useful supplementary strategy to mitigate exposure to unregulated opioids and associated harm during the ongoing drug toxicity crisis.”

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) provided funding for the study. One of the seven study authors disclosed that he has professorship backed by the cannabis company Canopy Growth to research marijuana science at the University of British Columbia.

This is one of the latest pieces of research in a large pool of scientific literature suggesting that marijuana can serve as a substitute for both legal and illegal substances and prescription drugs.

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Fully Half Of American Adults Have Tried Marijuana, With Current Cannabis Smoking Outpacing Cigarettes, Gallup Poll Shows

Fully half of Americans have tried marijuana, according to a new Gallup poll—and more people now actively smoke cannabis than tobacco cigarettes. Additionally, a majority say they are not especially concerned about the effects of adults regularly using marijuana

The survey, published on Thursday, found that about one in six U.S. adults (17 percent) say that they currently smoke cannabis, while separate recent Gallup polling shows that just 11 percent say they smoke cigarettes.

Further, the marijuana question—which asked specifically about whether people “smoke” the substance—likely does not reflect overall current cannabis use given the range of non-smokable products that people consume such as edibles, tinctures and vapes. But when it comes to smoking, it’s become clear that Americans are increasingly opting for marijuana over cigarettes.

Looking at generational data, the trend appears likely to continue. Broken down by age, 29 percent of those 18-34 say they currently smoke marijuana. In contrast, a Gallup survey from last year showed that 12 percent of people 18-29 smoke cigarettes. (The age groupings used in the polls are slightly different but comparable).

Meanwhile, with nearly half of the states in the country now having legalized marijuana, the new poll shows lifetime use has hit a record high of 50 percent, up just two percentage points from 2022 but statistically higher than 2019, when 45 percent said that they’ve tried cannabis.

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I’m a former prosecutor. The ‘War on Drugs’ incentivizes convictions, not justice

Political campaigns are heating up, and politicians are jostling for clickbait by taking jabs and attacking the First Step Act. Not only do these attacks grievously mischaracterize a law that has been a boon to public safety – but they also mischaracterize some of the people involved in its passage, including a woman named Alice Marie Johnson.  

Her name might be familiar. Alice was sentenced to life in prison in 1997 as a first-time, nonviolent offender. She became the national face of criminal justice reform when she was granted clemency by President Trump in 2018 after Kim Kardashian, fueled by the unfairness of Alice’s prison sentence, lobbied for her release.  

I know Alice personally – I’ve worked with her since her release on many criminal justice reform issues, including the passage of the First Step Act. That’s why seeing her referred to in the media as a “career criminal” and “kingpin” is so shocking. But this is not the first time Alice has been misrepresented. Her story was first warped during her trial by prosecutors who manipulated drug laws – not to nab a drug “queen pin,” but to pin the blame on the little guy.

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New York Judge Halts Marijuana Business License Approvals Following Military Veteran-Led Lawsuit

A New York judge has halted new cannabis licenses under a program that favors people with previous drug conviction charges following a legal challenge by a group of veterans.

The ruling by Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant blocks the Office of Cannabis Management from granting new conditional adult-use recreational dispensary licenses, or processing existing ones, while the legal challenge plays out.

It comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of disabled military veterans who argue the system of awarding and issuing licenses to certain social equity applicants violates the state Constitution.

Under the state’s cannabis licensing program, entrepreneurs with past cannabis convictions or immediate family members with past convictions are prioritized for the first dispensary licenses. Nonprofit groups that work with former prisoners are also eligible to apply for cannabis licenses.

But the veterans argue in court filings that regulators are usurping the state legislature’s authority by changing the rules that required “the initial adult-use cannabis retail dispensary license application period shall be opened for all applicants at the same time.”

They say regulators failed to adhere to New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act by not issuing licenses to disabled service veterans and other minority groups, whom they argue should qualify.

“Individuals like service-disabled veterans, who are also social equity applicants, who should be prioritized under the MRTA—the marijuana regulation taxation act—the plaintiffs are arguing that they’ve been harmed by being left out of this first mover’s advantage,” said Fatima Afia, an attorney at Rudick Law Group.

The lawsuit is the latest blow to the state’s rollout of a recreational cannabis market, which has been delayed, in part, by a lawsuit alleging that state regulations illegally gave preference to New York residents for pot licenses.

A ruling by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in May allowed New York to begin issuing operating licenses to qualifying pot businesses in most regions of the state.

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