Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Top GOP Ohio Lawmakers And Prohibitionist Groups Push To Overturn Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Initiative Or Amend Key Provisions

Top Republican Ohio lawmakers and prohibitionist groups are already plotting ways to water down a marijuana legalization law that voters approved at the ballot on Tuesday, with some proposing changes to specific provisions like tax revenue allocations and others floating an outright repeal.

The legalization initiative passed with about 57 percent of the vote, making Ohio the 24th state in the country to end prohibition, despite calls to reject the measure from the governor and leading lawmakers. Now that the statutory amendment has been approved, however, the message from opponents has been consistent: they plan to relitigate the issue in the GOP-controlled legislature.

“This statute was written by the marijuana industry and should not be treated as a cash grab for their cash crop at the expense of a state trying to emerge from the opioid epidemic,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R) said in a statement following the vote. “The General Assembly may consider amending the statute to clarify the questionable language regarding limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute.”

The plan isn’t surprising, as Huffman said last month that the measure would be “coming right back before this body” for lawmakers to amend if voters approved it. The Senate president said in advance of Election Day that he wouldn’t seek to repeal the legalization law entirely but would instead “advocate for reviewing it and repealing things or changing things that are in it.”

House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) also released a statement on Tuesday, asserting that “now is the time for the legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues while responsibly regulating the industry.”

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Ohio Voters Approve Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative, Making It The 24th State To End Prohibition

Ohio voters approved a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana on Tuesday, making the state the 24th in the U.S. to end prohibition.

The measure, campaigned for by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA), establishes a regulatory framework to allow adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and cultivate cannabis. Recent surveys signaled it was in a strong position to pass—in spite of opposition from the governor and GOP state lawmakers.

“Marijuana is no longer a controversial issue,” Tom Haren, spokesperson for the campaign, told Marijuana Moment. “Ohioans demonstrated this by passing State Issue 2 in a landslide. Ohioans are being extremely clear on the future they want for our state: adult-use marijuana legal and regulated.”

Voters were presented with summary language for the initiative—designated as Issue 2—that says the measure will legalize and regulate “the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis by adults at least twenty-one years of age.”

“A broad, bipartisan and diverse array of Ohioans spoke clearly tonight,” Ohio Rep. Casey Weinstein (D), who has championed legalization in the legislature, told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday. “The time to legalize marijuana has come. I hope the leaders in the legislature will heed their call and honor the will of the vote.”

Under the approve measure, the legalization of possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and cultivation of up to six plants (or 12 if two or more adults live in the same household) will become effective on December 7. Officials must get rules in place to start approving licensed retailers within nine months of the effective date.

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Connecticut To Double Limit on Weed Purchases

Connecticut’s cannabis regulatory agency announced last week that it is increasing the amount of cannabis that can be bought in a single transaction by doubling the state’s limit on recreational marijuana purchases. Under the new regulations approved by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), adult-use cannabis consumers will be permitted to purchase up to a half-ounce (about 14 grams) of cannabis flower or its equivalent beginning next month. 

The limit on purchases of medical marijuana has not been changed. It remains at 5 ounces of cannabis flower or the equivalent monthly, with no limits on purchases in a single transaction.

The DCP noted in a statement that the decision to increase the limit on adult-use cannabis purchases was made based on an ongoing analysis of supply and demand in Connecticut’s regulated cannabis market. The agency also said that the limit will continue to be reviewed over time, adding that the caps are in place to help ensure an adequate supply of cannabis for both adult-use consumers and medical marijuana patients.

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Medical Marijuana Prescriptions Rise Sharply In Israel Amid War With Hamas, Government Says As Patients Seek Relief From PTSD And Pain

A month into the war between Israel and Hamas, data from Israel’s Ministry of Health shows a sharp expansion in the reach of the medical marijuana program in that country. Patient enrollments have spiked, especially those tied to PTSD and pain, and doctors have prescribed more cannabis by weight than ever before.

Patient enrollment in Israel’s medical cannabis registry rose by 2,202 people in October, according to the newly released government numbers. That’s roughly twice the recent monthly average, though it’s not quite the rapid growth seen in early 2021, when nearly 3,000 patients were registering each month.

Regardless, Israel now has more registered medical cannabis patients than ever. And with more enrolled patients, there’s been a corresponding uptick in the amount of marijuana that is being prescribed. The country’s medical cannabis rules specify that a patient can purchase only up to a certain amount of specified products. In October, those products totaled 5,173 kilograms—not only a record in itself, but also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in the system, according to a local Israeli cannabis news publication. Data also showed an increase in the number of patients prescribed relatively high doses of marijuana.

Enrollment by qualifying condition, the local report noted, reflects an uptick in violence and wartime stressors. For example, data show an increase for the first time in at least a year in the number of marijuana prescriptions for “post-trauma,” or PTSD. Chronic pain continued to be a leading condition for marijuana patients, making up nearly three quarters of new enrollees, while another 400 patients in October enrolled for unspecified “other” conditions.

