After four months in which the inter-ministerial committee for the regulation of Israel's cannabis market had been convening every week, it published its conclusions on Thursday and handed them over to the Justice Ministry. Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn said that a legal memo will be drafted in the coming days for government approval, and that a bill could come to the Knesset floor for an initial reading even before the end of 2020, with the entire legislative process expected to take around nine months. After receiving government approval, the bills will be rewritten into a new law under the supervision of Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, chairwoman of the Knesset's Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Use. "I see great importance that these two bills [for decriminalization and legalization] be put forth as a single bill, which will be a responsible, holistic step for Israel without compromise. I am committed to leading, advancing and supervising the application of these recommendations for reform, while doing the preparations required in the memo on time," Cotler-Wunsh said. In a special discussion on Thursday, Deputy Attorney-General Amit Merari presented the main conclusions of the extensive and in-depth staff work done by the committee and the experts who appeared before it on the subject of regulating cannabis. The recommendations were formulated after an in-depth study of the successes and failures in the implementation of cannabis legalization and decriminalization policies in the countries where the field was regulated. FIRSTLY, anyone who was expecting to be able to smoke a legal joint will have to wait until some time near the final quarter of 2021, since there are still certain areas of both research and legislation which the various government offices need to prepare.
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A week after New Jerseyans voted to legalize cannabis, Gov. Phil Murphy and state lawmakers are at odds over legislation that would allow the state to become the only adult use market between Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee advanced the legalization bill, NJ S21 (20R) / NJ A21 (20R), after roughly six hours of cumulative testimony. The measure was introduced and placed on the legislative fast track last week, just days after two-thirds of the state’s voters backed a ballot question that amended the state’s constitution to legalize the sale and use of cannabis.While the state’s leading Democrats have all said they’d like to move enabling legislation as quickly as possible — the drug will remain illegal until they do — Murphy, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Steve Sweeney aren’t on the same page when it comes to cannabis tax policy. Coughlin issued a statement Monday afternoon calling for an “an additional user fee on cannabis consumers.” That could potentially violate the constitutional amendment, which caps retail taxes on cannabis sales at 6.625 percent, the current state sales tax. Local governments can impose an additional 2 percent tax on all cannabis transactions, including wholesale and cultivation-related transactions. Murphy praised Coughlin’s position during his regular Covid-19 press conference on Monday, noting that he has supported an excise tax, albeit at the cultivation level, “from day one.” The ballot question’s tax language only referred to retail sales and local taxes. Shortly after Murphy’s press conference, Sweeney issued a joint statement with lead sponsor Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) and Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), drawing a line in the sand on new cannabis taxes. “We should not impose any additional taxes that will put the cost of legally purchasing marijuana out of reach for the communities that have been impacted the most,” they said. Similar disagreements contributed to delays in moving last year’s legalization bill, NJ S2703 (18R), which is the foundational text for the current enabling legislation. This time around, lawmakers and administration officials are working against the clock on the constitutional amendment’s Jan. 1, 2021 effective date. In the meantime, pressure is mounting on lawmakers and the Murphy administration to halt cases and arrests relating to cannabis.
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November 13, 2020
In economic crisis, Texas Democrats push to legalize marijuana. Key Republicans likely stand in the way.
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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November 13, 2020
New York, join the green wave and legalize marijuana
Though races remain undecided up and down the ballot both here in New York and across the nation, there was one clear winner this past Election Day: cannabis. In what some have dubbed the “green wave,” voters in New Jersey, Montana and Arizona all approved legalization of adult-use cannabis, while South Dakota made history by becoming the first state in the country to simultaneously green light both adult-use and medical cannabis. Fifteen states — both red and blue — now have laws that allow adults to buy cannabis through a regulated, safe program that generates funds for government. New Jersey’s “yes” vote in particular upped the ante for surrounding states — especially New York — that stand to lose out on a significant new revenue stream if the Garden State beats them to the punch in getting its adult-use program up and running. Despite multiple public polls that show widespread support for doing so, New York lawmakers have failed for two years running to reach a deal on an adult-use legalization bill. With the pandemic-induced economic fallout punching a multibillion-dollar hole in the state budget, and no federal stimulus bailout on the horizon, the Empire State can’t afford to wait any longer. Gov. Cuomo has not always been the biggest fan of cannabis legalization, but he clearly recognizes the revenue-generating benefit it holds as the state faces a financial crisis. In a radio interview last week, Cuomo predicted that “this year (2021) it is ripe” for legalization because the state is “going to be desperate for funding." According to the Cuomo administration, a New York adult-use market, once fully built out, would generate $300 million in annual tax revenue. We think that is a very conservative estimate. A 2019 analysis from the Rockefeller Institute of Government found that a $1.7 billion adult-use industry could generate an economic output of $4.1 billion, while generating 30,700 jobs and attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment.
