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  • Inside Bernie Sanders' Plan To End Federal Marijuana Prohibition

    Inside Bernie Sanders' Plan To End Federal Marijuana Prohibition

    His ambitious plan includes billions in grants toward expunging convictions and minority-owned MJ businesses.

    At 4:20 on October 24, the Bernie Sanders campaign released his policy roadmap to marijuana legalization.

    If elected, Sanders plans to invest tax revenue from legal marijuana towards expunging all past marijuana criminal charges as well as provide grants to minority-owned marijuana businesses.

    He Would Reclassify Marijuana In His First 100 Days

    Not only is his campaign dreaming big, it’s dreaming fast—Sanders promises to have marijuana legalized within his first 100 days in office, if elected. This includes the reclassification of marijuana away from Schedule I as well as filling his cabinet with staff “who will all work to aggressively end the drug war.”

    His administration would review “all marijuana convictions” and determine which can be expunged on a case-by-case basis, for convictions on both the state and federal level. Federal funds would be diverted to local governments to help with the relevant convictions. If any case stagnates for two years, the Sanders administration themselves would provide an “administrative remedy.”

    It’s Going To Cost Around $50 Billion

    Sanders’ big plans are going to take big money. His plan is to divert $50 billion in legal marijuana tax revenue towards grants and community development. The largest cut, about $20 million, will go to the Minority Business Development Agency to aid cannabis entrepreneurs who come from disadvantaged racial backgrounds.

    Another $10 billion will go towards aiding businesses whose owners reside in parts of the nation disproportionately damaged by the drug war.

    About $10 billion more will be doled out as grants to former marijuana offenders or drug war-damaged areas so they can start “urban and rural” marijuana farming operations. The last $10 billion will be provided to a “targeted economic and community development fund” that aims to assist areas heavily affected by the opioid crisis.

    Taking On Big Tobacco

    His campaign also pledges to take aim at the Big Tobacco capitalists that have been positioning themselves to swoop in once marijuana is legalized. Altria, the tobacco giant behind Marlboro, has already made billion-dollar investments in the largest existing marijuana company.

    Sanders’ administration would stop “tobacco/cigarette corporations from participating in the marijuana industry.”

    Some tobacco companies are already involved in the marijuana industry, such as the aforementioned corporation Atria, and the Sanders campaign hasn’t commented on if and how it will push those influences out of the industry.

    There also isn’t word on whether alcohol companies would be allowed to participate in the marijuana industry either, which is a concern considering Molson Coors and Constellation Brands have already invested in marijuana, as USA Today noted.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • House Votes To Prevent Feds From Enforcing Pot Laws In Legal States

    House Votes To Prevent Feds From Enforcing Pot Laws In Legal States

    The Democrat-led arm of Congress seeks to keep federal marijuana enforcement out of places where citizens have voted it legal.

    The feds at the Department of Justice will no longer be able to enforce marijuana laws in legal states if the House of Representatives gets its way, Marijuana Moment reports.

    While the House is majority Democrat, the measure passed with a floor vote of 267 to 165, meaning the effort was bipartisan. If it passes, the DOJ will no longer have a say regarding state laws that govern recreational use, growing pot or selling the stuff.

    “This is the most significant vote on marijuana reform policy that the House of Representatives has ever taken,” said Justin Strekal, Political Director at NORML. “Today’s action by Congress highlights the growing power of the marijuana law reform movement and the increasing awareness by political leaders that the policy of prohibition and criminalization has failed.”

    Members of the marijuana industry welcomed the news.

    “The historic nature of this vote cannot be overstated,” said Neal Levine, CEO of the Cannabis Trade Federation. “For the first time, a chamber of Congress has declared that the federal government should defer to state cannabis laws.”

    The bill had bipartisan sponsorship coming from Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Tom McClintock (R-CA).

    “I do not believe the federal government has that authority, but even if it did, states should determine their own criminal justice policies,” wrote Rep. McClintock to his colleagues before the vote. “This is how our constitutional system was designed to function.”

    A similar measure failed the floor vote in 2015, but widespread support for legalization has only grown since then.

    “The end of marijuana prohibition has never been closer. When Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and a small band of allies first worked on this amendment in 2015, we were told that we didn’t stand a chance,” said the DPA Director of National Affairs, Michael Collins. “But we convinced members this was the right thing to do, and four years on, victory is sweet.”

