The Maryland Senate today overwhelmingly approved a marijuana decriminalization bill with bipartisan support. It now heads to the House of Delegates.
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.
The GOP-dominated House Appropriations Committee stuck a thumb in the eye of democratic governance in the nations capital this morning.
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.
A state district court judge last Friday dealt a hard blow to provisions of a restrictive state medical marijuana law passed by the Republican-dominated legislature seven years after Big Sky voters approved a more open initiative allowing for medicinal use and a wide open dispensary scene.
[image:1 align:left]District Judge James Reynolds in Helena permanently enjoined the implementation of certain key provisions in the law. Those provisions have never actually taken effect because Reynolds blocked them with a temporary injunction back in 2011.Reynolds blocked provisions that ban medical marijuana advertising, forbid the commercial sale of marijuana to authorized patients, restrict caregivers from growing for more than three patients, and require the state to report the names of doctors who recommended more than 25 patients for medical marijuana in a 12-month period to the state Board of Medical Examiners. That final provision would have triggered at automatic review of the doctor’s practices—at his own expense.
It wasn’t a total wipe-out for the legislature. Reynolds let stand a provision that allows police and the Department of Public Health and Human Services to inspect medical marijuana providers unannounced during regular business hours, and he also left intact a provision barring prisoners, parolees, and probationers from being able to obtain medical marijuana cards.
The Montana medical marijuana scene exploded in 2009, when it appeared the Obama administration would not interfere in medical marijuana states, resulting in a case of severe backlash after some players pushed the envelope with open public pot smoking and loosely-regulated “cannabis caravans” crisscrossing the state and offering recommendations over the Internet.
In 2011, the legislature moved to rein in the state’s Wild West medical marijuana industry. It first voted to repeal the medical marijuana law entirely, but that was vetoed by then Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D). The legislature then passed the bill tightly restricting medical marijuana; that bill became law without Schweitzer’s signature.
The Montana Cannabis Industry Association and some individuals sued to block the law. Now, they have succeeded in striking down key provisions—unless and until the state appeals and wins on appeal.
This is the second time Judge Reynolds has thrown out key provisions of the law. The first time, the state Supreme Court sent the case back to him, saying he should rule on it under “a rational basis” instead of the “strict scrutiny” he had applied earlier. Now he has.
“It is not the goal of this court to interfere with the Legislature’s slow and careful opening of the door to the use of medical marijuana,” Reynolds wrote. “It is the goal of this court, however, to ensure that everybody who could benefit from medical marijuana, and especially those with the most serious medically debilitating conditions, are able to travel through that door equally.”
DC’s mayor will fight for legalization, a Montana judge blocks most of a restrictive medical marijuana law, a New York county’s misdemeanor drug bust asset forfeiture law gets vetoed, Thailand will review drug sentences, and more. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:right]Marijuana PolicyDC Mayor Says She Will “Explore Every Option” to Get Legalization Enforced. Appearing on Meet the Press Sunday, new Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser stuck up for the District’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law. In the face of opposition in the Republican Congress, Bowser said the city will “explore every option,” up to and including a lawsuit against Congress, to ensure that the will of the voters is respected. She said the city would send the measure to Congress this month.
Washington State Bill Would Make Old Pot Convictions Go Away. People convicted of misdemeanor marijuana offenses in the past could have a chance to clear their records under a bill pre-filed for this year’s legislative session. House Bill 1041, sponsored by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Vashon Island), would allow for the vacating of past pot offenses, but only if there are no pending criminal charges or any new charges since the misdemeanor pot conviction. Neither would people with a history of DUI charges, violent or obscene offenses, or domestic violence charges be eligible.
Medical Marijuana
South Dakota Medical Marijuana Billboard Go Up. Billboards pushing for medical marijuana and paid for by the Sioux Falls Free Thinkers are going up this week in South Dakota’s largest city. The move comes as advocacy groups, including South Dakota Against Prohibition, work to get a medical marijuana bill through the legislature this session. South Dakota legislators have consistently rejected medical marijuana, and so have the state’s voters. Past efforts to legalize medical marijuana at the ballot box failed in 2006 and 2010.
