Bill to legalize recreational pot has strong bipartisan support

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News 

Sen. Clynt Ridgell, D-Talofofo, gestures as he talks about his bill seeking to legalize on Guam the use, production, sale and taxation of marijuana for adults or those at least 21 years old. Bill 32, co-sponsored by five senators and introduced on Jan. 31, 2019, also seeks to declassify marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance. 

Haidee Eugenio/PDN

 

A bill to legalize recreational marijuana has strong bipartisan support in the Legislature, and proponents say it could create a new industry, new jobs and new revenues for Guam.

More: Leon-Guerrero: Why not let the mayors sell marijuana instead of running a casino?

More: Barnes: Implement vacation rental tax and other laws

Freshman Sen. Clynton Ridgell, D-Talofofo, introduced Bill 32, which seeks to legalize the use, production, sale and taxation of marijuana for people who are at least 21 years old.

The bill has five co-sponsors, which is only two senators short for guaranteed passage.

"I think this is something that our island needs right now," Ridgell said in an interview at his office shortly after the bill's introduction.

If the bill becomes law, it would also open up Guam's tourism economy, Ridgell said.

There's a large market for marijuana tourism, he said, including those from Japan and Korea.

Guam Cannabis Industry Act of 2019

The measure, known as the Guam Cannabis Industry Act of 2019, would create a five-member Cannabis Control Commission that will develop rules and issue licenses.

"It’s a measure that would legalize the cultivation and sale of cannabis, and cannabis products, to anyone 21 years or older. We want to treat it similar to how alcohol is treated currently," Ridgell said.
Bill 32 also seeks to declassify marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance and redefine references to it in the Guam Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

"You still won’t be able to drive under the influence of cannabis or use it while driving, for example.

Those types of laws will still be in place. Also, public consumption will not be allowed," Ridgell said.

Laboratory testing will also be required, similar to the medical marijuana industry requirement.

Bipartisan bill

The co-sponsors are Speaker Tina Barnes, D-Mangilao, and Sens. Joe San Agustin, D-Yigo, Regine Biscoe Lee, D-Tamuning, Telo Taitague, R-Tamuning, and Jose "Pedo" Terlaje, D-Yona.

The bill will still have to go through a public hearing before senators can consider it for a vote.

In the 2018 political campaign season, a number of Republican and Democrat candidates, including the now Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, said they support legalizing the adult use of marijuana on Guam.

More: CNMI legalizes recreational marijuana, as Guam's medical cannabis still not a reality 4 years later

More: Home cultivation of medical marijuana starts on Guam

Every cannabis cultivation facility would pay a Guam excise tax of 15 percent on the dollar value of cannabis that is sold or transferred from a cannabis cultivation facility to retail cannabis store or manufacturing facility.

The Department of Revenue and Taxation is required to establish procedures for collection of all excise tax, the bill says.

The bill imposes penalties including up to $30,000 in fines and imprisonment, and also requires regular reporting.

What's allowed, not allowed

Under the bill, the following would be legal:

• Possessing, using, displaying, purchasing or transporting cannabis accessories; 1 ounce or less of cannabis; 8 grams or less of cannabis concentrate; any cannabis-infused products containing 800 milligrams or less of tetrahydrocannabinol;
• Possessing, growing, processing, or transporting no more than six cannabis plants, with three or fewer being mature, flowering plants and possession of the cannabis produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown;
• Transferring 1 ounce or less of cannabis and immature cannabis plants; 8 grams or less of cannabis concentrate
• Consumption of cannabis except that absent regulations otherwise promulgated by the Cannabis Control Board
• Assisting another person who is 21 years old or older in any of the above acts.

Joining other U.S. jurisdictions

This comes five years after Guam voters voted to legalize medical marijuana, but the program has not been fully implemented for a lack of a testing laboratory, so the government allowed home cultivation.

The new bill allows for personal cultivation, with restrictions, limited to six plants possessed, cultivated or processed at a single residence.

Guam's adult use recreational bill was introduced four months after the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands passed a law allowing the recreational and medical use of marijuana.

The CNMI is the first U.S. jurisdiction to directly adopt the recreational use of marijuana instead of starting with a medical marijuana program. Unlike states where marijuana commerce was legalized by voters, the CNMI legalized it through an act by lawmakers.

Ridgell said the new Guam bill takes from legislation from other states and territories such as California, Colorado and the CNMI.

Could Democrats use Trump shutdown strategy to decriminalize marijuana?

Republican tactics could backfire in the near future

By Mike Adams, The Fresh Toast

Although the government shutdown—the longest in American history—is over for now, President Trump is not likely to give in on his agenda. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Republicans should know that President Trump’s government shutdown tactics to secure a wall along the U.S. Mexico border could come back to bite them in the rear in the near future. Because if holding American hostage is the new way to get things done in this country, one Congressman says the Democrats could employ the same scheme to accomplish a variety of wish list tasks, like pushing marijuana reform.


Last week, U.S Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut urged Republicans not to let this shutdown business spin too far out of control, as it is creating a paradigm that stands to weaken democracy.

“I would remind my Republican colleagues that there will be a Democratic president someday, and they are setting this precedent,” Himes said, alluding that it might be their turn next.

“Maybe we’ll decide not to pay the military until we can get truly universal health coverage,” he continued. “Maybe we’ll decide not to man the borders, or to decriminalize marijuana, because that’s what we want, and we won’t pay people until we get what we want. It’s a terrible precedent, and my Republican friends know that.”

Although the government shutdown—the longest in American history—is over for now, President Trump is not likely to give in on his agenda. His acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said on Sunday that Trump will do “whatever it takes to secure the border,” which could definitely include another government shutdown. A deal reached on Friday by House and Senate negotiators gives the country three weeks to sort it out or else the president will likely flex once again.

“Does anybody really think I won’t build the WALL? Done more in first two years than any President! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

If another shutdown happens, however, the powers that be in the District of Columbia could use this time to legalize retail pot sales. When the city passed a measure in 2014 intended to legalize marijuana, it did not come with a provision for a taxed and regulated market. Congressional riders have since prevented the city from spending tax dollars to move forward with an expansion. But the shutdown creates a lapse in the rider that technically gives DC the power to take a shot at this reform.

It’s something that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser hasn’t “ruled out.”

