Progressive Lawmakers Want Biden to Act on Pot Before Leaving Office, DPA Issues Draft Executive Order on Marijuana, More… (11/26/24)

President-elect Trump’s FDA nominee holds some old school views on marijuana, Pittsburgh has an ordinance defending the employment rights of medical marijuana sufferers, and extra. 

Coverage

Progressive Lawmakers Name on Biden to Act on Marijuana Coverage Earlier than Leaving Workplace. In a letter to Joe Biden, a gaggle of progressive lawmakers referred to as on the outgoing president to make further reforms to federal marijuana coverage earlier than he leaves workplace. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) referred to as on Biden to maneuver marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III managed substance. 

However whereas that will be progress, the lawmakers wrote, “it won’t finish federal criminalization, resolve its harms, or meaningfully handle the hole between federal and state hashish coverage. Possession and use of leisure marijuana — and far state-legal medical marijuana — will proceed to be a violation of federal regulation,” the letter says. 

The letter additionally calls on Biden to develop the restricted pardons and clemencies he has issued to marijuana offenders: “President Biden ought to subject broader clemency — together with one other spherical of pardons and commutations to cut back sentences or finish phrases of — for people convicted of different cannabis-related offenses. Moreover, the President ought to once more urge state governors to develop marijuana clemency and decriminalize low-level marijuana conduct beneath state regulation.”

And the letter asks Biden to have the Justice Division replace Obama-era steerage to not prosecute individuals for marijuana offenses for actions that adjust to state legal guidelines. 

“Rescheduling marijuana and the prior spherical of pardons should not be the top of this Administration’s historic work to make use of its government authority to undo the harm of federal marijuana coverage,” the lawmakers wrote on Tuesday. “As we proceed to work towards laws to finish the federal criminalization of marijuana and to control it responsibly and equitably, we urge immediate administrative motion to sort out the harms of criminalization — significantly for the advantage of communities most harmed by the Struggle on Medicine.”

Drug Coverage Alliance Unveils Proposed Govt Order on Marijuana Reform. The Drug Coverage Alliance (DPA) has launched a proposed government order that serves as a mannequin for a way the president can make the most of government and administrative authority to advance federal marijuana reform that prioritizes equity and public well being.

The proposed order outlines a complete strategy for embedding fairness and public well being rules into federal marijuana insurance policies. It supplies actionable steps that the President can take instantly, utilizing the total extent of government energy to mitigate the profound harms of marijuana criminalization — harms which have disproportionately impacted Black, Latine and Indigenous communities.

The proposed order establishes a Nationwide Advisory Council to information equitable marijuana coverage reform and mandates federal businesses to evaluation and handle systemic limitations confronted by underserved communities.​ 

The order requires businesses to develop plans to advertise equitable entry to authorities advantages and alternatives, implement methods for fairness in hashish coverage, and interact with underserved communities. It additionally requires improved knowledge assortment on fairness in marijuana coverage and addresses worldwide points associated to hashish scheduling.

“This proposal will not be solely a roadmap for President Biden to take motion within the ultimate days of his presidency but in addition a framework for future administrations to leverage government authority to advance federal marijuana insurance policies which are truthful,” stated Cat Packer, director of drug markets and authorized regulation at DPA. “The chance to guide on marijuana reform will not be sure by political cycles — it’s a duty for each administration dedicated to liberty, justice and public well being. This government order is a mannequin for a way administrations can use their authority to remodel federal marijuana insurance policies to enhance the lives of on a regular basis individuals — reasonably than simply enhancing earnings for marijuana firms,” stated Packer.

Trump’s FDA Decide Has Previous-Customary Views on Marijuana. President-elect Donald Trump (R) has nominated Dr. Marty Makary to function commissioner of the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA). Makary holds some downright old-school views on marijuana, together with the long-debunked notion that it’s a “gateway drug” resulting in the usage of more durable medication. 

FDA is overseen by the Division of Well being and Human Providers (DHS), the place Trump nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. favors marijuana legalization and can be Makary’s titular boss. However FDA will play a vital position in federal marijuana coverage. 

Makary’s previous statements, nevertheless, present he’s no good friend of the herb. 

“Individuals suppose marijuana in the present day is the marijuana of hippies and that it’s fully secure—however marijuana in the present day is roughly 20 instances stronger,” he stated in September. “Although it might have decrease well being problems in adults, that is probably not true for adolescents the place their thoughts continues to be growing,” he stated. “The drug might have a distinct affect on younger, wholesome youngsters.”

He promoted the gateway principle as he promoted a current guide: “If we’re going to be goal, we have to cease saying that marijuana is innocent and never a gateway drug,” he stated. “The reality is that the out there proof doesn’t help these opinions.”

He additionally challenges the argument that legalizing marijuana would cut back the black market, arguing that “cartels and Chinese language organized crime teams” dominate marijuana gross sales in states comparable to California, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. He additionally claimed that these teams have interaction in a “trendy type of slavery on U.S. soil in the present day” by trafficking “their very own staff.”

As a substitute of emphasizing regulation enforcement or legalizing medication, Makary advocates for reducing demand. 

“The idea that marijuana is secure and positively not a gateway drug looms giant in society in the present day, even amongst some medical doctors. Two dozen states have legalized leisure use of marijuana, as of 2023, and its use has grow to be mainstream. However may or not it’s that we’re convincing ourselves what we need to be true?”

Drug Testing

Pittsburgh Bars Marijuana Drug Testing for Medical Marijuana Sufferers. An ordinance accepted in September prohibiting discrimination towards medical marijuana sufferers relating to drug testing has gone into impact. The ordinance bars discrimination towards hiring or firing sufferers primarily based on a optimistic take a look at end result for marijuana. The ordinance solely applies to state-certified sufferers. 

It additionally applies to affected person workers through the course of employment, barring testing apart from cheap suspicion of use or impairment at work. 

There are exceptions for sure safety-related positions, comparable to those who require the usage of a firearm or these which are topic to drug testing beneath state laws. Additionally, if drug testing is addressed in a collective bargaining settlement, that drug testing might happen. 

Medical marijuana sufferers can nonetheless be examined for the presence of different illicit medication. 

The ordinance permits employers to behave towards sufferers if they’re impaired whereas working high-voltage electrical tools or working with chemical substances requiring permits. Nor might workers beneath the affect of marijuana work at heights or in confined areas.