Montana Judge Blocks Some Restrictions on Medical Marijuana. A state district court judge last Friday dealt a death blow to provisions of a restrictive state medical marijuana law passed by the Republican-dominated legislature seven years after Big Sky voters approved a more open initiative allowing for medicinal use and a wide open dispensary scene. District Judge James Reynolds in Helena permanently enjoined the implementation of certain key provisions in the law. Those provisions have never actually taken effect because Reynolds blocked them with a temporary injunction back in 2011. Click on the title link for more details.
Asset Forfeiture
Orange County, NY, County Exec Vetoes Misdemeanor Asset Forfeiture Ordinance. Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus has vetoed an asset forfeiture law that would have allowed for the seizure of cash and property from people arrested for misdemeanor drug offenses. “While the legislation’s concept to punish criminals who threaten public safety is something I am supportive of; still, the measure’s final result leaves open the possibility of affecting innocent individuals,” he said last Friday. “Moreover, the fact that revenue would largely go toward the general cost of government, rather than exclusively preventing future criminal activity is troubling to many.”
Sentencing
Obama’s Plan for Mass Commutations of Drug Sentences Hitting Roadblocks. President Obama’s announced goal of commuting thousands of federal drug sentences is running into problems. Although some 25,000 prisoners have applied for sentence cuts, only eight were handed out last month when Obama announced Christmas pardons and commutations. The Justice Department is struggling to determine which sentences have been influenced by the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity and it lacks the lawyers to make a significant dent in the backlog. Advocacy groups have formed the Clemency Project 2014 to recruit private attorneys to help, but that is creating its own sets of issues. Much, much more at the link.
Methamphetamine
Meth Pouring Across California-Mexico Border. US Customs and Border Protection reports that meth is coming across the Mexican border into California at unprecedented levels. Agents seized more than 14,000 pounds of the drug in FY 2014, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all meth seizures at the US border or points of entry. Seizures in California have increased nearly five-fold since 2009, when a US federal law made the procurement of precursor chemicals in this country more difficult.
International
Thailand to Review Drug Sentencing. The country’s Narcotics Control Board is meeting this week to consider revising drug sentences. Board Secretary-General Pempong Koomchaya said the laws are too stiff in many instances. “The imprisonment term for drug smugglers across the board is between 10-20 years although many smugglers are found with only 12 pills in their possession. About 60-70% of the arrested drug offenders have in possession less than 50 pills. Jailing them causes overcrowding at prisons also,” he said. Pempong said some sentences must be made more lenient and that revisions in the law should be ready by the end of the month.
Israeli Farmers Eye Expanded Medical Marijuana Opportunities. The Health Ministry is expected to announce later this month it will open bids for additional medical marijuana providers. The tender is set to be published January 31, with results expected in March. Some farmers see new opportunities for profit—and for lower prices for patients. Click on the link for more.
DC pot legalization foes get nailed for campaign finance violations, Vermont activists are joining forces to legalize it this year, the Congressional Black Caucus is going to concentrate on criminal justice reform, Kentucky is spending money to prevent opiate overdoses, and more. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana PolicyColorado Governor Says Legalization Off to Good Start, But He’s Worried About the Kids. Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) told reporters Tuesday that despite his initial concerns, the state’s marijuana industry is well-regulated and staying within the law “in almost every case.” Still, said Hickenlooper, “The concern that we still have — that I still have — is whether young people will view this legalization as in some way saying to them that marijuana is safe.”
DC Legalization Opponents Violated Campaign Finance Laws. The DC Office of Campaign Finance has concluded that the anti-Initiative 71 group TIE DC (“Two is Enough, DC”) violated several campaign laws in its effort to defeat the successful legalization initiative. It failed to register as a political committee, failed to file a financial report, and failed to include proper language in its campaign literature, according to the campaign finance office report. The office is recommending that the group be fined $2,000.
Oregon Liquor Commission Seeking Public Comment on How to Proceed With Legal Marijuana. The commission, which is charged with implementing legalization, wants to hear from interested parties. It has posted a survey on its website asking the public for its input on how best to move forward. The commission is planning a series of “listening sessions” later this month.
Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Forms. Groups of Vermont legalization supporters have come together to form the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana with an eye toward getting a legalization bill passed this year. Coalition members include the Vermont ACLU, the state Libertarian and Progressive parties, other state groups, the Marijuana Policy Project and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). A legalization bill last year morphed into a study bill, whose report will be released next week, but Sen. David Zuckerman (P/D-Chittenden) said he plans to introduce a legalization bill this session.