Some believe the shutdown will be resolved in the coming weeks—it has even been suggested Trump has made concessions – while others are of the opinion more drama is coming in the interest of a wall along the southern border. Will this have any impact on marijuana reform now or in the future? Probably not.

How a change in Trump policy helped Israel export medical marijuana

With a decrease in opposition from the US, Israeli growers, with government backing, are pushing forward with plans that could net the country $1 billion in tax revenue

By Anis Modi

A cannabis plant was brought to the Knesset in 2009 for the Labor Welfare and Health Committee, which was addressing the issue of medical marijuana. (Kobi Gideon/Flash 90)

 

WASHINGTON (JTA) — This week, the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved legislation that will allow local cannabis companies to start exporting medical marijuana, making Israel the third nation in the world where it is legal to do so.

According to the latest available estimates from Israel’s Ministry of Finance, exporting marijuana could result in up to $1 billion in tax revenue for the country. The global legal cannabis market is expected to grow to $57 billion by 2027, and there is a clear economic advantage to entering the international market early.

But the road to legal export has not been easy. While medical marijuana use has long been legal in Israel for the treatment of severe health conditions, export and recreational use have not been. Israeli officials tasked with keeping recreational marijuana from the Israeli public originally balked at the export proposal.

The cannabis export law has been stalled primarily over security and public health concerns, as well as political opposition from abroad. But a recent shift in the Trump administration’s prosecutorial approach has given the startup nation the necessary incentive to finally enter the global market.

Illustrative: An Israeli agricultural engineer inspects marijuana plants at the BOL (Breath Of Life) Pharma greenhouse in the country’s second-largest medical cannabis plantation, near Kfar Pines in northern Israel, on March 9, 2016. (Jack Guez/AFP)

 

While President Barack Obama was still in office, the Israeli government began laying the legal groundwork for domestic medical marijuana production. But the 2016 election of Donald Trump, a newly minted member of the party in which being seen as soft on drugs is political suicide, threw a wrench in the implementation plans. While Israel was trying to create an industry, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions made clear that he was ending the Obama administration’s lax approach to marijuana.

But by early November 2018, Sessions was out of a job – and Israel’s parliament seized the moment.

Israeli laws governing the export of medical marijuana have been in the works since 2011, when the government established an office to deal exclusively with the subject, and it’s been a nine-year fight to get to where we are today.

In June 2016, the Israeli government passed decision number 1587, which established the legal precedent for medical marijuana and allowed farmers and medical companies to apply for cannabis export licenses.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, eight Israeli companies were licensed to grow medical cannabis for domestic consumption as of April 2018. There are also more than 900 pending applications for new farms, factories and pharmacies.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel tours a greenhouse growing medical cannabis. (Courtesy)

 

But in a February 2018 government meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said that Trump had personally conveyed “his general opposition to the legalization of cannabis.”

Netanyahu added that “The administration’s position is clear on this,” and he was not sure Israel should butt heads with the US over the issue.

The United States is by far Israel’s largest trading partner. According to the Israeli Export Institute, which is part of the Ministry of Finance, the US imported more than $11 billion in goods and services from the country in 2017 and was responsible for more than 26 percent of Israeli global trade that year. It would make sense that Netanyahu would not want to anger the Trump administration over an infant industry like medical marijuana.

Of course, that was nearly a year ago, and change comes quickly in Trump times. In 2018, Sessions as attorney general was still waging a personal war against marijuana and ignoring Obama-era guidance that encouraged prosecutors to refrain from making cases against recreational use in areas where such use is legal on the state level.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions attends a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. Sessions has warned of a crackdown on marijuana. But documents obtained by The Associated Press show he’s getting no fresh avenues from a special task force formed to find the best strategy. (AP Andrew Harnik)

 

But Sessions’ presumed replacement, William Barr, said during his confirmation hearing that the “current marijuana situation is untenable.” While he added that he is not a supporter of federal legalization, Barr later clarified that he plans to follow Obama-era guidelines and generally refrain from prosecuting state-legal cannabis businesses. Alongside new bipartisan bills supporting research into medical marijuana and a recent farm bill that legalized growing hemp, it seems that cracking down on the cannabis industry is not the sticking point it once was for the Trump administration.

In addition to a change in US policy, domestic security concerns that originally stalled the Israeli law’s implementation and caused gridlock have since been resolved. The Ministry of Public Security demanded increased authority and funding, and the Ministry of Finance tried to minimize the government’s expenses in connection to the law.

Ultimately, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Knesset member Yoav Kisch approved the advancement of the law allowing for marijuana export in November, once Erdan’s office received increased funding and oversight over growers (and once Sessions was officially out of their way).

Although they could not export cannabis directly until now, many of Israel’s leading marijuana producers have already focused on expanding sales and facilities outside of the country.

There are about 100 plants in different stages of growth at the Volcani Center greenhouses, pictured here with Dr Dvory Namdar, the chief chemist and research associate and her assistant at the government’s marijuana greenhouses on June 27, 2018. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)

 

The Israeli cannabis company Together recently signed a two-year deal to supply $300 million worth of medical marijuana to the Canadian market, bought a German marijuana outfit for 2 million euros and operates a farm while also building a factory in Uganda. Other Israeli ventures are eyeing European destination such as Denmark and Portugal.

Now that the export of medical cannabis is legal, growers predict that both tax revenue and the ability to do research will increase dramatically.

Sid Taubenfeld, CEO of TO Pharma, the American medical and research division of the Israeli cannabis company Tikun Olam, told JTA by phone that the new law will help Israel become a global leader in the field.

Medical marijuana smoking supplies at a store adjacent to the ‘Tikun Olam’ store in Tel Aviv, on April 10, 2016. Tikun Olam Ltd. is the largest supplier of medical Cannabis in Israel, operating under license from the Health Ministry since 2007. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

 

“We’re doing studies in Israel, and we’re going to do studies in Canada now,” he said. “The rest of the world is playing catch up.”

Along with the significant economic windfall expected, this development will help Israel get a head start in this growing market and maintain its reputation as a global hub for medical and business innovation. While the United States is not as progressive when it comes to drug policy, other interests in both camps will prevail.

More than anything, the fact that the whisperings of the president of the United States seem to have superseded the wishes of Israel’s democratically elected representatives makes clear that the US-Israel relationship is not a relationship of equals. While Israel has certainly enjoyed a warmer relationship with the Trump administration than with the previous administration, that closeness sometimes comes at a cost.

