Tag: the war on (some) drugs

With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research

In states where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, fewer patients are filling prescriptions for medications used to treat anxiety. That is the key finding of my recent study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

I am an applied policy researcher who studies the economics of risky behaviors and substance use within the United States. My collaborators and I wanted to understand how medical and recreational marijuana laws and marijuana dispensary openings have affected the rate at which patients fill prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications among people who have private medical insurance.

These include:

  • Benzodiazepines, which work by increasing the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a neurotransmitter that elicits a calming effect by reducing activity in the nervous system. This category includes the depressants Valium, Xanax and Ativan, among others.
  • Antipsychotics, a class of drug that addresses psychosis symptoms in a variety of ways.
  • Antidepressants, which relieve symptoms of depression by affecting neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. The most well-known example of these is selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

We also included barbiturates, which are sedatives, and sleep medications – sometimes called “Z-drugs” – both of which are used to treat insomnia. In contrast to the other three categories, we did not estimate any policy impacts for either of these types of drugs.

We find consistent evidence that increased marijuana access is associated with reductions in benzodiazepine prescription fills. “Fills” refer to the number of prescriptions being picked up by patients, rather than the number of prescriptions doctors write. This is based on calculating the rate of individual patients who filled a prescription in a state, the average days of supply per prescription fill, and average prescription fills per patient.

Notably, we found that not all state policies led to similar changes in prescription fill patterns.

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New Idaho Bill Would Set Mandatory Minimum Fine For Marijuana Possession

A Nampa legislator introduced a bill on Thursday to implement a $300 minimum fine for adults possessing three ounces or less of marijuana.

Under Idaho Code, individuals possessing more than three ounces of marijuana can face a felony conviction and may be imprisoned for at least five years, or fined at least $10,000, or both. However, there are no specific penalties for individuals possessing less than three ounces.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, introduced the bill to the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, noting that Idaho judges can apply fines ranging from $2 to $500 for people possessing three ounces or less of marijuana.

According to the bill, individuals possessing three ounces or less of marijuana would be subject to a misdemeanor upon conviction and subject to a minimum fine of $300. Individuals under the age of 18, however, would be exempt from the penalties, Skaug said.

“We do not want this to become a marijuana state,” Skaug told the committee.

Last year, Skaug introduced a similar bill attempting to implement a minimum $420 fine for marijuana possession of three ounces or less, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

The bill died in committee after legislators pointed to concerns that it would take away judicial discretion.

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Indiana Lawmakers File Bills To Legalize Marijuana And Fund Psilocybin Research In 2025

Indiana lawmakers are already making moves to enact drug policy reform in the 2025 session—with newly filed bills to legalize marijuana, allow medical cannabis and fund psilocybin research.

While the prospects of the cannabis measures are unclear given the Republican-controlled legislature’s historic resistance to reform, the psychedelics legislation would simply provide the necessary funding for an already-enacted law promoting psilocybin research.

Senate Bill 113

Sen. Rodney Pol (D) has introduced legislation that would legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes in the state.

The bill would establish a regulatory framework and excise tax for cannabis, while creating an Indiana Cannabis Commission (ICC) and Advisory Committee to oversee the program.

It would also facilitate research into marijuana and provide for the expungement of criminal records for offenses made legal under the reform.

According to a fiscal note from the Legislative Services Agency (LSA), enacting the bill would generate “between $46.6 million and $92.6 million in FY 2026 and $50.8 million and $101.7 million in FY 2027 from Sales and Excise Taxes and permit fees.”

Despite the GOP-controlled legislature’s history on marijuana policy reform, some suspect the tides might change in 2025. Part of that enthusiasm comes from the fact that Gov.-elect Mike Braun (R) recently said that “it’s probably time” to allow access to therapeutic cannabis.

However—despite a recent survey showing nearly 9 in 10 Indiana adults support legalizing medical marijuana—Republican leaders in the legislature are pushing back on the idea.

“It’s no secret that I am not for this,” Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R) said last month. “I don’t have people coming to me with really compelling medical cases as to why it’s so beneficial. And any state that I’ve seen pass medical marijuana is essentially passing recreational marijuana.”

House Speaker Todd Huston (R), meanwhile, doubted any medical benefits associated with marijuana, calling the substance “a deterrent to mental health.” He and others suggested that lawmakers supportive of the reform merely want to boost state revenue.

Meanwhile in Indiana, an organization led by the former head of the state’s Republican Party is pushing lawmakers to adopt what it’s calling “safe and regulated” policies on marijuana.

An interim study group had heard testimony around the possibility of decriminalizing simple cannabis possession last November, but the group did not make any specific recommendations.

