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Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

"“I didn’t,” the Democratic 2020 contender said when asked about his past assertions that marijuana may act as a gateway to the use of other drugs."

Bullshit. Him and Cuomo....at least on MJ, they will take up whatever position gets them elected

Biden Reverses Long-held Stance on Marijuana, Says There’s ‘No Evidence’ It’s a Gateway Drug


Former vice president Joe Biden on Monday backed away from his previous assertion that marijuana may be a “gateway drug,” saying he has seen no evidence that use of the drug could lead to dependence on other, more powerful substances.


“I don’t think it is a gateway drug. There’s no evidence I’ve seen to suggest that,” Biden told The Nevada Independent in a call with reporters Monday.


“I didn’t,” the Democratic 2020 contender said when asked about his past assertions that marijuana may act as a gateway to the use of other drugs. “What I said was, and I’ve been talking about this for some time now … First of all, it should be totally decriminalized number one, number two, anyone who has been convicted of an offense or using pot, their record should be wiped totally clean.”


Biden took heat over the weekend for telling a Las Vegas town hall crowd that “there’s not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug.”


“It’s a debate, and I want a lot more before I legalize it nationally,” Biden told the town hall audience on Saturday. “I want to make sure we know a lot more about the science behind it.”


Biden remained cautious on Monday about legalizing marijuana nationally, saying that members of the medical community have warned of the drug’s stunting effects on youth.


“With regard to the total legalization of it, there are some in the medical community who say it needs to be made a Schedule II drug so there can be more studies as not whether it is a gateway drug but whether or not when used in other combinations may have a negative effect on people overcoming other problems, including in fact on young people in terms of brain development, a whole range of things that are beyond my expertise,” Biden said.


The Drug Enforcement Administration currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, substances “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” along with heroin and LSD.


Biden has historically supported some of the nation’s strongest anti-drug measures, including the controversial 1994 crime bill. As recently as 2016, Biden said he was “not at all” ashamed of his work on the bill, which cracked down on penalties for marijuana use, adding that the measure “restored American cities.”


Democratic presidential contenders Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Andrew Yang have all said they support legalization of marijuana across the country.


During last week’s Democratic primary debate, Booker expressed chagrin that Biden said he is not ready to support legalizing marijuana outright, quipping to the former vice president that, “I thought you might have been high when you said it.”
 
Booker took him *down* on that question, but not nearly as hard as he could have - and maybe should have. I would have thought by now that politicians would realize that lies are easily found out in the age of video and YT - that they would realize that bare-faced lying will NEVER look good on them and will ALWAYS cost them support.

I have no special beef with or regarding Biden - other than he is exactly the business-as-usual sort of pseudo-centrist that LOST in 2016 and will lose again; a repeat of that mistake will be the end of Biden’s political career, such as it is.

(Baron - trying to exert the same self-awareness I asked for: help me stay in line, please)
 
ClearBlueLou said:
Booker took him *down* on that question, but not nearly as hard as he could have - and maybe should have. I would have thought by now that politicians would realize that lies are easily found out in the age of video and YT - that they would realize that bare-faced lying will NEVER look good on them and will ALWAYS cost them support.

I have no special beef with or regarding Biden - other than he is exactly the business-as-usual sort of pseudo-centrist that LOST in 2016 and will lose again; a repeat of that mistake will be the end of Biden’s political career, such as it is.

(Baron - trying to exert the same self-awareness I asked for: help me stay in line, please)
Click to expand...
You’re doing fine by me, mate. :thumbsup:
 
More of the same shit in Washington, DC....where I live....where you all send your politicians. Would you please keep them at home with you? hahaha


How the House Judiciary Committee decided which marijuana bill to pass
One bill had bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and a hint from President Donald Trump that he would sign it. The other has only Democratic sponsors and little chance of passing a Republican-controlled Senate.
When the House Judiciary Committee took up marijuana legislation last week, it opted for the second bill.
The measure passed the committee, 24-10, with two Republicans joining 22 Democrats in voting yes. But other Republicans said the vote on the other bill would have been overwhelmingly partisan.
The legislation that passed the committee, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or More Act, would remove the federal ban on marijuana, currently scheduled as a Class 1 controlled substance.
That would leave it to the states to decide whether to legalize the drug. It also will take steps to help communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs and to ensure that minority-owned businesses and individuals got a share of the burgeoning legal cannabis business.



