December 9, 2020
The US House just voted to decriminalize marijuana — but timid Democrats don’t deserve an ovation
The Democrat-led US House made history Friday when members voted 228-164 in favor of decriminalizing and taxing marijuana at the federal level, while wiping away old convictions and investing the spoils in communities hit hardest by the war on drugs. There was, predictably, much rejoicing by the cannabis industry and marijuana advocates. And it wasn’t entirely undeserved. Let’s not give the Blue Team too much credit, though. First of all, House leaders had originally planned to yea-or-nay the measure, called the MORE Act, back in September. But a handful of centrists up for re-election in purple districts complained the bill made them vulnerable to attacks by their Republican proponents in the critical weeks leading up the November election. Leadership obligingly pulled the plug, long after the date of the vote had been announced. Then November came around and — whoops! Voters all over the United States easily approved marijuana legalization ballot measures, including those in blood-red Montana and South Dakota, purple Arizona, and deep-blue New Jersey. Oklahoma, another red state, apparently now has “the hottest weed market in the nation,” and voters in progressive areas such as Oregon are moving on and decriminalizing other drugs, a push that will soon come to Massachusetts and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the most recent polls show support for legalization nearing 70 percent among Americans, with more than 90 percent (yes, really) backing legal medical marijuana and fewer than 10 percent saying the drug should remain completely illegal. So while I’m not rooting for any particular policy here, I am wondering why political consultants on both sides of the aisle aren’t grabbing their clients by the collar and shouting, “what are you waiting for?! The drug war is over! Drugs won! Scoreboard, bro!”
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There’s a renewed push to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in Nebraska, lawmakers say they plan to obtain 250,000 total signatures to get both medical initiatives on the ballot in 2022. Nebraska voters are already weighing the pros and cons to both proposals. “There's a negative propaganda about it and I think... people should look deeper into it,” said Nick Hancke. “There’s a positive aspect to it than what’s been said about it.” “I think everything has its limitations,” said Princess Brown. “So as long as it’s not something that is going to be abused, which we all know people do that, I do think it would be beneficial.” Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld said many voters are on board with medical and recreational marijuana, so that is why he’s pushing to legal both. “I also know of a lot of Nebraskans who have decided to not stay and live in Nebraska, or not come to Nebraska simply because we have such ‘behind the times’ medical or adult-use marijuana laws,” said Morfeld. The decision to legalize medical marijuana was nearly in the hands of voters this year, but Nebraska's supreme court pulled it from the 2020 ballot. Voters say this new effort is giving them hope. “If it’s not for you then don’t it,” said Brown. “But if there is someone who needs it, if it’s going to be beneficial to them and do it as a recreational choice then so be it." “It would make it so that a bunch of Nebraskans who are already using marijuana would not be using it illegally,” said Morfeld. “It would allow people who have medical conditions to also use it." Governor Pete Ricketts has long opposed legalizing medical marijuana. Ricketts said cannabis decreases productivity, while making workplaces less safe.
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December 9, 2020
In economic crisis, Texas Democrats push to legalize marijuana. Key Republicans likely stand in the way.
