Politics
Nine Members Of Congress Tell DEA To Revise Proposed Hemp Rule On THC Content
Nine members of Congress sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Tuesday, urging the agency to revise its proposed hemp regulations.
DEA released an interim final rule (IFR) for the crop in August, and it said the regulations were simply meant to comply with the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp and its derivatives. But stakeholders and advocates have expressed serious concerns about certain proposals, arguing that they could put processors at risk of violating federal law and hamper the industry’s growth.
Reps. David Joyce (R-OH) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA) led the letter and pointed specifically to a provision of DEA’s IFR that could impact processing hemp extracts. The agency stipulated that “any such material that contains greater than 0.3% of Δ9-THC on a dry weight basis remains controlled in schedule I.”
That’s problematic, the lawmakers said, because in many cases the process of extracting cannabinoids from hemp temporarily causes THC levels to increase beyond that threshold. And so while Congress intended to legalize those extracts, businesses that produce the materials could find themselves inadvertently breaking the law.
I sent a letter to the @DEAHQ asking them to protect hemp producers and clarify hemp regulations.
The DEA must specify their requirements and streamline hemp directives by clarifying the legal means of processing hemp products. Read more here, #VA05:https://t.co/wGabQePrts— Congressman Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) October 21, 2020
“Our offices have received countless calls from constituents involved in the hemp industry who are extremely fearful that simply following the provisions of the Farm Bill will result in criminal liability under the IFR,” the lawmakers’ letter states. “The IFR will likely have the effect of inhibiting these nascent state hemp programs thereby harming those American companies and workers who chose to pursue careers in the hemp industry and made significant investments to effectuate those aspirations.”
Therefore, the lawmakers are “requesting a resolution to this issue as quickly as possible,” adding that “DEA must revise the IFR to eliminate the ambiguities set forth above and provide peace of mind to all Americans who have chosen to pursue a career in the hemp industry.”
Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Don Young (R-AK), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) also signed the letter.
A public comment period on DEA’s proposed rules closed on Tuesday. It saw more than 3,300 submissions, many of which focused on issues with the “work in progress” hemp THC issue.
“This IFR’s criminalizes work in progress hemp extract, a fundamental component of any consumer hemp/CBD product, and will negatively impact the hemp/CBD industry at a time when financial pressure is already high,” one commenter wrote. “Hemp and subsequent extracts are not controlled substances.”
Another issue identified by more than 1,000 commenters concerns delta-8 THC. The most widely known cannabinoid is delta-9 THC, the main component responsible for creating an intoxicating effect, but delta-8 THC from hemp is also psychoactive and is an object of growing interest within the market.
Because DEA’s proposed regulations state that all “synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinols remain schedule I controlled substances,” some feel that would directly impact the burgeoning cannabinoid, as its converted from CBD through the use of a catalyst—and that could be interpreted as a synthetic production process.
In any case, it’s not clear whether DEA deliberately crafted either of these rules with the intent of criminalizing certain hemp producers—but stakeholders and advocates aren’t taking any chances.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has faced separate criticism over its own proposed hemp rules, though it has been more proactive in addressing them. Following significant pushback from the industry over certain regulations it views as excessively restrictive, the agency reopened a public comment period, which also closed this month.
USDA is also planning to distribute a national survey to gain insights from thousands of hemp businesses that could inform its approach to regulating the market.
Read the congressional coalition’s letter to DEA on its hemp rule below:Â
DEA IFR Letter by Marijuana Moment
State And Local Marijuana Regulators Demand Congress Prioritize Federal Legalization Bill
Politics
Cops Can’t Arrest You For Smoking Marijuana On Sidewalks, NYPD Says In Post-Legalization Memo
The New York Police Department (NYPD) on Thursday sent a memo to officers updating them on new policies for marijuana after the governor signed a legalization bill into law this week.
Among other changes, police can no longer arrest adults 21 and older for simply using marijuana in places where smoking tobacco is permitted—and that includes “on sidewalks, on front stoops and other public places,” the document states. “As a result, smoking marihuana in any of these locations is not a basis for an approach, stop, summons, arrest or search.”
As prescribed under the law, adults can now possess up to three ounces of cannabis and also gift marijuana to other adults “so long as no compensation is exchanged,” NYPD said. Home cultivation will eventually be legal as well, but not until regulators issued rules allowing it.
The department clarified that nobody, regardless of age, can drive while impaired from cannabis. However, “the smell of marihuana alone no longer establishes probable cause of a crime to search a vehicle,” whether it’s burnt or unburnt.
There are exceptions to the rule if a person driving a car is observed to be impaired and “there is probable cause to believe that the vehicle contains evidence of the impairing marihuana (e.g. smell of burnt marihuana or admission of having smoked recently).” Enforcement can also be taken if a person is seen consuming cannabis while driving, regardless of whether they don’t show signs of impairment.
Possession of marijuana by people under 21 is also unlawful, but “under the current state of the law, there is no mechanism for the NYPD to take enforcement action against a person under 21 who possesses 3 ounces or less.”
“In the future, the NYPD may have the ability to issue a civil summons for such violations,” the memo says. “Until that time, possession of 3 ounces or less by a person under 21 cannot be the basis of an approach, stop, summons, juvenile report or arrest. Possession by individuals under 21 of more than 3 ounces is enforceable.”
Another significant policy change concerns people on parole, who are now “permitted to use marihuana unless the terms of their parole specifically prohibit it.”
“This means that [members of service] may not approach, stop or detain a parolee based on their use or possession of lawful amounts of marihuana (3 oz or less),” the memo, which was first reported by CNN, says. “If MOS observe a person known to the Department, whose terms of parole do prohibit possessing or smoking marihuana, MOS should notify the relevant parole officers.”