House Bill 1332

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Blake Johnson (D), would also establish a regulatory framework for adult-use marijuana, with a Cannabis Commission charged with overseeing the program.

Marijuana would be subject to a 10 percent excise tax, in addition to the state’s 7 percent sales tax.

“Revenue to the state General Fund is estimated to increase between $41.9 M and $82.1 M per year from Sales Taxes” on marijuana, according to a fiscal note. “Also, the bill establishes the nonreverting Cannabis Regulation Fund which could receive between $60.4 M and $118.5 M per year from the Cannabis Excise Tax and permit fee revenue.”

It would also impose new penalties for mislabeling hemp products and selling or transporting cannabis to minors.

House Bill 1145

Under a newly filed bill from Rep. Heath VanNatter (R), it would no longer be a crime to possess up to two ounces of cannabis or grow plants with more than two ounces.

The proposal would also increase the felony threshold for possession, raising it from 30 grams to four ounces.

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New York Bill Would Legalize Psychedelics Like Psilocybin, Mescaline And Ibogaine

Another psychedelics bill has been prefiled in New York for the 2025 session—this one calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.

Sponsored by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D), along with eight cosponsors, the legislation would amend state statute to make legal the “possession, use, cultivation, production, creation, analysis, gifting, exchange, or sharing by or between natural persons of twenty-one years of age or older of a natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogen.”

DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin and psilocyn would fall under the definition of “natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogens” that would be legalized by the bill.

Further, the legislation would authorize people to engage in psychedelic services “with or without remuneration,” as well as use the entheogens in religious ceremonies.

State and local law enforcement would be prohibited from cooperating or providing assistance to the federal government for the purpose of enforcing controlled substances laws against activities made legal under the state law.

The measure goes on to outline a series of protections: People couldn’t lose professional licenses, public assistance or be denied mental health or behavioral health services simply for using psychedelics. And their lawful use also couldn’t be the sole basis for a child welfare investigation.

New York localities wouldn’t be allowed to enact laws criminalizing psychedelics, but they could “adopt and implement legislation and policies which bear directly on or are related to natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogens in furtherance” of the bill.

Finally, the proposal would remove psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, mescaline and ibogaine from the state’s banned substances list.

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Fatal Traffic Crashes Linked To Marijuana Fell By 30% In Ohio Last Year As Legalization Took Effect, Contrary To Opponents’ Fears

As marijuana legalization took effect in Ohio over the last year, the number of fatal traffic crashes in linked to cannabis fell by 30 percent—contrary to warnings from opponents of the policy change who feared it would lead to more deadly car accidents involving stoned drivers. That’s according to new preliminary data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which found that proportion of impaired drivers suspected to be under the influence of marijuana also declined compared to 2023.

State voters approved marijuana legalization in November 2023, with use and possession becoming legal the following month. Adult-use cannabis sales, meanwhile, began last August.

State voters approved marijuana legalization in November 2023, with use and possession becoming legal the following month. Adult-use cannabis sales, meanwhile, began last August.

All told, there were 1,067 fatal traffic crashes in Ohio during 2024—the lowest number in at least five years, and down 7 percent from the 1,150 fatal crashes in 2023.

Of those, about 20 percent (215 crashes) were linked to cannabis last year—also the lowest number in years, and down from 27 percent (306 crashes) in 2023.

Impaired driving—referred to in Ohio as operating a vehicle under the influence, or OVI—also decreased from 2023 to 2024, with 644 fewer arrests last year compared to a year earlier. There were 83 fewer cannabis-related OVI arrests in 2024 compared to 2023.

In 2023, authorities logged 15,276 OVI arrests, about 10 percent (1,454) of which were related to marijuana. In 2024, 14,632 arrests took place—a decrease of about 4 percent. Of those, 1,371 were suspected to be linked to cannabis—a drop of approximately 6 percent.

Overall, 242 people died in Ohio last year in crashes believed to involve marijuana use. That’s 28 percent fewer deaths than the 335 logged in 2023. It’s also the lowest number of fatal traffic accidents involving cannabis since at least 2020.

The total number of crashes in general linked to marijuana in 2024—1,171—was also the lowest number since at least 2020 and marked a 12 percent decline since 2023.

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New York Democrat Files Bills To Restrict THC Potency In Marijuana And Ban Consumption Within 30 Feet Of Children

A New York Democrat has introduced a pair of bills that would put new restrictions on marijuana in the state. One measure would limit the THC potency of cannabis products, while the other would prohibit cannabis consumption within 30 feet of where any child lives.