Texas (The Texas Tribune) - With a state budget devastated by the coronavirus, some Democratic lawmakers are hoping the economic crisis could become an opportunity to coax Texas into joining a growing number of states opting to legalize — and tax — recreational marijuana use. The chances are slim. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso filed bills this week in advance of the 2021 legislative session that would legalize, regulate and tax personal cannabis use. State Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg has proposed putting the question of legalization to Texas voters. The coronavirus pandemic has blown a $4.6 billion hole in the state budget, according to the comptroller’s latest estimate, and the lawmakers argue that a legal marijuana industry could bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue and create tens of thousands of jobs. Voters in more and more states, they note, have legalized recreational cannabis use, including four more this month bringing the total to 15. At the same time, marijuana arrests and prosecutions across Texas have been plummeting, largely because a bill passed last year that legalizes hemp has thrown prosecutions into disarray, and some cities have already eased off on pursuing small pot cases. “As we see a number of states engaging around the country in a retail market, this is no longer an experiment,” Moody said. “It is also no secret that we are heading into some rough economic waters and we need to explore every possible revenue stream.” But changes to marijuana laws still face powerful opposition at the Texas Capitol. The handful of legalization proposals filed in recent years have received little to no attention from lawmakers. And even less controversial measures, like lowering criminal penalties for marijuana possession, have fallen flat in the Texas Senate. With Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch conservative, at the helm of the upper chamber, it remains unlikely that a legalization bill will make it out when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
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The constitutional amendment authorizing recreational marijuana in New Jersey takes effect on New Year’s Day, but the Garden State’s Democratic-led Legislature has been at an impasse over measures decriminalizing marijuana. Late Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy and legislators said they did reach an agreement on setting up the new recreational marketplace, but did not disclose details. Lawmakers and lobbyists expressed cautious confidence that the measures will move forward, but the logjam comes even though the top two legislative leaders and the governor largely agree on how to move forward more than a year after the trio announced their support for legalization. Legislators penciled in Dec. 17 for the final voting sessions of the year. Voters overwhelmingly said yes to a constitutional amendment that legalizes a recreational marijuana market for people 21 and older. But the amendment doesn’t specify what that market would look like, beyond tasking the Cannabis Regulatory Commission with overseeing it. The amendment also does not address laws on the books that outlaw marijuana offenses, like possession and distribution. Neither does any state law address a cannabis marketplace. The Legislature has always known it would need to step in.
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December 9, 2020
Bill decriminalizing marijuana ‘great step’ but ‘largely symbolic,’ says cannabis COO
The MORE Act would decriminalize cannabis and marks the first time that Congress has ever voted on the issue. The bill would erase non-violent federal marijuana convictions. It stands almost no chance in the Senate, which means it has no chance of becoming law right now. The historic vote reflects public opinion, and a Gallup Poll showed 68% of Americans support the legalization of cannabis. This week became historic for the “legalize marijuana” movement, with the House of Representatives passing the MORE Act by a vote of 228-164 on Friday. The bill would decriminalize cannabis and marks the first time that Congress has ever voted on the issue. The MORE Act would erase non-violent federal marijuana convictions. It stands almost no chance in the Senate, which means no chance of becoming law. Arun Kurichety, the chief operating officer and general counsel for Petalfast, told “The News with Shepard Smith” that the MORE Act is more of a symbolic step in the right direction. Petalfast is a first-of-its-kind full spectrum sales and marketing agency for the cannabis industry. “The passage of the MORE Act is a great step in terms of recognizing the injustices present in the criminal justice system, but unfortunately, this is all largely symbolic as the bill has little chance of passing the Senate - until and unless - the Democrats are able to secure a majority in the Senate,” Kurichety said. “Hopefully, this act will help continue to shed a light on reversing injustices and promote additional growth in the industry as reflected by the public support and passage of various state laws legalizing cannabis.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a jab at the bill during a floor speech. He said, “the House of Representatives is spending this week on pressing issues like marijuana. You know, serious and important legislation befitting this national crisis.?
