Tag: the war on (some) drugs

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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SMOKING WEED MAKES YOU NICER AND LESS GREEDY, SCIENTIST SAYS

Good news, stoners! Science is finally backing up what you’ve long known: that smoking weed does, in fact, make you nicer — and less greedy, to boot.

In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, University of New Mexico researchers found evidence that cannabis use makes people more empathetic, as well as less motivated by money.

Though the study focused on the “prosociality” of cannabis use — that is, as the Scientific Reports paper defines it, “the intentional act of advancing the well-being of other people” — lead author Jacob Vigil said that he’s interested in reframing how other researchers approach studying weed as well.

“They see cannabis users as unmotivated, or they see them as addicted, or perhaps believe that they are losing sight of their goals,” he told Albuquerque-based nonprofit news site The Paper. “It’s never really been approached objectively to see what’s going on before making negative interpretations.”

Basically, Vigil told the site, his team gave college students a “battery of psychological tests” — and also tested their urine for THC, the most psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

The results?

“We found that folks that had recently used cannabis showed higher levels of pro-social behaviors, and higher measurements of empathy — the empathy quotient was statistically significant across two groups — as well as what researchers refer to as ‘moral foundations,'” he told The Paper. “These are basically the types of ideals that we think about when we justify what is right and what is wrong.”

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Workers Who Use Marijuana Off The Job Are No More Likely To Be Injured Than Non-Users, Study Finds

Workers who use marijuana off the clock are no more likely to experience workplace injuries compared to those who don’t consume cannabis at all, according to a new study that challenges “overly broad” zero-tolerance employment policies.

However, people who indulge doing work hours are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a workplace incident than non-users and off-duty users, researchers at the University of Toronto, University at Buffalo and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute found.

The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health on Monday, followed 2,745 Canadian workers in safety-sensitive and non-safety-sensitive positions over two years, analyzing the 11.3 percent of those in the sample who experienced a workplace injury during that time period.

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Georgia fired a state trooper for his conduct. Now he leads Seward County’s Homeland Security task force.

The Seward County Homeland Security task force, sometimes using the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture, seized $11.8 million from Interstate 80 drivers through civil and criminal forfeiture in its first 32 months.

The Seward-based head of that law enforcement task force trains and supervises officers – despite being barred from becoming a Nebraska police officer himself.

Blake Swicord was fired as a state trooper in Georgia after selling guns to a pardoned felon and allegedly sending sexually explicit texts and photos from his police-issued phone. Swicord, who claims he was wrongfully terminated, then was arrested on suspicion of battery following an alleged domestic violence incident with his then-girlfriend.

The Nebraska agency in charge of law enforcement training has twice denied Swicord admission, saying he didn’t meet the good character requirement for entry. That agency said Swicord failed to disclose his arrest or his firing on his application, as first reported by the Lincoln Journal Star. On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court dismissed his latest appeal.

Homeland Security officials told the Flatwater Free Press this week that they had no knowledge of Swicord’s previous dismissal or arrest when he was first placed into a Homeland Security role in 2019. They said they learned of Swicord’s troubles in April 2021, when an assistant U.S. attorney told the agency that the Nebraska Supreme Court had denied Swicord’s first appeal in his quest for police certification.

Swicord will remain in his job as task force coordinator as he continues his legal battle, Seward County Sheriff Mike Vance told a reporter during Tuesday’s Seward County Board meeting.

Vance has previously said he would have to let Swicord go if he can’t become a Nebraska police officer. Vance and dozens of Swicord’s colleagues have praised the 27-year police veteran for his leadership, interdiction skills and professionalism.

“Since his employment with my agency, Mr. Swicord has shown nothing but the upmost integrity and professionalism,” Vance wrote supporting Swicord in 2019. “After conducting this extensive background check I feel very sure that Mr. Swicord is a man of integrity and very honest at all times.”

The Police Standards Advisory Council, which oversees law enforcement certification in Nebraska, has acknowledged Swicord’s qualifications. It also ruled twice that he can’t go through training to become a Nebraska police officer.

“His actions in the application process demonstrate to this body that the petitioner cannot be considered to be a person who can be characterized as being truthful, honest or trustworthy,” the council wrote in its 2019 decision.

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Virginia Cracks Down On Intoxicating Hemp Products With Enforcement And Fines

Several Virginia businesses have been hit with five-figure fines this month as state officials start enforcing stricter new rules on the contents and labeling of hemp products to try to crack down on alternatives to marijuana.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had sent five non-compliance letters as of July 24, assessing penalties ranging from $13,000 to $97,500, according to the agency. The letters, sent under a new civil penalty structure that took effect July 1, give the business owners an opportunity to pay a reduced fine of $10,000 if they agree to bring their stores into compliance and meet other conditions.

The largest fine so far was sent to a store in Southwest Virginia’s Gate City called Tobacco Discount. Of 36 impermissible products that VDACS inspectors said they found, 27 had a concentration of intoxicating THC above the 0.3 percent legal limit, agency records show. Others contained synthetic forms of THC or had labels that bore a “significant likeness” to mainstream snack brands, particularly cereal bars with names like “Lucky Marshmellow” and “Berry Crunch.” Many of the products tested were gummies and cereal bars labeled as containing delta-8, a hemp-derived compound that can produce a high similar to marijuana.

