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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1196 -- 10/30/23
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1196

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

Please support our newsletter with arecurring or one-time donation! (https://stopthedrugwar.org/donate)

Table of Contents:

1. PENNSYLVANIA BILL IMPOSING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES FOR SOME
FENTANYL OVERDOSE DEATH PASSES SENATE [FEATURE]
A contemporary crisis generates a tired, old response. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/05/pennsylvania_bill_imposing

2. CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR VETOES PSYCHEDELIC DECRIM BILL [FEATURE]
There will be no psychedelic decriminalization in California this year.
Maybe next year. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/09/california_governor_vetoes

3. PUSHING FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AS PENNSYLVANIA HEADS TOWARD MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION [FEATURE]
The push is on to legalize marijuana in the Keystone State, and black
lawmakers want to make sure real equity measures get done. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/sep/27/pushing_social_equity

4. EFFORT TO RECRIMINALIZE DRUG POSSESSION IN OREGON GETS UNDERWAY [FEATURE] Oregon pioneered all drug decriminalization in 2020. Now, an effort to
reverse that is getting underway. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/sep/22/effort_recriminalize_drug

5. TWO HUNDRED FAMILIES CALL FOR A HEALTH RESPONSE TO OVERDOSES, NOT
PUNISHMENT [FEATURE]
There is a better, smarter, more humane way of dealing with the overdose
crisis than a return to failed drug war policies. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/sep/14/two_hundred_families_call_health

6. NEW HAMPSHIRE WILL STUDY THE STATE LIQUOR STORE MODEL FOR LEGAL WEED [FEATURE]
The Granite State could be the first in the nation to try selling weed
through the state liquor store model. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/aug/24/new_hampshire_will_study_state

7. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: WHITEOUT
How the face of opioid addiction in America turned white, and what that
means. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/sep/07/chronicle_book_review_whiteout

8. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Crooked jail and prison guards from Saginaw to South Carolina. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/04/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

9. CDC SAYS ODS HIT RECORD HIGH LAST YEAR, CA BANS "EXCITED DELIRIUM" AS
CAUSE OF DEATH, MORE... (10/12/23)
More usual suspects come out against the Ohio marijuana legalization initiative, the FDA issues a warning about the home use of prescribed
ketamine, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/12/cdc_says_ods_hit_record_high

10. RATE OF BLACK MEN IN PRISON HAS DROPPED BY NEARLY HALF, NEW OPIOID
OVERDOSE REVERSAL DRUG, MORE... (10/13/23)
Ohio's Republican Senate leader is threatening to mess with a marijuana legalization initiative if it passes, the Israel-Hamas war has caused a
pause in Germany's march toward marijuana legalization, and more.

https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/13/rate_black_men_prison_has

11. HICCUP FOR SAFER BANKING ACT SENATE VOTE, CA GOVERNOR SIGNS SOCIAL
MEDIA DRUG CRACKDOWN LAW, MORE... (10/16/23)
Workers at Story Cannabis in Maryland's Mechansville are the latest in
the industry to vote to unionize, Gavin Newsom signs a social media law
that aims at cracking down on online drug sales, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/16/hiccup_safer_banking_act_senate

12. OR LAWMAKERS DISCUSS MEASURE 110 ROLLBACK, CARTEL KILLS 13 COPS IN
MEXICO, MORE... (10/24/23)
New York is rolling out a drug checking program, Seattle begins a
crackdown on public drug use, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/24/or_lawmakers_discuss_measure_110

13. NH COMMISSION HOLDS LEGALIZATION HEARING, VANCOUVER COPS RAID
UNSANCTIONED DRUG SUPPLIERS, MORE... (10/26/23)
A MAGA marijuana legalization bill gets refiled, German parliamentarians finally get around to debating marijuana legalization, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/26/nh_commission_holds_legalization

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

1. PENNSYLVANIA BILL IMPOSING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES FOR SOME
FENTANYL OVERDOSE DEATH PASSES SENATE [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/oct/05/pennsylvania_bill_imposing

The state Senate on Monday approved Senate Bill 235 (https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2023&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0235)
also known as "Tyler's Law" after an 18-year-old who died of a fentanyl overdose, which would impose a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for
some people convicted of providing illicit drugs that resulted in a
fatal overdose. Mandatory minimums would apply if the person had two or
more prior convictions related to drug delivery and if he received
"anything of value" for providing the drugs.

The measure was sponsored by Sen. Doug Mastriano (R), a far-right
election denier and conspiracy theorist (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/doug-mastriano-pa-governor-gop.html)
whose views were so extreme he won the Republican nomination for
governor in 2022 only to be blown out in the general election, losing by
15 points (https://www.politico.com/2022-election/results/pennsylvania/statewide-offices/)
and handing the office to Democrat Josh Shapiro.

The bill as originally filed was more draconian that what eventually
passed the Senate. As filed by Mastriano, the bill would have imposed
the mandatory minimums -- 25 years in the original, not 10 -- if the
person had two or more priors or he received "something of value," which
would have effectively made a bill ostensibly aimed at preventing fatal
drug overdoses into one that could see mandatory minimums for any drug
sale resulting in a fatality, with or without prior offenses.

The original bill also had no provision exempting people who were
sharing drugs from the mandatory minimums. But the Senate approved an
amendment (https://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/HA/Public/HaCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sYear=2023&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0235&pn=0977&aYear=2023&an=02266)
by Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D) that addressed both issues. It changed
that or to an and, removing the possibility of people other than those twice-convicted of drug sales being hit with mandatory minimums, and it
added explicit language exempting situations where "the person and the
decedent intended to use the controlled substance or counterfeit
controlled substance together or the person used the controlled
substance or counterfeit controlled substance with the decedent."

Still, the bill would introduce new mandatory minimum sentences, and
that is drawing the ire of groups such as the ACLU of Pennsylvania and
Families Against Mandatory Minimums. As the bill awaits consideration in
the Democratic-controlled House, the groups are raising the alarm.

"SB 235 would almost certainly incarcerate people with substance use disorders," said the ACLU of Pennsylvania (https://www.aclupa.org/en/legislation/sb-235-mandatory-minimums-drug-delivery-tylers-law)
as it came out against the measure. "Instead of reducing the instances
of drug-related deaths, SB 235 has the real potential of punishing
people for their substance use disorder. Mandatory minimum sentences
fail to keep Pennsylvanians safe, while driving up prison populations
and costs for taxpayers. Despite their best intentions, legislators
should resist resorting to demonstrably failed policies of the past."

"It is 2023, yet some lawmakers continue to cling to the same failed
approach to the War on Drugs from 1983," said Celeste Trusty (https://famm.org/famm-opposes-pennsylvania-legislation-creating-new-mandatory-minimum-sentence/),
FAMM Pennsylvania State Policy Director. "We have decades of research
proving mandatory minimums to be ineffective and wasteful policy. They
have been a primary driver of Pennsylvania's unsustainable prison
population which is now the second largest in the northeast. They
perpetuate and exacerbate overwhelming racial disparities within our
criminal justice system."

"We tried mandatory minimums before," Trusty continued. "They failed.
The underlying case here is a tragedy, but this mandatory minimum bill
won't prevent overdoses or make us safer or healthier. It won't stop
people from using drugs or help people struggling with substance use. In
fact, it will make us less safe by forcing judges to ignore effective alternatives and spend millions sending people to prison even if they
don't need to be there. I am hopeful the House will focus on crafting legislative responses that actually lead to positive outcomes for our communities."

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

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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