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December 7, 2020
House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level
The Democratic-controlled House on Friday approved a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, reversing what supporters called a failed policy of criminalization of pot use and taking steps to address racial disparities in enforcement of federal drug laws. Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill a hollow political gesture and mocked Democrats for bringing it up at a time when thousands of Americans are dying from the coronavirus pandemic. “With all the challenges America has right now, (Republicans) think COVID relief should be on the floor, but instead, the Democrats put cats and cannabis” on the House floor, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “They’re picking weed over the workers. They’re picking marijuana over (providing) the much-needed money we need to go forward? to address the pandemic. McCarthy’s comment about cats referred to a separate bill approved by the House to ban private ownership of big cats such as lions and tigers, a measure boosted by the Netflix series “Tiger King.? That bill, approved by the House on Thursday, would allow most private zoos to keep their tigers and other species but would prohibit most public contact with the animals. Democrats said they can work on COVID-19 relief and marijuana reform at the same time and noted that the House passed a major pandemic relief bill in May that has languished in the Senate. Supporters say the pot bill would help reverse adverse effects of the decades-long “war on drugs” by removing marijuana, or cannabis, from the list of federally controlled substances while allowing states to set their own rules on pot. The bill also would use money from an excise tax on marijuana to address the needs of groups and communities harmed by the drug war and provide for the expungement of federal marijuana convictions and arrests. “For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem instead of as a matter of personal choice and public health,? said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a key sponsor of the bill. “Whatever one’s views are on the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal use, the policy of arrests, prosecution and incarceration at the federal level has proven unwise and unjust.? The vote comes at a time when most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form, and lawmakers from both parties agreed that national cannabis policy has lagged woefully behind changes at the state level. That divide has created a host of problems — loans and other banking services, for example, are hard to get for many marijuana companies because pot remains illegal at the federal level. Four states, including New Jersey and Arizona, passed referendums allowing recreational cannabis. Voters made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., called the House bill an important racial justice measure. Lee, who is Black, said the bill is the product of years of work by a range of advocates and is long overdue. The bill “is a major step, mind you, a major step toward ending the unjust war on drugs and racial inequities that are central to these laws,? Lee said.
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December 7, 2020
House Passes Landmark Bill Decriminalizing Marijuana
The House on Friday passed sweeping legislation that would decriminalize marijuana and expunge nonviolent marijuana-related convictions, as Democrats sought to roll back and compensate for decades of drug policies that have disproportionately affected low-income communities of color. The 228-164 vote to approve the measure was bipartisan, and it was the first time either a chamber of Congress had ever endorsed the legalization of cannabis. The bill would remove the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and authorize a 5 percent tax on marijuana that would fund community and small business grant programs to help those most impacted by the criminalization of marijuana. The legislation is, for now, almost certainly doomed in the Republican-led Senate, where that party’s leaders have derided it as a superficial distraction from the work of passing coronavirus relief, as lawmakers inched toward bipartisan compromise after spending months locked in an impasse. But the bill’s passage in the House amounted to a watershed moment decades in the making for advocates of marijuana legislation, and it laid out an expansive federal framework for redressing the racial disparities in the criminal justice system exacerbated by the war on drugs. “The effects of marijuana prohibition have been particularly felt by communities of color because it has meant that people from the communities couldn’t get jobs,” Representative Jerry Nadler, Democrat of New York and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. Mr. Nadler, who spearheaded the legislation with Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California and the vice president-elect, described the collateral consequences of a conviction for marijuana possession as creating “an often-permanent second-class status for millions of Americans.” The idea behind the legislation is “you want to make whole these communities, and you want to compensate,” he said. “You want to shed light on what was done.” The legislation intends to give states power and incentives to enact their own reforms, and its passage came as states around the county, including some conservative-leaning ones, have become increasingly open to decriminalizing marijuana amid a growing consensus that the war on drugs has been destructive. Fifteen states have legalized recreational cannabis, and voters in five states last month voted on legalization issues, bringing the number of states where medical marijuana is legal to 35. The law would require federal courts to release those serving sentences for nonviolent, marijuana-related offenses, and set up grant programs focused on providing job training, legal aid and substance use treatment, as well as grants for small businesses in the marijuana industry led by low-income and minority business owners. Physicians with the Department of Veterans Affairs would also be allowed for the first time to recommend medical marijuana to their patients.
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December 7, 2020
Is Mexico Really Going To Legalize Marijuana For Recreational Use?