    This isn’t the only victory for sensible drug policy that has recently made its way through the House. On Thursday, the House voted in favor of the establishment of regulations for CBD. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was also able to divert $5 million from the DEA to opioid treatment programs, but failed to push through a measure that would allow more research on the effects of psychedelics.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lead Found in Michigan Vape Cartridges

    Lead Found in Michigan Vape Cartridges

    State officials noted that manufacturers outside of the U.S. may still use lead to create their e-cigarette and vape cartridge products.

    Officials in Michigan are urging the state’s medicinal cannabis retailers to test their vape cartridges for heavy metals after several brands were found to have been contaminated with lead.

    A safety bulletin issued by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) revealed that the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation (BMR) had identified and destroyed the contaminated cartridges, and encouraged retailers, as well as patients and caregivers, to have their products tested.

    Studies have shown that lead and other heavy metals, which have been detected in vapors from e-cigarette products, pose significant health risks to users.

    According to the LARA press release, the contaminated cartridges were discovered when the BMR entered the test results in the statewide monitoring system, per Michigan regulations that, as High Times noted, require samples from vape cartridges to be submitted for testing at state labs. The bulletin also noted that lead was not discovered in any ceramic vape products.

    As a result of the test findings, the BMR requested that licensed provisioning centers have their cartridges tested. Medical marijuana patients and caregivers that dispense medical marijuana could also have their cartridges tested for a fee at a licensed safety compliance facility.

    The bulletin also noted that while federal regulations have eliminated the need to add lead to brass or copper products as was done in the past, manufacturers outside of the United States may still use lead to create their e-cigarette and vape cartridge products. Lead and other metal contaminates can leak into the products’ e-liquids when they are exposed to the heating coils. The metals are present in the aerosols produced by heating the liquids, which are then inhaled by the user.

    Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found lead and other metals, including chromium, manganese and nickel, in vapors produced by some e-cigarette products. High Times quoted an interview in Forbes with medical device marketing consultant Rich Able, who said that chronic exposure to these chemicals could have a serious and detrimental effect on users’ health.

    “Neurotoxins such as lead are linked to increased risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease,” said Able. “The other metals listed are even more nefarious to human organs.”

    Able also noted that federal regulation of such products is key to preventing similar incidents of exposure. “To continue manufacturing these devices to the smoking population without further diligence and clinical review is unethical and unconscionable,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Black Market Cannabis Thrives In California, Despite Legal Options

    Black Market Cannabis Thrives In California, Despite Legal Options

    Some customers would rather give their business to the black market to avoid the highly taxed, legal option. 

    A combination of high taxes, buyer loyalty and legal red tape has allowed black market sales of marijuana in California to flourish, despite its legality for both medical and recreational use.

    That’s the opinion of High Times, which detailed the conundrum faced by buyers and sellers in the Golden State: the 15% tax imposed on marijuana from licensed state dispensaries is too steep for some consumers, who turn to street dealers despite the threat of legal repercussion. 

    Complicating matters are a lack of manpower and resources to fight black market sales and the relative complexity of licensing for prospective cannabis dispensaries. Stuck in the middle of this push-and-pull are consumers, especially medicinal marijuana users, who don’t want to turn to street sales, but can’t afford California’s tax rates.

    To underscore the choices faced by consumers, High Times cites 2016 figures from Statista, which list the street value of an ounce of marijuana at $218 dollars, while the same amount from a legal dispensary costs $299. For Jake Heraty, a college student at San Francisco with serious health issues, that price differential determines whether or not he’ll eat dinner on a given day.

    “I’d prefer to go to a store and pick out just what I want,” he told High Times. “But when you have to pay an extra 15% in taxes, there’s really no questions. I just can’t afford to throw down 20 extra dollars so the state can get their share of the cannabis market.”

    High Times also spoke to “Marco,” a Bay Area dealer who illustrated why trust is also a factor in consumers choosing black market buys over dispensaries. An abundance of new growers and distributors without the years of experience earned by those in the illicit trade has resulted in what he called “B to C grade product floating around.” That undercuts return customers and trust, which according to Marco, is key to his transactions.

    “People don’t often consider family and relations that’s been built through the years between seller and buyer,” he explained. “The legal market just doesn’t have that yet.”

    And if those new industry participants manage to get their product to a legal market, they still face a host of regulations from both state and federal agencies that challenge the basic operations of many new businesses.

    As High Times noted, regulations established in 2018 required new labels for many cannabis products, which effectively forced dispensary owners to remove salable goods from their shelves. 

    The Times also quoted criminal defense attorney Marc Wasserman, one-half of Pot Brothers at Law, which provides representation to California marijuana businesses.

