XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1134 -- 6/14/21
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1134

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

Table of Contents:

1. THE PUSH TO END FEDERAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION THIS YEAR IS NOW
UNDERWAY [FEATURE]
The MORE Act is back, and the effort to end federal marijuana
prohibition in Congress this year is now underway. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/03/push_end_federal_marijuana

2. ICC PROSECUTOR ANNOUNCES REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE PHILIPPINES INVESTIGATION
Amid increasing warnings from officials of the International Criminal
Court about insufficient resources and a need to prioritize, the ICC's
Chief Prosecutor on the second-to-last day of her term sought
authorization from the court's pretrial chamber to proceed with an investigation into the Philippine drug war killings. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/14/icc_prosecutor_announces_request

3. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Mississippi's Republican governor says the legislature should create a
medical marijuana program, a Pennsylvania court upholds the unemployment
claims of a patient fired for off-the-job medical marijuana use, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/09/medical_marijuana_update

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A dope-slinging Michigan detective gets popped, a Tennessee constable
was seizing drugs and training his drug dogs with it instead of turning
it in, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/09/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. CT SENATE VOTES TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, VT GOVERNOR SIGNS MARIJUANA
SOCIAL EQUITY BILL, MORE... (6/8/21)
Louisiana is one signature away from marijuana decriminalization,
Colorado's governor signs a bill tightening up medical marijuana
regulations, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/08/ct_senate_votes_legalize

6. NATIONAL POLL FIND MAJORITY SUPPORTS DRUG DECRIM, CT LEGAL POT BILL
DELAYED, MORE... (6/9/21)
Connecticut's marijuana legalization bill gets bumped to a special
session later this month, Washington state marijuana regulators allow
pot shops to hand out free joints to people who get vaccinated in-store,
and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/09/national_poll_find_majority

7. NY SYRINGE LEGALIZATION PASSES SENATE, PORTUGAL PONDERS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, MORE... (6/10/21)
Marijuana legalization bills in Delaware and Rhode Island get delayed, Morocco's parliament has approved the legalization of hemp and medical marijuana, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/10/ny_syringe_legalization_passes

8. IDAHO ACTIVISTS PONDER TWO MARIJUANA INITIATIVES FOR 2022, ASIAN METH
BOOMED DURING PANDEMIC, MORE... (6/11/21)
Brazil's lower chamber of parliament approves a hemp and medical
marijuana bill, a federal appeals court hears arguments in marijuana rescheduling case, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/11/idaho_activists_ponder_two

9. SUPREME COURT REJECTS REDUCED CHARGES FOR LOW-LEVEL CRACK OFFENDERS,
ICC PROSECUTOR SEEKS TO OPEN PHILIPPINE DRUG WAR INVESTIGATION, MORE... (6/14/21)
Connecticut lawmakers will meet in special session this week in a bid to
get marijuana legalization done, Wyoming activists began initiative
campaigns for marijuana decriminalization and medical marijuana, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/14/supreme_court_rejects_reduced

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

1. THE PUSH TO END FEDERAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION THIS YEAR IS NOW
UNDERWAY [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/jun/03/push_end_federal_marijuana

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) took to the
House floor last Friday to begin the push to end federal pot prohibition
this year with the introduction of the Marijuana Opportunity
Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/more_act_2021.pdf).

"For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice
problem instead of as a matter of personal choice and public health.
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," Nadler said (https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2021/5/28/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/e592-1)
as he addressed his colleagues. "In my view, applying criminal
penalties, with their attendant collateral consequences for marijuana
offenses is unjust and harmful to our society. The MORE Act
comprehensively addresses this injustice, and I urge all of my
colleagues to support this legislation."

The bill's initial cosponsors are Representatives Earl Blumenauer
(D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Hakeem Jeffries
(D-NY) and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY. A similar version of the MORE Act
passed the House last year, only to die from inaction in the Republican-controlled Senate. But this year, the Democrats are in
control, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said he is preparing to file a bill (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-soon-introduce-marijuana-legalization-bill)
in the upper chamber soon.

"Last year, we saw more progress toward cannabis legalization than ever
before. This has been driven by unprecedented reforms at the state
level. Now, Congress must deal with the problems created by the failed
federal policy of prohibition," said Rep. Blumenauer, founder and
co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in a press release (https://judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4572).
"With a strong base of support in the House and in the Senate, the table
is set. It's past time that we stop federal interference with cannabis
banking and research, as well as the terrible pattern of selective
enforcement that has devastated communities of color. The MORE Act will
help address all of these problems and more."