But Taubenfeld told JTA that he isn’t too worried about the future of his industry.

As he put it, “Trump has other problems to worry about besides cannabis.”

Which is Worse? Alcohol or Marijuana?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury

Questions: I have hearing a lot about marijuana with the possibility of a shop opening in Bethel. I keep hearing that marijuana is a lot better for a person than alcohol. Is that true?

Answer: I can certainly find many reasons not to use either. Frequently, when people state that it was proven that marijuana is better for you than alcohol, they reference the Shafer Commission report that concluded cannabis is not physically addictive, a gateway drug, or proven harmful in any physical or physiological way. I believe today any addiction specialist will disagree with that report and state that marijuana is addictive. Further, it is a gateway drug.

I have been practicing as a psychologist in Bethel for more than 25 years and many who have either continued to use in increasing amounts or have moved on to harder drugs will tell you their drug addiction began with marijuana. It is common today when I do a Clinical Interview with young adults that they tell me they began using marijuana at 8 to 10 years of age. They often stole it from parents who left it in accessible places. Further, those addicted to marijuana report similar symptoms to alcohol when they cannot access the drug. They spend inordinate amounts of time searching for weed if it is not readily available. They report feeling irritable and often become angry. They may be docile when stoned, but not when they are withdrawing.

If the Shafer Commission report was correct that marijuana was not addicting, it may have been the difference in potency. According to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington, “The marijuana used today is stronger than it used to be, but not as strong as has been written in some media reports (claiming marijuana is 30 times stronger today than during the 1970s).

Depending on how [the] analysis was conducted and the sample analyzed, marijuana strength has increased by 2 to 7 times since the 1970s, measured by THC levels.” And those in the industry are continually looking for ways to increase the potency through hybridization.

Those who promote the legalization and use of marijuana will argue (one of the symptoms of heavy pot use) that there are no physiological effects of marijuana. However, with the advent of legal recreational marijuana use a physiological syndrome has been recognized—Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. This condition is characterized by recurrent nausea, vomiting and cramp-like abdominal pain.These symptoms have been found to subside temporarily by taking a hot shower or bath and more fully by stopping the use of marijuana.

It is recommended that if these symptoms are present that medical practitioners explore the possibility that the patient is using marijuana. Research conducted at the Mayo Clinic suggested, “Cannabinoid hyperemesis should be considered (as a possible diagnosis) in younger patients with long-term cannabis use and recurrent nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.”

Even though recreational marijuana use has been purported by some as having no long-term, or permanent negative effects on the user, for years, marijuana users have reported experiencing psychotic symptoms when using it heavily. The most common feature has been paranoia.

Some patients have told me that they quit using for that very reason. Others found they could not quit, even though the paranoia was very uncomfortable.

An article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2004 found that marijuana-using patients were significantly younger at the onset of psychotic symptoms than were patients who did not use marijuana. On average, male marijuana users were 6.9 years younger at the onset of Schizophrenia than nonusers. That same year research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry reported that marijuana resulted in a twofold increase in the risk for schizophrenia later in life.

The researchers predicted that elimination of marijuana use would reduce the incidence of schizophrenia by approximately 8%. Marijuana use appears to be one of several factors leading to the onset of Schizophrenia. They concluded, “Cases of psychotic disorder could be prevented by discouraging cannabis (marijuana) use among vulnerable youths.”

And for those who claim marijuana use helps them think better, research published in The American Journal of Psychiatry last October on 3,826 students followed over four years, found the following: “Cannabis causes cognitive impairment and delayed cognitive development in adolescents,” Patricia Conrod, the lead author and professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, told NBC News.

“This study focuses on the neuropsychological effects of cannabis. We think it’s important because it is linked to how someone functions in life.”

This study is important because it gets to the crux of the question that prompted this response because it compared marijuana use with alcohol use. A summary of the findings in the January 2019 Monitor on Psychology are as follows: “Researchers followed 3,826 students in Montreal for four years, beginning when they were age 12 or 13. Each year, the students took a battery of cognitive tests measuring memory, reasoning and inhibitory control and filled out confidential surveys on their alcohol and marijuana use. On average, adolescents who increased their marijuana use in one year performed worse than expected on tests of memory and inhibitory control, both that year and the following year. The researchers did not find the same association between changes in alcohol use and cognitive performance.”

So, when teachers and parents of yesteryear told students and teens that “marijuana makes you dumb,” maybe they were correct after all.

Congressional Committee Could Take Up Marijuana Reform ‘Fairly Soon,’ Chairman Says

By Kyle Jaeger

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday that the key congressional panel may be taking up marijuana reform “fairly soon.”

The update came during an unrelated hearing on an election reform bill that the Democratic House majority is backing. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) congratulated Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on his new chairmanship and, before getting into the legislation at hand, told the chair he hoped the committee would have first discussed federal cannabis policy.

Gaetz said he was confident that the committee “will be more engaging and transparent and robust in the discussion than we were in the 115th Congress,” in which Republican leaders blocked cannabis reform at nearly every step.

“I will say I had hoped that at one of our initial meetings we would have been giving powers back to the states in the form of removing cannabis from the list of Schedule I drugs rather than taking powers from the states,” he said, referring to the Democrats’ bill, which would dictate certain electoral policies. “I’ll also note that with some of the new additions on the Republican side, I think the committee would be very favorable” to marijuana reform.


“If we were any more favorable, we might have to start our meetings with the Grateful Dead,” he said, referencing the rock band that became a hallmark of the countercultural movement.
“Let me just observe on your time that we may be discussing that fairly soon,” Nadler, who supports legalizing and regulating marijuana, said.

“It’s no secret that Chairman Nadler is a supporter of comprehensive reform that would end the cruel policy of federal criminalization, having previously cosponsored legislation to do so,” Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Mr. Nadler has always been receptive to his constituents and deriving evidence-based solutions, so we are looking forward to working with him and the whole Judiciary Committee to advance legislation in this Congress.”

The committee Nadler heads is responsible for oversight of federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration, and he can use his position to help advance cannabis and drug reform legislation to votes. He’s one of several new marijuana-friendly committee chairs who could shape the reform agenda in the 116th Congress.