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Smoking cannabis can make you more empathetic, according to a new study

Stoners are better at empathising than those who don’t use the drug, a new study has found.

People who regularly enjoy a joint are better at recognising other people’s feelings and putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. 

Researchers from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma in Mexico asked 81 cannabis users and 51 people who didn’t use the psychoactive drug to complete a 33-item questionnaire that measured empathetic skills.

It looked at perspective taking – the capacity to place oneself in the shoes of another – and emotional comprehension, which is spotting and understanding other people’s emotions.

The scientists also analysed whether or not volunteers could tune in to positive or negative feelings, and behave accordingly.

Roughly half of the week smokers and two thirds of the non-users then underwent brain scans to look for differences in activity in areas associated with sensing the emotions in others.

Results published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research showed that cannabis users scored higher on the empathy test, and had greater connectivity in areas involved with emotion, such as the anterior cingulate near the front of the brain.

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Senate Approves Bill Allowing Doctors To Issue Cannabis Recommendations to Veterans

A bipartisan congressional bill – the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act – has been approved by the Senate that allows military veterans to receive medical cannabis recommendations issued by government doctors.

Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be able to recommend medical cannabis to their patients in states where it’s legal.

The bill provides support for critical housing, infrastructure, and facilities for U.S. military forces and their families, as well as increased funding for veterans health care and benefits.

The measure was advanced by a bipartisan vote of 28-0.

Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Susan Collins, stated: “The significant investments this legislation makes in America’s military are critical to our national security, helping to ensure our military’s readiness and safety while reducing maintenance costs.

“The bill also supports much-needed funding to improve medical care and housing for our nation’s veterans. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

Previously, VA doctors were not authorised to issue recommendations on medical cannabis, even in states that have legalised the plant for medical or recreational use.

Supporters of the Bill have said that it provides a modest but meaningful reform for the veteran community.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley reintroduced the legislation in April.

Speaking on the passage of the bill, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated: “…despite the tough funding constraints, these bills move our country forward—not back—with important investments to keep our promise to our nation’s veterans, to get Americans where they need to go safely, to increase our housing supply, address the homelessness crisis, support our farmers and ranchers, keep American families healthy and safe, and much more.”

Speaking at the time of the legislation’s reintroduction, Wyden stated: “Veterans in Oregon and nationwide are unfairly and unacceptably stuck in a legal gray zone when discussing medical cannabis with their doctor.

“Veterans deserve the opportunity to explore various treatments with their doctor without fear of prosecution or employment ramifications.

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Mind-altering ketamine becomes new pain treatment, despite little research or regulation

As U.S. doctors scale back their use of opioid painkillers, a new option for hard-to-treat pain is taking root: ketamine, the decades-old surgical drug that is now a trendy psychedelic therapy.

Prescriptions for ketamine have soared in recent years, driven by for-profit clinics and telehealth services offering the medication as a treatment for pain, depression, anxiety and other conditions. The generic drug can be purchased cheaply and prescribed by most physicians and some nurses, regardless of their training.

With limited research on its effectiveness against pain, some experts worry the U.S. may be repeating mistakes that gave rise to the opioid crisis: overprescribing a questionable drug that carries significant safety and abuse risks.

“There’s a paucity of options for pain and so there’s a tendency to just grab the next thing that can make a difference,” said Dr. Padma Gulur, a Duke University pain specialist who is studying ketamine’s use. “A medical journal will publish a few papers saying, ‘Oh, look, this is doing good things,’ and then there’s rampant off-label use, without necessarily the science behind it.”

When Gulur and her colleagues tracked 300 patients receiving ketamine at Duke, more than a third of them reported significant side effects that required professional attention, such as hallucinations, troubling thoughts and visual disturbances.

Ketamine also didn’t result in lower rates of opioid prescribing in the months following treatment, a common goal of therapy, according to Gulur. Her research is under review for medical journal publication.

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Traffic Death Rates Fell In States That Legalized Marijuana, New Study Finds, While Those That Kept Criminalization Saw ‘Slight Increase’

States that legalized marijuana in 2016 saw meaningful declines in traffic fatalities during the years immediately following the policy change, according to a new study by Quartz Advisor. Takeaways were less clear, however, over a longer period of time that included years the report describes as “anomalies” nationwide.

Ultimately, the paper concludes, motor vehicle safety “should not be a significant concern for marijuana legalization initiatives,” especially when measured against alcohol.

“As of yet, studies have failed to show that legalization of cannabis has resulted in any significant increase in traffic fatalities in the places where it has been legalized,” it says. “However, the same cannot be said for alcohol, an intoxicant that remains legal, widely available, and deeply ingrained in our culture.”

In states that legalized marijuana, “traffic fatalities declined or remained the same in the three years that followed, compared to a slight increase in states where it remained illegal.”

