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Jack Herer on the War on (Some) Drugs…
Tag: the war on (some) drugs
Canadian Banks Linked To Chinese Fentanyl Laundering Risk US Treasury Sanctions After Cartel Terror Designation
In an explosive interview with The Bureau’s Sam Cooper, David Asher – a former senior U.S. State Department official with close ties to the Trump administration’s financial and national security apparatus—issued a stark warning: Canadian banks could soon face a “new universe” of regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Treasury. This follows the formal designation of Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa group, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). According to Asher, the command-and-control structure for laundering proceeds from synthetic narcotics—produced using Chinese precursor chemicals—is largely orchestrated by Chinese triads operating out of Canada.
Asher warned that these transnational crime gang nexus seriously threatens both U.S. national security and the stability of the North American financial system.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Says He’ll Push For Special Session To Pass Hemp Product Ban
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) said he will move to force an overtime session of the Legislature if lawmakers fail to ban THC or tighten Texas’s bail laws—two of his top priorities—before the current session ends in early June.
The power to order lawmakers back to Austin for a special session is reserved for Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who also gets to set the agenda for such overtime rounds. But in his role presiding over the Texas Senate, Patrick can block any bill from passing, giving him leverage to compel special sessions by killing must-pass legislation.
Patrick did exactly that in 2017, thwarting passage of a “sunset” bill that would have extended the life of several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board, after the House declined to take up measures curbing property tax rates and requiring transgender people to use public restrooms based on “biological sex” rather than their gender identities.
In an interview, Patrick affirmed that he would go a similar route this session if the House declines to get on board with his priority bill to clamp down on the state’s exploding hemp market by banning products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
“There aren’t many things you go down that path for, but the life and health of people is one,” Patrick told The Texas Tribune on Wednesday. “I couldn’t, in good conscience, leave here knowing if we don’t do something about it in the next two years—how many kids get sick?”
Patrick and Senate lawmakers are taking aim at the roughly 8,300 Texas retailers that sell a range of hemp products—from gummies to beverages to flower buds—under a 2019 state law that authorized the sale of consumable hemp. Patrick and Sen. Charles Perry, the Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 law, say the hemp industry has exploited a loophole in a bill that was intended to boost agriculture by allowing non-consumable products with small amounts of delta-9 THC.
While hemp products are not allowed to contain more than a 0.3 percent concentration of THC—anything higher is classified as marijuana—Patrick and Perry contend that the industry has endangered public health by putting products on the shelf with dangerously high levels of THC well beyond the 0.3 percent threshold.
Perry’s proposal this session, known as Senate Bill 3, would effectively shutter the hemp industry by making it illegal to possess or manufacture products containing THC outside the state’s limited medical marijuana program.
It’s already passed in the Senate, but it awaits action in the lower chamber, where industry leaders are hopeful House members will push for stricter oversight and licensing requirements in lieu of banning THC products altogether.
New York Movie Theaters Could Sell Marijuana And Allow Consumption During Films Under Forthcoming Licenses, Official Says
A New York official says there are plans in the works to expand permitting and licensing rules that could allow adults to buy and consume marijuana at movie theaters.
While many theaters across the country currently let moviegoers purchase and drink alcohol, that’s not the case for cannabis—even in states where marijuana has been legalized.
“At this time, cannabis can only be sold at legal, licensed adult-use dispensaries or legal, licensed adult-use microbusinesses,” New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Press Secretary Taylor Randi Lee told Variety.
“For theaters to serve recreational marijuana at their establishments, they would need either an events permit or consumption lounge license,” she was quoted as saying in a story the trade publication ran about ways that theaters can appeal to audiences to buy tickets. “New York State does not have either yet but plans to in the future.”
The idea of potentially expanding permitting to authorize sales of cannabis products at movie theaters would set New York apart as it continues to build upon the state’s legalization law.
OCM’s comments come days after Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a pair of companion bills into law that are meant to expand New York’s marijuana farmers market program, allowing for more partnerships between licensed cannabis businesses and standalone “pop-up” events.
Trump White House Says Marijuana Decriminalization ‘Opened The Door To Disorder’ In Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump’s White House says the move to decriminalize marijuana in Washington, D.C. is an example of a “failed” policy that “opened the door to disorder.”
In a fact sheet about an executive order that Trump signed on Friday—which is broadly aimed at beautifying the District and making it more safe—the White House listed several local policies in the nation’s capital that it takes issue with, including cannabis reform. That’s despite the president’s previously stated support for a states’ rights approach to marijuana laws.
