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Tag: marijuana prohibition

  • Amid Michigan Legalization, Black Market Weed Goes Unchecked 

    Amid Michigan Legalization, Black Market Weed Goes Unchecked 

    “We’re literally seeing hundreds of businesses that have opened up across the state and sell recreational marijuana without a license,” said one police official.

    Voters in Michigan legalized recreational marijuana use last year, but legal dispensaries won’t be operating until 2020 in the state. However, illegal dispensaries are popping up all over the place, and law enforcement is doing little to combat them, according to a recent report. 

    “We’re literally seeing hundreds of businesses that have opened up across the state and sell recreational marijuana without a license,” Michigan State Police Lt. Chris Hawkins told MLive. And yet, he added,”The resources we have to address black market unlicensed marijuana are very limited.”

    Going Undercover

    Recently, Hawkins sent undercover officers into a medical marijuana dispensary, and they were able to purchase cannabis without showing any identification or a medical marijuana card.

    That’s illegal, but Hawkins said that it’s unlikely anything will happen to the dispensary, since many prosecutors and others in law enforcement have decided not to use their limited resources going after black market cannabis. 

    The issue is so pervasive in the state that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Andrew Brisbo, director of the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, met about the problem. However, they have not yet reached a solution. 

    “We talked about, at some point we really have to start coming down on those who are operating illegally,” Nessel said. “Just the same way we would, by the way, if you were selling cigarettes illegally. Just the same way we would if you had manufactured moonshine in your bathtub, and nobody had tested that to find out if it was safe and you didn’t have a license to sell it. So, at some point, you know, that’s going to be part of the function of our office is to make certain that the laws are enforced and that it’s properly regulated.”

    Michigan’s Black Market

    Michigan’s medical marijuana law allows caregivers to grow cannabis for as many as five people: up to 72 plants total. They are allowed to sell the excess weed to licensed dispensaries, but many turn to the black market instead.

    One caregiver who spoke with MLive said that he sells to illegal dispensaries because it is safer than selling himself, but he makes a higher profit and a faster sale than he would be able to make at legal dispensaries. 

    Some medical dispensaries are already feeling the pressure of competing with the black market, said Stuart Carter, who owns a licensed medical dispensary. “We’re seeing a downturn in our sales,” he said. “For every dispensary, there’s four illegal delivery services.”

    As the state begins to accept applications for recreational dispensaries, Hawkins says that the legal market will only survive if law enforcement clamps down on the black market. 

    “I don’t know how the licensed industry survives when there’s a thriving black market where marijuana can be sold untested,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "New York Times" Fact-Checks Elizabeth Warren’s Stance on Legalization

    "New York Times" Fact-Checks Elizabeth Warren’s Stance on Legalization

    Warren is now pro-legalization but the record shows that this was not always the case.

    A new article by the New York Times fact-checks Senator Elizabeth Warren’s comments regarding marijuana legalization.

    In April 2019, the senator, who is currently a 2020 Democratic candidate for president, told a CNN town meeting that she “thought it made a lot more sense for Massachusetts to go ahead and legalize marijuana” instead of decriminalizing it, which the state passed in 2008.

    However, the Times found that Warren’s declaration was somewhat exaggerated, and pointed to comments made in 2011 and 2012 that appeared to show reluctance towards embracing full legalization.

    At the town hall meeting in April, Warren was responding to a student’s question about her stance towards legalization by noting that she “supported Massachusetts changing its laws on marijuana,” and believed that legalization was a more effective measure than decriminalization.

    The Times considered her comment an “exaggerated” version of her actual stance at various times in the past.

    During the Senate Democratic primary debate in October 2011, Warren actually opposed legalization. “Medical marijuana is one thing, but [legalization] generally, no,” she said. A year later, she declined to offer an opinion on the issue during an interview with the Associated Press, but later voiced her support for medical marijuana during an interview for Boston radio.

    In 2015, Warren was asked by Boston Globe reporter Joshua Miller about her previous opposition to legalization efforts. She told Miller that she was “open to it” after hearing about legalization measures in other states, and reiterated her willingness to consider legalization a year later when asked about her position on Question 4, a legalization initiative on the November 2016 ballot.

    The Times piece found that Warren’s statements on various subjects were largely true, including the decline of the minimum wage and her wealth tax plan, though it took issue with her description of Democratic support for said plan as “huge.”

    Warren’s current support for legalization puts her on equal footing with the majority of her fellow Democratic candidates, including Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttgieg, as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. 

    Former Vice President Joe Biden supports decriminalization efforts, criminal record expungement for marijuana charges and federal research into cannabis, but has stopped short of backing legalization, a position he shares with two other Democratic candidates, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Senator Sherrod Brown.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Marijuana Legalization Remains Low Priority For Most Americans

    Marijuana Legalization Remains Low Priority For Most Americans

    Only 2% of Americans polled said that legalization was an important issue for them when deciding who they will vote for in the 2020 election.

    While more Americans than ever are in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana, most believe that there are more pressing priorities that the government needs to focus on, according to polling. 

    Last fall, Gallup released a poll showing that for the first time ever two-thirds of Americans said that they are in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. 