Both bills, A977 and A1007, were filed on Wednesday by Assemblymember Phil Steck. The potency proposal would limit marijuana flower to no more than 15 percent delta-9 THC, while all other cannabis products—including concentrates and hemp-derived products—would be capped at 25 percent delta-9 THC.

Growing, processing or distributing products exceeding those limits would be a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The consumption measure, meanwhile, would outlaw smoking or vaping cannabis “within thirty feet of a child or within thirty feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recreational or educational purpose.”

The restriction would include “areas separated by walls, closed door or floors within a building,” meaning the change could theoretically limit cannabis consumption even within users’ private residences if their neighbors have kids.

In addition to that provision, the consumption bill would also step up penalties for second and subsequent offenses around unlawful marijuana use, such as consuming near schools or using in areas where smoking or vaping is otherwise prohibited. Currently those activities are civil violations that carry a fine of up to $25 or community service. Under Steck’s bill, that would still be true for the first offense, but subsequent offenses would be charged as Class B misdemeanors.

A legislative memo in support of tighter consumption restrictions says that research has “shown that second-hand smoke from vaping and smoking cannabis are proven to be harmful to the health of adults and children.”

“Most adults have to ability to remove themselves from the area, children may not have the same ability,” the memo says. “This bill requires adults maintain a safe distance from children when smoking or vaping cannabis.”

As for Steck’s proposed THC limit, the memo in support of that proposal says that “the most egregious omission in legalizing adult-use cannabis in New York State is the absence of any cap on its potency.”

“Most people can use cannabis safely,” it says, but with increased availability of higher THC concentrations, there have been more adverse drug reactions.”

The memo also says that in particular, “edibles are trouble,” citing a study out of Colorado that found that edibles accounted for less than 1 percent of statewide cannabis sales but were responsible for 11 percent of emergency room visits.

“With an eye towards public health and safety,” it adds, “this legislation imposes a 15 percent cap on any cannabis flower, and a 25 percent cap on the concentration of the active ingredient delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol in all manufactured cannabis products in the state.”

Notably, the bill would not adjust the total allowable THC limits in state-legal cannabis edibles, and the percentage-based limits would likely do little to rein in potency of the products. Even at the proposed 25 percent THC limit, a gummy weighing just 2 grams could contain up to half a gram of THC—a massive dose for most consumers.

The advocacy group NORML quickly came out against the new potency bill, A977, calling its proposed limits “arbitrary” in an email to supporters on Thursday.

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Youth Marijuana Use Hasn’t Increased In States That Legalize, And Most Actually See Significant Declines, Analysis Of Government Data Shows

Youth marijuana use declined in 19 out of 21 states that legalized adult-use marijuana—with teen cannabis consumption down an average of 35 percent in the first states to legalize a decade ago—according to government data compiled by a leading advocacy group.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) report analyzed multiple studies on how state cannabis laws influence youth use trends, including several led by federal agencies. The group found that the “data is unequivocal,” Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at MPP, said.

“Legalization does not increase youth cannabis use,” she said, pushing back on an argument often made by opponents of the reform. “In fact, evidence suggests the opposite. By transitioning cannabis sales from the illicit market to a regulated system with age-restricted access, we’ve seen a decrease in youth cannabis use.”

The report cited data from a series of national and state-level youth surveys, including the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey, which is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The latest version of the MTF released last month found that cannabis use among 8th, 10th and 12 graders is now lower than before the first states started enacting adult-use legalization laws in 2012. There was also a significant drop in perceptions by youth that cannabis is easy to access in 2024 despite the widening adult-use marketplace.

Another recent survey included in MPP’s analysis came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also showed a decline in the proportion of high-school students reporting past-month marijuana use over the past decade, as dozens of states moved to legalize cannabis.

At the state level, the cannabis group looked at research such as the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey that was released last April.

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Yakuza leader pleads guilty in U.S. court to conspiring to sell nuclear material

A member of the Japanese yakuza criminal underworld pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities said Wednesday.

Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offenses, and both were remanded.

He was then additionally charged in February 2024 with conspiring to sell weapons-grade nuclear material and lethal narcotics from Myanmar, and to purchase military weaponry on behalf of an armed insurgent group, prosecutors said.

The military weaponry to be part of the arms deal included surface-to-air missiles, the indictment alleged.

“As he admitted in federal court today, Takeshi Ebisawa brazenly trafficked nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma,” said Acting US attorney Edward Kim, using another name for Myanmar.

“At the same time, he worked to send massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy-duty weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on battlefields in Burma.”