The other measure, the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, or States Act, would have prevented the federal government from enforcing its marijuana laws in states with legal cannabis.
Because there was no social justice element in the States Act, some leading proponents of removing the federal ban on cannabis, including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., have refused to support it.
Still, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee said the States Act had a better chance of passing the full Senate.
“By looking for the perfect, you’re going to ruin the good and we’re going to get nothing,” said Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the committee’s top Republican.
Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said that was “negotiating against ourselves.”
“In most circumstances, I don’t think it’s a good idea to say the Senate won’t take this bill, therefore we shouldn’t pass this bill,” he said.
Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., could bring up the States Act without waiting for the House.
Besides, he said, the States Act still would have left the federal marijuana ban in effect for states that haven’t legalized the drug.
“Just because the enforcement wouldn’t be applied in the states that have reform doesn’t mean an individual who’s a business owner steps into a prohibition state, all of the money in their bank account is technically drug money, felonious drug money, in the eyes of the government, " he said.
House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told NJ Cannabis Insider that he’d like to bring both bills to the House floor for votes.
 
Hightimes Holding, other cannabis publishers may be shutting down

The cannabis industry may be booming, but publishers looking to cash in keep going up in smoke.


Hightimes Holding, which publishes the 45-year-old High Times magazine, warned shareholders in its latest SEC filing that it may not be able to continue operations.


“Because of recurring operating losses, net operating cash flow deficits, and an accumulated deficit, there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for one year from the issuance of the financial statements,” the company said.


High Times has snapped up rival publications, including Dope, Culture and Green Rush Daily, and runs marijuana-themed concerts and events, but its crowdsourced IPO has stalled. It recently hired Toronto-based Lazer & Lazer to search for a new backer as it tries to dig out of $105.2 million in debts.


In its most recent earnings report, Hightimes Holding incurred a net loss of $11.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, on revenue of $10.7 million.


High Times is not alone. Civilized, which counted comedian Chelsea Handler as an investor has been taken over by New Frontier Data after burning through about $10 million in investment money, according to cannabis.net.


The website MassRoots, which raised over $20 million and managed to pull off a successful IPO in the past, has apparently gone dark in recent weeks, according to a report on cannabis.net. Its stock was trading at one third of a penny in the over-the-counter market on Thursday. MassRoots said on Nov. 15 that it was unable to file its third-quarter earnings report in a timely fashion. In the last quarterly report for the three months ending June 30, the company posted a net loss of $774,638 on net revenue of only $18,366.


CEO Isaac Dietrich insisted to Marijuana Business Daily recently that “our website will be back online shortly.” But when Media Ink tried calling the phone number listed in SEC documents, we heard a recording saying the call could not be completed. Dietrich had not responded to e-mails by press time.
 
Bipartisan Lawmakers Tell DEA To Let Researchers Study Marijuana From Dispensaries

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers from the House and Senate sent a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, requesting a policy change allowing researchers to access marijuana from state-legal dispensaries to improve studies on the plant’s benefits and risks.

The letter, led by Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), cites feedback from federal health agencies, which have said that existing restrictions on cannabis have inhibited research. One problem in particular is that there’s only one federally authorized manufacturer of research-grade marijuana.

While the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said that it is in the process of approving additional manufacturers, it’s been more than three years since they first announced that applications for more growers would be accepted and, more recently, the agency said it would have to develop alternative rules to approve proposals that have been submitted.

“At the same time, the status quo does not address a barrier to research raised by both [the National Institutes of Health] and [the Food and Drug Administration],” the lawmakers wrote in the new letter. That barrier is a ban on researchers being able to obtain marijuana from dispensaries.

“Both agencies recommended that researchers should be able to obtain cannabis from state-legal sources,” the letter states.

Further, the lawmakers said that there are “problems in industry development of licensed drugs with data from products obtained from third-parties, such as the University of Mississippi.”

“In many states, cannabis law and regulations already provide for licensing of industrial manufacturing activities, and products are available for medical use in those states, but not for research leading to FDA licensure,” they wrote.

“There is a need for a greater diversity of cannabis products so that research on benefits and risks reflects the realities of what consumers and patients are using. NIH and FDA have strongly recommended streamlining the process for conducting research and product development activities with cannabis and other Schedule I substances, and that the DEA take action to assure that interpretations of processes and policies are universally applied in local DEA jurisdictions.”

The lack of chemical diversity in the federal government’s cannabis supply has been repeatedly pointed out. One study found that the research-grade cannabis is more similar to hemp than marijuana in commercial markets.

To resolve the research issues, the coalition made two recommendations: 1) to amend internal policy “so as to allow researchers with Schedule I licenses to obtain cannabis-derived products from state authorized dispensaries for research purposes” and 2) issue guidance clarifying that hemp researchers do not need a DEA license to obtain and study hemp because it was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

The letter requests a response from DEA by December 20.

A total of 21 members of Congress signed the letter, including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO), along with Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Joe Kennedy (D-MA).