Harm Reduction
Kentucky to Pay For 2,000 Take-Home Overdose Reversal Drug Kits. Gov. Steve Beshear (D) announced Tuesday that the state will provide $105,000 for three urban hospitals to buy 2,000 naloxone kits to send home with heroin overdose patients. “This project will allow us to get this medicine into the hands and homes of the people who need it most: heroin users and their families,” Attorney General Jack Conway said at a Capitol news conference, standing with Beshear and first lady Jane Beshear. “They will be walking out (of the emergency room) with a medication that could save their lives.” At least 723 Kentuckians died of drug overdoses in the first nine months of 2014; 27% of those cases involved heroin.
Criminal Justice
New Head of Congressional Black Caucus Promises Focus on Criminal Justice Reform. Incoming caucus head Rep. GK Butterfield (D-NC) said at his swearing in ceremony Tuesday that the group will focus on criminal justice reform this session. “Thjere is a well-founded mistrust between the African American community and law enforcement officers,” Butterfield said. “The statistics are clear. Video clips are clear. We recognize that the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities. Unfortunately, there are some officers who abuse the sacred responsibility to protect and serve by using excessive and sometimes deadly force when a less severe response is warranted. The CBC will seek legislative action to reverse this terrible trend.” The caucus will also work to reform sentencing laws, he said.
International
At White House, Obama Pledges to Support Mexico in Fight Against Drug Violence. Meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto Tuesday, President Obama said the US will stand alongside Mexico as a “good partner” in its fight against violent drug traffickers and related problems. “Our commitment is to be a friend and supporter of Mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and drug cartels that are responsible for so many tragedies inside of Mexico,” he said. Despite calls from groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Center for International Policy’s America’s Program for the US to hold Mexico’s feet to the fire over human rights violations, corruption, and impunity, Obama did not publicly address those issues.
All the medical marijuana news this week is from the West and Midwest. There’s good news from Iowa, Montana, and South Dakota, but things are going slowly in Illinois. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:right caption:true]IllinoisLast Wednesday, the state missed its own 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.”
Iowa
On Monday, the Iowa Pharmacy Board voted to reschedule CBD, but not marijuana. The state Board of Pharmacy voted to move cannabidiol (CBD) from Schedule I to Schedule II, but not marijuana. The board was acting on a petition from long-time activist Carl Olsen, who sought to have the whole plant rescheduled. But the board wasn’t ready to do that. Olsen says while it isn’t what he was asking for, it is a step in the right direction.
Montana
Last Friday, a district court judge blocked some restrictions on medical marijuana. A state district court judge dealt a death blow to provisions of a restrictive state medical marijuana law passed by the Republican-dominated legislature seven years after Big Sky voters approved a more open initiative allowing for medicinal use and a wide open dispensary scene. District Judge James Reynolds in Helena permanently enjoined the implementation of certain key provisions in the law. Those provisions have never actually taken effect because Reynolds blocked them with a temporary injunction back in 2011. Click on the title link for more details.
South Dakota
On Monday, medical marijuana billboards began going up in Sioux Falls. Billboards pushing for medical marijuana and paid for by the Sioux Falls Free Thinkers are going up this week in South Dakota’s largest city. The move comes as advocacy groups, including South Dakota Against Prohibition, work to get a medical marijuana bill through the legislature this session. South Dakota legislators have consistently rejected medical marijuana, and so have the state’s voters. Past efforts to legalize medical marijuana at the ballot box failed in 2006 and 2010.
[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visitMedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]
A California tribe looks to be the first to grow marijuana, DC councilmembers move ahead with plans to tax and regulate pot, key congressional committee chairs call for asset forfeiture reform, an omnibus heroin bill is on the move in Kentucky, and more. Let’s get to it:
[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana PolicyMilwaukee Aldermen Want to Make Pot Ticket Fine $5 or Less. If you get caught with pot in Milwaukee right now, you face a fine of between $250 and $500—and a trip to jail if you don’t pay the fine. Two Aldermen think that’s too much. Nik Kovac and Ashanti Hamilton are proposing lowering the fine to $5 or less. “We are effectively trying to eliminate any of these tickets,” Kovac said, citing racial disparities in marijuana arrests. Although the city’s black and white populations are roughly equal, five times as many black people were arrested for pot possession last year as white people.