Inspectors reported finding a total of 26 violations at the business, ranging from paperwork, labeling and ingredient problems to “a heavy accumulation of dead insects and insect fragments” in some areas of the store.The total fines assessed on the business added up to $97,500.

“If the same violations are cited in a future inspection, the assessed civil penalties will increase,” VDACS said in the letters detailing the new enforcement system.

Tobacco Discount did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent to email addresses and a phone number listed in the state inspection paperwork.

The hemp/THC legislation was one of the more complex and contentious bills the General Assembly passed this year, drawing strong opposition from critics who said the proposal was overly punitive and could threaten Virginia’s entire hemp industry.

“This is just going way over the top, as we warned everyone,” said Jason Amatucci, president of the Virginia Hemp Coalition. “They’re fining people and they’re being very aggressive about it.”

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Feds Recommend Buying A Map To Avoid Bringing Marijuana Into National Forests In Minnesota Following Legalization

The U.S. Forest Service is reminding people that Minnesota’s new marijuana legalization law enacted this week does not mean people can possess or use cannabis at national forests in the state—so it recommends buying a map to know where you can and can’t indulge.

On Tuesday—the same day that adult-use marijuana legalization took effect in Minnesota—the Forest Service issued an alert, notifying the public that possessing any amount of cannabis “is still prohibited on all National Forest lands and at all National Forest campgrounds and facilities.”

“Forest officials ask visitors to be mindful of National Forest System boundaries and to become familiar with relevant federal and state regulations prior to visiting the Chippewa and/or Superior National Forests,” it says.

The agency, which also sent out a notice last month to remind federal workers that they remain barred from using marijuana even in legal states, said that it’s received questions from visitors about the “legality of marijuana use on public lands” since the Minnesota legislature moved to end prohibition at the state level.

“While recreational cannabis use may be legal in the State of Minnesota, effective August 1, 2023, Chippewa and Superior National Forest officials are reminding visitors that it is illegal on National Forest System lands,” it said.

An FAQ section explains how national forests are federally regulated and, therefore, federal law applies and supersedes the state’s newly implemented policy.

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“I’ve been here before”: DMT study explores a strange memory phenomenon

If you take a psychedelic drug that can throttle your conscious perception into an otherworldly space where people often report encountering beings that are unlike anything on Earth, the last thing you would expect to feel is the sense that this all seems pretty familiar. But that’s precisely what some people report after taking the world’s strongest psychedelic: DMT. 

“It felt like I had been reunited with everything, like I was complete again,” psychiatrist Dr. Chloe Sakal told Freethink in 2021 while describing a DMT experience she had as a participant in a study that examined the drug’s effects on the brain. “I no longer knew I was in an MRI scanner. My entire reality was very different — really colorful, really vibrant. And I couldn’t even remember that I was in a study. I was in a different dimension.”

Online reports from the r/DMT subreddit convey similarly intense and familiar experiences. “I was beyond time and matter and had no sense of identity whatsoever,” wrote one person. “I definitely felt this common thing like I was ‘at home,’ that I have already been there, and that I will go there again.”

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Innocent Man Beaten to Death in Jail After Being Sentenced to a Decade for Having Kratom

Last week, the Free Thought Project delved into the deeply unsettling story of Shaina Brown, an Alabama resident facing a potential life sentence over the mere possession of kratom. In our coverage, we touched upon the tragic case of Marshall Price, another victim of the merciless war on drugs. This week, we continue our exposé by shifting our focus to Price’s case, highlighting the gruesome realities of this ongoing war on a widely beneficial plant.

Before moving into the details of Marshall’s story, it is important to point out the massive disinformation campaign waged by the media and the government over this plant. A recent story out of Florida is gaining traction and serves as a perfect example of this propaganda after a judge awarded the family of Krystal Talavera $11 million in a lawsuit. Talavera, who had life-threatening pre-existing conditions, died after ingesting a substance in a baggy that had “Space Dust” written on it with a sharpy. This is “kratom,” according to the media, which is unwilling to do even 30 seconds of research to find out the truth.

The court ruled that Talavera died from kratom, and the media ran with it. But this was simply not the case. Talavera ingested a highly potent and concentrated alkaloid extract of the kratom plant, not kratom leaves. This is the equivalent of extracting lethal doses of caffeine from the coffee bean and calling it “coffee.”

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Minnesota Adults Can Now Legally Possess And Grow Marijuana, With Indian Tribes Launching Early Sales

Adults 21 and older in Minnesota can now possess and grow marijuana for personal use under a legalization law that was passed by lawmakers earlier this year and took effect on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the process of automatically expunging prior cannabis records is also being implemented by state officials.

While traditional recreational cannabis retailers are not expected to open until at least next year, other key components of the legalization law that Gov. Tim Walz (D) enacted in May have now gone into effect. Meanwhile, two Indian tribes have been preparing to get a head start on adult-use cannabis sales, with plans to open up shops as early as Tuesday.

Possession of up to two ounces of marijuana—and cultivation of up to eight plants, four of which may be mature at a time—is now legal. In a household, adults can possess a maximum of two pounds of cannabis.

Additionally, gifting up to two ounces of marijuana between adults without remuneration is now a legal activity.

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