“Our nation’s cannabis research laws are archaic,” Rouda said in a press release. “Forty-seven states have legalized some form of cannabis consumption—we must ensure our federal agencies and other licensed institutions can comprehensively study the benefits and risks of cannabis products.”

“I thank Senator Schatz, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, for joining me to make this common-sense request,” he said. “It’s time to bring our drug research policies into the 21st century.”

Attorney General William Barr received a similar letter from lawmakers about the need to expand the number of federally authorized marijuana cultivators in April.

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The 3 most anti-cannabis presidential candidates

In case you haven't noticed, marijuana is no longer a taboo topic. Having leaped from the shadows into the mainstream, there are now 33 states in the U.S. that have legalized marijuana in some capacity, 11 of which also allow adult-use consumption and/or the sale of recreational weed.

It's also a drug that most of the American public would like to see legalized. Gallup, which has been polling Americans about their views on cannabis for the past 50 years, found that support for national legalization hit an all-time high in 2018 and 2019 at 66%. What's more, the independent Quinnipiac University finds that more than nine out of 10 Americans support the ability of physicians to prescribe medical marijuana to patients.

At a time when historic votes are being conducted in Congress, it would appear that all momentum lies with those trying to reform existing marijuana laws. Yet three presidential candidates in the 2020 election, two of which are front-runners, may stand in the way of this progress.

Former Vice President Joe Biden listening to former President Barack Obama during a White House meeting.

Joe Biden
Among the large field of Democratic presidential candidates, most support some form of legalization of cannabis. But when it comes to front-runner Joe Biden, cannabis isn't something he's exactly thrilled to discuss.

Biden was one of many key figures that helped lead the War on Drugs, with Biden introducing a number of policy proposals between 1986 and 1990 that called for significantly harsher sentences for drug dealers. Included among "drug dealers" were those folks growing and distributing marijuana in the United States. Even as recently as 2010, the former vice president was quoted as saying that, "I still believe it's [marijuana] a gateway drug."

However, like a number of senior citizens in this country, Biden's stance on marijuana has softened over the years. Biden has gone on record as stating that he regrets the harshness of his prior stance on cannabis, and no longer views it as a gateway drug. He also believes that marijuana should be decriminalized, with previous offenses (presumably nonviolent) being expunged.

But one thing Biden has not suggested is that marijuana be legalized from an adult-use perspective. Although Biden's campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates told CNN earlier this year that the former vice president favors allowing states to continue making their own decisions, Biden himself has questioned the safety and body of evidence surrounding marijuana as recently as last month. Suffice it to say that Biden remains no friend of the cannabis reform movement.

Michael Bloomberg
Of all the presidential candidates still left in the race (on either side), none has a more outright negative view on marijuana than billionaire Democrat Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg, who was the mayor of New York City between 2002 and 2013, oversaw more than 400,000 cannabis-related arrests in the city over a 10-year span. These arrest figures were significantly higher than New York City mayors that preceded Bloomberg in office. Maybe what's more telling is that the former mayor voted numerous times against reform proposals that would have led to a court summons and fine rather than jail time for individuals caught possessing small amounts of cannabis, typically under 25 grams.

Bloomberg also thinks lawmakers are "stupid" for discussing the idea of marijuana reform. When speaking at the University of Toronto in January 2019, Bloomberg had this to say, by way of online publication Marijuana Moment:

"To go and encourage people -- to make it easier for people to engage in a behavior that has a significant possibility of damaging people's health -- is just nonsensical. This mad, passionate rush to let everybody do things without any research just isn't something we would do in any other way."
Bloomberg would later say that national efforts to legalize pot are "perhaps the stupidest thing we've ever done."

Put plainly, there's no more anti-cannabis candidate in the race than Michael Bloomberg.

President Trump giving remarks at the Pentagon.

Donald Trump
Republican incumbent Donald Trump is also no sure thing to support marijuana reform efforts.
During his campaign in 2016, then-candidate Trump voiced his "100 percent" support for medical marijuana, although he opined that additional research be conducted on adult-use weed. In all respects, Trump looked to be the first candidate to really give marijuana reform a boost, should he make it to the Oval Office.

However, this was quickly dashed when Trump nominated Jeff Sessions to become Attorney General. Even though Sessions is now gone, he might have been the most ardent opponent of marijuana on Capitol Hill. Sessions wound up rescinding the Cole Memo, and had asked for lawmakers to repeal riders prohibiting the Justice Department from using federal dollars to go after cannabis businesses in legalized states. At no point did President Trump stand up to Sessions' efforts to undo the progress made on the marijuana front.

President Trump also shelved Israel's plans to become an exporter of medical cannabis into the United States. Although this very well could have been a business decision, considering how particular the president is when it comes to trade deals, it's an odd move to make after announcing "100 percent' support for medical marijuana legalization during his campaign.

