• Drug War Chronicle 1210 -- DEA Says Reschedule, British Columbia Recrim

    From Bobbie Sellers@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 2 16:40:19 2024
    XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

    Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1210 -- 5/2/24
    Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1210

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

    APPEAL: Help Us Respond to the Opportunities and the Challenges of This Time https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/help_us_respond

    Table of Contents:

    1. DEA TO RESCHEDULE MARIJUANA -- WEED WORLD REACTS [FEATURE]
    The DEA is moving to reschedule marijuana, but the industry and
    reformers say that is not enough. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/dea-rescheduling-reform-reaction

    2. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: QUICK FIXES
    A witty polemic on how we must solve capitalism if we want to solve our
    drug and drug war problems. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/book_review_quick_fixes

    3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
    A former Border Patrol agent heads for federal prison and a Kentucky corrections officer gets busted in Oklahoma. Let's get to it. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories

    4. CONGRESSIONAL DEMS CALL FOR DEA TO MOVE FAST ON POT RESCHEDULING,
    BIDEN SIGNS FENTANYL BILL, MORE... (4/25/24)
    A bill toughening penalties for hard drug selling is moving in Ohio,
    Thailand clears the way for the medical use of opium and magic
    mushrooms, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/congressmembers_say_dea_reschedule_thailand_medical_drug_use

    5. DEA WARNS ON XYLAZINE IN ILLICIT FENTANYL, BC RECRIMINALIZES PUBLIC
    DRUG POSSESSION, MORE... (4/29/24)
    A North Dakota marijuana legalization initiative campaign can begin signature-gathering, a last gasp at medical marijuana fails in Kansas,
    and more.
    https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/british_columbia_partial_recrim

    6. DEA RECOMMENDS RESCHEDULING MARIJUANA, SAN FRANCISCO DRUG CRACKDOWN CONTINUES, MORE... (4/30/24)
    A push to pass the SAFER Banking Act via the FAA reauthorization bill
    has faltered, fentanyl is wiping out opium farmers in Guatemala, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/dea_rescheduling_recommendation

    7. SENATE DEMOCRATS FILE FEDERAL LEGALIZATION BILL, PUSH TO EXPAND
    ORGANIC GROW PROGRAM, MORE... (5/1/24)
    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and allies have refiled the
    Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and a leading certifier of
    organic, regenerative pot farms seeks to expand. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/senate-democrats-file-federal-pot-legalization-bill-push-expand-organic-grow-program-more

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

    1. DEA TO RESCHEDULE MARIJUANA -- WEED WORLD REACTS [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/dea-rescheduling-reform-reaction

    The DEA has proposed reclassifying marijuana by moving it from
    Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Associated Press reported Tuesday (https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-biden-dea-criminal-justice-pot-f833a8dae6ceb31a8658a5d65832a3b8).
    The plan is for the agency to issue an interim rule reclassifying the
    substance for the first time since the CSA was enacted more than 50
    years ago. Attorney General Merrick Garland (D) will submit the
    proposal to the White House as early as today.

    The move comes months after the
    Department of Health and Human Services issued a finding (https://norml.org/blog/2024/01/12/hhs-releases-unredacted-letter-confirming-agencys-recommendation-to-dea-to-reclassify-marijuana-to-schedule-iii/)
    that marijuana should be reclassified because it has potential medical
    benefits and that "the vast majority of individuals who use marijuana
    are doing so in a manner that does not lead to dangerous outcomes to
    themselves or others." Acting on a campaign promise, the Biden
    administration ordered the review in October 2022.

    Rescheduling will make it easier for marijuana to be researched for
    medical uses, potentially opening the door for pharmaceutical
    companies to get involved in the legal marijuana industry. It will
    also eliminate significant tax burdens for the industry, including IRS
    code Section 280E, which bars marijuana businesses from deducting
    business expenses, leading to effective rates that often go upwards of
    70%.

    But while it would mark the biggest change in federal marijuana policy
    in a half-century, it will not make marijuana legal at the federal
    level. And that leaves industry and marijuana reform advocates not
    quite satisfied.