Mexico is potentially on track to become the third country in the world to legalize recreational-use cannabis. New laws currently under discussion might make Mexico the world’s largest legal market for marijuana. Following the examples set by Uruguay and Canada, Mexico’s Senate has already voted to approve a bill that would start the process for creating a legal framework for a licit market for marijuana. Up until now, the driving force behind the push to legalize marijuana in Mexico has been the Supreme Court, which ruled that marijuana use falls under protected modes of individual self epression. Support from the MORENA party of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was essential for passing a legalization bill in Mexico’s Senate. President Lopez Obrador, a perplexing politician who promotes the values of individual liberty, rails against “conservatives” and yet also promotes traditional, family values and has strong ties to Mexico’s conservative religious groups, has not talked much about the issue of legalization. Up until now he has mostly stayed on the sidelines, letting Mexico’s courts interact with the legislative branch. Overall, the potential opportunity to create a legal market for recreational-use marijuana is an important development in Mexico. Marijuana was once at the center of the business model for many organized crime groups in Mexico. But, with U.S. states such as California and Colorado now operating legal markets for locally-produced marijuana, Mexico’s cartels have already diversified into producing crystal meth and fentanyl and into other rackets such as extortion. It’s still not totally clear what effect marijuana legalization would have on organized crime and violence in Mexico. The U.S. has long backed marijuana eradication efforts in Mexico, but it’s unclear how the incoming Biden administration would react to Mexico creating a legal, nation-wide marketplace for marijuana. The legislation is still be written and debated in Mexico, and lawmakers still have a lot of work to do to create a clear set of rules that will allow companies to invest and start operating cannabis producing operations in Mexico. Provisions requiring market participants to implement rigorous seed-to-sale tracing protocols might create hurdles for small companies and rural growers. But, in the near future it could be possible for cannabis companies operating in Mexico to send legal exports to the U.S. and Canada. While Mexico does appear to be moving towards legalizing marijuana, potential investors in the sector still need to wait to see the details of pending legislation and look at the structure and design of the institutions that will regulate the sector. Investors need a clear regulatory framework in place and will need to do serious due diligence and political risk analysis before financing projects in Mexico’s nascent legal cannabis sector. The details of the pending legislation are very important. Investors need to understand potential risks from any ambiguities in the regulatory code and also need to analyze security issues and political dynamics in the specific areas where they are considering operating. To get a sense of what’s ahead, I reached out to Elias Lisbona Jassan, a lawyer at Perez Ferrer Abogados, who works advising companies and investors interested in Mexico’s fledgling legal cannabis market. Nathaniel Parish Flannery: What's the current status of the push to legalize marijuana in Mexico? Elias Lisbona Jassan: Right now, Mexico’s Senate has approved a bill that permits industrial, own- use and cultivation, investigation and adult use sales of cannabis. Support from President Lopez Obrador’s MORENA party was key to passing the bill in the Senate. Now we’ll see if they can replicate the outcome in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. There’s still a long process to approve the bill and legislators are under pressure because of a Supreme Court deadline, which is on December 15. Overall, there's still a lot to be discussed and codified into clear policy proposals in order for Mexico to have a truly functional marijuana legalization bill. But, we are making progress towards building a legal marketplace for cannabis, and that’s an important achievement for Mexico. Parish Flannery: How likely is it that Mexico will introduce a functioning legal market for cannabis by the end of 2021? Lisbona Jassan: It’s quite possible that we will have some kind of basic medical marijuana market in the near future. We have pending regulations that will not take long to be implemented. Medical regulations are set to be published by the end of 2020 after being put on hold since 2017. But, lawmakers in Mexico still have a lot of work to do. They need to develop the Mexican Institute for Cannabis Regulation and Control, which is expected to start operating just six months after the law is enacted. We need to train public servants on how to regulate the sector. It's a huge task. I think that in a best-case scenario for harvesting and processing non psychoactive marijuana will be legal in Mexico by August or September of 2021. For adult use, the current draft of the legalization bill foresees an 18-month period to approve the licenses after the institute is created and the Law has full effect, so I wouldn’t bet on having an adult use legal market before 2022. I don’t think it’s likely that a legal market for recreational-use marijuana will exist in Mexico before the end of 2021. People can consume the day after the legalization law is passed, but we won’t have clear guidelines for the market for several more months. Right now, Mexico’s legislature has to work to develop a clear regulatory pathway for marijuana to be produced, sold, and consumed legally.