While Trump is likely the most amicable of these three presidential candidates toward pot, it's still quite possible he'd be against significant reforms of existing cannabis laws.

A black silhouette of the United States, partially filled in by baggies of cannabis, rolled joints, and a scale.

Expect the status quo to continue
Even though there's almost 11 months to go before we know who'll lead our country for the next four years, cannabis reform is unlikely to find much footing in the near-term, unless major changes are seen in the Senate in the Nov. 2020 election.

The primary issue is that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has blocked all attempts to bring cannabis legislation to the floor for vote, and Republicans, in general, have a more negative view on pot than Democrats or independents. This pretty much makes the recent historic votes for reform in the Democrat-controlled House a moot point. Plus, if any of these three presidential candidates are sitting in the Oval Office come 2021 or after, it's unclear if passed marijuana legislation in Congress would be signed into law.

For consumers and investors, I believe it's smart to approach marijuana in the U.S. as a status quo issue. Essentially, things are likely going to remain as they are now for the foreseeable future, with states in control of their own decisions, and marijuana businesses still facing plenty of challenges dealing with a Schedule I substance.
The fact that two of the three most anti-cannabis candidates are front-runners is a particular saddening blow to a company like Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), which is investing heavily in the U.S. market. Canopy Growth is spending $150 million on a hemp-processing plant in New York State that could easily be repurposed if cannabis were legalized. Canopy Growth has also made a $3.4 billion cash-and-stock contingent-rights offers for multistate operator Acreage Holdings, which has a pro forma presence in 20 states. Without a president to champion cannabis reform measures, it's the Canopy's of the investment world that'll remain on the outside of the largest marijuana market in the world looking in.
 
Trump Administration Defends Students’ Rights To Discuss Marijuana Legalization On Campus


The Department of Justice defended students’ rights to discuss marijuana legalization on campus in a federal court filing on Monday.


While cannabis may be federally illegal, the Justice Department sided with a Mississippi student who filed a lawsuit against his school after he was allegedly prevented from talking about the issue earlier this year, arguing that the First Amendment protects students who discuss legalization and that restrictive policies prohibiting such free expression at public schools are unconstitutional.


When campus police were called to stop the student, who was polling his colleagues on marijuana reform in April, that crossed a line, the department said.


Mike Brown, the plaintiff in the suit filed against Jones County Junior College (JCJC) in September, said that after holding up a sign inquiring about where students stood on legalization, an official summoned the police, who confronted him, requested identification and took him to campus police chief’s office.


“Some people get in trouble for smoking weed, but at Jones College, I got in trouble just for trying to talk about it,” Brown said in September when he first filed his case. “College is for cultivating thought and learning and encouraging civil discourse with your peers. That’s not what’s happening at Jones College.”


At the chief’s office, Brown was reminded of the policy at the center of the lawsuit, which stipulates that students must receive pre-approval for “all meetings and gatherings” from administrators at least three days in advance, regardless of the size or scope of the event. The Justice Department said in a Statement of Interest filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi that the policy is unconstitutional and Orwellian.


“The United States of America is not a police state,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said in a press release. “Repressive speech codes are the indecent hallmark of despotic, totalitarian regimes. They have absolutely no place in our country, and the First Amendment outlaws all tyrannical policies, practices, and acts that abridge the freedom of speech.”





The cannabis-related incident wasn’t Brown’s only run-in with campus police over speech issues, but it was featured in both the Justice Department’s press release and court filing.


“In his lawsuit, Mr. Brown alleges that campus officials twice called the campus police on him as he and one or two others spoke with students on the college’s open central quadrangle about free speech, civil liberties, and marijuana legalization,” the Justice Department told the court. “In both instances, Mr. Brown contends that he was brought to the campus police chief’s office, and was intimidated by the police chief and other campus officials. After these incidents, Mr. Brown says that he stopped engaging in expressive activity on campus for fear of disciplinary action or arrest.”


Defendants have requested a dismissal of the case, and while the government said it isn’t weighing in on that particular request, it noted that the college “has a freestanding obligation to comply with the First Amendment” and that “JCJC’s speech policies do not pass First Amendment muster in at least two major respects.”


“[T]hey operate as a prior restraint on all student speech and contain no exception for individuals or small groups,” the department said, “and they further grant school officials unbridled discretion to determine which students may speak, and about what they might speak.”


Talking about ending the federal government’s own policy prohibiting marijuana is protected speech, the department affirmed.


“JCJC would be wise to revisit and revise its speech policies at the earliest possible opportunity,” it said. “The Constitution demands nothing less.”


Education Secretary Betsy DeVos added in a press release that this “is yet another concerning example of students encountering limits on what, when, where, and how they learn.”