“D.C.’s failed policies opened the door to disorder—and criminals noticed,” it says, citing “marijuana decriminalization,” as well as the District’s decision to end pre-trial detentions and enforcement practices around rioters, as examples of such policies.
The executive order itself doesn’t mention marijuana specifically. But it says the directive will involve “deploying a more robust Federal law enforcement presence and coordinating with local law enforcement to facilitate the deployment of a more robust local law enforcement presence as appropriate in areas in or about” D.C., and that includes addressing “drug possession, sale, and use.”
With respect to the fact sheet circulated by the White House, cannabis possession and personal cultivation is legalized in D.C. under a voter-approved ballot initiative, though commercial sales of non-medical marijuana remain illegal (a policy referred to by some as “decriminalization”).
Because of a long-standing congressional rider that’s been annually renewed since that vote, the District hasn’t been able to use local funds to implement a system of regulated recreational cannabis sales, so officials have taken steps to expand the city’s existing medical marijuana program as a workaround.
Iowa Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Bill To Create Psilocybin Program That Would Treat Up To 5,000 Patients With PTSD
An Iowa House committee has unanimously approved a Republican-led proposal to create a state-regulated therapeutic psilocybin program for adults with PTSD.
The bill, HF 620, from Rep. John Wills (R), passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a 23–0 vote at a hearing Thursday.
If enacted into law, it would allow up to 5,000 patients in the state to legally access psilocybin produced in-state by licensed entities. Administration sessions would need to be supervised by registered facilitators—mostly medical professionals—who would need to complete state-specified psilocybin education.
Psilocybin providers would need to be doctors, advanced nurse practitioners, advanced practice nurses, psychologists or social workers who complete psilocybin continuing education requirements, register with the state and pay a registration fee.
Administration sessions themselves would need to be at registered clinical locations and would need to be video recorded. Those records would need to be available for inspection by state officials upon request.
The psilocybin itself would be produced by state-licensed establishments. Local governments could not outright ban those facilities, nor could they deny them appropriate licenses based merely on the fact that psilocybin violates federal law.
Notably, a licensed psilocybin production facility could be co-located with one of the state’s few licensed medical cannabis producers—known in Iowa as medical cannabidiol producers—and the bill says regulators may grant psilocybin licensing preferences to those existing cannabis producers. Facilities couldn’t be located within 1,000 feet of a community location or 500 feet of a residential area.
Only people 21 and older and without “a misdemeanor for drug distribution or any felony” could work at psilocybin producers, and licensees themselves would face background checks.
Up to four independent testing labs could be licensed under the bill, and the state could also establish its own lab.
License applications would be accepted beginning July 1, 2026.
To oversee the system, the legislation would create a state Psilocybin Production Establishment Licensing Board under the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Appointed by the director of that department, the board would include a member of the public with knowledge of psilocybin, a member with knowledge and experience in the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical manufacturing industry, a law enforcement member, a university chemist or researcher with experience in manufacturing, a member who has a background in fungus or mushroom cultivation and processing.
Ohio CBD Retailers Push Back Against Effort To Limit Hemp Products To Marijuana Dispensaries
Ohio CBD store owners are concerned about a bill that would regulate intoxicating hemp and drinkable cannabinoid products something that could potentially put them out of business.
Fourteen people submitted opponent testimony and four people submitted supporter testimony for Ohio Senate Bill 86 during Tuesday’s Senate General Government Committee meeting. No supporters showed up at the meeting to testify in person.
“Should these restrictions pass, they would eliminate 90 percent of the non-intoxicating full-spectrum hemp products we currently offer,” said Jaimee Courtney, owner of Bellefontaine’s Sunmed Your CBD Store. “This would drive consumers to unregulated online markets, creating potential safety risks and diverting significant tax revenue out of Ohio.”
The bill would require intoxicating hemp products to be sold only at adult-use marijuana dispensaries instead of allowing them to be sold at CBD stores, convenience stores, smoke shops or gas stations.
The bill would also impose a 15 percent tax on intoxicating hemp products, ban sales to anyone under 21 and only allow intoxicating hemp products to be sold at dispensaries if the products have been tested and comply with standards for packaging, labeling and advertising.
Ohio state Sens. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) and Shane Wilkin (R-Hillsboro) introduced SB 86. Eleven people submitted testimony in support of the bill last week—including people in the marijuana business, poison control workers and religious organizations.
