A Republican US senator from Tennessee engages in some Reefer Insanity, a protected injection web site in Burlington, Vermont, is one step nearer to taking place, and extra.
US Sen. Invoice Hagerty (R-TN) has gone on a reefer rant. Chill, Invoice. (Senate.gov)
Marijuana Coverage
Republican Senator Reveals Neanderthal Views on Marijuana Reform. Sen. Invoice Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican, not too long ago revealed views on marijuana reform that come straight from the period of Reefer Insanity. He referred to as marijuana a “gateway drug,” a idea that has lengthy been discredited. And he stated that Democrats’ strikes to legalize marijuana replicate “pro-criminal, anti-American insurance policies.”
“What the Joe Biden administration — what Chief Schumer — is making an attempt to do is mainly stimulate extra crime on American streets,” Hagerty stated. “Right here now we have Chuck Schumer mainly reducing the obstacles for gateway medication like marijuana, and it should injury society, and that is precisely what Democrats have been pushing. This isn’t good for America.”
The push for marijuana legalization is an effort to “incentivize extra drug utilization in America,” he stated. “We should be constraining drug utilization, not encouraging it.”
As for the SAFER Banking Act, Hagerty claimed it “facilitates a whole infrastructure, an ecosystem, for extra drug utilization in America.”
“We should be constraining drug utilization, not encouraging it,” he stated.
He additionally referred to as Biden administration marijuana reform efforts “obscene” as he accused it of participating with reform for “fully political causes.”
He additionally doesn’t favor any regulation of the business even the place it’s authorized. “I do not suppose we ought to be doing something to facilitate an ecosystem of drug abuse,” he stated. “That is exactly what is going on on.”
Apparently, Hagerty and his GOP colleagues appear to grasp the implications of prohibition. They opposed a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, saying it might empower worldwide felony organizations to reap the benefits of the illicit market that will emerge.
Connecticut Home Approves Invoice to Regulate the Sale of Hashish Merchandise. The Home on Tuesday authorized a invoice to control the sale of hemp merchandise containing THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, Home Invoice 5150. The measure handed on a vote of 130-16.
Whereas marijuana has been authorized within the state since 2021, lawmakers didn’t anticipate the flood of hemp merchandise which have entered the state with out being regulated. These merchandise, together with THC-infused drinks, would face limits on the place and to whom they may very well be bought, with some merchandise barred for folks underneath 21.
The invoice broadens the definition of a “high-THC hemp product” and creates a brand new class of “THC-infused drinks,” which might be required to adjust to laws for the manufacture of hemp merchandise. Excessive-THC merchandise can solely be bought by licensed marijuana retailers, and this invoice bars high-THC merchandise from being bought in grocery shops, comfort shops, and drugstores.
A separate provision of the invoice would develop “disproportionately impacted space,” these elements of the state deemed to have been disproportionately affected by felony hashish legal guidelines and from the place candidates for licenses to promote leisure marijuana got precedence. Underneath the invoice, some social fairness cultivator candidates might associate with hemp producers to obtain a license that enables cultivation outdoors a disproportionately impacted space. It could additionally develop what is taken into account a disproportionately impacted space to incorporate state tribal reservations and different land owned by the tribes.
The invoice now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Hurt Discount
Vermont Senate Approves Invoice for Burlington Secure Injection Website. The Senate on Thursday authorized a invoice to permit and fund a protected injection web site within the state capital of Burlington, Home Invoice 72. The transfer is a part of a pilot program aimed toward lowering overdose deaths.
“So long as there’s demand for addictive substances, these issues will persist,” stated Sen. Ginny Lyons (D) throughout debate. “HB 72 will permit for the institution of a protected haven for these with dependancy at overdose safety facilities. “I do know that lots of you on this physique consider this as a controversial matter, and I had been with you for a very long time,” Lyons continued. “I had my reservations as this concern was mentioned over the previous seven years. And now now we have a sturdy physique of analysis having a number of optimistic results of overdose prevention facilities and no detrimental ones. It is time for us to maneuver ahead.”
The invoice handed the Home in January however was considerably amended within the Senate. It initially allowed for 2 protected injection websites however now permits just one. And the quantity of funding was reduce from $2 million to $1.1 million. So now, the Home should both approve these adjustments or ship the invoice to a convention committee to iron them out.
