DESANTISLAND

Recreational marijuana amendment sparking discussion of potential economic benefits

Kylie Jones
Thu, June 13, 2024 

TAMPA - In less than five months, Floridians will vote on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

If it passes, Amendment 3 would allow anyone 21 years or older to possess, buy or use marijuana products for personal, non-medical use.

The amendment would also allow Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and other licensed entities to sell products for this use.

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The amendment has garnered a lot of support and opposition from leaders around Florida.

On Thursday, leaders from Tampa Bay held a roundtable to discuss how the legalization of marijuana for recreational use could have a major impact on the economy.

"This opens it up to a lot more people and the state will benefit from that, taxwise. So I think it’s kind of a win-win," Attorney Jim Shimberg said.

Some leaders believe the legalization of marijuana for recreational use is inevitable, so they want to be proactive in discussing how it should be regulated.


However, leaders like Governor Ron DeSantis, have voiced strong opposition to the amendment.

"If that marijuana passes, this will smell like marijuana," DeSantis said.

On Thursday, leaders discussed where the revenue from sales would go, if Amendment 3 passes.

"I don’t want us to establish a monopoly," Hillsborough County attorney Sean Shaw said. "But you’ve got to get it here first, and then you’ve got to allow the legislature, hopefully, to regulate it in a manner that opens it up. That allows it to do what you want to do. Then more people get access to it. But you’ve got to have it first."

Leaders say, if Amendment 3 passes, they want Floridians to be able to benefit.

"It’s about the fact that we have black markets right now, and then we have monopolies, essentially, being made in Tallahassee when you give only a few licenses to a few specific companies," Tampa Bay Young Republicans Executive Director Jake Hoffman said.

READ: Judge halts law requiring city officials share financial information as cities still feel effects

Many leaders agreed that they would want to see the revenue go to local governments and fund things like public safety, education, mass transit, housing and mental health.

"Hopefully some of this money will be allocated for specific needs of Florida, which they’re great," Shimberg said.

It’s also unclear how recreational marijuana would be regulated by law enforcement.

"How do we make the distinction between medical and recreational, and who bought it on the black market? Who didn’t buy it on the black market?" Hoffman said.

Some leaders argue legalization would take a burden off the criminal justice system.

"The time that police officers are spending going after petty possession charges," Morgan Hill, with Smart & Safe Florida, said.

However, some law enforcement officers around Florida have been outspoken against legalization of recreational marijuana, arguing that it would only lead to more crime.

"The amendment language says that there can be no penalties for use or possession, civil, criminal, anything," DeSantis said. "I think it's going to be very difficult for businesses to operate without that infringing on them."

Amendment 3 is a single-subject amendment, so if it passes, the regulations and rules around the recreational use of marijuana would still have to be decided upon by the state legislature.

If the amendment passes, some leaders say they want to ensure that the future regulations imposed are ones that will benefit the majority of Floridians and the economy.

"We have the situation in front of us, and it’s good to go back to the legislature and say, ‘Hey, now, work on it. Make this better, and create a framework that makes this work for everybody in the state of Florida,'" Hoffman said.

The amendment is expected to bring a lot of voters to the polls in November.

Marijuana could be legalized on NC tribal land by August

Sydney Heiberger
Wed, June 12, 2024 

Marijuana could be legalized on NC tribal land by August


CHEROKEE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The sale and use of recreational marijuana could become legal as early as this summer for anyone over the age of 21, as long as it’s bought and consumed on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Tribal council members voted to approve the new ordinance on June 6, just a few weeks after opening North Carolina’s first medical marijuana dispensary.

Officials estimated The Great Smoky Cannabis Company could generate $385 million in gross revenue in its first year if it sold to anyone over the age of 21, compared to $200 million if it catered to only medical patients.

In September, EBCI members voted in a referendum about whether they would support recreational marijuana sales. 70 percent said they would.

Medical marijuana dispensary opens on 4/20 with NC bill still pending

Now that the ordinance has passed, leaders said recreational sales will likely begin to tribe members in July and will expand to anyone over the age of 21 by mid-August.

“We exercised our sovereignty, and we use the best practices possible,” said Carolyn West with Qualla Enterprises, the Cherokee-owned company that manages the tribe’s cannabis operation.

The Great Smoky Cannabis Company started selling medical marijuana to adults with medical marijuana cards on April 20.

Meanwhile, marijuana use in North Carolina remains illegal. Any cannabis purchased on the Qualla Boundary cannot be taken off of it.

A bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state is still sitting in the general assembly, but Speaker Tim Moore said he doesn’t believe it has enough support to get off the ground.


KENTUCKY

Will medical marijuana be allowed in JCPS schools? What a proposed policy says

Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
Updated Thu, June 13, 2024 

Marijuana is grown at the University of Mississippi's Coy Waller Laboratory for research in Oxford, Miss., seen on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. UM expects to have classes open for a two-year masters program in medical cannabis and dietary supplements in Fall 2024.


With Kentuckians set to gain access to medical marijuana next year, school districts across the state are now tasked with deciding whether or not their students can use the drug on campuses.

The Board Policy Committee for Jefferson County Public Schools met Monday to draft a policy regarding medical marijuana, with members agreeing students who have a prescription from a medical professional should be able to take it at school.

State law dictates that if a district allows the drug on school property, families can either choose to let a school nurse or staff member administer it to their child, or a guardian can come to the school to do it.

Medical marijuana, also called cannabis, is often prescribed to individuals who have seizures.

JCPS' proposed policy would require administration to be done out of the view of other students.

Board members ultimately have the power to adopt the policy or not. They are set to discuss the committee's proposal during their Tuesday, June 25 meeting, said JCPS spokesman Mark Hebert.

"If approved by the board, this would be no different than school nurses, nurse practitioners or other trained school staff administering other tightly controlled substances like Ritalin or Adderall to a student," Hebert said.

"We anticipate most medicinal cannabis will be given to students at home, but there may be times when the doctor or prescription calls for the medicine to be given during school hours," he added.

Medical cannabis will not be available in the state until at least Jan. 1, 2025. Licenses for cannabis businesses are expected to be awarded this October, and production cannot start until then.

Easing federal marijuana rules: There’s still a long way to go

Jacob Fischler
Wed, June 12, 2024





LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 24: In this photo illustration, marijuana joints and buds, also known as 'flower', are viewed on May 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. A new study by Carnegie Mellon University has found that marijuana consumption has overtaken alcohol as more Americans now use marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis than those who drink alcohol at a similar frequency. (Photo Illustration by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Nearly three weeks after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration proposed loosening a federal prohibition on marijuana, the next phases of policy fights over the drug’s status are starting to take shape.

Public comments, which the DEA is accepting on the proposal until mid-July, will likely include an analysis of the economic impact of more lenient federal rules.

Administrative law hearings, a venue for opponents to challenge executive branch decisions, will likely follow, with marijuana’s potential for abuse a possible issue.

Congress, meanwhile, could act on multiple related issues, including banking access for state-legal marijuana businesses and proposals to help communities harmed by the decades of federal prohibition.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon and longtime advocate for legalizing marijuana who’s retiring at the end of the year, is encouraging his colleagues to build on the administration’s action by taking up bills on those related issues.

The politics of the issue should favor action, even in the face of an upcoming campaign season that typically slows legislative action, Blumenauer said in a May 17 interview, noting the popularity of a more permissive approach to the drug.

“Congress may not do a lot between now and November, but they should,” the 14-term House member said. “Because it’s an election year, there’s no downside to being more aggressive.”
Economic impact

In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register last month, the DEA specifically asked commenters to weigh in on the economic impacts of moving the drug from Schedule I to the less-restrictive Schedule III list under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

That will likely mean the agency will consider the impact of allowing state-legal marijuana businesses to deduct business expenses from their federal taxes, Mason Tvert, a partner at Denver-based cannabis policy and public affairs firm Strategies 64, said in an interview. Under current law, no deductions are allowed.

That issue is seen by advocates, including Blumenauer and fellow Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing U.S. Senate Finance Committee, as paramount for the industry.

Thousands of state-legal businesses struggle to earn a profit or operate at a loss under the current system, Blumenauer said.
Potential for abuse

The DEA typically looks at three factors when assessing how strictly to regulate a drug: its medicinal value, potential for abuse relative to other drugs and ability to cause physical addiction.

A 2023 analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that looked at data from states where medicinal marijuana is legal showed that “there exists some credible scientific support for the medical use of marijuana.”

That finding could lead DEA to look at other factors, Tvert said.

“The battleground that we’ll see will be around how we define potential for abuse,” he said.
Agencies split?

But the DEA proposed rule revealed a divided view among government agencies about the drug’s potential harms, Paul Armentano, the deputy director for the longtime leading advocacy group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told States Newsroom.