“It’s great to see Chairman Nadler talk positively about the prospects for marijuana reform this session,” Michael Collins, director of the office of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, told Marijuana Moment. “Our hope is that whatever the committee does is grounded in racial and social justice and rights the wrongs of prohibition.”

Think cannabis is harmless? So did I. But I know better now

Opinion: In 2017, 567 people were treated at Vancouver-area hospitals for cannabis overdoses or related mental issues. I was one of them

The emergency entrance at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is seen in a file photo from June 24, 2009.Ian Lindsay/Postmedia

By Jennifer Foden

 

Last year, shortly before cannabis was legalized, StarMetro Vancouver reported that in 2017, 567 people were admitted to emergency rooms at St. Paul’s, Vancouver General, Surrey Memorial and Kelowna General hospitals for cannabis overdoses or related mental and behavioural issues.

I was one of them.

 

This isn’t easy to write about. I’m well aware that this will be part of my story forever, for anyone to look up online. Still, people need to know the risks.

 

In mid-2017, on a typical Saturday night, two friends and I were cooking dinner. A friend offered me half a medical marijuana gummy. She took the other half. About 45 minutes later, I started to feel strange. It’s hard to explain how. I had had bad experiences with weed before. This felt similar; like I knew something very bad was about to happen.

 

People need to know the risks

 

I decided to go home. I, still, to this day, don’t know what actually happened that night and what didn’t. I was totally disconnected from reality. I was hallucinating, dreaming while awake. 

 

Welcome to a weed overdose, friends — a drug-induced psychosis.

 

I remember walking down the street, not being able to swallow. Falling down. Laying face-first on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver yelling at people driving and walking by that I was dying. 

 

I remember the paramedics kicking me out of the ambulance. I remember dead people being wheeled past me in the emergency room at St. Paul’s. But I’m not entirely sure if any of these things happened.

 

I didn’t know my name or who I was or where I was or what it even means to be human and have a body and a brain. I didn’t understand time or space, life or death. It was very metaphysical.

My friend, who ate the other half of the gummy, showed up to hold my hand in the hospital. She was high, but fine. She wasn’t having an adverse reaction like I was.

I started feeling strange after that “bad trip.” Unlike before, my brain was filled with thoughts of suicide, death and existential questions. I attempted to push the thoughts out of my mind, assuming it was the after-effect of that little green drug.

Six weeks after that drug trip, I had nervous breakdown. I was sitting at my desk when suddenly, something felt different, something felt off. I felt uncomfortable in my body. My heart started racing.

I began to think a lot about existence. I felt disconnected. Like my mind and my body had separated. Like I was living in an altered reality. I thought I was losing my mind, or perhaps I was dying.

The worst part? I wanted to die.

I wound up in the emergency room and then a mental health facility. Further psychiatric assessment would tell me I was suffering from panic and residual drug-induced psychotic disorders. Later, I’d have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

It’s been almost a year and a half since the drug trip. I continue to suffer from panic attacks.

And, every single day, I still feel disconnected, like my mind and my body have separated, like I’m living in an altered reality. Some days are worse than others.

For some reason, I feel compelled to clarify that up until this point — for over 30 years — I was mentally stable. I have the privilege of white skin, a middle-class upbringing, great friends, a university degree and a post-grad education, too. I’ve held staff editor jobs. I’ve freelanced successfully. There were no red flags for my mental health.

There were no red flags for my mental health

A recent report claimed that a bad drug trip can be a sign of mental illness — not as a cause, but as a trigger. I’ve spent a lot of the past year and a half feeling guilty. Like I caused my mental illness by eating that weed gummy. But how could I have known? I have smoked and eaten weed before, sometimes with adverse effects. But the end result has never been multiple mental illnesses: panic, post-traumatic stress and residual drug-induced psychotic disorders. Maybe it was the perfect storm: I ate the right amount of the right strain at a time when I was stressed, and therefore vulnerable to a breakdown.

This is not a pity party. I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I’m telling this story because I think it’s important for people to realize that although cannabis has a reputation as being safe and benign, that’s not always the case. As my psychiatrist likes to remind me: people’s minds and bodies are different, and have varying reactions to drugs, to alcohol, to stress.

I’m still going through the process of healing. For people who haven’t been through something similar: be careful. It’s been reported that the current endorsed guidelines to prevent mental illness risk from marijuana consumption is to use less, use lower levels of THC or abstain. But, talk to your friends.

Baltimore will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases, state's attorney says

By Amanda Jackson, CNN

(CNN)Marijuana possession cases, regardless of quantity or a person's criminal record, will no longer be prosecuted in Baltimore, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Tuesday.

In a statement released by her office, Mosby said her staff will stop prosecuting the cases because they have no public safety value, they disproportionately affect communities of color and erode public trust. She also said they are costly and a counterproductive use of limited resources.

 

"We need to get serious about prioritizing what actually makes us safe," said Mosby, "and no one who is serious about public safety can honestly say that spending resources to jail people for marijuana use is a smart way to use our limited time and money."

 

In the announcement, she said her office will continue to prosecute distribution of marijuana cases as long as there is sufficient evidence of intent to distribute. Anyone charged for the first time with felony possession with intent to distribute or with felony distribution will be referred to a diversion program.

 

Ten states and the District of Columbia have legalized small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use, but in Maryland only medical use of marijuana is legal. In 2014, legislation was approved in Maryland to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

 

Mosby stressed that resources used to jail people for marijuana possession will be used instead for prosecuting homicides.

 

"Ask any mother who has lost a son to gun violence whether she wants us to spend more time solving and prosecuting her son's killer or to spend time on marijuana possession," Mosby said. "It's not a close question."

 

Seattle will vacate more than 500 convictions for marijuana possession, saying they unfairly impact people of color

 

She is also seeking to vacate 5,000 marijuana convictions dating back to 2011. Baltimore joins a growing list of cities nationwide that have pardoned marijuana convictions. Seattle announced last year that it will vacate convictions from 1996 to 2010 for misdemeanor marijuana possession, saying they disproportionally affected people of color. 

 

"Communities are still sentenced under these unjust policies, still paying a price for behavior that is already legal for millions of Americans," Mosby said. "That's why I'm moving to vacate these cases."

 

As of July 2017, the population of Baltimore was more than 600,000 and about 62% African-American, according to US Census Bureau data.