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November 13, 2020
In economic crisis, Texas Democrats push to legalize marijuana. Key Republicans likely stand in the way
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 latest comptroller's 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 legalizing 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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November 12, 2020
America’s war on drugs has failed. Oregon is showing a way out.
America’s decades-long war on drugs has failed, simultaneously causing huge harms — fueling drug-related violence around the world and funneling millions of people into jails and prisons — and not preventing drug epidemics, including the worst overdose crisis in US history with the opioid epidemic. But now Oregon has declared a truce of sorts, and it’s showing the rest of the US what an end to the drug war might look like. On November 3, Oregon voters elected to decriminalize all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, so possessing small amounts of these substances no longer carries the threat of jail or prison time. The state’s voters also approved another ballot measure to legalize psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms, in supervised therapeutic settings. Oregon voters had previously legalized marijuana for recreational and medical purposes, but it’s the first state in modern American history to legalize psilocybin and decriminalize some drug possession. This amounts to a fundamental rejection of America’s modern war on drugs. The central pillar of the country’s drug war is criminal prohibition — even simple possession of illegal substances carries the threat of jail or prison time. Oregon is chipping away at that regime, if not dismantling it entirely: Drug possession no longer carries the threat of incarceration, and some drugs are even allowed for therapeutic or purely recreational purposes. The value of Oregon’s moves, both symbolically and practically, is hard to overstate. I’ve been reporting on the war on drugs for years, and have long imagined the end of the US drug war as a three-legged framework: legalizing marijuana, decriminalizing other drugs, and allowing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. Ten years ago, marijuana legalization was widely described as unpopular and controversial, with more Americans opposing it than not. But Oregon has now approved all three legs. On Election Day, Drug Policy Alliance executive director Kassandra Frederique described the Oregon measures passing as “a huge victory taking on a cornerstone of the drug war.” Oregon, like other states that have relaxed their drug laws, didn’t do so because political leaders woke up to the problem and pushed serious reforms. The three major steps Oregon has taken, instead, were all done through ballot initiatives. The same is true for 13 of the 15 states that have legalized marijuana so far; only two states have legalized cannabis through their legislatures. Oregon’s example shows that even if politicians remain reluctant and cautious on the issue, the public can take action on its own terms. Less than half of states don’t have an open-ended ballot initiative process. But ballot initiatives can ultimately inspire action beyond state borders; political leaders in New York, which doesn’t have an open-ended process, and surrounding areas started to talk up legalization after Massachusetts and Maine legalized, and they’ve already become more vocal after New Jersey voted to legalize this year.
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November 12, 2020
Lawmakers pushing for legalization of marijuana in Texas
Support is growing for legal marijuana in Texas, but there are two key differences in what some lawmakers are trying to accomplish. Voters in four states last week approved legalizing recreational marijuana, which has many wondering if Texas could follow suit. State Representative Roland Gutierrez out of San Antonio is proposing a bill to legalize marijuana. He says the industry would create 30,000 new jobs in Texas and bring in more than $3 billion in revenue. Texas State senator Jose Menedez and District 27 Rep. Ron Reynolds have also proposed legislation to expand the use of medical marijuana. Right now, it can be used in Texas to treat a very limited number of conditions, such as epilepsy, and the level of THC, the psychoactive element of marijuana, can't be higher than 0.5% "The legislature didn't really change with this last election, so I'm not optimistic that there will be full-fledged legalization. I'm practical about that. I would favor that. I would vote in favor of that," Reynolds said. "But I think this medical...I think there's enough. Some of my conservative colleagues are compassionate for people's medical health. They may be open to supporting this legislation." "It boggles my mind in so many ways that Texas can be a state that, 'We respect your liberties, your liberty to carry a gun, do all these other things,' but liberty to use medical therapy," Menendez said. "You and your doctor say it's best for you, we say, 'Oh no, time out, only a few people can do that.'" Gov. Greg Abbott has not shown support for recreational marijuana. He would have to sign any new marijuana bills if they pass.