The text of the proposed rule shows “a lack of consensus” among HHS, the Attorney General’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration, he said.

“There are several points in the DEA’s proposed rule where they express a desire to see additional evidence specific to concerns that the agency has about the potential effects of cannabis, particularly as they pertain to abuse potential and potential harms,” Armentano said.

“The HHS addresses those issues, but the DEA essentially says, ‘We’d like to see more information on it.’”

Kevin Sabat, the president and CEO of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, agreed that the DEA did not appear to agree with the HHS conclusion that medical uses exist.

The proposed rule “just brings up all these issues with the HHS’s determination and it basically invites comment on all those issues,” he said.
Administrative law hearing

Sabat’s group will also be petitioning for a DEA administrative hearing, he said. An administrative law judge could rule that the proposal should not go through or that it should be amended to remain stricter than the initial proposal described.

“We’re going to highlight the fact that, first of all, this does not have approved or accepted medical use,” he said.

Tvert said the accepted medical value question is likely not to be a major factor in an administrative law hearing. Several medical organizations and states that allow medicinal use have already endorsed its medicinal value, he said.

Instead, the focus will turn to the drug’s potential for abuse, he said.

“What will be critical is looking at cannabis relative to other substances that are currently II or III or not on the schedule, and determining whether cannabis should be on Schedule I when alcohol is not even on the schedules and ketamine is Schedule III.”

As of June 6, nearly 12,000 people had commented on the proposal in the 18 days since its publication.

While opinion polls show that most Americans favor liberalizing cannabis laws — a Pew Research Center survey in March found 57% of U.S. adults favor full legalization while only 11% say it should be entirely illegal — the public comments so far represent a full spectrum of views on the topic.

“This rule is a horrible idea, this should remain in Schedule I,” one comment read. “Marijuana is a gateway drug and ruins lives.”

“There are no negative side effects to its use,” another commenter, who favored “fully” legalizing the substance, wrote. “Its not harmful. The only harm is what the government has done to me and America. Shame on the people that continue to oppose this. Seriously shame on anyone that would stand in the way of this change.”
Congressional action?

Blumenauer authored a memo last month on “the path forward” for reform as the rescheduling process plays out.

He listed four bills for Congress to consider this year.

One, sponsored by House Democrats, would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substance Act schedule entirely and expunge prior offenses.

A bipartisan bill would make changes to the banking laws to allow state-legal businesses greater access to loans and other financial services.

Another, cosponsored with Florida Republican Brian Mast, would allow Veterans Administration health providers to discuss state-legal medicinal marijuana with veteran patients.

Blumenauer has also co-written language for appropriations bills that would prevent the Department of Justice from prosecuting marijuana businesses that are legal under state or tribal law.

“All of these things are overwhelmingly popular, they’re important, we have legislative vehicles and supporters,” he said.

Still, there may be disagreements about what to pursue next.

Recent years have seen disagreements among Democratic supporters of legalization over whether to prioritize banking or criminal justice reforms.

A banking overhaul has much greater bipartisan support, and advocates on all sides of the issue agree it’s the most likely to see congressional action.

But some who support changes to banking laws in principle object to focusing on improving the business environment without first addressing the harms they say prohibition has caused to largely non-white and disadvantaged communities.

As recently as 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described banking reform legislation as too narrow. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, called it a “common-sense policy” but said that he favored a more comprehensive approach.

“I’ve gone around with Cory on that,” Blumenauer said. “More than anybody in Congress, I’m in favor of the major reforms, and we’ve been fighting for racial justice and equity … but (racial justice and banking reforms) are not mutually exclusive.”

In September, Booker agreed to co-sponsor the banking reform bill after winning a promise from Schumer that a separate bill to help expunge criminal records would also receive a vote. Neither measure has actually received a floor vote.

In a statement following the administration’s announcement on rescheduling, Booker praised the move, but called for further action from Congress.

That includes passing a bill he’s sponsored that would decriminalize the drug at the federal level, expunge the records of people convicted of federal marijuana crimes and direct federal funding to communities “most harmed by the failed War on Drugs,” according to a summary from Booker’s office.

“We still have a long way to go,” Booker said in the statement on rescheduling. “Thousands of people remain in prisons around the country for marijuana-related crimes. They continue to bear the devastating consequences that come with a criminal history.”

Blumenauer said Congress should act on the proposals that have widespread support from voters.

“This not low-hanging fruit, this is having them pick it up off the ground,” he said. “There is no other controversial issue that has as much bipartisan support that’s awaiting action.”