XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, rec.drugs.cannabis
From: bliss@mouse-potato.com

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1049 -- 12/20/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1049

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

Table of Contents:

1. THE YEAR IN DRUGS I: THE TOP DOMESTIC DRUG POLICY STORIES OF 2018
[FEATURE]
The good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of domestic drug policy
this year. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/20/year_drugs_i_top_domestic_drug

2. IN RARE SHOW OF BIPARTISANSHIP, SENATE PASSES PRISON AND SENTENCING
REFORM BILL [FEATURE]
It's expected to sail through the House and be signed into law by
President Trump. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/20/rare_show_bipartisanship_senate

3. HERE COMES HEMP: CONGRESS VOTES TO UNCHAIN A BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY [FEATURE]
Marijuana's lanky, straight-laced country cousin is about to get legal. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/15/here_comes_hemp_congress_votes

4. WHAT'S KILLING US: THE TEN DRUGS MOST IMPLICATED IN OVERDOSE DEATHS [FEATURE]
Multi-drug combinations prove particularly deadly. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/19/whats_killing_us_ten_drugs_most

5. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
A Nebraska medical marijuana initiative campaign gets underway, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania announce expansion plans, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/19/medical_marijuana_update

6. CHRONICLE AM: CONGRESS PASSES HEMP BILL, CDC REPORT ON OVERDOSE
DEATHS, MORE... (12/13/18)
Congress has passed a bill to legalize hemp, the CDC issues a new report
on overdose deaths, St. Vincent and the Grenadines legalizes medical
marijuana, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/13/chronicle_am_congress_passes

7. CHRONICLE AM: NJ LEGALIZATION DELAYED, NM COURT REJECTS ALBUQUERQUE
CAR SEIZURES, MORE.. (12/14/18)
A national coalition of civil rights, labor, and civic groups calls for descheduling marijuana; New Jersey isn't quite there yet, France takes a
step toward allowing medical marijuana, and more.

https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/14/chronicle_am_nj_legalization

8. CHRONICLE AM: NY GOV WANTS LEGAL MARIJUANA IN 2019, UT OFFENDERS'
DRUG TREATMENT REPORT, MORE... (12/17/18)
The governors of New Hampshire and New York have very different views on marijuana legalization, New Jersey doubles the number of dispensaries, a
new report examines drug treatment for criminal offenders in Utah, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/17/chronicle_am_ny_gov_wants_legal

9. CHRONICLE AM: FEDERAL SENTENCING BILL MOVING, NO NJ LEGALIZATION THIS
YEAR, MORE... (12/18/18)
The Senate is finally taking up the prison and sentencing reform bill,
New Jersey's legalization push is stalled until next year, New Zealand
is set to vote on legalizing marijuana in 2020, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/18/chronicle_am_federal_sentencing

10. CHRONICLE AM: SENATE PASSES SENTENCING REFORM BILL, NM SUED OVER
MEDMJ RULES AND FEES, MORE... (12/19/18)
A major sentencing reform bill takes a major step toward becoming law, a
New Mexico medical marijuana producer is suing the state over rules and
fees, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/19/chronicle_am_senate_passes

11. ERRATA: NO, YOU DON'T JUST GET A TICKET FOR DRIVING HIGH IN
MICHIGAN, YOU GO TO JAIL
Getting caught driving high in Michigan is NOT a ticketable offense. You
will go to jail and face either misdemeanor or felony charges. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/dec/13/errata_no_you_dont_just_get

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The Year in Drugs I: The Top Domestic Drug Policy Stories of 2018 [FEATURE]

Post to: Twitter Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Reddit

by psmith, December 20, 2018, 12:22am, (Issue #1049)
Posted in:

2018 Cocaine Congress Decriminalization Executive Branch Fentanyl
Hemp Heroin Mandatory Minimums Marijuana -- Personal Use Marijuana
Industry Marijuana Legalization Methamphetamine News Feature Overdoses Psilocybin / Magic Mushrooms Safer Injection Sites Sentencing State &
Local Executive Branches State & Local Legislatures

This is a year that just about everybody is eager to see come to an end,
but when it comes to drug policy, 2018 hasn't been half-bad, at least in
the US. (Check back next week for our Top International Drug Policy
Stories.)

We've seen marijuana legalization spread further, we're on the verge of
seeing Congress pass major sentencing reform legislation, and the ban on domestic hemp cultivation is coming to an end, among other things.

A lot went on in drug policy in 2018. Here are eight stories that helped
define the year:

1. Overdose Deaths Remain Unconscionably High But Appear to Have Leveled Off

That's enough fentanyl to kill you. It killed thousands this year. (dea.gov) The nation's fatal drug overdose crisis is far from over, but it now
looks like it at least didn't get any worse this year. Driven in large
part by the rise of fentanyl, overdose deaths reached a stunning 72,000
in 2017, a figure ten times the number in 1980 and double that of only a
decade ago.

But preliminary reports on the 2018 overdose numbers suggest that this
may be the year the crisis began to ease. In June, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention released provisional data showing that
overdose deaths had declined for six straight months, dropping 2.8
percent from their 2017 peak. That report also found that opioid
overdose deaths had declined by 2.3 percent.

With both heroin and prescription opioid deaths declining, fentanyl has
emerged as the most common drug involved in overdoses, being implicated
in about a quarter of all drug overdose deaths. While the apparent
decline in opioid overdose deaths this year is good news, the recent
increases in cocaine and methamphetamine overdose deaths is not. And
while any break in a years-long climb in overdose deaths is certainly
welcome, another 70,000 or so Americans will still have died from them
this year. We have a long, long way to go.