The department also noted that the state Office of Cannabis Management, which was established under the legalization measure and now has a website that launched on Friday, will be creating regulations allowing adults to cultivate marijuana for personal use.
While it’s not currently legal to grow plants until those rules are created, once they take effect, “individuals 21 or older will be permitted to grow a maximum of 6 plants at their home (3 mature and 3 immature),” and each household “is permitted to have no more than 12 plants regardless of how many individuals 21 or older live in that home.”
Read NYPD’s memo on the marijuana policy changes below:Â
NYPD marijuana memo by Marijuana Moment
Colorado Is Auctioning Marijuana-Themed License Plates To Raise Money For People With Disabilities
Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso.
Politics
New York Takes First Step Toward Marijuana Legalization Implementation With New Cannabis Website
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday unveiled a new government website that provides information about the provisions of the state’s new marijuana legalization law, which went into effect under a bill he signed on Wednesday.
The governor’s office has been running victory laps since the bill’s signing, and the website for the new Office of Cannabis Management is the latest example of how the administration is working to show its commitment to effectively implementing the policy change.
“Legalizing cannabis was the first step in this historic endeavor to right the wrongs of the past,” Cuomo said in a press release about the site’s launch. “The Office of Cannabis Management’s website provides critical preliminary information pending the creation of the Cannabis Control Board about the future of this industry as well as resources for individuals and businesses seeking information on the future of cannabis in New York State.”
Learn more about legalized adult-use cannabis by checking out the new website for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.https://t.co/1QLPytUeEp
— Kathy Hochul (@LtGovHochulNY) April 2, 2021
On the site, people can view the text of the legislation, as well as a fact sheet outlining its various provisions. There are also breakout pages that provide information about specific components of the law: recreational marijuana, medical cannabis, hemp, licensing and local government.
For the adult-use section, there are details about the rules governing personal possession, which is immediately legal for adults 21 and older for up to three ounces, as well as ID requirements for when retail stores open. It covers where cannabis can be consumers, rules for landlords and more.
The page emphasizes that impaired driving is prohibited and people under 21 are not able to purchase or possess cannabis. It also talks about how home cultivation will be allowed but only after the office issues regulations and describes the tax structure for marijuana sales.
Interestingly, the page will also include a “Find a Dispensary” feature once those shops are set up.
“The website outlines the comprehensive reforms this legislation enacts, and I know will be a valued resource for many as we move forward,” Cuomo said.
Other pages highlight rules for the state’s existing hemp and medical cannabis programs, which were also impacted by the passage of the adult-use legalization bill.
The site also details the process municipalities would have to undertake to opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area, as well as local tax information.
Marijuana Legalization Framed As Inevitability At Rhode Island Senate Joint Hearing
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Another Massachusetts city has approved a measure to deprioritize enforcement of laws against the possession, use and distribution of a wide range of psychedelics such as psilocybin and ayahuasca.
This time, the Northampton City Council passed the resolution, which also states that no government or police funds should be used to enforce laws criminalizing people for using or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi.
The vote on Thursday was unanimous, 8-0, and it makes Northampton the third city in the state to enact the reform. Somerville and Cambridge have also moved to effectively decriminalize psychedelics.
“City by city, our movement for cognitive liberty and racial justice is growing exponentially,” James Davis, a city-level organizer for Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, told Marijuana Moment. “A supermajority of Massachusetts voters support treating controlled substances as an issue of public health—hopefully more politicians will start listening to the inspiring, psychedelic stories of the people they claim to represent.”
Davis said a similar reform resolution is expected to be introduced in Boston “in the next two weeks,” and city councilors in Worcester “are beginning to set up meetings with our coalition.”
The Northampton resolution’s “whereas” section states that studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics in the treatment of serious mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic depression and addiction.
It also says that “the so-called War on Drugs has led to the unnecessary penalization, arrest, and incarceration of vulnerable people, particularly people of color and people of limited financial means, rather than prioritizing harm-reduction policies to treat drug abuse as an issue of public health.”
Further, the measure calls on the Hampshire County District Attorney to “cease prosecution of persons involved in the use, possession, or distribution of entheogenic plants and the use or possession without the intent to distribute of any controlled substance.”
This resolution also expresses the Council’s support for two bills recently introduced in the state legislature. One would remove criminal penalties for possession of all currently illicit drugs and the other would establish a task force to study entheogenic substances with the eventual goal of legalizing and regulating the them.
Prior to giving final approval to the psychedelics decriminalization resolution on Thursday, the Council held an initial discussion on the measure last month.
This is the latest victory in a national psychedelics reform movement that’s spread rapidly since Denver became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in 2019.
Besides the cities in Massachusetts, four others—Oakland, Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor and Washington, D.C.—have also decriminalized possession of plant-and fungi-based psychedelics.
In Oregon, November’s election saw the passage of a historic initiatives to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic purposes and more broadly decriminalize possession of all drugs.
In Oakland, the first city where a city council voted to broadly deprioritize criminalization of entheogenic substances, lawmakers approved a follow-up resolution in December that calls for the policy change to be adopted statewide and for local jurisdictions to be allowed to permit healing ceremonies where people could use psychedelics.
After Ann Arbor legislators passed a decriminalization resolution last year, a county prosecutor recently announced that his office will not be pursuing charges over possessing entheogenic plants and fungi—“regardless of the amount at issue.”
Bipartisan State Attorneys General Urge Congress To Pass Marijuana Banking Bill
Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.