 

"The statistics are damning when it comes to the disproportionate impact that the War on Drugs has had on communities of color," Mosby said. "As your state's attorney, I pledged to institute change and I refuse to stand by and be a facilitator of injustice and inequity when it is clear that we can be so much smarter and do so much more on behalf of the people we serve."

 

Washington state to pardon 3,500 drug convictions, governor says

 

In the past year, Washington state, San Francisco and Manhattan, New York also announced they would retroactively dismiss thousands of pot convictions.

 

It is unclear how this will unfold in the city of Baltimore, because police say officers will continue to arrest those in possession of marijuana.

 

"Baltimore police will continue to make arrests for illegal marijuana possession unless and until the state legislature changes the law regarding marijuana possession," Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said.

New York recreational marijuana plan overhauls medical cannabis too: What to know

David Robinson 

Drastic changes to New York’s medical marijuana program are tucked into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to legalize recreational pot.

From abolishing strict patient eligibility rules to permitting homegrown cannabis for medical use, the once anti-marijuana governor has seemingly conceded to many pro-cannabis demands.

Notably, some of the existing medical marijuana companies in New York, which spent millions of dollars lobbying Cuomo and state lawmakers, pushed key aspects of the legislation, called the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act.

USA TODAY Network New York reviewed the legislation and interviewed cannabis industry insiders, revealing the expansive scope of marijuana reforms being debated in Albany.

Homegrown risk and reward

Medical marijuana patients could get a special permit to grow up to four cannabis plants at home under the legislation.

Patient advocates pushed homegrown cannabis to counteract the licensed dispensaries that can charge hundreds of dollars per month, depending on dose and illness.

Yet Jeremy Unruh, an executive at PharmaCann, one of 10 medical marijuana companies licensed in New York, said prices reflected the cost associated with treating serious diseases like cancer and HIV.

“These products are also formulated correctly and to what I would call pharmaceutical standards, which is what you want people with compromised immune systems taking into their bodies,” he said.

Unruh acknowledged homegrown cannabis would reduce costs but raised concerns about it reaching the black market, known as diversion.

Jeremy Unruh, director of regulatory and external affairs at PharmaCann, one of 10 medical marijuana companies licensed in New York.

Submitted 

 

For example, an experienced home grower with four plants can produce 50 pounds of cannabis in a year, exceeding personal-use needs and posing a diversion risk, Unruh said.

“We are worried about tainting a first-class consumer-protection oriented program with unregulated cannabis,” he said, adding New York requires strict medical marijuana testing to limit use of pesticides and harmful chemicals.

Cuomo’s cannabis bill, however, limits the diversion threat by allowing only certified patients, or their caregivers, to grow marijuana at home with a special permit. The cap is eight plants per household.

Further, growing marijuana for personal recreational use in New York would remain illegal under the legislation.

In contrast, other states that have struggled with smuggling have little oversight of homegrown marijuana.

Patient eligibility expansion

Instead of a list of state-approved health conditions, medical professionals would use clinical judgment to certify medical marijuana patients under New York's new cannabis legislation.

That plan to abolish qualifying conditions has long been a focus of doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants treating patients with medical marijuana.

“All law abiding New Yorkers should be able to have access to the analgesic and other therapeutic qualities of cannabis,” said Dr. Junella Chin, one of the first doctors to participate in New York’s program. “Used responsibly, marijuana can be a powerful and important tool in a healthy lifestyle."

Dr. Junella Chin meets with a patient at Westchester Wellness in White Plains, March 1, 2016.

Tania Savayan/The Journal News 

 

DATA: Medical marijuana in New York getting used mostly by ages 50 to 70, chronic pain patients

LAWS: Legalize marijuana in New York? Welcome to the American pot wars
When the program started in 2016, the list of 10 eligible diseases consisted of cancer, epilepsy and other serious illnesses as diagnosed by doctors registered in the program.

Then, as criticism mounted over limited patient access, regulators began expanding eligibility of medical professionals and conditions, such as chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.

As a result, the tally of certified patients has increased steadily to 87,855, up from a couple thousand in the beginning. Thousands of new patients are expected to be added if the cannabis law ends qualifying conditions.

A marijuana bidding war

Current medical marijuana companies interested in getting a recreational use business license could have to submit bids at an auction, according to Cuomo’s plan.

Auction proceeds would fund recreational cannabis business loans for those hit hardest by racially biased marijuana policing. Similarly, a social equity incubator would get some of the money.

PharmaCann executive Unruh described it as a well-intentioned but misguided plan to have medical companies outbid each other.

“What you’re doing is driving up our costs, and that invariably becomes an additional cost or tax on the medical patient in the state,” he said.

Instead of a bidding war, Unruh floated the idea of charging existing companies more  during the application and licensing process to support the state’s social equity agenda.

“Maybe there are some fees associated with that so we’re not gladiators in the Colosseum,” he said.

Medical and recreational business

Cuomo’s legislation combined medical and recreational marijuana under the new Office of Cannabis Management, and an executive director with broad powers more akin to a cannabis czar.

Meanwhile, a key pillar of the governor's social equity plan is a ban on recreational marijuana growers from owning retail pot shops. In theory, this would keep big cannabis corporations from taking over the entire industry.

Existing medical marijuana companies, however, would be exempt from the ban at the cannabis czar's discretion, the legislation shows.

That means the companies could start growing and selling recreational marijuana within their system of existing greenhouses and dispensaries.

The potentially lucrative exemption would aid powerful cannabis industry leaders, some of which made campaign contributions to Cuomo and lobbied various state officials.

Lobbying and marijuana policy

Speaking for the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association that represents many of the existing companies, Unruh said the exemption wasn’t part of prior lobbying.

“I don’t know that we had conversations about the granularity of these provisions,” he said, referring to political talks and lobbying tied to Cuomo’s bill.

The trade group pushed linking medical and recreational cannabis programs to prevent patients from self-medicating with adult-use products, Unruh said.

“Nobody wants a 78-year-old with Parkinson’s (disease) to be unleashed on a marijuana dispensary that is more akin to a liquor store without any real guidance on how that 78-year-old…ought to be using these products safely,” he said.

Cuomo’s office didn’t respond to an interview request to discuss his position changes regarding marijuana.