    "Moving marijuana out of its absurd classification as a Schedule I
    drug is long overdue and we applaud the administration for finally acknowledging the therapeutic value that has been widely accepted by
    the medical community and millions of medical cannabis patients for
    decades," said Aaron Smith (https://thecannabisindustry.org/press-releases/drug-enforcement-administration-to-initiate-historic-shift-in-federal-marijuana-policy/),
    CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association CEO. "While this is undoubtedly a very positive first step, rescheduling will not end
    federal marijuana prohibition and doesn't harmonize federal law with
    the laws allowing some form of legal cannabis in the vast majority of
    the states. For this move to be meaningful on the ground, we need
    clear enforcement guidelines issued to the DEA and FDA that would
    ensure the tens of thousands of state-licensed businesses responsibly
    serving cannabis to adults are not subject to sanctions or criminal
    prosecution under federal laws."

    "Further, it's imperative that Congress build upon this development by
    passing comprehensive legislation to remove cannabis from the
    Controlled Substances Act and forge a new regulatory framework for
    whole plant cannabis products," added Smith.

    "This is a positive step forward for federal cannabis policy, however,
    it is a rather modest step given the strong support among American
    voters for comprehensive cannabis reform," said Matthew Schweich (https://www.mpp.org/news/press/us-drug-enforcement-administration-recommends-rescheduling-cannabis/),
    executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is important
    to acknowledge that this rescheduling would not affect the
    criminalization of medical cannabis patients and cannabis consumers
    under state laws -- so we must continue the work of enacting sensible
    and fair cannabis legalization and medical cannabis laws through state legislatures and ballot initiatives."

    "It is significant for these federal agencies, and the DEA and FDA in particular, to acknowledge publicly for the first time what many
    patients and advocates have known for decades: that cannabis is a safe
    and effective therapeutic agent for tens of millions of Americans,"
    said Paul Armentano (https://norml.org/blog/2024/04/30/dea-accepts-health-agencys-recommendation-to-reclassify-cannabis/),
    deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of
    Marijuana Laws (NORML).

    But, he added: "The goal of any federal cannabis policy reform ought
    to be to address the existing, untenable divide between federal
    marijuana policy and the cannabis laws of the majority of US states. Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III fails to adequately
    address this conflict, as existing state legalization laws -- both
    adult use and medical -- will continue to be in conflict with federal regulations, thereby perpetuating the existing divide between state
    and federal marijuana policies."

    Historically, Schedule III substances have received explicit market
    approval by the FDA; they are only legal to possess when obtained in
    licensed pharmacies under a physician's prescription.

    "Just as it is intellectually dishonest and impractical to categorize
    cannabis in the same placement as heroin, it is equally disingenuous
    and unfeasible to treat cannabis in the same manner as anabolic
    steroids and ketamine," Armentano said. "The majority of Americans
    believe that cannabis ought to be legal and that its health risks are
    less significant than those associated with federally descheduled
    substances like alcohol and tobacco. Like those latter substances,
    NORML has long argued that the cannabis plant should be removed from
    the Controlled Substances Act altogether, thereby providing state
    governments -- rather than the federal government -- the ability to
    regulate marijuana in the manner they see fit without violating
    federal law, and allowing the federal government to provide standards
    and guidelines for regulated cannabis markets."

    The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), for its part, is calling for a
    campaign to demand de-scheduling -- removing marijuana entirely from
    the purview of the Controlled Substances Act -- not rescheduling. It
    is part of a coalition called United for Marijuana Decriminalization
    (UMD) (https://www.decriminalizemarijuana.com) that plans to launch an ambitious outreach effort to encourage community members to tell
    President Biden and the DEA that marijuana must be descheduled once
    the public comment period is open. Members of the public will be able
    to submit comments in support of descheduling in response to the DEA's
    proposal through a simple online form. During the brief, time-limited
    public comment period, UMD aims to solicit a historic number of public
    comments through extensive outreach to stakeholders, particularly
    those who have been harmed by marijuana criminalization, inviting
    participation in the public process and emphasizing the need for
    marijuana descheduling."