Half of Michiganders Support Marijuana Legalization. Michigan is evenly divided on marijuana legalization, with 50% saying they would support an initiative allowing pot possession by adults and taxable sales at state-regulated stores, and 46% saying they opposed such an idea. The figures come from a new poll conducted by EPIC-MRA of Lansing. A similar poll last year had support at 47%. The trend is upward, but the numbers aren’t high enough to excite deep-pocketed potential initiative backers; the conventional wisdom is that initiatives should be polling at 60% or more when the campaign begins
DC Councilmembers File Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana. In a pointed message to the Congress, DC councilmembers last week introduced a bill that would tax and regulate marijuana sales in the nation’s capital. The move comes despite passage of a federal spending bill that included an amendment barring the District from spending local or federal funds to implement such a law. Councilmember David Grosso and three colleagues have introduced the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act of 2015 (B21-0023), which would create a framework for a legal marijuana industry, complete with licensed cultivators, product manufacturers, retail stores, and testing labs.
Washington State Legislators Face Plethora of Pot Bills. Voting to legalize marijuana in 2012 was not the end for marijuana policy at the state legislature, but a new beginning. This week, at least seven marijuana-related bills have been filed as the session gets underway. A pair of bills seeks to resolve the problems with the fit between recreational and medical marijuana, another bill would raise the excise tax, yet another addresses organ transplant eligibility, while another would bar open containers in moving vehicles. Click on the link for more details and all the bill numbers.
A Second Ohio Legalization Initiative Campaign Emerges. Ohioans to End Prohibition has become the second group to plan a 2016 legalization initiative in the Buckeye State. The group is finalizing language for its Cannabis Control Amendment within the next few weeks. Already out of the gate is Responsible Ohio, whose End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act (EOCPA) would set up 10 authorized marijuana growing locations around the state.
Northern California Tribe Could Be First to Grow Pot. The Pinoleville Pomo Nation in Mendocino County, California, said last Thursday it had signed a contract to grow thousands of marijuana plants on its 99-acre Rancheria (reservation) north of Ukiah. The Justice Department recently gave the okay for marijuana operations on tribal lands, and it looks like the Pomos are first off the blocks.
Medical Marijuana
Florida Medical Marijuana Initiative is Back. Proponents of last year’s failed medical marijuana initiative have filed a rewritten ballot measure aimed at 2016. “The language and the essence of the amendment is essentially the same,” said John Morgan, the Orlando attorney who chairs People United for Medical Marijuana, and the chief financer of the legalization drive. “What I would say is that we have tweaked or clarified positions that were constantly brought up by our opposition to help us talk more freely about the real issue, which is the legalization of medical marijuana.”
Poll Finds Georgians Back Allowing CBD Cannabis Oil. Some 84% of Georgians support the legalization of low-THC, high-CBD cannabis oils to treat medical conditions, according to a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll. The poll also found that when it came to legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Georgians were split almost evenly, with 49% saying legalize it and 48% saying don’t.
Heroin
Kentucky Omnibus Heroin Bill Passes Senate. A multi-pronged bill designed to address the state’s heroin problem passed the Senate in three days. The measure would increase treatment, prevention, and overdose prevention measures, but would also increase penalties for some heroin offenses. Democrats in the House said they will pass a similar measure, but probably without the mandatory minimum prison sentences approved in the Senate version.
International
Geneva Wants to Legalize the Marijuana Business. A year after Switzerland decriminalized pot possession, the canton on Geneva is thinking about legalizing the pot trade in a bid to undermine the black market. The canton’s multi-party Advisory Commission on Addiction has urged the regional government to seek federal government approval of a pilot legalization program. The commission is recommending something akin to the Spanish model, where home cultivation is tolerated and private cannabis clubs offer smoking space and weed for sale.
Brazil Justice Minister Says No Marijuana Legalization. Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo said Sunday that Brazil has no intention of following neighboring Uruguay down the path of pot legalization. “Legalization of drugs is not a part of the government’s plans,” he said. While reform advocates have cited prison overcrowding as a reason to legalize pot, Cardozo said the answer to overcrowding is not to stop arresting marijuana offenders, but to build more prisons.
Chile Authorizes Second Medical Marijuana Grow. Government officials have given the okay to a Chilean concern to grow a medical marijuana crop, the second time such a crop has been approved in the country. Agrofuturo will begin industrial production at its facility in the city of Los Angeles, south of Santiago. In September, the government granted approval to the Daya Foundation to grow the country’s—and the continent’s—first legal medical marijuana crop.