2. Safe Injection Sites Draw Nearer, But Feds Fire Warning Shots

Safe injection sites -- also known as supervised consumption sites,
among other names -- where drug users can consume their doses under
medical supervision and with an opportunity to engage with social
services are a proven harm reduction intervention. More than a hundred
cities around the world, mainly in Europe, Canada, and Australia have
resorted to such facilities as a means of providing better outcomes, not
only for drug users but also for the communities in which they live.

There are no legally permitted safe injection sites in the United States (although some underground ones are reportedly operating in Seattle, and
there may be more in hiding), but this year saw mounting pressure and
serious efforts to get them up and running in a number of American
states and cities. It also saw mounting resistance from federal officials.

At the state level, California, Colorado, Missouri, and New York all saw
safe injection site bills filed. Only the bill in California made it out
of the legislature, but to the great frustration of reformers, it was
vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who cited long outdated beliefs about
substance use in his veto message. Still, the fact that bills are being
filed shows the issue is gaining momentum.

The momentum is even stronger among a handful of major cities. Denver,
New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle have all taken steps to clear
the way for safe injection sites this year, although none are yet in place.

While like California's Gov. Brown, some state and local level political figures are hesitant to embrace them, a major reason none is yet in
place is federal hostility. As the clamor for the facilities grows
louder, so does opposition from the Trump administration. As Denver
publicly pondered opening one, the local DEA and the US Attorney loudly
warned they would be illegal, and the Philadelphia US Attorney did the
same thing. Early in the year, the DEA in Washington issued a warning
against safe injection sites, and in August, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein authored an op-ed in the New York Times issuing similar dire threats.

3. A Major Federal Sentencing Reform Bill Is Set to Pass

A rare example of bipartisanship on the Hill. (Creative Commons)
The first major federal sentencing reform bill in eight years is now one
vote away from passing Congress. The bill, known as the First Step Act (S.3649), is the culmination of years of work by the likes of Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Dick
Durbin (D-IL), and includes prison reform language as well as provisions
that would reduce sentences for certain drug offenses. It very nearly
died earlier this month when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-KY) announced he would not bring it to a Senate floor vote, but under
broad pressure, including from President Trump, McConnell relented, and
the bill passed the Senate Tuesday

The sentencing reforms include retroactivity for the Fair Sentencing Act
(the 2010 law that reduced the crack/powder cocaine sentencing
disparity), allowing the potential release of around 2,600 people;
expansion of the "safety valve" allowing judges more discretion to
sentence beneath mandatory minimum sentences; reform of the "three
strikes" law, reducing the "second strike" mandatory minimum of 20 years
to 15 years, and reducing the "third strike" mandatory minimum of life-in-prison to 25 years.

The late word is that the bill will pass the House easily, but that
hasn't happened as of this writing. If and when it does, the country
will have taken a significant step toward a more just and humane federal criminal justice system. The passage has also drawn major media
attention as a rare example of bipartisanship in Washington today.

4. Marijuana Legalization Advances in the States

At the beginning of the year, marijuana for adult recreational use was
legal in eight states, all in the West or New England and all thanks to
the initiative process. As 2018 comes to a close, that number has jumped
to ten, with Vermont in January becoming the first state to legalize it
through the legislature and Michigan in November becoming the first
Midwest state to legalize it.

The initiative process is available in only half the states, and when it
comes to legalizing weed, the low-hanging fruit has already been picked.
A legalization initiative in conservative Nebraska went down to defeat
this year, and remaining initiative states like the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are among the most socially conservative and
least likely to free the weed. But prospects are rosier in initiative
states Arizona, Missouri, and Ohio. We are likely to see pot on the
ballot in all three in 2020.

Vermont remains the sole state to legalize it legislatively, but a
handful of states edged ever closer close this year. New Jersey Gov.
Phil Murphy (D) wanted pot legalized in his first 100 days. That didn't
happen, and legalization hasn't gotten through the legislature yet, but
there is a small chance it could still happen this year and a very good
chance it will be a done deal by early next year. Legislatures
throughout the Mid-Atlantic states and Northeast grappled with the
issue, laying the groundwork for next year and the year beyond, and just
this week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for legalization next
year. The long march continues.

5. Marijuana Is Still Federally Illegal, But the Crackdown Never Came

As the year comes to end, legal weed is still here and Jeff Sessions
isn't. President Trump's first attorney general was an avowed foe of
marijuana (as well as drug and criminal justice reform in general), but
despite rescinding the Obama-era Cole memo, which basically told federal prosecutors to leave state law-abiding pot businesses alone, the
much-feared crackdown on the industry never came.

Federal prosecutors, for the most part, continue to view legal marijuana businesses as a low priority, especially when faced with much more
serious drug problems, such as the opioid overdose epidemic. But
Sessions was also undercut by his own boss, who in April arranged a deal
with Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in which he agreed to support
a bill protecting states that have broken with federal pot prohibition
in return for Gardner's allowing Justice department appointments to move forward.

This year saw a plethora of federal marijuana reform bills, but with
Republican leadership in both houses firmly opposed, the Capitol was
where marijuana reform went to die. With Democrats in control of the
House next year, things promise to be different next year, although the
GOP-led Senate will remain an obstacle. But with pot consistently
polling in the 60s, those Republican senators may grudgingly start
coming on board.

6. Marijuana Legalization is Nice, But We Need Social Justice, Too

This year saw social justice concerns around marijuana legalization move
front and center in two distinct ways: demands for the expungement of
marijuana arrest records for people whose offenses are no longer crimes
and demands for restorative racial justice from communities that have
suffered the brunt of the war on drugs.

The year started with two major West Coast cities, San Francisco and
Seattle, leading the way on expungement. The, in September, California
became the first state to put state-level automatic expungement into
effect. Delaware and Rhode Island, which have both decriminalized but

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