Washington State activists have filed a proposed ballot initiative that would remove criminal penalties for simple drug possession and direct nearly $150 million annually to expand substance misuse treatment, with a focus on outreach and long-term recovery support. “Treating drug use as a crime has caused more harm than good,” says the measure’s statement of intent. “It has failed to produce positive outcomes like reduced rates of substance use disorder and drug overdose. It has failed to address the root causes of substance use disorder like social isolation, depression, and anxiety. It has instead subjected people to the compounding traumas of arrest, prosecution, and incarceration, and saddled them with criminal records that erect barriers to stable housing, employment, and protective social connections.” The group behind the would-be initiative, Commit to Change WA, announced last September that it was working on ballot language and would begin gathering signatures this month. The campaign is expected to begin publicizing the measure in coming weeks, with the goal of qualifying it for November’s ballot. The measure was officially filed last month, and Monday was the deadline to submit challenges to the official ballot title, which says, “This measure would fund substance use disorder prevention, outreach, recovery, training, study, and public education; decriminalize drug possession but allow seizure and forfeiture; authorize vacation of certain drug-related convictions, and amend related laws.” In 2020, voters in neighboring Oregon passed a similar ballot measure to decriminalize drugs and fund access to treatment and harm reduction services. If the new Washington initiative gets on the ballot and a majority of voters approve, it would eliminate the state’s existing penalties around possession and use of all drugs. Authorities could still seize illegal substances, but law enforcement would then have to refer individuals to outreach services, where people could access treatment and be connected with other support programs.

Ben Adlin, Marijuana Moment, 02/08/2022 10:22:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/proposed-washington-state-ballot-initiative-would-decriminalize-drug-possession-and-expand-recovery-services/

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday condemned House Democrats for including a provision protecting banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses in a large-scale bill that advanced through the chamber last week, calling it a “poison pill.” In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell said that the House-passed America COMPETES Act, which focuses on trade competition with China, “goes out of its way to include provisions on, listen to this, marijuana banking.” “China has been steadily building up its military and economic might, and the Democrats’ answer is to help Americans get high,” he said, declining to note that the bipartisan Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act to which the provision was attached would not legalize cannabis but simply prevent financial institutions that work with marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. Supporters of the banking reform, which is sponsored by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), have argued that it is a critical public safety reform that has enjoyed bipartisan support. The congressman has insisted he will explore every avenue possible to get the policy change enacted before he retires from Congress at the session’s end. But McConnell isn’t having it. “Democrats plan to combat [fentanyl overdoses] is more marijuana on the side,” he said on the Senate floor. “Needless to say, this is not a winning strategy for global competition between great powers.” “Any Democrats hoping to yank the bill to the far left, or insert poison pills, are badly, badly mistaken,” the minority leader said.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/07/2022 17:23:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mcconnell-blasts-marijuana-banking-in-house-passed-china-bill-calling-it-a-poison-pill/

A new political action committee aimed at electing and educating officials with the aim of ending federal marijuana prohibition launched on Tuesday—with a veteran cannabis lobbyist at its helm. The Better Organizing to Win Legalization (BOWL) PAC—pun totally intended—is working to build a coalition of other organizations to develop a more targeted approach to legalization in Congress. Some of the ways it hopes to achieve that is by supporting candidates and elected officials who will fight for reform, defeating those who continue to serve as roadblocks and encouraging groups that ostensibly back legalization to be more proactive in the fight. BOWL PAC is being led by Justin Strekal, who recently departed NORML as its political director after five years of working on Capitol Hill to change federal cannabis laws. He told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Monday that his unique experience both in the cannabis lobbying space, as well as his involvement in other progressive causes, will set the group up for success.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/08/2022 11:32:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/veteran-marijuana-lobbyist-launches-new-bowl-pac-to-fight-for-legalization-and-elect-pro-reform-politicians/

Those hoping to get an early start as players in New York’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis market may have shot themselves in the foot for future licenses.  The state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) sent out letters Tuesday ordering businesses suspected of illegally selling or gifting cannabis to cease and desist those activities. Failure to do so would threaten their ability to legally participate the state’s adult-use market under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), enacted in March 2021, the letter states. “You are hereby directed to cease any, and all, illegal activity immediately,” the letter states. “Failure to cease this activity puts your ability to obtain a license in the legal cannabis market at substantial risk. The unlicensed sale of cannabis is illegal and subjects you to substantial fines and possible criminal penalties.” While former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed MRTA into law on March 31, 2021, it wasn’t until September 2021 that the state’s regulatory authority got off and running through the current Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nominations of Chris Alexander, for the executive director role at OCM, and Tremaine Wright for chair of the office’s Cannabis Control Board. Under MRTA, legal, licensed, and taxed sales of adult-use cannabis can begin only after the state approves regulations set forth by the five-member control board. “We have an obligation to protect New Yorkers from known risks and to strengthen the foundation of the legal, regulated market we are building,” Wright said in a statement. “We will meet the goals of the MRTA to build an inclusive, equitable, and safe industry. Therefore, these violators must stop their activity immediately, or face the consequences.” With the former governor’s delay in nominating regulatory heads, Wright said in late October that New York’s first adult-use cannabis licenses will not be issued until 2023.

Cannabis Business Times, 02/08/2022 16:32:00

Open article: http://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/ny-cannabis-regulators-send-cease-and-desist-letters