Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Lawmakers still divided over marijuana legalization

As almost half of all states allow recreational marijuana, it sometimes feels inevitable that Pennsylvania will follow the lead of their neighbors.

During a committee hearing, though, opposition remains significant.

The House Health Subcommittee on Health Care heard testimony on Wednesday, with Democrats more supportive of recreational use and Republicans more wary of its dangers.

“We want to right some of the wrongs of the past by ensuring that those who have been the target of cannabis criminalization don’t continue to carry the stigma,” Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, said. “We’d like to see our economy benefit from legal sales rather than illegal sales … and think about how we might mitigate (concerns) through appropriate regulation and oversight. Fundamentally, any proposal that we put forward must prioritize the health of Pennsylvanians.”

Legalizing marijuana would, if nothing else, give more control of the market to legislators, experts argued.

“There’s a very common fallacy … that drug prohibition equals drug control,” Amanda Reiman, chief knowledge officer of New Frontier Data, which focuses on the marijuana industry, said. “In prohibition, you don’t get to control anything.”

What brings control, she said, is regulation.

“The only way to trump that illicit market is to continue to allow adult-use regulation,” Reiman said.

Without a legal market, legislators argued the demand wouldn’t dissipate.

“Whether marijuana’s legal or illegal, folks who are dealing with trauma and finding ways to manage that without access to care are gonna find it wherever they’re gonna find it,” Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-Exton, said.

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House Committee Will Consider Protecting State Medical Psilocybin Laws From Federal Interference Under New Amendment

A pair of Democratic congressmen have filed an amendment to a large-scale spending bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to interfere with state and local laws allowing the use and sale of psilocybin for medical purposes.

Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) are seeking to attach the psychedelics measure to appropriations legislation covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). It will be up to the House Rules Committee to determine whether the amendment will be made in order for a floor vote.

The members separately introduced standalone legislation in September to prevent federal interference in any jurisdiction that legalizes the psychedelic.

The new CJS amendment, meanwhile, states that no appropriated funds under the spending bill “may be used to prevent any State, the District of Columbia, any territory, commonwealth or possession of the United States, or any unit of local government from implementing its own laws authorizing the use, distribution, sale, possession, research, or cultivation of medical psilocybin.”

That language is similar to an existing CJS rider that has been annually renewed each year since 2014 prohibiting the use of federal funds to interfere in state medical marijuana programs. Efforts to expand that protection to cover adult-use cannabis laws have passed the House on several occasions but have never been enacted into law.

“I just think that there’s an opportunity to have a more progressive worldview on legalization and on [preventing] harm to people that are, in many ways, receiving huge medicinal benefits or recreational benefits” from cannabis and psychedelics, Garcia told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday before the psilocybin amendment was publicly posted.

If the psychedelics appropriations measure is cleared for the floor and ultimately enacted, it would specifically focus on medical psilocybin laws, so its practical impact may be limited in the short-term given that no states have explicitly authorized it as a therapeutic in the way they have for marijuana, with qualifying conditions and doctor recommendations, for example.

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Free the Meds: 5 Drugs You Should Be Able To Buy Over the Counter

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves not only which drugs can go to market but also whether they require a prescription from a doctor. The agency gets this power from the Durham-Humphrey Amendment of 1951. Meant to protect patients, the law has turned into a license to make life difficult. Here are five low-risk drugs that the FDA could make available over the counter today.

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Home Values Have Increased Significantly More In States That Legalized Marijuana Than Those That Kept Criminalization, Real Estate Study Finds

Home values have grown at a significantly higher rate in states that have legalized marijuana compared to non-legal states over the past decade—with the average price of a home in a legalization state now 41 percent higher than those that have continues to criminalize cannabis—according to a new report on real estate trends.

The study from Real Estate Witch and Leafly explored average home prices from 2014 to 2023, looking at the potential impact of regulated cannabis access for medical or recreational purposes on real estate value.

The analysis found that, during the time period reviewed, the average price of a home in states that had legalized for adult use appreciated by $185,075 since 2014, versus $136,092 in non-legal states. The average home value in a recreational state reached $417,625, while non-recreational state home prices averaged out at $295,338—a 41 percent difference.

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Budtender At New York City’s First Legal Cannabis Store Jailed On Marijuana Charges

An employee of the city’s first legal marijuana dispensary is being held on Rikers Island on a cannabis-related felony charge in a striking example of how pot, despite being legal in New York state, can still drag people into the criminal justice system as it remains illegal under federal law and those of several states.

