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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1158 -- 5/6/22
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1158

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

Table of Contents:

1. IN WAKE OF POT SHOP SHOOTINGS, WASHINGTON STATE IS FED UP WITH
CONGRESSIONAL INACTION ON MARIJUANA BANKING [FEATURE]
A spate of fatal Washington state pot shop robberies is raising the
pressure for passage of the SAFE Banking Act. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/mar/31/washington_marijuana_shop_shootings

2. "WEED LIKE CHANGE" CAMPAIGN AIMS TO POINT CONSUMERS TOWARD
ECO-FRIENDLY MARIJUANA [FEATURE]
There is a better, more sustainable, more environmentally and socially
friendly way to grow cannabis. Weed Like Change will tell you all about it. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/21/weed_change_campaign_aims_point

3. THE TALIBAN ANNOUNCES A BAN ON OPIUM. REALLY? [FEATURE]
The government of the world's leading opium producer says it will get
out of the illicit business. Is it serious, and can it really do it if
it is? https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/15/taliban_announces_ban_opium

4. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Medical marijuana will not be on the ballot in Idaho this year,
Kentucky's governor is looking into going around a recalcitrant
legislature on medical marijuana, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/27/medical_marijuana_update

5. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A Big Easy cop does the Big Sleezy and more prison guards go down. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/27/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

6. SINGAPORE HANGS SECOND DRUG CONVICT IN A MONTH, NEW YORKERS SUPPORT
SAFE INJECTION SITES, MORE... (4/27/22)
A Connecticut bill to eliminate commercial marijuana gifting passes the
House, a new poll shows strong support for medical marijuana in North
Carolina as the legislature considers a bill, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/27/singapore_hangs_second_drug

7. CA FARMERS' MARKET POT SALES BILL ADVANCES, CO PRESCRIPTION MDMA BILL ADVANCES, MORE... (4/28/22)
No, Virginia, new criminal marijuana offenses are not happening; a
bipartisan pair of senators file a bill aimed at helping communities
respond to the overdose crisis, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/28/ca_farmers_market_pot_sales_bill

8. PERU ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BUY UP ENTIRE ILLEGAL COCA CROP, NH SENATE
KILLS LEGAL POT BILLS AGAIN, MORE... (4/29/22)
The White House announces more money for drug law enforcement, GOP
senators file a bill to reduce but not eliminate the crack-powder
cocaine sentencing disparity, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/apr/29/peru_announces_plan_buy_entire

9. OKLAHOMA MEDMJ MORATORIUM BILL NEARS PASSAGE, ECUADOR STATE OF
EMERGENCY OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING VIOLENCE, MORE... (5/2/22)
The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago is moving toward legal,
regulated marijuana markets; an Oklahoma bill for an open-ended
moratorium on new medical marijuana business licenses nears passage, and
more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/may/02/oklahoma_medmj_moratorium_bill

10. PELL GRANTS FOR PRISONERS ARE COMING BACK NEXT YEAR, OK LEGAL POT INITIATIVE SIGNATURE-GATHERING BEGINS, MORE... (5/3/22)
Signature-gathering for a marijuana legalization inititiave is underway
in Oklahoma, the courts block a San Francisco effort to enact broad bans
on alleged drug dealers in the Tenderloin, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/may/03/pell_grants_prisoners_are_coming

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

1. IN WAKE OF POT SHOP SHOOTINGS, WASHINGTON STATE IS FED UP WITH
CONGRESSIONAL INACTION ON MARIJUANA BANKING [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/mar/31/washington_marijuana_shop_shootings

A wave of armed robberies at Washington state retail marijuana outlets
has now resulted in three deaths in the month of March, and in rising frustration that Congress has not acted to protect those shops by
allowing the state-legal marijuana industry access to banking services,
which prevents them from accepting payment for purchases electronically.

Ire over the issue reached the boiling point with the March 19 death of
Jordan Brown, 29, a worker at World of Weed in Tacoma who was shot and
killed (https://www.q13fox.com/news/community-honors-employee-murdered-in-tacoma-pot-shop-robbery)
in a robbery at the store. That came three days after a March 16 robbery (https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/armed-robbery-pot-shop-factoria-police-chase/281-77196236-d211-45c1-9845-eb462aa29800)
at the Factoria shop in Bellevue where the robber was shot and killed by
police in a shoot-out, and two days after another armed robbery (https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/one-person-dead-covington-robbery/281-9e2bed29-fc3d-48b6-adfd-59ff6f1ef641)
at the Euphorium Marijuana Shop in the Seattle suburb of Covington,
where a security guard shot and killed the robber. And while the details
needed to assess the role of cash in the World of Weed shooting haven't
been reported by the time of this writing, in other incidents workers
have cited robbers' demands for access to secured cash.

"We pride ourselves on a great safety record and operating procedures,
we've always gone above and beyond, so this was a total shock to us,"
said World of Weed owner Alden Linn at a Tuesday roundtable organized by
the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to discuss the crisis. "We
have two security officers, but we were overrun by four individuals, one
of whom murdered Jordan Brown. He was a stellar employee, and this was a
total shock for us. We had a false sense of security relying on our
protocols. It's really been a blow to the community and the employees."

