It was a banner day in Annapolis Monday, where legislators, working against an end-of-session deadline, managed to pass both marijuana decriminalization and medical marijuana expansion bills.
With Gov.
Late Thursday night, the House of Representatives told the DEA to butt out of medical marijuana states by approving a budget amendment barring the use of taxpayer funds to do so.
Cut that funding!
Earlier this year we noted here that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had enacted two pro-medical marijuana amendments.
Legal pot is on schedule in Alaska, home hash oil making is not okay in Colorado, DC’s new AG says Congress didn’t really block legalization in the District, a Hawaii task force recommends dispensaries, and more. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana PolicyAlaska Says Marijuana Regulations Coming on Schedule. Gov. Bill Walker said Tuesday that the state’s marijuana regulations will be issued on time. “We have strong, cooperative leadership heading up implementation of this very important act,” Governor Walker said. “They assured me that we can meet the statutory and regulatory timelines outlined in the initiative that voters passed in November. I’m confident that we will be diligent in our efforts to make sure we have adequate regulations for this new industry in place and on time.” The initiative goes into effect on February 24, 2015. The board has until November 24, 2015 to adopt regulations and anticipates accepting applications for marijuana licenses by February 24, 2016. The board expects the initial industry licenses to be awarded by late May 2016.
Colorado AG Says Home Hash Oil Extraction is Illegal Attorney General John Suthers said Tuesday that the state’s marijuana legalization law does not allow for the making of hash oil in the home. He said the law “expressly prohibits” such conduct because of the threat it poses to the public. “To decriminalize dangerous and unreasonable behavior in which people are getting hurt and houses are blowing up, defies the intent of the voters,” Suthers said in a statement. “Colorado is experiencing a real public safety issue as a result of unsafe and unlicensed manufacturing and production,” he added. The state has seen dozens of explosions at homes this year as amateurs attempt to make hash oil using flammable butane.
DC’s New AG Says Congressional Action Didn’t Block DC Legalization. Incoming District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine says the congressional rider seeking to block legalization in the District won’t do that. “We think Initiative 71 was basically self-enacted, just as the congresswoman does,” Racine told The Washington Post, referring to Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting congressional delegate. “We think there’s good support for that position, and we’re going to support that position.”
Mississippi Legalization Initiative Approved for Signature Gathering. An initiative sponsored by Legalize Marijuana in Mississippi has been approved by the secretary of state’s office, and that means the group will shortly begin signature gathering to qualify for the 2016 ballot. They have until October 2 to come up with 106,165 valid voter signatures. They must get at least 21,233 signatures in each of the state’s five electoral districts.
Medical Marijuana
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Task Force Recommends Dispensaries. The state’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force has recommended that dispensaries be allowed to make it easier for seriously ill patients to obtain their medicine. The task force is recommending at least one dispensary in each of the four major counties with licensing to begin in January 2017. The state legislative session convenes next month, and lawmakers, including the governor, will have to decide whether to follow through with any, or all, of the recommendations.
Medical Marijuana Bills Proposed in Kentucky. There will be at least two such bills in the Bluegrass State in 2015. State Sen. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) has already filed Senate Bill 43, and House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonburg) has said he plans to introduce another. Stumbo’s bill allows for dispensaries; Clark’s bill does not.
Drug Testing
Wisconsin Governor Wants to Expand Welfare Drug Testing to Include Unemployment. Gov. Scott Walker (R) successfully pushed to get a welfare drug testing law passed during his first term. Now, he wants to expand drug testing to include people seeking unemployment benefits. “It’s not about trying to penalize people; it’s really trying to say if you want to get ready to work these are the two basic things: employability skills and drug free,” he explained.
International
ISIS Publicly Whips Drug Users, Burns Marijuana. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has released photos of its members publicly whipping drug users and burning marijuana and cigarettes in the Syrian city of Raqqa. Captions released with the photos said the men were accused of using illegal drugs and were punished in accordance with Sharia law.
Pot dollars are starting to roll in in Washington state, marijuana reform bills filed in Arizona, Illinois delays dispensary applications without explanation, Colorado wants to grow research marijuana at colleges, and more. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana PolicyWashington State Did $64 Million in Pot Sales in Slow Roll-Out First Year. Legal marijuana commerce has been slow out of the gate in Washington, thanks to regulatory hurdles and supply shortages, but still rang up $64 million in sales by year’s end. Some 99 retail outlets have been licensed (although that doesn’t mean they are operating) out of the 331 envisioned by the state Liquor Control Board, which is in charge of legal marijuana. As legal pot settles in, looks for this year’s numbers to be significantly greater.
Arizona Lawmaker Files Legalization Bill. Rep. Mark Cardenas (D-Phoenix) has filed a bill that would legalization the possession of up to an ounce of weed and allow for it to be sold through state-regulated retail outlets. The bill is House Bill 2007. Cardenas admits passage is unlikely, so he has a back-up plan: His House Bill 2006 would simply decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce.
Medical Marijuana
Illinois Misses Deadline on Issuing Medical Marijuana Licenses. State officials admitted Wednesday afternoon that they had missed their self-imposed deadline to begin issuing dispensary and cultivation licenses before the end of 2014. But they didn’t say why or when they would be ready. Here is the statement from the Department of Health: “We are strongly committed to bringing relief to thousands of people across the state and ensuring Illinois is the national model for implementing medical cannabis. We are working hard to make sure this is done right. We are conducting a comprehensive review of every cultivation center and dispensary applicant to ensure that only the most qualified are approved for this important program. We will announce the recipients when this important review is finished.”
Colorado Seeking Federal Okay for State Colleges to Grow Marijuana.In a letter sent last month, the state attorney general’s office asked federal health and education officials to allow state institutions of higher learning to “obtain marijuana from non-federal government sources.” The letter was sent under a law passed last year requiring state officials to ask the federal government to allow colleges and universities “to cultivate marijuana and its component parts.” “Current research is riddled with bias or insufficiencies and often conflict with one another,” reads the letter, written by deputy attorney general David Blake. “It is critical that we be allowed to fill the void of scientific research, and this may only be done with your assistance and cooperation.” Don’t hold your breath, though.
Drug Treatment and Recovery
Text Available for Federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. The full text of the act, HR 5845, is now available online. The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would authorize the awarding of grants for prevention and education, treatment alternatives to incarceration, expansion of law enforcement use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as well as “evidence-based opioid and heroin treatment and interventions demonstrations” and “criminal justice medication-assisted treatment and intervention demonstrations.” The bill currently has six cosponsors—three Republicans and three Democrats—and has been assigned to the House Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Workforce committees. Click on the link to read the bill.
International
Australian Cops Using Drug Dogs Bust 214 People at New Year’s Dance Festival. Who let the dogs out? New South Wales police did, that’s who. They reported arresting 214 people at the “Fuzzy Field Day 2015” electronic music festival in Sydney yesterday after drug dogs alerted on them. Three other people were arrested on drug trafficking charges.