The MORE Act has three main provisions:

* It removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, making it
legal at the federal level and clearing the way for states to legalize
it at home.
* It mandates that federal courts must expunge past marijuana
convictions and allows them to hold resentencing hearings for those
still behind bars or under non-custodial supervision.
* It makes an effort to redress drug war wrongs and racially disparate enforcement by assessing a 5 percent sales tax on marijuana and pot
products, which will be used fund three different grant programs for
drug war victims, loans to small businesses "owned and controlled by
socially and economically disadvantaged individuals," and to eliminate licensing and employment barriers for people "most adversely impacted"
by drug prohibition.

The bill would also make legal marijuana businesses eligible for Small
Business Administration funding, bar discrimination against people who
use or possess marijuana (such as in federal housing) and require the
Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect data on industry demographics to
monitor how much poor people and minorities are actually participating
in the industry.

"The MORE Act would not only decriminalize marijuana federally, but also
take steps to address the harmful impacts of federal prohibition,
particularly on communities of color," said Rep. Jackson Lee, Chair of
the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. "We need to
pass the MORE Act as an important component of a broader effort to
reform our drug laws, which disproportionately harm racial minorities
and fuel mass incarceration. That is why I am also working to advance additional legislation to achieve comprehensive reform of our criminal
justice system."

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is part of a broad coalition of civil
rights, criminal justice, drug policy, and immigration groups (155 organizations in all (https://drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/dpa-more-act_sign-on-letter-may-2021.pdf))
that are backing the bill. It worked closely with Rep. Nadler on the
original language of the bill last year and has been closely involved
ever since.

"It is clear, by the overwhelming extent to which they passed the MORE
Act last session, that the House understands this for the urgent racial
and social justice issue it is," DPA Director of the Office of National
Affairs Maritza Perez said in a statement (https://drugpolicy.org/press-release/2021/05/marijuana-opportunity-reinvestment-expungement-more-act-reintroduced-house).
"Our communities that have borne the brunt of marijuana prohibition have
waited long enough for justice. We urge House leadership to move swiftly
to bring the bill back to the floor this session, so that we can
continue the momentum and move a marijuana justice bill in the Senate as
well."

Unsurprisingly, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is also onboard.

"It's clear that Americans overwhelmingly support ending cannabis
prohibition. Reintroducing the MORE Act is a powerful way to reorient negotiations around legalization that gives our entire nation the power
to choose cannabis for medical and adult use, strengthens a blossoming
industry that is creating jobs and fueling economic growth, and begins
to rectify the harms of the racially motivated war on cannabis and its disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities through criminal
justice reform and social equity initiatives, MPP Executive Director
Steve Hawkins said in a statement (https://www.mpp.org/news/press/bill-to-end-federal-cannabis-prohibition-reintroduced-in-us-house-of-representatives/).
"We endorse this bill and urge Congress to pass it."

But the leader of the loudest anti-marijuana reform group in the
country, Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana,
also unsurprisingly, thinks it's a bad idea.

"As we have said since the initial introduction of this short-sighted
bill two years ago, the MORE Act is a complete non-starter and the wrong approach we need when it comes to federal drug policy," he said in a
statement (https://learnaboutsam.org/national-marijuana-policy-organization-slams-the-reintroduction-of-bill-to-federally-legalize-marijuana/)
warning of Big Pot. "This bill would fully legalize marijuana; it will
not simply decriminalize the drug -- which would only remove criminal
penalties for possession. Rather, it's nothing less than the wide-scale commercialization and normalization of a drug that does not resemble the
old marijuana of the 1970s."

It's pretty lonesome where Sabet is, though. The most recent Gallup poll (https://news.gallup.com/poll/323582/support-legal-marijuana-inches-new-high.aspx)
had more than two-thirds (68 percent) favoring legalization and still
trending up. Now, if somebody will just tell the Senate. And the
president, who is so far standing firm (https://www.ocregister.com/2021/05/05/president-biden-hasnt-caught-up-with-most-americans-on-marijuana-policy/)
not for legalization but for decriminalization. The question is: What
will Biden do if he MORE Act lands on his desk?


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

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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