When police pulled over 33-year-old Jumal George in Brooklyn on October 11 as he was driving to a friend’s house after a shift as a lead budtender at the Housing Works Cannabis Co., they found he was driving without a license—and that he had a warrant against him in Pennsylvania. The charges there stemmed from several cannabis-related charges he was arrested for back in 2021.

His fiancée, Audra Ramos, told THE CITY that he had left his license at home. “A little mistake was made, but he was fixing it,” she said, noting that George had made trips back to Pennsylvania to deal with the charges there but missed a hearing after one of the dates was moved up suddenly last year. That’s when the warrant was issued.

When police pulled him over in New York, George was detained. Two days later, he was sentenced to seven days at Rikers for the license charge.

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Advocates File California Ballot Initiative To Legalize Psychedelics For Medical, Therapeutic And Spiritual Use In 2024

Advocates in California filed a ballot initiative with state officials on Friday that would create a right “to obtain and use psychedelics for medical, therapeutic and spiritual purposes” with the recommendation of a doctor. It would also allow adults to possess and use the substances in their home as well as cultivate entheogenic plants and fungi on private property.

Known as the Psychedelic Wellness and Healing Initiative of 2024, the measure is the third psychedelics-related prospective citizen-led measure attempting to qualify for next year’s ballot. Another would legalize psilocybin for adult and therapeutic use, while a third would commit $5 billion to create a state agency focused on advancing research and development of psychedelic therapies.

Dave Hodges, an initiative organizer and the founder of the Church of Ambrosia, in Oakland, acknowledged in an interview earlier this month that the campaign behind the newest proposal is filing its paperwork later than initially hoped. Advocates won’t be able to start gathering signatures until the state attorney general’s office issues the proposal an official ballot title and summary, which can take more than a month.

Hodges said the goal of the proposal is to ensure broad access to psychedelics while ensuring a base level of safety.

“We aren’t just saying, ‘Everybody gets psychedelics!’” Hodges said. “We’re saying you gotta go talk to a doctor first, and if the doctor recommends that you try them, then you can come get them.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) recent veto of an adult-use psilocybin bill passed by the legislature this session was a disappointment, he added, “but at the same time, I completely agree with it.” The governor said in his veto statement that he couldn’t support allowing access to psilocybin without first establishing therapeutic standards.

“My church now has over 100,000 members,” Hodges said. “If each of them could have gone and talked to a doctor before having access to psychedelics, I would have considered that a great thing.”

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Ohio Governor Attacks Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure, Downplaying Polls Showing Broad Voter Support

Less than two weeks ahead of Election Day, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is talking to local TV stations about his opposition to Issue 2, a ballot initiative that would legalize adult-use marijuana in the state. But newly released state data on campaign fundraising indicate that supporters have an edge, having raised nearly four times what opponents have collected.

DeWine said voters are confused about both the cannabis measure and a separate initiative, Issue 1, which would protect access to contraception, fertility treatment and abortion. He downplayed polls showing popular support for both proposals.

“These are gonna go right down to the wire,” DeWine told WLWT news, a local NBC affiliate. “I think there’s still confusion about both of them, and I think that both of these will be close.”

Asked about polls showing strong support for legalizing marijuana, the governor was dismissive.

“The old saying is, ‘the only poll that really counts is the one on Election Day,’” he said.

A recent survey of likely voters found that 57 percent supported the legalization measure, including a slim majority of Republicans. Another survey of state lawmakers found that majorities of both Democrats (63 percent) and Republicans (52 percent) expected voters to approve the measure.

DeWine’s opposition to legalizing marijuana is not new, but in the past week he’s spoken out against Issue 2 in a number of interviews.

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Missouri NAACP Threatens Lawsuit To Stop Marijuana Social Equity Arrangements That ‘Defraud’ The State

James Harnden has been a longtime activist for cannabis legalization, ever since he got slapped with a low-level felony possession charge for having an ounce of weed.

The 56-year-old Rockford, Illinois, resident says that charge has cost him job opportunities for 30 years.

Earlier this year, he saw an advertisement in the Craigslist “gigs” section posted by a Michigan cannabis real estate group called Canna Zoned MLS. It was looking for “partners who qualify as a social equity applicant” to participate in Illinois’s lottery to award cannabis business licenses that are, in part, meant to benefit people impacted by marijuana criminalization.

“I spent most of my life applying for jobs and not getting them,” Harnden said. “So I’m like, ‘Okay, so maybe one of these licenses will swing my way.’”

The Craigslist ad read: “If you are eligible and provide the required documentation, we will give you $2,000, just for helping us submit the lottery application! If we win the lottery and secure a license, we will give you an additional $20,000!”