"There is a massive public safety crisis roaring through the state that
has left tragic deaths in its wake, said LCB Chair David Postman.
"Business owners and employees are fearful they may be next when they're
forced to do business in cash. We have had 70 robberies in 83 days this
year. We're approaching one a day."

While the LCB and the industry are working on steps they can take at the
store, local, and state level, roundtable participants were unified in
calling on Congress to pass legislation that would allow pot businesses
to escape the cash-only bullseye painted on their front doors, namely
the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (HR 1996 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1996)).

The House has passed such legislation six times (https://perlmutter.house.gov/safe-banking-act/) only to see it bottled
up in the Senate, most recently blocked (https://reason.com/2021/12/30/if-chuck-schumer-supports-marijuana-legalization-why-did-he-nix-a-bill-that-would-have-helped-pot-businesses-use-banks/)
by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who wants to prioritize
his own, yet to be actually filed, comprehensive marijuana legalization
bill instead. Schumer has found allies in the drug reform movement, most notably the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which argues (https://drugpolicy.org/press-release/2021/12/congress-must-prioritize-comprehensive-marijuana-reform-over-quick-fix)
that passing banking reform before passing legalization would come "at
the expense of equity and justice for Black, Latinx and Indigenous
communities that have borne the brunt of prohibition" and would
"prioritize marijuana profits over people (https://drugpolicy.org/blog/urgent-action-dont-let-congress-prioritize-marijuana-profits-over-people)."

That argument was not getting much support in Washington state this week.

"I've been trying to build momentum around comprehensive reform, but
there's a narrative that incremental reform and comprehensive reform are mutually exclusive, and that's frustrating, Michael Correia, director of government relations for the National Cannabis Industry Association,
told the roundtable. "From a strategic standpoint, you want to have
Congress focus on incremental issues like the SAFE Banking Act and tax
relief, then spend the next few years dealing with the intricacies of comprehensive reform and cannabis legalization."

"Anyone who deals with this knows reform is incremental, but DPA, Cory
Booker, and Schumer feel like SAFE is only about fat cats getting rich,
and that comprehensive reform is the only path," Correia continued. "The
SAFE Banking Act has overwhelming support -- it's got 100 GOP cosponsors
in the House and 42 cosponsors including nine Republicans in the Senate.
The problem is not cannabis prohibition but our cannabis friends. This
is not about fat cats; this about helping small businesses, minority businesses."

"We have to demand that Congress act on the SAFE Banking Act and work
here as if we assume they're not going to do that," said LCB Chair
Postman. "The governor today has asked staff to work on what we can do
in the absence of SAFE."

"Cannabis retailers are unable to bank and have to rely on cash, and we
all recognize that this is a major contributing factor in the violence
we are seeing," said state Treasurer Mike Pelliccioti, who added that he
had met with fellow state treasurers to lobby them to get behind the
issue. "Three out of four states have some form of legalized cannabis,
but even treasurers in states that don't are engaged. It is our role to
go to Congress and say enough dithering on this issue. Time and again
the House has passed this, and it's time for the Senate to act."

Pellicciotti said he was aware of Senate Majority Leader Schumer's
position, "but we are at the point where Congress needs to pass this."

He held out hope that the SAFE Banking Act could still pass this year,
perhaps after Schumer introduces his broader legalization bill. "The
most appropriate path for this to move forward is to tack it onto the
America Competes Act, and then, after Schumer introduces his bill, we
can move forward with the America Competes Act and make sure SAFE is
included in the Senate," he said. "But it's pedal to the metal right
now; there's a very narrow window."

State Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent) was less sanguine about the SAFE
Banking Act advancing this year and more focused on the local public
safety aspects of the issue.

"I have to be skeptical that Congress will pass it this year," she said.
"But we have to take action, we cannot dither, we cannot wait for
Congress or collaboration in the industry because people are being killed."

Keiser is asking the LCB to take immediate administrative actions on an emergency basis to help ameliorate the problem. One tool she suggested
was requiring two-door entry, where potential customers have to go
through a first door and have identification verified before a second
door unlocks and grants them entry into the store. Another was
standardized safety training for workers.

Keiser has also authored at least two bills aimed at the issue, one two
years ago that would have required law enforcement to report all
robberies to the LCB, and one this year that would have added a year to
prison sentences for pot shop robbers. Neither passed.

"The sheriffs and police didn't want to deal with the reporting bill,
and the stores didn't want to hear about it because it implied it wasn't
a safe industry and it was dangerous. Now, we know it's dangerous," she
said.

Not everyone wants to lengthen prison terms. A representative of the
Oregon Attorney General's office noted that armed robbers can already potentially face life prison terms, and noted that WA Gov. didn't
support the bill. [Ed: We are not for lengthening sentences either.]

Nevertheless, what seems increasingly cleasr is that banking for
marijuana businesses is not solely about profits. And regulators,
elected officials and others at both the state and federal levels now
are all pushing for the SAFE Banking Act.

================ ...
___________________

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.

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