    According to Wasserman, a lack of tax deductions has hindered the ability of legal dispensaries to move into black market business; write-offs for expenses allowed to most businesses are prohibited for cannabis companies. “Cannabis businesses have to deal with form 280-E of the IRS,” he said. “When you fill out this form, you’re saying, ‘We’re dealing an illegal Schedule 1 drug, but the government still wants its cut.’ Yet, they don’t allow you to take typical write-offs.” 

    This confluence of restriction, taxation and bureaucracy is what has sent California pot consumers back to dealers like Marco—a situation that isn’t preferred by individuals like Jake Heraty.

    “I’ve seen the stores, and they’re much more attractive than a trap house,” he told High Times. “If I could afford it, I’d be in those shops. It’s unfortunate California’s government is more concerned about getting their share of the cut rather than providing their residents with an affordable service.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • New Mexico May Soon Legalize Recreational Marijuana

    New Mexico May Soon Legalize Recreational Marijuana

    The state’s house voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use, potentially joining the growing number of states that have done so.

    New Mexico could soon become the 11th state in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana. The state’s House of Representatives passed the measure on Thursday despite being voted against by every Republican representative as well as a few moderate Democrats.

    The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Javier Martinez (D), believes his bill will get through the senate because he reached across the aisle and worked on it with three senate Republicans.

    If passed, the bill would establish a system of sales and taxation modeled after Washington and Colorado, where marijuana has been legal for several years. However, as a compromise with senate Republicans, the New Mexico bill proposes mostly state-run marijuana dispensaries, with private sales being allowed if no state-run dispensaries are nearby.

    The legislation could become active as soon as mid-2020, possibly generating $9 million in tax revenue, according to estimates from state budget analysts. This figure is expected to grow to as high as $90 million in 2023.

    New Mexico’s Governor, Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, is likely to support the bill—as she ran on a platform “to move towards legalizing recreational cannabis in a way that improves public safety, boosts state revenues and allows for New Mexico businesses to grow into this new market.”

    The state senate has only until March 16th to make a move on the bill, which is good news for legalization opponents.

    “This is no surprise as legalization bills have passed the New Mexico House before. The bill now heads to the Senate, where there already exists a legalization bill that still has to clear three committees before the session ends next Thursday. While the House has passed this bill, we are confident the Senate will see through the tactics of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma investors and put public health first,” said Luke Niforatos of the anti-marijauna organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

    Several other states are also considering bills to legalize marijuana, including New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Support for legalization on the federal level is growing, arriving in a wave of Democrats vying for the 2020 presidency who support the end of nationwide marijuana prohibition.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Illegal Marijuana Exporters Thrive In Colorado

    Illegal Marijuana Exporters Thrive In Colorado

    Authorities and regulators admit that this rise in black market activity is partly a growing pain, resulting from unforeseen consequences of legalization.

    The relaxed attitude about marijuana use has emboldened some growers and dealers who do business without a license.

    Legalization was supposed to kill the black market for marijuana, creating avenues for official businesses that would raise some tax income for the state of Colorado. However, some dealers have chosen to stay in the black market, taking advantage of the new, relaxed attitude towards the drug to expand their illegal grow and deal operations.

    “We thought that the black market would disappear,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper. “Evidently it contracted and then began to expand again, and that’s counter-intuitive, right? It is not what you would expect.”

    Colorado voted to legalize the drug in 2013, reasoning that jailing citizens over a relatively harmless drug was doing more harm than good. The state allows people 21 years of age or older to buy or grow reasonable amounts of marijuana. But despite these good intentions, some have taken advantage of the new, destigmatized political climate to upgrade their operations to the point where they are “just like a corporation,” according to Bob Troyer, Colorado’s former US attorney.

    These organizations also smuggle the goods outside to illegal states. Authorities have found contraband Coloradoan marijuana in more than 34 states. The pot can be traced back to huge illegal grow operations found in state parks, farmland or even inside neighborhood homes. A significant portion of the marijuana black marketeers hail from outside the United States, from places as far as Mexico, Cuba and even China.

    “The thing that nobody predicted (was that) normalization, commercialization, would be a magnet for international black market activity,” explained Troyer.

    Authorities and regulators admit that this rise in black market activity is partly a growing pain, resulting from unforeseen consequences of legalization.

    “I think one of the mistakes that was made in Colorado and some other states is allowing for home cultivation,” said Chris Woods, who founded a marijuana grow and retail business called Terrapin Care Station. “What we’re seeing right now is a lot of clean-up from the mistakes that have been made.”