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November 12, 2020
Proponents of cannabis legalization like their chances
Backers of a push to add New Mexico to the list of states that have legalized recreational cannabis for adult users say 2021 could be the year they break through, after years of hitting dead ends at the Roundhouse. Several influential legislative opponents of marijuana legalization were defeated in this year’s primary election, improving the odds a revised bill might make it to the Senate floor for a vote. In addition, voters in Arizona and three other states approved cannabis legalization measures last week, which could give added urgency to passing similar legislation in New Mexico. “Legalization is coming,” said Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, during a Tuesday legislative committee hearing. “Here in New Mexico, I think people are ready for it.” Martinez said he plans to introduce legislation during the 60-day session that starts in January that would be similar to a bill filed last year. While he said the bill would be slimmed down from last year’s version, it would still contain several provisions aimed at protecting New Mexico’s medical cannabis program, which had more than 98,000 enrolled members as of September. Specifically, some of the money generated by recreational cannabis sales would be used to eliminate the gross receipts tax on medical marijuana products and create a new assistance fund for low-income patients, Martinez said. Bills to legalize recreational cannabis have stalled in the Senate in each of the last two years. Last year’s defeat came after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham created a marijuana legalization working group to study the issue and come up with recommendations. Since last year’s session, however, five moderate incumbent Democrats were ousted by more progressive challengers in the June primary election, and three of those progressive Democrats went on to win election to the Senate in last week’s general election. One of the defeated incumbents is Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who declined to hold a vote on a 2019 legalization bill, saying it did not have the votes necessary to pass his committee. House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, told reporters last week he expects the House will pass a cannabis legalization bill during the upcoming 60-day session and said it appears the bill will get a “much friendlier” reception in the Senate. “I think its chances are much improved,” Egolf said.
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TOP THINGS TO KNOW: The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced federal spending bills and related reports that include provisions pushing back against restrictive U.S. Department of Agriculture hemp rules, protecting state medical cannabis laws from federal interference, blocking the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana sales and pointing out that cannabis’s Schedule I status impedes research. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) sent a letter urging congressional colleagues to support passage of a federal marijuana legalization bill when it comes to the House floor next month. “The recent success of cannabis reform in states around the country should give us a new sense of urgency to ensure Congress catches up with the American people.” In a state Supreme Court filing, Mississippi’s attorney general and secretary of state slammed a mayor’s “woefully untimely” lawsuit that seeks to overturn a voter-approved medical marijuana ballot measure. Texas lawmakers have already pre-filed at least 13 marijuana bills for the 2021 session, including proposals to legalize and decriminalize, as well as expand the state’s existing limited medical cannabis program. “Texas will be facing tremendous budgetary challenges next session. My bill would create 30,000 new jobs for our state and produce $3.2 billion in new revenue WITHOUT raising taxes on everyday Texans!” A bill to ban Virginia police from conducting searches or seizing property based on the smell of marijuana became law after the legislature signed off on Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) unrelated changes. The cannabis odor policy formally takes effect on March 1. FEDERAL: The Biden-Harris Transition named members of review teams for specific federal agencies, including the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Department of Justice. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) filed a bill to stop forced separations of immigrant families that includes a provision to exempt low-level marijuana offenses and state-legal cannabis activity as a factor in denying secondary reviews for adjustment of their status. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted, “Voters in four more states just voted to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana. It’s past time to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and work to undo the harms done by the War on Drugs, particularly in Black and brown communities.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) cited marijuana legalization measures’ success at the ballot as an example of an issue that Democrats should embrace.
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November 11, 2020
Lawmakers move to make N.J. legal weed a reality. Bill falls short on racial justice, advocates say
Lawmakers have advanced bills that will implement legalization of marijuana and end many arrests, moving swiftly to reform marijuana prohibition in New Jersey after voters last week passed a referendum to legalize it. Committees in both the state Senate and Assembly approved the implementing legislation (S-21/A-21) Monday following simultaneous, hours-long hearings. It largely mirrors previously legislation introduced by Sen. Nick Scutari, D-Union, to legalize marijuana. When lawmakers failed to muster enough votes to pass the bill, they moved instead to put the issue on the ballot. The legislation is necessary to implement the referendum, which amends the state constitution. The bill aims to guide a licensing process and regulate how marijuana will be sold. Racial justice advocates have expressed frustration with the bill. While the legislation sets aside 15% of licenses to racial minority applicants and another 15% to women and veterans, it did not direct tax revenue from marijuana sales back into communities hurt by the drug war. “What this market does, and the way it is written now, is give 70% of the licenses, the finances and the economic windfall, quite frankly, to white men," Rev. Charles Boyer, founder of the racial justice group Salvation and Social Justice, said during a testimony in the Assembly Committee on Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations. Sarah Fajardo, policy director for the ACLU-NJ, also questioned the lack of racial justice commitments and asked for “explicit” wording to show tax reinvestment in communities during the Senate hearing. “We just need to let this marketplace get off the ground,” Scutari said. “My Republican colleagues could probably agree we don’t want to overtax and overburden a product before it is even being sold, because we are already competing with the black market. My number one priority is to get rid of drug dealers. If it’s overpriced, no one will buy it."
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