“This is happening far too often on our nation’s campuses. This Administration won’t let students be silenced,” she said. “We stand with their right to speak and with their right to learn truth through the free exchange of ideas—particularly those with which they might disagree.”


Betty Aldworth, executive director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, told Marijuana Moment that her group and other advocates are working toward “the day when students no longer need permission or sanction to exercise their right to talk with others about issues impacting their communities.”


“We stand by Mike Brown and with the Department of Justice in defense of students’ first amendment right to free speech as designated by our country’s constitution,” she said. “Jones County Community College has infringed on what should be sacrosanct despite constitutional protection and numerous precedents defending student speech.”
 
Federal Marijuana Legalization Is A Lock – But How, When?

If you listen carefully, you will hear the sound of a crooked foundation known as marijuana prohibition starting to crumble in the United States. It has been more than eight decades since the federal government outlawed the cannabis plant nationwide, and yet, here we are finally standing on its lawn with torches in hand waiting for a day of reckoning.


Because no matter how much the suits on the Hill have schemed to enslave a population through backasswards drug laws, the nation has risen up in true knock-down-drag-out fashion and fought for its freedom back. Admittedly, this battle for legal bud took a lot longer than it should have, but considering that everyone in the trenches was stoned beyond belief, the marijuana movement seems to be arriving right on time.

Although pro-pot groups insist that 2019 has been the best year ever in the realm of cannabis reform, the reality is not much progress has transpired. It is only revered as the “best year” because even less occurred in the years that came before it. But no matter how you size it up, nothing plus bupkis still equals squat. In spite of everything, marijuana remains illegal across most of the United States.

At the state level, many advocates predicted that New York and New Jersey would be the next to legalize weed. Well, that didn’t happen. In fact, Illinois swooped in and legalized first, making both states look like dorks. But aside from that, no other significant pot laws were passed at the state level in 2019. We also learned that police are still out there arresting more than 600,000 pot offenders nationwide every year — mostly small timers, too.

In addition, some states, like California, are having trouble curbing the black market, and tainted pot products, most of which were initially believed to be counterfeits, are finding their way into legal dispensaries. To make matters worse, the cannabis industry, as a whole, is struggling to keep it together long enough to see profitability. Layoffs are prevalent and some of the nation’s most popular cannabis magazines are at risk of going under.

There’s just no possible way that 2019 should be considered a banner year for cannabis.

Federally speaking, parts of Congress dilly-dallied around with the notion of forging some kind of change in the realm of national cannabis reform, but the powers against it are still too strong to penetrate. Rumor has it that the cannabis trade’s legislative pride and joy known as the SAFE Act is presently being gnawed on by rats in the basement of the Senate chamber. Its last words were reportedly, “Y’all know I’m not really a marijuana bill, right?” And the MORE Act, the proposal that got everyone to stop giving two-flying squirts about SAFE, well, that sucker has already been buried out behind the Capitol building alongside last year’s great green hope, the STATES Act. Remember that one? No? Don’t feel bad, no one does. No one cares. The point is that cannabis hopefuls have spent all year yapping about legislation that doesn’t have what it takes to go the distance.

But the stakes are about to change in 2020, which could set the nation up for legal weed the following year. There’s only one catch. Americans – 66 percent of which are on board with legalizing the leaf the same as beer and tobacco – have to vote in the next election. And for the right people.

The first thing all cannabis hopefuls need to come to grips with is that the SAFE Act and the MORE Act are dead. No, that’s not official or anything. There hasn’t been a press release issued saying that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican-dominated Senate are refusing to entertain these bills before year’s end. But trust me on this one – SAFE and MORE are finished.


They could, however, be resurrected in 2020. But for either of them to get any further attention, the legislative process would have to start from the very beginning. And unless the Republicans in the Senate have a change of heart in the next few months, the prospect of getting these bills or any others aimed at legalizing weed nationwide isn’t going much further next year than they did in 2019. Remember, as of January, Congress is still playing with the same losing team.

It is the November election when all the magic could happen. It’s a time when the stoner stars could align and contribute to getting America high again. But that all depends on the nation’s political loyalty when it comes time to vote. There are several Senate seats up for grabs. It is conceivable that the Democrats could win these seats and take control over the Senate. If that happens, McConnell, the man presently standing in the way of cannabis reform in the U.S, would be dethroned as Senate Majority Leader. That’s when the cannabis debate could really find its footing in both chambers. Because there would no longer be anyone on the Hill that cares enough to try to stop it. And anyone who did oppose would surely be out voiced by Democratic rule.