“The people walking into our stores are not looking to get high, they are looking for relief,” said Robert McClure, owner of Centerville and Deerfield Township’s Sunmed Your CBD Store. “Most of our customers will not go to a dispensary for a multitude of reasons.”
He said his store requires customers to be at least 21 years old to buy their products, which are all third-party tested.
“We have concerns that the language in SB 86 would ban most of all other types of hemp products from retail sales and driving them to an unsafe, illicit environment with no age restrictions,” said Kristin Mullins, president of the Ohio Grocers Association.
Nevada Lawmakers Discuss Plan To Create Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program
A Nevada bill that would create a psychedelic therapy pilot program for military veterans and first responders had its first committee hearing on Wednesday. Lawmakers heard testimony from reform advocates, veterans and their families and members of a state Psychedelic Medicines Working Group, which late last year called on lawmakers to establish a system for regulated access.
The legislation, AB 378, was filed March 10 by Assemblymember Max Carter (D) and 18 other cosponsors. Under the proposal, the state would establish an Alternative Therapy Pilot Program under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The program would allow the medically supervised use of psychedelics including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline, specifically among military veterans and first responders with certain mental health conditions.
While the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services didn’t act on the legislation at Wednesday’s hearing, they took testimony and asked questions of some speakers.
Carter, speaking to the panel, said that psychedelic therapy—involving ketamine, which is not part of the current bill—helped him overcome “profound, deep grief, treatment-resistant depression” and complex post-traumatic stress disorder after the traumatic death of his wife.
He explained that the pilot program would focus on first responders and military veterans because “those are demographics that everybody can identify with, but more importantly, they’re ones with accelerated—or exacerbated—suicide rates.”
“When we come back here in two years,” Carter told colleagues, “my belief is this will be mainstream therapy.”
Notably, no members of the public at Wednesday’s hearing spoke in opposition to the proposal, nor did any offer neutral comments.
Florida House And Senate Panels Pass Bills To Criminalize Sales Of Psychedelic Mushroom Spores
Agricultural legislation in Florida containing a provision to outlaw psychedelic mushroom spores has proceeded past two more lawmaking panels in the House and Senate.
The proposed ban on spores of mushrooms that create psilocybin or psilocin is part of roughly 150-page companion bills that would make a variety of adjustments to Florida’s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.
With respect to psychedelic mushrooms, both would outlaw transporting, importing, selling or giving away “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”
Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.
On Wednesday, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee passed HB 651, from sponsor Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R), on a 14–4 vote. Prior to the vote, the body adopted an amendment that simplifies the language of the psychedelic spore prohibition but doesn’t meaningfully change it.
Tuck explained to members at the hearing that the change “restructures” the language “to simplify the prohibition without changing the substance of the underlying bill.”
Later in the day, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government favorably reported SB 700, by Sen. Keith Truenow (R).
While senators didn’t discuss the bill’s spore provision at the hearing, one public commenter, identified as Daniel Freeman, opposed it.
Trump’s First Pick For Attorney General Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is ‘On The Horizon’
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)—President Donald Trump’s first pick for U.S. attorney general this term before he withdrew from consideration—says “meaningful” marijuana reform is “on the horizon” under the current administration, praising the president’s “leadership” in supporting rescheduling.
In an op-ed published by The Tampa Bay Times on Thursday, Gaetz said that moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) “won’t solve every problem overnight, but it is a necessary step in the right direction.” And he expressed confidence that Trump will bring about that reform.
The former lawmaker’s column omits mention of the fact that former President Joe Biden initiated the rescheduling review that led federal agencies to recommend the reclassification. And while it’s true that, during his 2024 campaign, Trump endorsed the policy change in a social media post, he has not publicly discussed marijuana issues since taking office.
In any case, Gaetz said today “there is meaningful change finally on the horizon, thanks to President Donald Trump and his leadership in supporting the rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.”
Gaetz said he’s “always believed that marijuana laws should be rooted in science, not stigma,” citing his work to advance reform during his time in the Florida House and Congress.
However, he seemed to mischaracterize his contribution to the issue in the state legislature, claiming he introduced legislation at the time to “legalize marijuana because I understood that our outdated federal policies were failing patients, veterans and businesses.” Gaetz did sponsor a limited medical cannabis bill, but not a full-out legalization measure. In Congress, he was one of the sole GOP votes to support a Democrat-led federal legalization bill, however.
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