    “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.”

    Despite that, Americans don’t seem to think that legalizing marijuana is a priority for the government right now. A recent CNN poll asked voters to rank what issue is most important to them when deciding who they will vote for in the 2020 election. Just 2% said marijuana is the most important issue for them. 

    Likewise, in a Gallup poll released in February asking Americans about the biggest problems the country faced, no respondents mentioned marijuana policy. Interestingly, the opioid epidemic also did not rate in that poll. Instead, Americans are mostly concerned about “the government/poor leadership,” immigration and healthcare. 

    A Pew poll from January asked what the government’s priorities for 2019 should be. In that poll, marijuana policy did not rank, but 49% of respondents said that addressing “drug addiction” should be a top priority. 

    Despite the fact that very few Americans believe that marijuana policy should be prioritized by the government, it has become an issue for 2020 presidential candidates and other political hopefuls.

    U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California who is running for president, has spoken out in favor of legalization. 

    “Something else it’s past time we get done is dismantling the failed war on drugs—starting with legalizing marijuana,” she wrote in her book, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. “We need to legalize marijuana and regulate it, and we need to expunge nonviolent marijuana-related offenses from the records of millions of people who have been arrested and incarcerated so they can get on with their lives.”

    The World Health Organization has also called for marijuana to be rescheduled into a less restrictive class. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Marijuana Could Disqualify Immigrants From US Citizenship

    Marijuana Could Disqualify Immigrants From US Citizenship

    Any association with marijuana could be considered an issue in establishing “good moral character,” which is a requirement for citizenship.

    Immigrants who are found to have any involvement with marijuana—from possession and distribution, to medical marijuana use, to working in a cannabis company—could bar immigrants from earning citizenship, even in states where marijuana is legal.

    New guidelines issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services (USCIS) state that any violation of the Controlled Substances Act could be considered as an undermining factor in establishing “good moral character” (GMC), which is a requirement for citizenship.

    Though medical marijuana is legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and recreational marijuana is legal for adults in 10 states and D.C., marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, and as such, remains prohibited by federal law.

    The new guidelines (released on April 19) were issued as clarification for the USCIS Policy Manual about how an arrest for any involvement in marijuana-related activity could upend an immigrant’s efforts towards citizenship.

    USCIS stated in the memo that a “violation of federal controlled substance law, including for marijuana, established by a conviction or admission, is generally a bar to establishing GMC for naturalization even where the conduct would not be a violation of state law.”

    USCIS policy defines good moral character as behavior that “measures up to the standards of average citizens in which the applicant resides.”

    A naturalization officer would determine an applicant’s GMC according to his or her record, statements provided during the application, and oral testimony from an interview.

    Applicants for naturalization who are found to have violated the federal law through “marijuana-related activities” may be considered to lack GMC. Such activities include possession, distribution, cultivation or manufacture of marijuana, regardless of its legal status in a state.

    As CBS News noted, even jobs associated with the cannabis industry or use of medical marijuana could be denoted as a violation.

    “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is required to adjudicate cases based on federal law,” said USCIS spokesperson Jessica Collins to CBS News. “Individuals who commit federal controlled substance violations face potential immigration consequences under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which applies to all foreign nationals regardless of the state or jurisdiction in which they reside.”

    The exception to this policy is if the violation is a single offense for simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Attorney General Nom William Barr Says He Won’t Go After Legal Pot

    Attorney General Nom William Barr Says He Won’t Go After Legal Pot

    Despite the fact that Barr would respect state laws in regards to marijuana, some drug policy advocates argued that he should not be made attorney general.

    As the Senate conducted confirmation hearings with President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, most questions were focused on how William Barr would steer investigations into possible collusion between the administration and Russia.

    However, during the confirmation hearings, Barr discussed the need for changing marijuana laws and said that he would not go after states that allow the legal sale of cannabis, a marked change in policy from that of previous Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 

    “I’m not going to go after companies that have relied on the Cole memoranda,” Barr said during the hearings, according to Rolling Stone. “My approach to this would be not to upset settled expectations.”

    The Cole Memorandum was signed in 2013 under President Obama. In it, United States Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole directed federal attorneys not to prosecute marijuana crimes in states that had legalized use. In essence, the memo meant that the federal ban on marijuana would not be enforced in states that had laws legalizing cannabis. However, the memo was rescinded last year by Sessions, who took a hardline stance on cannabis and wanted to stop recreational use in the states. 

    During his hearing, Barr said that it is time for the country to have a more consistent marijuana policy. 

    “I think the current situation is untenable,” he said. It’s almost like a “backdoor nullification of federal law. . . . We should either have a federal law that prohibits marijuana, everywhere, which I would support, myself. . . . If we want states to have their own laws, then let’s get there. And lets get there the right way.”

    Despite the fact that Barr would respect state laws in regards to marijuana, some drug policy advocates argued that he should not be made attorney general. Barr, in the past, has made statements against criminal justice reform and in favor of mandatory minimums that can hurt people with substance use disorder, the Drug Policy Alliance said in a press release. 