Furthermore, a Democratic president (except for Joe Biden ) would undoubtedly support most cannabis legislation, and there is even a solid chance that President Trump would sign off on it if he wins a second term. Unless, of course, Trump decides to make a statement by stamping it with a veto just to prevent the Democrats (the same ones trying to have him impeached) from making any progress. Grudges tend to have an extremely long shelf life when it comes to politics.


But here’s the deal.

If both Trump and the Democrats find success in the next election, the best-case scenario for getting marijuana legalization done at the federal level in 2021 is for Trump to make it his idea and let the Democrats follow suit. Because Trump’s grudge over all of this impeachment business could be enough to keep it from happening. However, if the U.S. experiences an election year where the Democrats take over — nabbing both the Senate and the Presidency – federal marijuana legalization could be as good as done.

Will it all shake out accordingly? Meh, who knows? It just depends on whether the majority of the population remembers that they like marijuana when they head to the polls next year.
 
House Democrats Cave To Senate On Two Marijuana And Veterans Measures


House Democrats abandoned two veterans-focused marijuana provisions that the chamber previously approved as part of a large-scale defense bill.


This summer, the House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with an amendment that would have protected veterans from being denied home loans from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over employment in a state-legal cannabis market.


Another measure attached to the bill would have allowed military branches to grant reenlistment waivers to service members who have committed a single low-level marijuana offense.


The Senate didn’t include similar proposals in their version of the legislation, however, and when it came time for negotiations, leaders from the two bodies agreed to scrap them.


It’s not the case that Democrats acquiesced on all amendments that were unique to the House bill, either. In fact, there appeared to be fairly equal compromise between the chambers, as the conference report shows the House receded on about 630 provisions and the Senate receded on about 600.


In other words, it seems the cannabis measures simply weren’t viewed as legislative priorities, at least among House conference negotiators.


But to the sponsors, these provisions weren’t disposable and represented urgent needs for veterans and service members.


Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), who championed the home loan amendment, circulated a sign-on letter addressed to VA in May that raised the issue and noted reports that a veteran in her district had been denied the benefit because he worked in the marijuana industry.


Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), sponsor of the reenlistment waiver measure, stressed in a committee hearing in June that the country needs to “fundamentally rethink the military’s enlistment policies regarding marijuana,” especially given “our nation’s recruitment crisis.”


“Our nation’s views on marijuana use are changing, and the services have changed their recruitment process accordingly,” he said. “The services can, where appropriate, grant waivers to former users of marijuana who want to serve their country in uniform.”


At the same time that the reform provisions were omitted, conference negotiators agreed to provide almost $1 billion “for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities.” The legislation also calls for an assessment “of the impact of any planned or proposed border wall construction would have on the volume of illegal narcotics entering the United States,” according to a summary of the legislation. Additionally, it includes the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, “which implements a number of economic and financial sanctions to cripple the operations of foreign traffickers of opioids.”


Though the exact reasoning behind the House decision to acquiesce to the Senate on the veterans-focused cannabis amendments isn’t clear, the action raises doubts about the prospects of House Democratic leaders pushing marijuana proposals in separate bicameral negotiations on appropriations legislation that could be released soon.


For example, the House approved a spending bill in June that included a rider that would extend existing protections against federal intervention in state medical cannabis programs to cover all state and tribal marijuana systems. The Senate version, approved in October, did not contain the expanded language but did maintain protections for medical cannabis states.


The House also advanced appropriations legislation that includes a provision that would shield banks that service state-legal marijuana businesses, and it declined to extend a current policy that prohibits Washington, D.C. from using its local tax dollars to implement a cannabis market. The Senate bill was silent on financial services for the industry and did include language continuing to block legal sales in the nation’s capital.


Whether House Democrats have the political will to fight for cannabis reform language in the appropriations negotiations is yet to be seen. Current temporary spending legislation is set to expire on December 20, and lawmakers have set the goal of finalizing full Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations prior to that date.


During House consideration of VA spending legislation in June, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) withdrew a measure that would have allowed the department’s doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to military veterans, citing opposition from the administration.


That followed the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee scheduling and then canceling votes on standalone bills aimed at increasing veterans’ access to medical marijuana and expanding research on the issue.
 

Recent Congressional Action More Proof Marijuana Isn’t Going Federally Legal In 2020

When it comes to handicapping the possibility of marijuana becoming legal at the federal level in 2020, all one needs to do is look at how the cannabis race is winding down this year on Capitol Hill. In case you haven't been following along over the past few months with the journey to make marijuana part of legitimate commerce in the United States, I'll just give it to you straight: The chances of pot prohibition coming to a screeching halt in 2020 are slim to none. Worse than that even. In fact, you'd have better luck winning a bet on a three-legged horse with Type-2 Diabetes than any scenario where Congress rises above impeachment proceedings and other partisan pud-pulling shenanigans long enough to legalize weed. Call it pessimism, call it a negative view. But that’s just the way it is. There is no way that Congress is going to approach the new year with a more progressive outlook on weed. So, whatever you do, bet against it.