Prosecutors alleged that Ebisawa, 60, “brazenly” moved material containing uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, alongside drugs, from Myanmar.

From 2020, Ebisawa boasted to an undercover officer he had access to large quantities of nuclear materials that he sought to sell, providing photographs of materials alongside Geiger counters registering radiation.

During a sting operation including undercover agents, Thai authorities assisted US investigators in seizing two powdery yellow substances that the defendant described as “yellowcake.”

“The (US) laboratory determined that the isotope composition of the plutonium found in the Nuclear Samples is weapons-grade, meaning that the plutonium, if produced in sufficient quantities, would be suitable for use in a nuclear weapon,” the Justice Department said in its statement at the time.

One of Ebisawa’s co-conspirators claimed they “had available more than 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of Thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of uranium in the compound U3O8 — referring to a compound of uranium commonly found in the uranium concentrate powder known as ‘yellowcake’.”

The indictment claimed Ebisawa had suggested using the proceeds of the sale of nuclear material to fund weapons purchases on behalf of an unnamed ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar.

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Illinois Governor ‘Tremendously Disappointed’ By Failure Of Hemp Product Restriction Bill Amid Democratic Infighting

A bill that would have imposed regulations on new types of intoxicating substances derived from hemp stalled in the Illinois House Tuesday, dealing a political setback to Gov. JB Pritzker (D) after he strongly supported the legislation.

“I was tremendously disappointed,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, after it became clear the bill would not be called for a vote in the House. “This is a demonstration, from my perspective, of the power of special interests and the money that they spread around to thwart health and safety of the public.”

But the bill also created rifts within the House Democratic caucus. According to several sources, the hemp regulation bill was the focus of a three-hour, closed-door caucus meeting Monday that some House members described afterwards as “spirited” but others described as “raucous.”

Pritzker also called Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s decision not to call the bill “irresponsible,” saying he believed it would have passed with a bipartisan majority had he done so. And he criticized House Democrats for the treatment of members of his staff who appeared at Monday’s caucus meeting.

But Welch’s spokesperson noted that he is a cosponsor of the bill and would continue working to pass it in the new legislative session that begins Wednesday.

“A lengthy caucus discussion found that the bill in its current form did not have enough support within the House Democratic Caucus,” the spokesperson said. “He is committed to continuing discussions so that when the bill ultimately passes, it is the best possible piece of legislation for the state of Illinois.”

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Louisiana Democrat Mayor Arrested in Shocking Drug and Prostitution Scandal — Accused of Using Taxpayer Dollars to Fund Airbnb for Escort

Bogalusa, Louisiana, the city already grappling with the scourge of drug-related violence, was rocked this week by the arrest of its youngest-ever mayor, 25-year-old Tyrin Truong.

Truong, a Democrat hailed as a rising star in his party after unseating long-time Mayor Wendy Perrette in 2022, now faces a litany of criminal charges, including allegations of drug trafficking, unauthorized use of a moveable, and soliciting prostitutes — actions that reportedly involved the misuse of taxpayer funds.

The Louisiana State Police Narcotics/Violent Crime Task Force announced Tuesday that an extensive investigation into a local drug trafficking organization had led to the arrest of Truong and six others.

“On Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025 at approximately 8:30 AM, Bogalusa Mayor Tyrin Truong was booked into the Washington Parish Jail on one count of soliciting for prostitutes, one count of unauthorized use of a movable, and two counts of transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses. No bail has been set at this time,” the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office announced on Facebook.

Authorities allege that the organization distributed opioids, high-grade marijuana, THC products, and MDMA, using social media platforms to coordinate sales and payments.

According to the news release, “In April 2024, the Louisiana State Police Narcotics/Violent Crime Task Force (NVCTF) initiated a comprehensive investigation into a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) operating in the Bogalusa area. This joint operation, conducted over several months in collaboration with the 22nd Judicial District Court District Attorney’s Office, the Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) revealed the DTO’s involvement in the distribution of various Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS), including opioids, high-grade marijuana, THC products, and MDMA.”

“Investigators uncovered that members of the DTO were utilizing social media platforms to distribute CDS and manage payments, further expanding their reach and criminal activity. The investigation also determined that profits from drug sales were used to purchase firearms. Some of these firearms were funneled to individuals prohibited from legal possession, while others were linked to violent crimes in the Bogalusa area.”

Disturbingly, profits from these illegal activities were reportedly used to purchase firearms, some of which ended up in the hands of individuals prohibited from owning weapons and were linked to violent crimes in the region, CBS News reported.

Truong is accused of not only participating in these illegal activities but also using his position and public funds for personal gratification, according to Daily Mail.

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