    At least one regulation has been overturned and cleaned up since legalization: the 99 plant rule. Originally, the state allowed medical marijuana patients, and their caregivers, to store and grow up to 99 plants.

    “I think the 99 plant thing really opened the floodgates. No other states (allowed) any numbers like that,” said DEA agent Kevin Merrill. “Outside organizations took advantage of that … If you got 10 people signed up, you effectively could have 999 plants in a residence.”

    Authorities believe that as long as there is demand from illegal states, the black market will continue to grow.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Two-Thirds Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana

    Two-Thirds Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana

    Analysts say that more politicians are getting behind marijuana legalization as their constituents express their support. 

    With two-thirds of Americans saying that they are in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana, advocates for cannabis reform say that the time is right for making major changes to United States drug policy. 

    “The train has left the station,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer told NBC News. “I see all the pieces coming together… It’s the same arc we saw two generations ago with the prohibitions of alcohol.”

    According to a Gallup poll conducted earlier this month, 66% of Americans support legalizing marijuana. This was consistent throughout all regions of the country.

    Young Americans are the most likely to support legalization, with 78% of 18- to 34-year-olds in favor—but even among older adults, support is high, with 59% of Americans over 55 supporting legalization. 

    There are some political differences, however. While 75% of Democrats and 71% of independents are in favor of marijuana legalization, only 53% of Republicans support legalization. Still, support is growing in the party and this is the first year that a majority of Republicans are in favor. 

    “Like support for gay marriage—and in prior years, interracial marriage—support for marijuana legalization has generally only expanded, even if slowly, over the course of multiple decades—raising the question of where the ceiling in support might be,” the Gallup poll concluded. “As the percentage of Americans who favor legalizing pot has continued to grow, so has the number of states that have taken up legislation to allow residents to use the substance recreationally.”

    This November, residents in four more states will vote on changes to marijuana policy. Michigan and North Dakota residents are considering legalizing recreational cannabis, while Utah voters are considering whether to legalize medical marijuana. In Missouri, residents will vote on three different measures to allow medical marijuana. 

    Analysts say that more politicians are getting behind marijuana legalization as their constituents express their support. 

    “The tipping point probably passed one or two election cycles ago,” said Tom Angell, founder of the news site Marijuana Moment. “It keeps becoming more and more apparent that it will be impossible for prohibitionists to reverse our gains. And as a result, more mainstream politicians are getting on board.”

    Last week, Canada became the second country to fully legalize marijuana, after experiencing a similar change in public opinion toward the drug. 

    “Politicians embraced it because it’s actually good politics,” said Blumenauer. “They can read the polls.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Fox & Friends" Pundit Blames Legal Pot For Teen Drug Use, Homelessness

    "Fox & Friends" Pundit Blames Legal Pot For Teen Drug Use, Homelessness

    Studies regarding marijuana’s impact on social concerns do not appear to support all of Joe Peters’ claims.

    A guest on the popular Fox & Friends morning news and opinion program appeared to lay the blame for a host of social ills, from increased drug use among teens to emergency room visits and even homelessness, on marijuana legalization during a recent appearance.

    Joe Peters, a former Pennsylvania police officer, federal prosecutor and White House Drug Czar official, suggested that efforts to legalize marijuana in the United States like the recent legislation in Canada would send numbers for the aforementioned issues, as well as impaired driving, to stratospheric levels.

    However, as High Times reported, studies regarding marijuana’s impact on these and other concerns did not appear to support all of Peters’ claims.

    Peters, who is a current Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s 11th District, was a guest on an October 19, 2018 broadcast of Fox & Friends which examined possible outcomes for marijuana legalization in the U.S. Co-host Steve Doocy put forward the question about whether such a move would be beneficial for the country, which prompted Peters to point to alleged troubles in the state of Colorado as evidence for the dangers of legalization.

    “By every metric, it was a failure, in my view,” said Peters. “Teen drug use is the highest in the country. Drug driving is off the charts, doubled with marijuana impaired driving. Homelessness is up. Emergency room admissions. And the black market is flourishing. Black market arrests – remember the whole notion was we legalize it, we can control it. Black market arrests are up almost 400%.”

    Some of Peters’ assessments are, in part, correct. Federal and local law enforcement have both noted an increase in instances of trafficking in the Centennial State, but the majority of these cases involve the distribution of marijuana to other states like Florida and Texas, where legalization efforts have not taken root.