To understand the political shift, consider the Department of Health currently regulates medical marijuana. The move to a cannabis office means it would be within the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, despite a ban on recreational use sites serving alcohol.

Meanwhile, other states like Vermont have already seen pushback over conflicting rules for medical and recreational marijuana, which is expected to be part of the debate over New York’s push to legalize recreational pot by April 1.

Meeting cannabis demand

PharmaCann has spent about $50 million developing its Orange County marijuana production facility, said Unruh, who is director of regulatory and external affairs.

Like other medical marijuana companies in New York, PharmaCann’s operation supplies four dispensaries and has room to grow.

But recreational use statewide is expected to require more than 600,000 pounds of cannabis and outpace existing medical marijuana companies’ capabilities, Unruh said.

“Even if we built big Costco size dispensaries, we still wouldn’t be able to serve that entire consumer community,” he said, adding that’s where the governor’s social equity agenda comes into play.

“We know there is room in this industry for smaller or different or diverse licenses, there is no doubt that is the case.”
 

Light & Unite Red educates young people about substance abuse

by Ana Martinez-Ortiz

 

Mary Ousley, a teenage ambassador for Light & Unite Red, hands out resource bags. (Photo by Ana 

Martinez-Ortiz)

A few weeks ago, Mary Ousley, 15, decided to join Light & Unite Red, an annual campaign to reduce and prevent substance abuse started by Milwaukee County’s Behavioral Health Division. 

Her involvement was in part due to her mother, who used to smoke marijuana, but has now been clean for eight years.

“If my mom can do it, I know other people can do it,” said Mary, a student at Bradley Tech High School.

The campaign focuses on educating people on the dangers of substance abuse while also connecting them with treatment and preventive options. BHD aims its efforts at youth since addiction often starts young. This year, BHD recruited youths such as Mary to advocate against substance abuse among their peers.

Last week, BHD coordinated several events to mark National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, which started Tuesday, Jan. 22. On Thursday, BHD held a dance-a-thon and community wellness fair at the COA Goldin Center, 2330 W. Burleigh St., where attendees could dance, enter raffles and play games such as Jeopardy.

Almost every aspect of the program was designed to “shatter the myth” about substance use, according to BHD prevention coordinator Nzinga Khalid, who chairs the Light & United Red committee. The committee focuses on all dangerous substances. The Milwaukee County Substance Abuse Prevention coalition focuses on preventing and reducing marijuana use among teens and reducing prescription drug overdoses. Other groups target alcohol use or synthetic marijuana such as K2 and Spice.

Nzinga Khalid (center) and her co-workers hit the dance floor for health and wellness. (Photo by Ana Martinez-Ortiz)

In addition to organizing events, Light & United Red also utilizes social media to provide the facts about different substances.

“It’s all about getting that information in the hands of the kids and families,” said Khalid.

The teenage ambassadors, such as Mary, also posted on social media. When they joined the team, the ambassadors researched particular topics based on what they are seeing in their community. 

For example, if they are concerned about alcohol abuse, their research and posts targeted that issue.

Mary focused on drugs such as marijuana and heroin. She talked to her friends and family, specifically her younger brother, about how substance use affects brain development. Not everybody appreciated her posts, she said, adding that teens don’t always care.

“I can’t control anyone’s opinion on what they think narcotics and drugs can do to them, because that’s not me,” Mary said. “But I can try to help.”

Charles Clark, 16, said he hasn’t noticed substance abuse problems among his peers. The Washington High School student has been coming to COA since he was a child. He attends most of the events COA hosts.

A lot of people may not recognize substance abuse because it’s changed so much, according to Dylan Keller, a business development associate at Starting Point, an agency that teaches schools and families about substance abuse prevention.

“Five years ago, we beat tobacco,” Keller said. “It felt like it was just not in high schools anymore, and then came along these vape pens and JUULs.”

Keller was formerly a high school teacher at West Allis Central High School, but he joined Starting Point a year ago after realizing how much substance abuse has increased. He wanted to educate people, especially teachers, on how to recognize tobacco, drug and alcohol use.

Teachers don’t even know what to look for anymore because vape pens look like actual pens, Keller said. He added that people are often misinformed about the amount of tobacco in an e-cigarette pod. One JUUL pod has the same amount of tobacco as a pack of cigarettes, Keller noted. 

   

Opioid addiction can also start at a young age. When a student-athlete is injured he or she may be prescribed pain medication, which can lead to dependence. However, Keller noted that substance abuse can decrease.

“It takes … people knowing what this stuff is, knowing what it does to your body and what it does to a developing brain,” Keller said.

Khalid said BHD conducts prevention and education efforts all year. Some of its events include Prevention Week in May, which is also Mental Health Awareness Month, and Recovery Month, which is in September.

Is CBD Legal In U.S.A?

Hannah Cleese

Cannabidiol has been in news for a long time for its controversial properties and similarities with marijuana. Its legality remained questioned for a long time as the United States had banned its use all over its states. Now, there are reports stating that CBD has become legal even in the United States as it does not cause the high state of mind as marijuana does. We will known more about the facts relating to its properties and legality in the article.

CBD is just one of the many compounds extracted from the cannabis plant. Although the extraction method of CBD counts for its quality, it is still necessary to take note of the THC concentration in the product. The United States has only legalized the product containing limited amounts of THC as more of is known to alter kind state to a high.

Which United States have made CBD Oil Legal?
There are 14 states to legalize some for CBD Oil for medical use only including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Lowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Some o these states have only restricted the use of CBD for patients who have not responded to other treatments in which case there is no other choice left.

Epilepsy disorder is known to have been treated with the help of Epidiolex containing CBD. CBD is best known for Epilepsy treatment and that is why it has been legalized in many states or else it was banned before.

What does the Farm Bill Say About CBD?

The farm bill was passed in the year 2018 which stated that CBD extracted from the hemp plant will be legalized as it contains the least amount of Thc in it. THC is not legal because of its mind altering properties and therefore CBD had to make its way through all other compounds of the cannabis plant as most of them contain higher levels of thc. More research is still be to be performed on the cannabis plant and all its components so as to study effects of the each of them on the body and mind.

CBD has mote potential among all others to get fully legalized in all other states as well because of its beneficial properties.

All 50 states still have to recognize CBD to be effective enough to make its way to legalization. It is still perceived to be like other cannabis marijuana components.

