Newsletter
GOP rep withdraws DC psychedelics decrim block (Newsletter: July 16, 2020)
CO proposes marijuana equity franchise model; USDA approves more hemp plans; Therapists want permission to dose themselves with psilocybin
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) introduced an amendment to block Washington, D.C.’s psychedelics decriminalization ballot measure and then withdrew it before a likely losing vote in the House Appropriations Committee. But he hinted he may try again later on the House floor or in conference committee.
Colorado regulators are proposing a model where marijuana social equity applicants could essentially be franchises of existing cannabis businesses. The program could help people harmed by the drug war get to market earlier, but some advocates are skeptical that upstart entrepreneurs could be taken advantage of by larger operators.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved hemp plans from Minnesota, Tennessee and Puerto Rico, bringing the total number of proposals from states, territories and Indian tribes that the federal government has signed off on to 53.
A group of psychedelic therapists are petitioning the Canadian government for permission to legally dose themselves with psilocybin in order to better understand and treat patients, some of whom have also formally requested an exemption to use the substance.
- Few people “would advise going to a sex therapist who’s never had sex before,” said TheraPsil executive director Spencer Hawkswell.
/ FEDERAL
The Department of Veterans Affairs said that veterans must abstain from using marijuana and other drugs while participating in the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported that marijuana accounted for nearly half of positive drug tests of transportation workers in June.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) cheered a provision in a spending bill that would protect universities from losing their funding for studying marijuana.
Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) touted his work to insert a provision protecting state medical cannabis laws from federal interference in an appropriations bill.
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain tweeted, “Sessions earned his fate. Not only was his tenure as AG a disgrace, but his laser-like focus on marijuana while he ignored much bigger issues revealed him to be the worst sort of bureaucrat.”
Wisconsin Democratic congressional candidate Matthew Boor said that decriminalizing marijuana is one of his priorities.
/ STATES
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed a bill limiting the forms and packaging of medical cannabis edibles and requiring business employees and owners to submit fingerprints to the state background check system.
An aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called accusations that he hasn’t done enough to help enact marijuana legalization and other progressive priorities “small and asinine palace intrigue.”
Illinois’s lieutenant governor tweeted, “The #R3 program is an example where communities lifted their voices and said look… communities have been arrested, detained, incarcerated for cannabis—even small amounts of cannabis—for decades…and you are not going to start this new industry & make money?”
New Mexico regulators are being sued over medical cannabis testing, labelling and facility safety standards rules.
Colorado generated $33.6 million in marijuana tax revenue and fees in June.
Nevada regulators posted an agenda for a Monday meeting.
Wisconsin regulators tweeted about a hemp variety performance private-public partnership.
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/ INTERNATIONAL
Newfoundland, Canada’s justice minister said he is open to having conversations about decriminalizing drug possession.
Marijuana plants are growing outside of Mexico’s Senate building.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study found that “THC‐CBD spray improved spasticity and pain in secondary progressive” multiple sclerosis patients.
A review concluded that “the evidence regarding complementarity and substitution of cannabis and alcohol is mixed” but that “we identified stronger support for substitution than complementarity, though evidence indicates different effects in different populations and to some extent across different study designs.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. increased in 2019.
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Marijuana Policy Project, NAACP, Seth Rogen and others hosted a web chat about cannabis legalization and racial justice.
Prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the Illinois NAACP launched a microsite to further the idea that legalizing cannabis is bad for social justice.
The American Psychological Association did a podcast with the head of a psychedelic research center.
/ BUSINESS
ManifestSeven received conditional approval to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
/ CULTURE
Rapper GZA is partnering with Sackville & Co. on a cannabis stash kit, with proceeds going to the Last Prisoner Project.
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