    “Trump is appointing someone who has long been a cheerleader for mass incarceration and the war on drugs. It shows the Administration’s true colors and undermines any recent criminal justice reforms,” Michael Collins, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, said. “Senators from both parties should take Barr to task for his appalling views on drug policy and criminal justice, instead of giving him an easy ride like they did with Jeff Sessions.”  

    During the hearings, Barr did acknowledge that strict enforcement of policies, like those he previously supported, “harmed the black community,” according to USA Today. 

    No matter what the outcome of the confirmation hearings, it seems likely that Barr’s policy on drug enforcement and cannabis will be overshadowed by his perspectives on the Mueller investigation, however. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kamala Harris Pushes For Marijuana Legalization In New Book

    Kamala Harris Pushes For Marijuana Legalization In New Book

    The California senator discusses her stance on prohibition, de-scheduling and the need for the war on drugs to be dismantled in her new book.

    More and more democratic politicians are getting on board with marijuana legalization, according to Forbes. 

    Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is one of them, as she discusses the topic in her new book, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.

    “Something else it’s past time we get done is dismantling the failed war on drugs—starting with legalizing marijuana,” Harris writes in the book. 

    “We need to legalize marijuana and regulate it,” she adds. “And we need to expunge nonviolent marijuana-related offenses from the records of millions of people who have been arrested and incarcerated so they can get on with their lives.”

    Though she is for marijuana legalization, Harris says that legalization should be done with caution. Because of the Schedule I status of the drug, she states, there has not been enough research on the effects. She also states that some solution needs to be put in place when it comes to driving under the influence of marijuana.

    Harris also touches on other drugs as a whole, writing, “”We also need to stop treating drug addiction like a public safety crisis instead of what it is: a public health crisis.” 

    “When someone is suffering from addiction, their situation is made worse, not better, by involvement in the criminal justice system,” she adds.

    Despite her support now, Harris has not always been supportive of marijuana legalization. According to Forbes, Harris laughed during a 2014 interview when a journalist raised a question about legalization.

    Two years later, in 2016, she also refused to support California’s cannabis legalization ballot measure. 

    However, with a possible presidential run on the horizon, Harris has gotten behind legalization. In May 2018, according to Forbes, Harris agreed to co-sponsor a bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act as well as withhold federal funding from states with “discriminatory cannabis enforcement.”

    “Right now in this country people are being arrested, being prosecuted, and end up spending time in jail or prison all because of their use of a drug that otherwise should be considered legal,” she said at that point.

    According to The Washington Examiner, at that time she also added that race plays a role when it comes to consequences of marijuana use.

    “It’s the smart thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. And I know this as a former prosecutor. I know it as a senator,” Harris said. “The fact is marijuana laws are not applied and enforced the same way for all people. African-Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as whites, but are approximately four times more likely to be arrested for possession. That’s just not fair.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mexico's Supreme Court Strikes Down Recreational Marijuana Ban

    Mexico's Supreme Court Strikes Down Recreational Marijuana Ban

    Though limited in scope, the decision was considered a victory for pro-cannabis groups.

    Lawmakers in Mexico opened a door to marijuana legalization by declaring an absolute ban on recreational use a violation of constitutional rights.

    The country’s top court declared on October 31 that it had found in favor of two amparos (or legal injunctions) against the ban, which when added to three previous challenges, resulting in the five amparos required to change national law.

    The country’s top court ruled in all five cases that the “effects caused by marijuana do not justify an absolute prohibition on its consumption.”

    Though limited in scope, the decision was considered a victory for pro-cannabis groups, and was soon followed by legislation submitted to Congress that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the country.

    The Mexican government has maintained a hardline stance towards marijuana legalization for decades. Senator Olga Sanchez, who is President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s choice for interior minister and the author of the legalization bill, suggested that this approach can be considered a contributing factor in the deaths of more than 230,000 individuals in Mexico, victims of the country’s decades-long war against drug cartels. 

    The first significant effort towards legalization came with the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling, which allowed eight-year-old Graciela Elizalde to use cannabis as treatment for a severe form of epilepsy.

    The second amparo came the same year, when the court granted four members of the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Self-Consumption the right to grow, transport and use marijuana. Medical marijuana was approved in the country in 2017, though health professionals are only allowed to prescribe cannabis oil with less than 1% THC.

    Pro-cannabis groups marshaled their forces to present three more legal challenges, and passed one before ruling on the final two on October 31 and establishing jurisprudence. In its statement, the Supreme Court noted that its decision did not allow for unrestricted or unregulated use of marijuana; more importantly, the ruling only allowed those individuals that filed the legal challenges to cultivate and consume marijuana. 

    Senator Sanchez’s bill, submitted this week, proposes that licensed companies could grow and sell marijuana, and individuals would be allowed to grow plants for private use—though in the latter case, approximately one pound would be allowed per year.

    Exactly what form the bill will take once it is passed into the hands of Mexico’s Congress remains unclear, but Supreme Court Judge Arturo Zaldlívar said that the move towards legalization is inevitable.

    “The world is going in that direction,” he said. “I think that when we announced the first approval of cannabis amparo, it was very polemic, very controversial. But time and history are proving that we were right, fortunately.”

    View the original article at thefix.com