NATIONAL NEWS

legalization NEW BILL WOULD REVOLUTIONIZE FED DRUG POLICY

Last month marked the the 50th anniversary – on June 17 – of when President Richard Nixon declared the “war on drugs.” Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO) observed the occasion by unveiling the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA).

The bill would end criminal penalties for drug possession at the federal level. It would shift the regulatory authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Additionally, the DPRA would expunge records and provide for resentencing, and reinvest in alternative health-centered approaches. THE BILL ALSO ELIMINATES MANY The bill also eliminates many of the lifelong OF THE LIFELONG consequences associated with CONSEQUENCES drug arrests and convictions. ASSOCIATED WITH These include the denial of DRUG ARRESTS AND CONVICTIONS. employment, public benefits, immigration status, drivers’ licenses and voting rights.

The DPRA also incentivizes state and local governments to adopt decriminalization policies. Last week, DPRA – in partnership with the ACLU – released a national drug policy poll that found 66% of American voters support removing criminal penalties for drugs and replacing them with health-centered approaches.

AMAZON WILL STOP POT DRUG TESTING FOR JOB APPLICANTS

MIDWEST MEDICAL CANNABIS PATIENTS IN MINNESOTA SEEK GUN RIGHTS

Staunch conservatives and advocates of legal marijuana have formed an unlikely alliance in Minnesota to pressure the Legislature to allow medical Cannabis patients to own guns, reports KIMT 3.

The more than 35,000 patients in Minnesota’s program can’t own guns as the law now stands because the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, on par with heroin.

Gun-rights supporters and pro-legalization groups are lobbying for Minnesota to petition for an exemption.

If they succeed, the Star Tribune reports, Minnesota would be the first of 36 states that allow medical marijuana in some form, to appeal directly to the federal government on behalf of enrollees.

east coast VIRGINIA’S CANNABIS LEGALIZATION LAW KICKS IN JULY 1

Starting July 1, people in Virginia can smoke marijuana in the privacy of their home, but it will still be illegal to do that in a public space. It is also still banned on school property and in vehicles.

Adults who are 21 and older will be allowed to have up to an ounce of Cannabis legally. That is about the weight of a pencil.

Anyone caught with more than an ounce could face up to a $25 charge. Users will also be allowed to grow up to four plants per home. Virginia is not an open marijuana market, so people will need to be careful. When the law goes into effect, it will still be illegal to buy and sell marijuana until January 1, 2024, at which point retail sales are expected to begin.

THE SOUTH LOUISIANA GOVERNOR SIGNS DECRIM BILL FLORIDA’S SUPREME COURT BLOCKS INITIATIVE FOR THIRD TIME

5.5m $23m $338m patients in the USA now have authorized, legal access to medical Cannabis. in additional funding was obtained in June by Seattlebased Cannabis startup Leafly.

Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana has signed into law

For the third time in three months, the hopes of Floridians who want to see expanded access to Cannabis. In a 5-2 ruling on June 17, the state’s House Bill 652, taking away the possibility of jail time for A mazon will no longer test most job applicants for Cannabis use in the latest sign of America’s changing attitudes toward weed. Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S., also says it now backs legalizing marijuana nationwide. “In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use,” the company said in a blog post in June. “However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course.” Marijuana users and advocates are cheering the news, but it may also bring relief to Amazon’s hiring managers: The company operates – and possession of small amounts of marijuana. It’s the latest shift away from Louisiana’s historically harsh stance on the herb. Edwards is a conservativeleaning Democrat who often moves in lockstep with the state’s sheriffs, and has long opposed legalizing marijuana. Gov. Edwards hailed it as a criminal justice reform effort. The decrim bill kept gaining strength in the two month legislative session that ended last week. Some viewed it as a make-good, after a GOP-sponsored bill to legalize Cannabis narrowly failed in the state House. The push indicated a growing willingness by the conservative Louisiana Legislature to look at loosening the state’s punitive laws surrounding marijuana. is rapidly expanding into – places where marijuana is legal.

Amazon’s home state of Washington was among the first in the country to legalize marijuana for recreational use, back in 2012. The company is now building an East Coast headquarters in Virginia, where weed will become legal on July 1. It has also in medical Cannabis has been sold in been expanding in New York, which legalized just over two years in Arkansas. marijuana at the end of March. Florida Supreme Court dashed the highest court found a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana to be misleading. The initiative, titled “Regulate Marijuana in a THE STATE’S HIGHEST Manner Similar to COURT FOUND A Alcohol to Establish BALLOT INITIATIVE TO Age, Licensing, and LEGALIZE MARIJUANA TO BE MISLEADING. Other Restrictions,” would have also allowed Floridians to grow Cannabis at home. Had it reached the ballot, the initiative would have needed the approval of 60% of voters to become a part of the state Constitution. Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the court to weigh in on the ballot language in September 2019. It took the court the better part of two years to issue its ruling.