    "Supporting federal marijuana decriminalization means supporting the
    removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, not changing
    its scheduling," said Cat Packer (https://drugpolicy.org/news/bidens-dea-proposes-to-reschedule-marijuana-rather-than-decriminalize-it-advocates-say-marijuana-must-be-descheduled/),
    DPA director of drug markets and legal regulation. "We all deserve a
    federal framework for marijuana that upholds the health, wellbeing,
    and safety of our communities -- particularly Black communities who
    have borne the brunt of our country’s racist enforcement of
    marijuana laws. Rescheduling marijuana is not a policy solution for
    federal marijuana criminalization or its harms, and it won't address
    the disproportionate impact that it has had on Black and Brown
    communities."

    "The individuals, families and communities adversely impacted by
    federal marijuana criminalization deserve more," Packer continued.
    "Workers in the marijuana industry, people who use marijuana, all of
    us deserve more. Congress and the Biden Administration have a
    responsibility to take actions now to bring about marijuana reform
    that meaningfully improves the lives of people who have been harmed by
    decades of criminalization. Descheduling and legalizing marijuana the
    right way isn't just good policy, it’s popular with voters, too."

    The campaign has the support of some elected officials.

    "While the rescheduling of marijuana is a historic step in the right
    direction, anything short of descheduling falls woefully short of
    remedying the harms of the current system and the failed racist War on
    Drugs," said Rep. Barbara Lee (https://drugpolicy.org/news/bidens-dea-proposes-to-reschedule-marijuana-rather-than-decriminalize-it-advocates-say-marijuana-must-be-descheduled/)
    (D-CA). "Rescheduling would allow for the criminal penalties for
    recreational and medical marijuana use to continue --
    disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. The
    criminalization of marijuana is also increasingly out of step with
    state law and public opinion. We need full descheduling and to pass
    the MORE Act -- which I proudly co-lead -- as a solution for equitable comprehensive marijuana reform rooted in racial and restorative
    justice."

    "Descheduling marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act is not just
    a social justice issue; it's an economic, medical, and public safety
    issue. Since marijuana was classified as a Schedule I substance during
    the war on drugs, countless lives have been torn apart, and
    individuals in primarily Black and brown communities have been
    targeted for nonviolent cannabis-related offenses," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). "Studies show that legalizing marijuana could help
    reduce violence in international drug trafficking and generate
    billions of dollars for the economy. The vast majority of Americans
    agree that marijuana should be legalized -- that's why I’m calling
    on the Attorney General and the Drug Enforcement Administration to
    swiftly deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act."

    But if the industry and reformers think rescheduling does not go far
    enough, we can count on professional anti-marijuana activist Dr. Kevin
    Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana to worry that it goes way too
    far.

    "Politics and industry influence have loomed over this decision from
    the very beginning," Sabet said (https://learnaboutsam.org/2024/04/biden-affirms-marijuanas-illegal-status-but-marijuana-rescheduling-decision-tainted-by-industry-influence-politics-2/).
    "First, HHS refused to provide the public with the scientific basis
    for its recommendation to reschedule. Then they deliberately redacted
    key information about their internal process, intentionally limiting transparency on such a major decision impacting public health. Only
    when compelled by a legal challenge did they provide clarity on their
    decision, which patently demonstrated that they cooked the books,
    starting with the decision and working backward to find the supporting materials."

    "Now, against the recommendations of prior Attorneys General, the
    medical community and law enforcement, the Administration unilaterally
    reversed decades of precedent despite volumes of data confirming
    marijuana's harmfulness. Moreover, a drug can be taken off Schedule I
    only if it has accepted medical use -- raw, crude marijuana has never
    passed safety and efficacy protocols. A drug isn't medicine because
    it's popular."

    "The winners from such a decision are the deep pocketed investors
    desperately looking for good news in the marijuana space, given the
    failures of state legalization. We hoped the Administration would
    prioritize expungements and encouraging additional marijuana research
    instead of making a political statement that only helps the addiction industry."

    That rhetoric may help explain why Sabet's is by way the minority
    position on the issue.


    ================  ...


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