Anyone who believes 2020 is going to be the year that the marijuana movement actually moves is "cute," as the kids would say.

Not only has Congress silently killed two pieces of the most highly sought after cannabis legislation that lawmakers could push out of the House in 2019 (SAFE and MORE Acts), it just butchered several cannabis protections from a federal spending bill pertaining to veterans, cannabis banking, and protecting recreational pot states from federal interference.

Without a doubt, it seems the bellows coming off the Hill are clear, and they are screaming something like: States, go ahead and legalize weed however you see fit, but never in hell's holy name is this Senate going to support pot. Not again. Not with the current lineup.

And, like it or not, we should take this action (and inaction) as gospel, too. Not since 2014, with the passing of a medical marijuana protection known as the Rohrabacher–Farr or Rohrabacher–Blumenauer amendment has Congress approved any measure that gives the cannabis industry a helping hand. Nothing more has been achieved in five years of Congress, and yet advocates keep preaching about how the nation is making significant strides on this issue. Dang, I hate to break it to you fellas, but it’s not.
Some marijuana advocates even seemed shocked about the Senate’s decision to cut cannabis from FY2020.

"While negotiators didn't provide an explanation for why they deferred to the Senate version on each of these measures, at the very least it appears cannabis wasn't prioritized by House Democratic leaders when the chambers got together to finalize the bills," wrote Kyle Jaeger for Marijuana Moment.

Well, the explanation is simple. The Senate isn't down with dope, and the House doesn't have any power. And sadly, next year, the situation isn’t going to get any better.
As I mentioned in last week's column, we are still playing with the same losing team when Congress reconvenes at the beginning of the year. Sure, we can expect to see the introduction of some new and exciting pieces of pot-related legislation in the first few months, but they are all doomed, doomed, doomed to die a miserable death.

However, that will not stop the cannabis community from getting all excited about the possibility of something (anything) finally going the distance. "Maybe this is the year it finally happens," many of them will say. But nope. Just like we witnessed in 2019, marijuana bills will inevitably move along swimmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives – passing committees and full House votes – only to be obliterated by the Senate. I almost cannot discuss all of the twisted torture that these measures will succumb to once they make their way to the upper chamber. Just know that it’ll be bad, dreadful, even, since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the true king of the Hill, is still running the show.

And rest assured, McConnell’s going to keep slashing the weed agenda unless he gets voted out in November.

Even if McConnell didn't hold all of the power, which it's painfully evident that he does, the Senate is still presently controlled by Republican ideas. This is the reason there seems to be no escaping the chamber's aversion to marijuana. For the love of Hank, we can’t even get temporary pot protections passed. Because even when McConnell is not wielding the hatchet, other Elephant eared goons are out there trying to chop it down every chance they get. Look no further than the latest Massacre of the Marijuana Riders for all of the evidence you’ll ever need. It’s just that killing pot-related proposals is the Senate’s business and business is, well, in the immortal words of Larry David, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. Seriously, weed is freaking dying out here.

Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers in the Senate do not even appear inspired to take on marijuana as a way to secure more votes in 2020. The issue still doesn't resonate loud enough with the average voter. Of course, the majority of the population supports legal weed – it has for several years — but not enough people are voting with a politician's allegiance to the leaf in mind. Until that changes, Senate Republicans are going to continue in their mission to preserve God and Country. But as for cannabis, there’s still not enough public pressure to push them in favor of it. As of now, even with marijuana being a go nowhere-issue because of Republicans, the nation would rather have another four years of President Trump than shift into a Democratic regime, according to recent polls. We could be in for a hard road, boys and girls. Fair warning.

But Mike Adams, you said last week that federal marijuana legalization was inevitable. Well, it is. But not until at least 2021. If you haven’t already, check out last week’s column to find out how and why.
 
Man Caught Traveling With 80 Pounds of Weed Disguised as Christmas Presents

Another creative smuggling attempt.


Cannabis culture includes a long, rich, and often times very interesting history of smuggling. And in many cases, these stories involve all sorts of creative methods for sneaking weed where it is not allowed.

Looks like this history has another incident to add to the books. This time, a man attempting to fly out of Nashville International Airport was caught with weed wrapped up to look like Christmas gifts.

Busted With Fake Presents
According to the Associated Press, the man who was allegedly trying to sneak the weed through the airport is 57 year old Somphone Temmeraj.

The man in question had reportedly flown from Seattle, Washington to Nashville, Tennessee. It is not entirely clear if Temmeraj was staying in Nashville, or simply transferring to another flight.


