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

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1168 -- 8/5/22
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1168

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

Table of Contents:

1. CALIFORNIA IS ONE SIGNATURE AWAY FROM OKAYING SAFE INJECTION SITES
[FEATURE]
A bill legalizing safe injection sites has passed the California
legislature and is now on the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/04/california_one_signature_away

2. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: AMERICAN CARTEL
This new entry in the growing literature on the opioid crisis digs deep
and paints a picture that isn't pretty. But the book's laser-sharp focus
on corporate and political malfeasance omits much of the context in
which this crisis has unfolded, and that context is important. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/05/chronicle_book_review_american

3. RUSSIAN COURT SENTENCES AMERICAN BASKETBALL STAR BRITTNEY GRINER TO
NINE YEARS IN PRISON
Her sentence, if not the circumstances in which she came to face it, is unfortunately par for the course in the regressive Russian criminal
justice system. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/04/russian_court_sentences_american

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A small-town Pennsylvania got too friendly with the local drug dealer, a small-town Ohio cop probably wishes he had maintained domestic bliss,
and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/04/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. WHITE HOUSE PREPS FOR MDMA THERAPY APPROVAL, MO LEGALIZATION INIT
COULD COME UP SHORT, MORE... (7/28/22)
South Dakota's first state-licensed medical marijuana dispensary opens,
the FDA is moving toward approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, and
more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/jul/28/white_house_preps_mdma_therapy

6. AR LEGALIZATION INIT HAS ENOUGH SIGNATURES, UN EXPERTS CRITICIZE
SINGAPORE DRUG EXECUTIONS, MORE... (7/29/22)
Marijuana seizures at the US-Mexican border are down again, Colombia's
Gulf Clan is escalating its attacks on police as it jockeys for position
in upcoming negotations, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/jul/29/ar_legalization_init_has_enough

7. POLL FINDS SUPPORT FOR PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCH FOR MILITARY MEMBERS,
FEDERAL MARIJUANA EXPUNGEMENT BILL FILED, MORE... (8/1/22)
Last weekend's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago featured not only music
but harm reduction measures, a new poll finds support for federal -- as
opposed to state-level -- marijuana legalization, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/01/poll_support_psychedelic

8. CA SAFE INJECTION SITE BILL GOES TO GOVERNER, WV CITIES AND COUNTIES
SETTLE WITH OPIOID DISTRIBUTORS, MORE... (8/2/22)
Louisiana police can no longer search homes based on the odor of
marijuana without a warrant, there is good polling for marijuana
legalization in Missouri, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/02/ca_safe_injection_site_bill_goes

9. CA MARIJUANA LOUNGES SET TO EXPAND, COCA CLASHES IN BOLIVIA, MORE... (8/3/22)
The country's largest federal workers' union wants an end to marijuana
testing of employees in states where it is legal, Mexican cartel gunmen
get in a shoot-out with the Guatemalan president's guards at a border
village, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/03/ca_marijuana_lounges_set_expand

10. FEDS CHARGE FOUR LOUISVILLE COPS IN FATAL BREONNA TAYLOR DRUG RAID,
THAI CANNABIS TOURISM, MORE... (8/4/22)
Arkansas election officials knock a marijuana legalization initiative
off the ballot -- at least for now -- San Francisco's new DA cracks down
on drug dealers, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/04/feds_charge_four_louisville_cops

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

1. CALIFORNIA IS ONE SIGNATURE AWAY FROM OKAYING SAFE INJECTION SITES
[FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2022/aug/04/california_one_signature_away

The nation's most populous state is on the verge of approving safe
injection sites in some of its largest cities. A bill that would do just
that, Senate Bill 57 (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB57),
narrowly won its final vote in the legislature Monday, and Gov. Gavin
Newsom (D) has previously signaled that he was "very open (https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Gavin-Newsom-splits-with-Jerry-Brown-on-SF-drug-13275997.php)"
to the law.

The bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) authorizes what
it calls "overdose prevention programs" (or safe injection sites) as
pilot programs in San Francisco, Oakland, the city of Los Angeles, and
Los Angeles County. In each of those jurisdictions, city councils or
boards of supervisors have requested inclusion in the bill and will
decide whether and how to participate. The pilot program will run for
five years, through January 1, 2028.

The legality of safe injection sites under federal law remains unclear.
During the Trump administration, the Justice Department strongly opposed
them and successfully blocked an effort to open one in Philadelphia, but
the Biden administration Justice Department has expressed openness (https://apnews.com/article/business-health-new-york-c4e6d999583d7b7abce2189fba095011)
to the harm reduction intervention.

That uncertainty did not stop New York City (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/30/1054921116/illegal-drug-injection-sites-nyc) from opening the first government-approved safe injection sites last
November or Rhode Island passing legislation and following suit in
March, although the Rhode Island sites are being hobbled (https://www.philanthropy.com/article/ban-on-government-funds-puts-pressure-on-nonprofit-drug-injection-sites-in-r-i)
by a lack of funding after legislators mandated that no government funds
be used to operate them. And that uncertainty has not deterred lawmakers
in Sacramento, either.

The California bill overcame extensive pushback, primarily from law enforcement, which argued that the sites failed to provide a strong
enough path to drug treatment. Similar objections killed three previous attempts to pass safe injection site legislation by Sen. Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), including a 2018 bill that passed the legislature only to
be vetoed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D).

It was supported by a broad coalition of organizations including the
Drug Policy Alliance, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, California Society
of Addiction Medicine, National Harm Reduction Coalition, Healthright
360, Tarzana Treatment Center, and the California Association of Alcohol
& Drug Program Executives.

Support for the bill was also heightened by significant increases in
drug use and overdoses (https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/covid-19-and-opioid-crisis-when-pandemic-and-epidemic-collide)
since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. San Francisco saw a
record number of overdose deaths in 2020, with 711 deaths total. In
2021, 640 people died of overdoses, and the city is on track to exceed
that number this year. Statewide, approximately 10,000 people (https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2021/12/california-opioid-drug-overdose-deaths/)
died of drug overdoses from April 2020 to April 2021.

"California -- like our nation as a whole -- is experiencing a dramatic
and preventable increase in overdose deaths, and we need every available
tool to help people stay alive and get healthy," said Senator Wiener (https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20220803-senator-wiener%E2%80%99s-safe-consumption-site-bill-receives-final-senate-sign-heads-governor)
after the final vote. "Safe consumption sites are a proven model to help
people avoid overdose deaths, reduce HIV and hepatitis transmission,
reduce syringe litter, and help people access treatment. This
legislation isn't about whether we want people to use drugs. Rather,
it's an acknowledgment that people *are* using drugs, and our choice is
whether we want to make every effort to help them survive and get
healthy. The time has come for California to adopt this proven overdose
death prevention strategy."

Safe injection sites have been operating for decades in Europe, Canada,
and Australia and have a proven safety track record. At the 170 safe
injection sites that have operated around the world, not a single
overdose death has been reported. In New York City, in the first three
months of operation, staff at these sites were able to halt over 150
overdoses (https://apnews.com/article/inside-nyc-supervised-drug-injection-sites-7ad93117d1566fda53909c0f70984d1b).

Safe injection sites are a proven harm reduction intervention that saves
lives without increasing crime or disorder. The Biden administration
does not appear to be inclined to claim they violate federal law and has
made no move against the sites operating in New York and Rhode Island.
It appears the path is open. All Gov. Newsom has to do is pick up his
pen and sign the bill.

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

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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