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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1004 -- 1/4/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1004

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. MEMO: THE BAD NEWS WE'VE BEEN FEARING IS HERE
The Trump administration is going after marijuana legalization. Here's
what we think about it. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/04/bad_news_weve_been_fearing

2. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WANTS EXPANDED UNEMPLOYMENT DRUG
TESTING, MORE... (1/3/18)
The Trump Labor Department is moving to expand drug testing of people
seeking unemployment benefits, a Bangladeshi officials calls for drug
addicts to be shot on sight, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/03/chronicle_am_trump

3. HAPPY NEW YEAR! LEGAL ADULT MARIJUANA SALES IN THE WORLD'S LARGEST
POT MARKET START MONDAY [FEATURE]
With the nation's most populous state embracing legalization, there is
probably no going back, regardless of what Washington thinks. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/dec/30/happy_new_year_legal_adult

4. ONE DAY LEFT TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE (OR OTHER) DONATION IN 2017!
Thanks to contributions from our members, StoptheDrugWar.org has fought
this fight for 24 years. The challenges we're facing today are more
urgent than ever, and we need your support to meet those challenges. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/dec/31/one_day_left_make_taxdeductible

5. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Medical marijuana is on the agenda in the Indiana legislature, the
Florida fight over producer licenses continues, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/04/medical_marijuana_update

6. CHRONICLE AM: UNDERGROUND SAFE INJECTION SITE STUDY, ME LEGAL
MARIJUANA FIGHT, MORE... (12/28/17)
Maine lawmakers seek agreement on legal marijuana policy with the
governor, a new study of an underground safe injection site finds
benefits, Pennsylvania medical marijuana patient numbers now exceed
10,000, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/dec/28/chronicle_am_underground_safe

7. CHRONICLE AM: CA LEGAL MARIJUANA SALES BEGIN MONDAY, REPS ASK FDA TO
RETHINK KRATOM, MORE... (12/29/17)
The world's largest legal marijuana market is about to open for
business, a New Hampshire legalization bill should get a vote next
Wednesday, federal representatives ask the FDA to back away from its
public health warning on kratom, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/dec/29/chronicle_am_ca_legal_marijuana

8. CHRONICLE AM: CA NOW A LAND OF LEGAL MARIJUANA SALES, VT TO TAKE UP LEGALIZATION AGAIN, MORE... (1/2/18)
California begins the era of legal adult marijuana sales, Maine
lawmakers work to get a legalization implementation bill passed, Vermont lawmakers prepare to move on a pending legalization bill, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/02/chronicle_am_ca_now_land_legal

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

================

1. MEMO: THE BAD NEWS WE'VE BEEN FEARING IS HERE https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/04/bad_news_weve_been_fearing

Dear Reformer:

The bad news we've been afraid of since November 2016 is here: The Trump administration, according to an Associated Press (https://apnews.com/19f6bfec15a74733b40eaf0ff9162bfa) report this
morning, is rescinding the Obama administration's Cole Memo (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-update-marijuana-enforcement-policy),
which protected marijuana legalization and allowed it to proceed.

Assuming the report is accurate, the move is the latest in a serious of disastrous assaults by the administration on areas of strong concern to
drug policy reformers. As I noted in a series of fundraising emails late
last year, from prosecutions (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/may/12/chronicle_am_ag_sessions_orders)
to asset forfeiture (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/20/chronicle_am_ma_mj_compromise_bill)
to sentencing (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/chronicle_am_ct_ends_civil_forfe)
to human rights (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/nov/17/update_and_action_alert_trump),
the president and the attorney general have been pushing to ramp up the
drug war.

And, as those emails noted, even medical marijuana is under threat (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/dec/27/medical_marijuana_update)
now too after we thought we were past that. In that case it's regressive Republican committee chairs in the House of Representatives who brought
that about, despite the bipartisan support there is now for medical
marijuana. The president has notionally supported medical marijuana, but
his attorney general asked members of Congress to undo the limited
protection medical marijuana has in federal law the last few years, and
some of them listened.