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December 7, 2020
Four more states just legalized recreational weed. Here's how long you'll have to wait to buy it
In a matter of hours on election night, recreational cannabis measures got the go-ahead in four more states: Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. That doesn't mean that people in those locations can legally buy weed for non-medical use just yet. Although the moves at the ballot box further bolster the $19 billion US cannabis industry, the passages are early steps in an often complex and lengthy process. History shows that it could take months or, in some cases, years for the first regulated sales to take place. It takes time to develop regulatory programs; establish testing, tracking and safety protocols; build supply chains; license operators; and, of course, grow the plants. And in two states, legal challenges have been filed against the ballot initiatives, meaning legalization efforts there could be potentially overturned. Here's a look at where things stand in the latest adult-use states -- and when people might be able to purchase cannabis there. The Garden State is garnering the lion's share of attention among the newly legal states. The market size could be fairly significant. It's the first of the Mid-Atlantic states to legalize recreational cannabis, establishing a potentially large regional canna-tourism hub, given its proximity to Philadelphia and New York City. New Jersey is also viewed as a catalyst for other neighboring states to push through legalization plans. The new law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2021, and if the legislative and regulatory efforts move expeditiously, adult-use sales could start by the end of next year, said Steven Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a legalization advocacy organization, told CNN Business.
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December 7, 2020
House of Representatives passes marijuana legalization bill
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation legalizing marijuana at the federal level Friday, the first time either chamber of Congress has voted on the matter. The bill, the MORE Act, passed by a mostly party-line 228-164 vote. The Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the legislation. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and expunge some marijuana-related criminal records. It would still be up to states to pass their own regulations on the sale of marijuana. Nadler said in a statement the legislation would help address the "mistake" of marijuana's criminalization and its "racially disparate enforcement." "This long-overdue legislation would reverse the failed policy of criminalizing marijuana on the federal level and would take steps to address the heavy toll this policy has taken across the country, particularly on communities of color," he said. Trump's pardons:Could Trump pardon family members and other close associates? His prior pardons may set the stage for more. Nadler has highlighted provisions in the MORE Act that fund community programs to benefit people previously convicted of marijuana-related offenses. He told USA TODAY in September the provisions were about "making people whole from harms suffered directly as a result of the marijuana ban," which he said disproportionately affected racial minorities. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of a handful of Republicans to vote for the legislation and the only Republican cosponsor of the legislation, said on the House floor the bill was necessary because current federal prohibitions on marijuana "constrains" the states. "If we were measuring the success in the 'war on drugs,' it would be hard to conclude anything other than the fact that drugs have won" because Americans no longer supported harsh laws on drugs, Gaetz said. Advocates see the vote as a part of a move toward "justice." "With this vote, Congress is recognizing the disproportionate impact enforcement has had on our communities and calling for the unjust status quo to be disrupted," said Maritza Perez, director of the office of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, a group advocating for the decriminalization of drugs. An ACLU report analyzing marijuana-related arrests from 2010 to 2018 found that Black people were 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession. The bill's likely passage comes as more states have legalized marijuana and public opinions on the topic have shifted. Four more states passed marijuana legalization measures in the November elections, bringing the total number of states with legal marijuana use for adults to 15. Medical marijuana is legal in 36 states. President-elect Joe Biden has called for the decriminalization of marijuana and the expunging of convictions for marijuana use, though he expressed skepticism about the legalization of the drug during the Democratic presidential primary. Biden's campaign website said he supported the legalization of medical marijuana and would leave decisions on recreational use up to the states. A planned vote on the legislation was shelved in October following backlash from moderate Democrats, who had expressed concern about the effort to pass the marijuana legalization bill before the election and amid the impasse on COVID-19 stimulus negotiations.Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., a moderate Democrat who faced a close reelection race this year, voiced a similar concern Tuesday, as Congress remains deadlocked over a stimulus bill. He wrote on Twitter that while marijuana decriminalization was important, House Democrats' focus should be on "nothing else" besides COVID-19 relief. Republicans have also criticized Democrats for moving on marijuana legalization despite other major concerns before Congress. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Thursday that Democrats were "focused on cats and cannabis instead of COVID." And Senate Republicans quipped Democrats had decided to "'puff, puff, pass' on job-saving PPP and COVID relief." More:Vice President Pence remains silent on election outcome while campaigning for Georgia runoff.
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