Are There any Side Effects of CBD?
Cannabidiol may have certain side effects on some people. The adverse reaction may cause diarrhea and appetite changes. It is stated in the bill that CBD with only less than 1% thc will be legalized so as to cause no adverse reactions. The non psychoactive properties of cannabidiol or CBD makes it through to become legal in many states. But, still it has to make itself recognized in other states so that people may benefit from its healing properties.

Why is Marijauana Illegal?
Marijuana is not only about getting high, but it also has many thereuptic uses in the form of CBD.

Some states allow marijuana only on medical prescription which is a safe practice as it should be utilised for its benefits only. Marijuana is illegal in many states because of the high concentration of thc which alters mind state and makes it silimar to an addictive drug. It is therefore important to know for what purpose it is being used to avoid any illegal action.

Cannabidiol has the potential to become legalized in all states as CBD is best known for treatment of many disorders. The disorders have been mentioned in detail.

Trump’s Surgeon General Is Mostly Good On Marijuana

Even if Jerome Adams is pushing some questionable data on youth use, so far, Trump’s choice as surgeon general has been positive for cannabis.

By Chris Roberts

                               Photo Gracie Malley for Cannabis Now
 
When he took office in August 2017, Jerome Adams, the Trump Administration’s surgeon general, identified the ongoing opiate-overdose crisis and untreated mental illness as the country’s top public health challenges — in his words, a “scourge” — and, thus, his main priorities while on the job.

But since Adams is surgeon general of the United States in the era of cannabis legalization and medical marijuana, drug-policy reform is on his to-do list by default. (You could argue, with strong evidence in support, that all are interrelated.)

In this, he has mostly stuck to declaring the obvious. It could be a reflection of our basement-low expectations of government officials on the marijuana question, but in the context provided by other Trump Administration officials, Adams has been a net benefit, even if he can’t quite help himself from pushing at least one questionable line based on selective data.

In December, Adams told an audience in Boston that federal drug scheduling, which classifies marijuana as highly dangerous, highly addictive, and with no known medical benefit (three assertions simply not supported by evidence), is suppressing research and needs to be re-examined. Not a bold statement by any means, it’s something that researchers have been openly acknowledging for years, but repetition by the chief medical officer of the United States is amplification.

Adams later clarified that he personally isn’t in favor of legalization or rescheduling, while offering the qualifier that he does want “evidence-based findings.” You can’t have any evidence without research, and since research requires rescheduling, it’s hard to find the negative.

Last week — which was “National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week” — after Adams posted a marijuana-related tweet that was somewhat negative, other doctors called him out on it. The surgeon general (and/or his social media team) responded by self-editing and offering a tacit endorsement of medical marijuana use, and for children, no less.

Marijuana Moment noted Adams’s progress on Jan. 23. A tweet declaring, in part, “No child should ever use #marijuana. It is not safe for the developing brain and it affects learning and memory,” was deleted and replaced with “No child should use #marijuana/products non medically.”

What Adams did was nothing more revolutionary than backing up the Food and Drug Administration, which last year approved marijuana-derived pharmaceutical drugs, the main active ingredient of which is CBD, or cannabidiol. CBD-based pharmaceuticals intended to treat intractable epilepsy in children are approved drugs in the United States. In a way, Adams’s tweet is merely an American doctor acknowledging this fact.

But the surgeon general doesn’t do much surgery. Adams’s job is a political office and so the surgeon general acknowledging that medical cannabis has value, for children, some of whom have had to fight in the courts in order to bring their preferred medication to school, is a political act.

He is by no means perfect. Adams also tweeted that marijuana is not a “safe and accepted medicine” and then wallowed in the depths with his @-ers. Adams argued, using his personal account, that youth use is on the rise due to a connection between tobacco vaporizer use and vaporizing marijuana and he even threw in a reference to gateway theory.

You could argue that that’s bad and unacceptable and canceled out any positive effect his official tweets might have had. You could also argue that a barely-noticed tweet from a personal account holds far less weight than an official declaration. Here’s what we have: a surgeon general who has to figure out what to do about tens of thousands of Americans dying every year from opiate overdoses, who admits that cannabis isn’t adequately researched and that it should be. That amounts to a critique of official American drug policy, from the country’s chief medical officer. That’s the takeaway most Americans will have and it’s mostly good.

House Bill Would Add Lyme Disease To Medical Conditions For Therapeutic Cannabis

By Rick Ganley & Mary McIntyre

Democratic Rep. Wendy Thomas from Merrimack

The New Hampshire House is considering legislation that would extend the list of qualifying conditions for the state’s therapeutic cannabis program.

If passed, House Bill 461 would include Lyme disease, insomnia and anxiety as allowable conditions for medical marijuana.

Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with the sponsor of the bill, Democratic Rep. Wendy Thomas from Merrimack, about her proposal.

Some might say insomnia and anxiety are subjective terms. How does this legislation define those qualifications?
That's an interesting question, and it is subjective because so many things can create those conditions. There are two places in the therapeutic cannabis program where they define qualifications. One is you have to have a medical diagnosis as well as a symptom. And so I'm putting all three of these conditions under standalone conditions, and the reason for that is Lyme disease has millions of symptoms. All six of my kids and I have Lyme disease and we all present differently. So there's no one defining characteristic for that.

Insomnia, obviously the symptom is lack of sleep, but it can be due to hormones. It could be due to auto immune disease. It could be due to stress. And the last one is generalized anxiety, which is different from PTSD, which is one of the qualifying standalone conditions. Generalized anxiety, I defined it as moderate to severe. And what I'm thinking about is people who have social anxiety that can't leave their house, or even students who are at college that have a severe anxiety that causes them to not go to class, which would not allow them to go and take tests or things like that.

So what kind of referral then would be needed specifically for these conditions?
Oh it's the same thing as any other referral. You go to your primary physician --
                                 
Your general practitioner could say this is needed? 

"I've had several lawmakers come up to me privately and say, hey can I talk to you about that therapeutic cannabis program? Because they're older and they have the ideas that cannabis is bad for you. But there are also older and have body pains and aches that come with aging."

Correct.

So if their doctor recommended it, they wouldn't need to present a specific list of symptoms as long as the doctor said they have this condition in other words?
Well, right now with the therapeutic cannabis program you have to be a patient of your doctor for at least three months. So you have to have a documented condition. You can't show up at a walk in clinic and say you know I'm not a really hard time sleeping and then expect to be qualified. So there are some conditions to this.

