LOCAL NEWS PT. 1

Photo by Merlin Lightpainting A New Jersey legislator hopes to legalize psilocybin in the Garden State. Senate President Nicholas Scutari – who was a major supporter of Cannabis legalization in New Jersey – has introduced a measure that would not only legalize the psychedelic, but also establish a psilocybin dispensary system consisting of licensed providers.

Interestingly, Scutari’s bill would also allow for home cultivation of psilocybin. Should the measure become law, Garden Staters would be legally permitted to grow their own ‘shrooms while home Cannabis cultivation remains banned. New Jersey is the only state to outlaw home cultivation of both recreational and medicinal marijuana.

The New Jersey bill is the latest effort in the psychedelic-law reform movement that is gaining momentum across the country, from Oregon’s statewide legalization ballot initiative in 2020 to local ordinances cropping up throughout Massachusetts.

While some advocates approach reform from a standpoint of making psychedelics the lowest law enforcement priority, others like Scutari view psilocybin as a vital therapeutic substance.

According to the newly filed New Jersey bill, “It is the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the establishment of safe, legal and affordable psilocybin service centers to provide residents of New Jersey who are 21 years of age or older with opportunities for supported psilocybin experiences to alleviate distress, provide preventative behavioral health care, and foster wellness and personal growth.”

Additionally, the measure would legalize up to four grams of psilocybin to “possess, store, use, ingest, inhale, process, transport, deliver without consideration or distribute without consideration.”

Furthermore, “it will also not be unlawful for a person over 21 years of age to grow, cultivate, or process plants or fungi capable of producing psilocybin for personal use, or to possess the psilocybin produced if the plants and fungi are kept on the grounds of a private home or residence and are kept secure from access by persons under 21 years of age,” the bill states.

Senate President Scutari previously introduced a bill to reduce penalties for possession of up to an ounce of psilocybin in 2020, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law. This new measure would go much further – both in legal protections as well as therapeutic use.

While psychedelic-law reform is doubtlessly a worthy endeavor that could prove beneficial to many, should the bill pass, it would be difficult for Cannabis advocates to accept state-sanctioned home psilocybin cultivation before even medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow their own medicine.

NY FIREFIGHTERS BURN ONE DOWN

he New York Fire Department (NYFD) will no longer drug test its employees for Cannabis. The decision, based on the state’s adult-use marijuana law, prevents the NYFD from conducting pre-employment T testing for THC as well as random or scheduled Cannabis tests.

New York City already banned employers from drug testing for THC, with limited exceptions for safety-sensitive positions. In fact, the city outlawed preemployment testing for pot prior to passing its recreational Cannabis law. Now, like most other New Yorkers, firefighters can consume Cannabis during off hours without fear of reprisal from their employer – meaning they’re free to blaze when they’re not battling a blaze.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) issued a similar statement, suggesting that police would not be subject to screenings for THC consumption. However, the department quickly backtracked, clarifying that no official changes had been made to their drug testing policy. The NYPD cited concerns over federal conflicts, which has become the go-to move to avoid changing pot policies.

Fortunately, the Fire Department will move forward with its policy change. However, the NYFD union asked its members to “wait until the Department announced the official changes before considering any legal recreational or medicinal marijuana use.”

Of course, firefighters and cops are subject to drug screening if they’re suspected of being high while on duty.

Meanwhile, west of the Hudson River in neighboring New Jersey, lawmakers are hard at work crafting legislation that will make it easier for employers to punish people for consuming Cannabis while off duty – despite marijuana being legal in the Garden State.

Three bills introduced in New Jersey’s legislature specifically target off-duty Cannabis use by police and first responders. Lawmakers decided to intervene after the state attorney general announced that, as written, New Jersey’s adult-use law allows cops to consume Cannabis while off duty. The state’s pro-pot governor Phil Murphy has expressed his support for restricting pot use by police.

LEGALIZE IT AND I WILL ADVERTISE IT

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon

While Cannabis advertising continues to be a touchy subject, a Massachusetts marijuana company found a creative way to market their dispensary.

Polar Park, home to the minor league Worcester Red Sox, agreed to an advertising deal with Southbridge-based dispensary Green Meadows. Because Cannabis advertising rules dictate that 85 percent of the audience for a marijuana-related advertisement must be 21 or older, Green Meadows would not be able to advertise in the ballpark. But, the dispensary teamed up with the WooSox on a three-year deal to place co-branded banners in the area outside the park, which complies with advertising guidelines.

According to Green Meadows, “It was very apparent that [the WooSox] as an organization were looking to lean more into the Cannabis space while still doing it compliantly. Minor League Baseball, the parent company, is not going to touch Cannabis, so we had to come up with a pretty creative way of how to do it.”

With any luck, we could soon see Cannabis companies advertising their wares on television and radio stations as well. Last month, the House Appropriations Committee passed a measure that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from blocking broadcasters from running Cannabis advertisements in legal pot states.

TV and radio are subject to federal law (the FCC), which continues to treat Cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic. And so broadcasters are forced to forgo billions in advertising dollars due to the federal government’s outdated, prohibitionist stance. However, the new appropriations bill offers hope. It has already passed its first hurdle – next, it would need to be approved by the House and the Senate, at which point it would need to be renewed each year.

And in other positive pot advertising news, actor Sacha Baron Cohen – who brought a $9 million lawsuit against a Massachusetts Cannabis dispensary for using his likeness on a billboard without permission last year – has dropped his suit against Solar Therapeutics.

The billboard featured Cohen as Borat giving a thumbs-up with the words, “It’s Nice!” implying the actor supported Solar Therapeutics and Cannabis. This, it turns out, is not the case, as the actor claims never to have tried marijuana and does not support its use.

While the billboard was removed three days after Solar Therapeutics received Cohen’s cease-and-desist letter, the actor filed the lawsuit to protect his image. Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed and the case has been dropped.

Connecticut Takes The Lead

Connecticut has pulled ahead of neighboring New York in the race to retail as Gov. Ned Lamont claims the Nutmeg State is a mere six months from launching adult-use sales.

The Northeast is truly a Cannabis hotspot with recently-legal states New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island joining Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont (we’re waiting on you, New Hampshire). And while New Jersey has launched an initial version of retail sales (consisting of hybrid medicinal/ recreational shops), the race is on between New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island to get to market.

In Connecticut, the Social Equity Council has designated 16 hopeful Cannabis growers as qualifying to apply for cultivator licenses as social equity applicants. This is the first step in issuing the state’s first cultivation licenses and it prompted Lamont to tweet that, based on Cannabis regulators’ progress, Connecticut is “about six months away from opening a safe, equitable market.”

Before receiving one of the state’s recreational marijuana licenses, applicants will need to be reviewed by the state Department of Consumer Protection, pass a background check and pay an application fee.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a conversation about Cannabis if it didn’t also include prohibitionist rhetoric. While Gov. Lamont, a long-time supporter of legal pot, took a recent victory lap over getting an adult-use law passed, he committed the unforgivable sin of tweeting out song lyrics that include the words that it’s “cool to smoke some pot.”

Pouncing on this faux pas, Bob Stefanowski, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, took the opportunity to chastise Lamont, saying that “our governor should not be encouraging kids to smoke marijuana.” Stefanowski even called for an attorney general investigation. Yes. You read that correctly. That’s just the kind of leadership Connecticut needs! Won’t someone think of the children?

Photo by Esteban Lopez

Meanwhile, Lamont – the person actually governing and improving lives in his state – recently signed a budget bill that includes access to psilocybin and MDMA treatments for qualified patients.