    Trafficking on the local level has also continued due to dispensary prices – taxes, which range from municipality, can reach 23.15% – which local dealers can easily undercut.

    Statistics have also shown an increase in Colorado traffic fatalities involving marijuana, but again, these results are conflicting: while the number of fatal vehicular accidents who tested positive for marijuana has risen from 75 in 2014 to 139 in 2017, the number of those fatalities in which the active THC level in the driver’s system could be considered at the level of legal impairment dropped from 52 in 2016 to 35 in 2017. 

    But as High Times pointed out, Peters’ other allegations lack concrete evidence. Studies have shown that while cannabis consumption among teenagers inched up 1.3% between 2016 and 2017, the increase in marijuana dispensaries in states like Colorado has had no impact on teenagers’ use.

    Legal marijuana also appears to have had no effect on rates of homelessness in Colorado; a 2016 study of residents in the city of Pueblo, Colorado found that disconnected utilities, not legal marijuana, was the leading cause of homelessness there.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Legal Marijuana Linked To Rise In Car Crashes

    Legal Marijuana Linked To Rise In Car Crashes

    Legalizing marijuana isn’t completely harmless, according to a pair of new studies.

    Car crashes went up by about 6% in states that have legalized recreational marijuana, a couple of new studies found. Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have seen an increase in insurance claims for collisions, according to separate studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute.

    The institutes presented their research at the Combating Alcohol- and Drug-Impaired Driving Summit on Thursday.

    The Highway Loss Data Institute focused on claims between 2012 and October 2017, comparing the results to four illegal states, including Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety observed a 5.2% increase in police-reported crashes after legalization in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

    “States exploring legalizing marijuana should consider this effect on highway safety,” said David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute.

    The findings are important as the tide is increasingly turning to favor the legalization of marijuana. Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana, and Michigan and North Dakota are holding a vote on the issue next month. Canada has legalized it as well.

    FIguring out who is or isn’t impaired by marijuana while driving is also a challenge, the institutes acknowledge. Marijuana’s active ingredient, THC, can remain detectable in a person for as long as 30 days—long after the high has worn off. Currently, there isn’t a reliable method to determine whether someone is currently high. But according to the studies, it’s clear that marijuana has some effect on driving ability.

    “Despite the difficulty of isolating the specific effects of marijuana impairment on crash risk, the evidence is growing that legalizing its use increases crashes,” Harkey said.

    The Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California San Diego is undertaking studies to better understand the effects of marijuana on driving as well as methods to more reliably detect if a driver is currently under the influence.

    Methods now used by law enforcement are notoriously unreliable, and as a result field sobriety tests for marijuana cannot be used as evidence in some cases.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Feds Reschedule CBD Drugs But There's A Catch

    Feds Reschedule CBD Drugs But There's A Catch

    The rescheduling does not apply to all CBD drugs.

    Following the approval of CBD-based epilepsy drug Epidolex by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US federal government has decided that, going forward, it will reschedule all CBD medications that the FDA approves.

    As of Friday, the rescheduling order has been published to the official register. While CBD medications becoming legalized is good news for advocates, the excitement was somewhat dampened by just how narrow the order is.

    “Specifically, this order places FDA-approved drugs that contain CBD derived from cannabis and no more than 0.1% tetrahydrocannabinols in schedule V,” reads the order.

    While this may not read like a big deal, the problem is that the FDA approval process is costly and lengthy, greatly limiting who can actually bring CBD products to market. So far, only Epidolex, made by GW Pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom, has approval.

    “What this does not do is legalize or change the status of CBD oil products,” said a DEA spokesperson. “As of right now, any other CBD product other than Epidiolex remains a Schedule I controlled substance, so it’s still illegal under federal law.”

    The DEA takes this tough stance on CBD despite the fact that it carries many medicinal benefits while not providing any of the trademark “high” that marijuana does. Epidolex was deemed by the FDA to be safe enough to be used as treatment for debilitating epilepsy for children as young as or younger than one year old.

    Advocates argue that such strict criteria for CBD products means that any medicine, no matter how popular or effective, cannot qualify for FDA approval if it has any trace of THC.

    “We anticipated that Epidiolex will be the first of many potential FDA-approved medicines based on the cannabis plant. These are welcome alternatives,” said Paul Armentano, the Deputy Director of NORML. “But these products should not be regulated in such a manner that patients no longer have ready access to herbal cannabis — a product that humans have used safely and effectively as a medicine for thousands of years and is approved today by statute in 31 states.”

    View the original article at thefix.com