I am not writing today to say that all is lost -- I don't believe that
all is close to being lost. We don't know yet how the new policy will
play out, and reportedly it's written in a way that will leave much of
the decision-making to individual US Attorneys. We have to be
pessimistic about Trump US Attorney appointments, which are moving
faster now (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-ninth-wave-judicial-nominees-tenth-wave-united-states-attorney-nominees/),
but we'll see. It's possible that federal prosecutors in marijuana
legalization states will argue for a pragmatic continuation of something similar to the Cole memo, and it's possible they'll get their way. It's
also possible that these officials, who tend to have higher political ambitions, will consider the polling showing massive national support
for legalization (http://news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx),
including majority Republican support.

Still, we clearly are in a time of significant threat, to the progress
of marijuana legalization, and to the people implementing it on the
ground. There is a significant chance that there will be federal raids
on state-legal marijuana providers. It might be a few here and there to
whoever was the most careless or is just the least lucky. It could be
our friends who are the most politically active supporting legalization.
It could be one or a few of the big players, enough to send a message in
the media. Or it could be a lower profile series of measures like asset forfeiture actions and threat letters to landlords or other partners in
the businesses.

Having just gotten the news this morning, I can't tell you precisely
what our strategy will be yet, but a few things are clear. One, we will
be supporting the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1689),
sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). Two, we will be working to
preserve the still current language in the federal budget that forbids
the Dept. of Justice from spending money to undermine state medical
marijuana laws. Pending discussions with colleagues, we tentatively will
seek the expansions of that language to include state marijuana
legalization systems. We will be supporting other federal legislation
that would help things.

Because we're a broad issue organization not solely devoted to US
marijuana policy, we will also be continuing our efforts to stop the Philippines drug war killings (https://stopthedrugwar.org/philippines)
and to reform UN drug policy (https://stopthedrugwar.org/global), and
our other programs (https://stopthedrugwar.org/about).

Two final notes for today: First, while I didn't intend to ask for money
again so soon in the year, this news means we have to. We particularly
need non-deductible contributions 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Drug Reform
Coordination Network, which is responsible for the bulk of our US
legislative work -- work that needs to be ramped up.

We also use non-deductible contributions to fully cover the cost of our
web server and our email blast system, about $1,400 a month. The reason
is to protect our ability to do reporting on candidates for office,
after an IRS ruling a few years ago on web sites shared by an
organization's 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities. 2018 is an important
election year, and we need to continue covering these costs that way.

If you haven't already, I hope you'll consider signing up for a
recurring donation to sustain StoptheDrugWar.org into the future. Our
online donation forms (https://stopthedrugwar.org/donate) support a
range of different options, including monthly but also on different
schedules ranging from every two weeks to annually. Of course one-time donations are greatly appreciated as well. We accept donations online by
credit card and PayPal -- starting later today or tomorrow, we'll also
have ACH that you can use with your checking account. Thank you to those
of you who have donated recently.

The second is, I'm going to note that while most drug reformers are not
fans of the current White House, there are some who are. We respect the diversity of opinions found in the drug policy reform movement on the
larger political questions of our time. Realistically, however, we see
the current administration as being strongly opposed to our movement's objectives, at least much of the time, and our movement therefore as
resisting the administration's efforts.

We hope that our readers will support us in our opposition to the Trump administration. We are not interested in obstructionism for its own
sake, however; if the administration takes positive steps on our issues,
we'll acknowledge those too.

Sincerely,

David Borden, Executive Director
 StoptheDrugWar.org
 P.O. Box 9853, Washington, DC 20016
 https://stopthedrugwar.org (https://stopthedrugwar.org)

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) nonprofit,
the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of
maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on
candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          It's time to correct the mistake:
                                        Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

                                       Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                       ___________________

     bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

      "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
      It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
      the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
      It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
         --from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.




--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

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