There are very few states that actually include anxiety as a qualifying condition. There aren't any states so far that include Lyme disease, to my knowledge, and insomnia. Why do you believe that New Hampshire could be one of the leading states on those qualifiers?
So one of the reasons that I'm so big on the therapeutic cannabis program is that I work at a therapeutic cannabis dispensary in Merrimack. The thing is, some of the qualifiers right now for the therapeutic cannabis program are chronic pain. That's a big flag for Lyme disease, but not everybody presents that way. Sometimes you have neurological issues where you've got the shooting pain [and] you've got numbness. That's not one of the qualifying conditions. Sometimes you have, and this is one of the things that I and a few of my kids have, you have muscle fascinations, which is like your muscles sort of dance under your skin. That's not a qualifying condition. But I'm also a therapeutic cannabis patient with Lyme disease, and my muscle vacillations disappeared once I started taking the cannabis.

Well, I was wondering about when you disclose that and you say you work at a dispensary and you're a patient, how that does affect your message when you're talking to other lawmakers.
I haven't heard any direct response. I did see a few eyes widen a little bit. But here's the more significant thing, I've had several lawmakers come up to me privately and say, hey can I talk to you about that therapeutic cannabis program? Because they're older and they have the ideas that cannabis is bad for you. But there are also older and have body pains and aches that come with aging.

And they're hearing from somebody like me who it was reliable, and I show up and I do my work, and I do other jobs. Not only does it help, but it's the reason that I'm here. It's the reason I'm walking.

Given that you are in favor of full legalization at some point. Why the interim step on getting medical marijuana having more qualifiers? Why not put your energies into getting marijuana legalized across the board?
Because there's a difference between recreational and therapeutic [cannabis]. Therapeutic is measured. It's in doses. In a recreational shop you would show up and you could say I just want an ounce of like let's say Gorilla Glue, which is a very strong indica plant that puts you to sleep, and it literally glues you to the couch.

So you're worried about people self-medicating and harm from that?
I'm worried about people using the product without knowing how to use it, and that's my concern.

So I think there will always be a need for the therapeutic side. And from what I understand, if you have a therapeutic card, don't get rid of it. Because I think if we follow what some of the other states have done, the therapeutic patients will not be paying the same price that the recreational people will be paying.

The special considerations that a medical marijuana program that you don't have in a recreational program?
That's right, yeah.

Germany seeks medical marijuana producers for home grown supply

Patricia Weiss

 

Germany has accepted bids for supply contracts from 79 prospective cannabis growers as the country seeks to develop its own medicinal marijuana industry and reduce reliance on imports from Canada and the Netherlands. 

 The country’s drugs regulator BfArM said on Monday it aimed to select growers between April and June, for a total cannabis procurement volume of 10,400 kg over four years. It declined to name the bidders.

A growing number of countries have legalized or are in the process of legalizing marijuana for medical use, including Britain, Greece, Thailand as well as some U.S. states.

Medicinal marijuana prescriptions have been available in Germany since 2017 but all of the drugs are currently imported. There will not be any new legal impediments on cannabis imports, the watchdog said.

The first home-grown harvest could take place in late 2020, the watchdog also said.

Canada and Uruguay have liberalized the marijuana industry completely.

Minnesota Introduces Bill for Marijuana Legalization

Senators Melisa Franzen and Scott Jensen, House Rep. Mike Freiberg introducing bill that would make it legal for adults over 21 to possess, grow and purchase limited quantities of weed

By Ryan Reed

 

Minnesota lawmakers are introducing a bill that would end marijuana prohibition, creating a system of taxation and regulation for adult use.

Minnesota House of Representatives, Minnesota State Senate 

Lawmakers are planting the seeds of legal weed in Minnesota — introducing legislation on Monday that would end marijuana prohibition in the state, creating a system of taxation and regulation for adult use. 

Senator Melisa Franzen and Representative Mike Feiberg, both of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, and Senator Scott Jensen, a Republican, sponsored the bill, which would make it legal for adults over 21 to possess, grow and purchase limited quantities of marijuana. The state would license and regulate businesses to cultivate, process, test and sell weed to adults; it would also create and enforce health and safety regulations for testing and labeling, along with restrictions against marketing to teenagers. 

Freiberg, in a statement, called Minnesota’s prohibition policy “outdated” and “more of a problem than a solution,” adding, “It is forcing marijuana into a shady underground market, which creates more potential harm for consumers and communities than marijuana itself. Regulating marijuana would make our state safer by removing the criminal element and empowering our state and local governments to start controlling production and sales.”

“Our focus in drafting legislation to end the prohibition of cannabis in Minnesota is to ensure we have a responsible regulatory model for consumer access that still provides for public health, safety and welfare,” he continued. “The time has come for us to have this debate.”

Freiberg tweeted a playful message from a press conference about the bill. “tfw your kids have a snow day and they have to come to your cannabis press conference,” he tweeted, along with a picture of his children sitting near reporters.

The proposed bill would allow Minnesota’s Department of Health to regulate marijuana dispensaries and direct regulators to establish a “seed-to-sale” system (from cultivation to sale). It would also allow local governments to regulate production and sale in their communities, prohibit retailers from marketing toward teens, allow for the expungement of certain marijuana-related crimes from arrest records, reroute $10 million annually toward impoverished communities that have been particularly affected by prohibition and direct millions of dollars each year toward mental health services, efforts to combat impaired driving and teen drug education. 

The Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest organization for marijuana policy reform, estimates that regulated sales could result in between $200 million and $300 million in annual tax revenue for Minnesota. Jason Tarasek, the state’s political director for the organization and co-founder of Minnesotans for Responsible Marijuana Regulation, compared current U.S. marijuana regulation to “alcoholic prohibition in the 1920s,” arguing that Minnesota’s marijuana laws “[do] not work.”

“By legalizing marijuana and carefully regulating its sale, we can keep it out of the hands of teens without needlessly arresting responsible adult consumers,” he said. “This would allow law enforcement to spend more time addressing serious crimes, while also creating a significant new revenue stream for our state.”

As of this writing, 10 U.S. states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington) and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, while commercial sale is legal in all but Vermont and D.C. Medial marijuana is legal in 33 states.