Harnden says what he didn’t realize was that he signed a contract agreeing to hold 100 percent ownership interest on the application, but that he wouldn’t get revenue or profits from the business. After the business passed through all the state and municipal approvals, the contract stated that Harnden would be required to sell his share of the business for $1 to the group or be held in breach of contract.

The contract also authorized the group to enter Harnden’s information into lotteries for social equity cannabis licenses in other states—and that’s how Harden says he got paid $500 to be part of the lottery for Missouri’s microbusiness license program.

Harnden was eligible to apply in Missouri because of his marijuana charge, which is among seven eligibility categories that also includes living in census tracts with high poverty and unemployment rates. Canna Zoned’s Jeffrey Yatooma is listed as the “authorized agent” on the contract Harnden provided to The Independent, leaving a space for his signature at the bottom.

Yatooma secured two of the 16 social equity cannabis licenses—in Columbia and Arnold—issued earlier this month, according to information obtained by The Independent through a public records request. Those records show Yatooma is listed as the “designated contact” for 104 out of the 1,048 applications for dispensary licenses in Missouri’s lottery.

Yatooma’s group was not the only one using the strategy of flooding Missouri’s lottery with applications to obtain a dispensary license. An Arizona-based consulting firm is connected to more than 400 dispensary applicants, including six winners, and a Missouri firm is connected to more than 80 applicants and two winners. Both said their clients did not advertise or promise payment for submitting applications.

In at least three states holding lotteries for social equity cannabis licenses this year—Illinois, Maryland and Missouri—Yatooma’s group has offered to pay eligible people up to $2,000 to apply on their behalf and $20,000 more if they won.

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Meth-Laced Halloween Candy Is a Very Unlikely Danger for Kids

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Halloween now that the news media is reporting on its favorite seasonal story: allegedly drug-laced candy.

In Rosarito, Baja California, a toddler ate a Riesen—no relation to this magazine—and began to cry “uncontrollably,” according to KRQE.com. The girl’s mom worried and provided her with some “home remedies” to help her feel better.

When that didn’t work, she brought the 18-month-old to the hospital. The folks there determined the little girl had ingested methamphetamine. The police proceeded to question the mom, who said she didn’t know where the candy—which is being kept as evidence—came from.

This leaves us with some questions, notably: How is the candy being “kept as evidence” if it was eaten?

Also, is there just the slightest possibility that the aforementioned “home remedies” might have included ingredients that are themselves the building blocks of methamphetamine?

And finally, why does the news media feel compelled to report on these one-off events, as if they demonstrate a trend? The dangers of drug-laced Halloween candy are remote to nonexistent. Trust me: No one has ever poisoned a stranger’s kid with Halloween candy.

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Newly Elected GOP House Speaker Voted Against Numerous Marijuana Measures, Including Banking, Research And Legalization

The U.S. House of Representatives officially has a new speaker: Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). A review of his marijuana-related votes reveals a new leader who has consistently opposed reform, including on incremental issues like cannabis banking and making it easier to conduct scientific research on the plant.

It took the Republican majority about three weeks to elect a speaker after multiple GOP conference nominees failed to amass the required votes to ascend to the position. Johnson was nominated just hours after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who has backed cannabis banking and other reforms, was selected and then dropped out on Tuesday following pushback from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Then, on Wednesday, the lesser-known Johnson secured 220 votes on the House floor to become the next speaker.

The congressman entered Congress in 2017, though sizing up his record is more difficult in light of his atypically high absence during roll call votes. But for the votes that he did cast on cannabis issues, there is a clear pattern: he’s again even modest, bipartisan reform proposals.

Importantly, Johnson, who serves as vice chair of the Republican conference, voted against bills to safeguard banks that work with state-licensed marijuana businesses in 2019 and 2021. That could come into play sooner than later, as Senate leadership works to advance the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act that cleared committee last month to the floor before potentially transmitting it to the House.

Under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), leadership wasn’t an especially significant concern for advocates and stakeholders, even under the GOP-controlled chamber. McCarthy had voted in favor of marijuana banking reform, so it was expected that he would not stand in the way of its advancement. How Johnson might approach the issue is less certain.

While he did cosponsor a coronavirus relief bill in 2020 that included the text of the SAFE Banking Act, he was among the chorus of Republican members who blasted Democrats for attaching the cannabis language to the broader legislation.

“The bill mentions the word ‘jobs’ only 52 times—but listen, it mentions ‘cannabis’ 68 times,” he said in 2020. “I’m not being flippant here, but we’re wondering if the staff that wrote this might have been high when they put the pen to paper.”

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