The findings, which are not peer-reviewed, examined traffic fatality data from four states that legalized adult-use cannabis in 2016: California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Quartz Advisor then compared those states’ vehicle death rates to the national average as well as to rates in five states where marijuana remained illegal during that period: Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming.

In the three years following the change, the report says, none of the four legalized states saw an increase in traffic deaths. Most, in fact, saw declines.

“Three of four the four states saw a significant decrease in vehicle deaths over that span,” the paper says, “while the rate in Maine showed no change. Massachusetts saw the biggest drop, as rates fell 28.6 percent in the three years following legalization.”

Combined, the four states that legalized marijuana saw an 11.6 percent drop in traffic death rates from 2016 to 2019. That’s a sharper decline than the national average, which fell 10.6 percent over the same period.

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 House Speaker Mike Johnson’s ‘adopted’ 40-year-old son Michael Tirrell James in court on charges of running illegal cannabis business and possession of brass knuckles – as it’s revealed rap sheet goes back to 2003

The ‘adopted’ black son of new House Speaker Mike Johnson has spoken out for the first time in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.

Michael Tirrell James said he would ‘probably be in prison’ were it not for Johnson – after he appeared in a Los Angeles court Wednesday on charges of running an illegal cannabis business and possessing brass knuckles.

James has never taken part in publicity for Johnson’s political campaigns, and little has been known about the 40-year-old father of four.

But now DailyMail.com can reveal how the top GOP lawmaker and his wife Kelly informally adopted James after meeting him while doing charitable community work in Louisiana in the 1990s.

James went on to have a string of conflicts with law enforcement, beginning just a few years after the Johnsons took him in, and continuing to this day.

His rap sheet extends back to 2003 and includes a long list of drug-related and other petty crimes, some of which landed him in jail, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The 51-year-old House Speaker, elected October 25 after three weeks of confusion following the ousting of previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has revealed he informally adopted James, a Baton Rouge then-teenager, and raised him during the first few years of his marriage.

James told DailyMail.com: ‘If the Johnsons hadn’t taken me in as a teenager, my life would look very different today. I would probably be in prison or I might not have made it at all.’

The Louisiana Republican congressman first met James in 1996 while volunteering with Young Life, a Christian ministry catering to middle and high school teens.

The future speaker, then a 24-year-old law school student, became a mentor for the 14-year-old boy, a source close to the Speaker’s office said.

When James became homeless in 1999 age 16, newlyweds Mike and Kelly Johnson took him in, filing papers with the local Baton Rouge district court to become his legal guardians.

His life appears to have gotten back on track after the informal adoption. He earned his G.E.D. and graduated from a Job Corps program in 2002, and even ‘began to refer to the Johnsons as his parents, and they regarded him as a son,’ the source said.

The Johnsons later had four biological children: Jack, Will, Hannah, and Abigail.

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The Heirs to a Vault of Novel Psychedelics Take a Trip Into the Unknown

In April 1960, a Dow Chemicals biochemist named Alexander Shulgin consumed 400mg of a compound called mescaline, and had his first psychedelic experience. He saw “hundreds of nuances of color” that he had never seen before. “The world amazed me,” Shulgin later wrote. “I saw it as I had when I was a child. I had forgotten the beauty and the magic and the knowingness of it and me.” He found the encounter so extraordinary, that he dedicated the rest of his life to uncovering the secrets that psychedelic chemistry could contain. 

“I understood that our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit,” Shulgin recalled. “We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can catalyze its availability.” However, it struck him as curious why scant work had been done on compounds, known as phenethylamines, which are similar to mescaline—the psychedelic derived from peyote that was first isolated in 1897. The trip, “unquestionably confirmed the entire direction” of his life, he wrote in his 1991 classic PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story. “I had found my learning path.”

Shulgin, known as “Sasha,” was a hero to the psychedelic counterculture, but not necessarily a movement insider, went on to make the psychedelic experience more accessible than anyone else in history. He worked out of a ramshackle backyard lab on his 20-acre ranch in Lafayette, California, and discovered more than 200 new psychedelic compounds. A number of his compounds became popular, notably 2C-B (also known as “tripstasy”). He also tripped several thousand times himself, before he died in 2014 aged 88. 

He informally established the Alexander Shulgin Research Institute (ASRI), during the 1980s at a time when “the mere mention of psychedelics, even in the freedom-of-thought world of academia, was a career killer,” the ASRI says on its website. Today, the institute continues Shulgin’s psychedelic legacy. It was officially incorporated on Bicycle Day on 19 April 2021 by his wife Ann, before she died in 2022. Two of his long-time research colleagues, Paul Daley, and Nicholas Cozzi, took up leadership roles following Shulgin’s death. The institute is creating new psychedelics, which it is patenting, and scouring the vault of Shulgin’s creations for any overlooked gems.

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