But one way or another, officers in the airport saw Temmeraj load his three bags onto a cart. The only problem was that the bags apparently smelled very strongly of marijuana. So much so, in fact, that reports indicate that both police officers and their K-9 units smelled it.

When officers approached Temmeraj, the man voluntarily let the cops search his bags. Inside were what appeared a bunch of wrapped Christmas presents.

But inside the holiday wrapping paper, the “gifts” were actually vacuum-sealed bags of weed. In total, Temmeraj was trying to transport 84 pounds of cannabis.


After discovering what was inside the packages, authorities arrested Temmeraj. He was then booked into jail in Nashville, and by Tuesday morning he had posted bail to be released.

It is unclear what will happen next for Temmeraj. The AP reported that there is no official word yet if he has a lawyer. And for now, Temmeraj has not issued any public statements.

Smuggling Weed Requires Creativity
There is nothing new about people coming up with creative ways to disguise weed for the purposes of smuggling it. In fact, there are numerous instances of exactly that.


Interesting examples include a woman tried to smuggle weed and meth into a jail by hiding it inside a bible. After arriving for visiting hours, the woman asked if she could give the bible to an inmate. A routine check of the book by a prison guard immediately found the hidden weed and meth. Needless to say, this attempt did not succeed.

In a somewhat similar story, smugglers created packets of weed shaped like carrots. They then wrapped the packages with orange tape and hid them inside a shipping truck. The shipment of fake, weed-filled carrots was eventually discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Pharr International Bridge in Pharr, Texas.

And while weed smugglers often go the route of trying to disguise their herb, others focus on creative ways of transporting weed without detection.

For example, a couple years ago, somebody got caught trying to sneak weed into a prison with a drone.

Similarly, a smuggler in the Southwest tried to sneak weed between Mexico and Arizona by way of a zip line. The zip line was apparently high enough of the ground to clear border fences in the area.
 
momofthegoons said:
Man Caught Traveling With 80 Pounds of Weed Disguised as Christmas Presents

Another creative smuggling attempt.


Cannabis culture includes a long, rich, and often times very interesting history of smuggling. And in many cases, these stories involve all sorts of creative methods for sneaking weed where it is not allowed.

Looks like this history has another incident to add to the books. This time, a man attempting to fly out of Nashville International Airport was caught with weed wrapped up to look like Christmas gifts.

Busted With Fake Presents
According to the Associated Press, the man who was allegedly trying to sneak the weed through the airport is 57 year old Somphone Temmeraj.

The man in question had reportedly flown from Seattle, Washington to Nashville, Tennessee. It is not entirely clear if Temmeraj was staying in Nashville, or simply transferring to another flight.


But one way or another, officers in the airport saw Temmeraj load his three bags onto a cart. The only problem was that the bags apparently smelled very strongly of marijuana. So much so, in fact, that reports indicate that both police officers and their K-9 units smelled it.

When officers approached Temmeraj, the man voluntarily let the cops search his bags. Inside were what appeared a bunch of wrapped Christmas presents.

But inside the holiday wrapping paper, the “gifts” were actually vacuum-sealed bags of weed. In total, Temmeraj was trying to transport 84 pounds of cannabis.


After discovering what was inside the packages, authorities arrested Temmeraj. He was then booked into jail in Nashville, and by Tuesday morning he had posted bail to be released.

It is unclear what will happen next for Temmeraj. The AP reported that there is no official word yet if he has a lawyer. And for now, Temmeraj has not issued any public statements.

Smuggling Weed Requires Creativity
There is nothing new about people coming up with creative ways to disguise weed for the purposes of smuggling it. In fact, there are numerous instances of exactly that.


Interesting examples include a woman tried to smuggle weed and meth into a jail by hiding it inside a bible. After arriving for visiting hours, the woman asked if she could give the bible to an inmate. A routine check of the book by a prison guard immediately found the hidden weed and meth. Needless to say, this attempt did not succeed.

In a somewhat similar story, smugglers created packets of weed shaped like carrots. They then wrapped the packages with orange tape and hid them inside a shipping truck. The shipment of fake, weed-filled carrots was eventually discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Pharr International Bridge in Pharr, Texas.

And while weed smugglers often go the route of trying to disguise their herb, others focus on creative ways of transporting weed without detection.

For example, a couple years ago, somebody got caught trying to sneak weed into a prison with a drone.

Similarly, a smuggler in the Southwest tried to sneak weed between Mexico and Arizona by way of a zip line. The zip line was apparently high enough of the ground to clear border fences in the area.
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I'd love to see prisons become farms for dispensaries.

It could pay for incarceration, and keep prisoners mellow.

Of course for profit canna farms would scream bloody murder, but I see it as win win.
 
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