Cannabis & Drug Laws (incldg. Biden's Pardon)

[pmbug]

Nebraska became the 39th state to legalize medical marijuana, despite ongoing cannabis prohibition, with the easy passage of two ballot measures on Tuesday.
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Nebraska Voters Legalize Medical Marijuana Despite Federal Prohibition | Tenth Amendment Center

Nebraska became the 39th state to legalize medical marijuana, despite ongoing cannabis prohibition, with the easy passage of two ballot measures on Tuesday

blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com

 

[pmbug]

A slight tangent to the thread topic, but IMO, very good news:

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A ballot initiative that Dallas voters overwhelmingly approved this week aims to avoid such escalation. In addition to generally barring local police from arresting people for marijuana possession misdemeanors, Proposition R says "Dallas police shall not consider the odor of marijuana or hemp to constitute probable cause for any search or seizure." That seemingly modest restriction undercuts an excuse that in practice gives cops the discretion to stop, harass, and search pretty much anyone by claiming to smell pot.

Proposition R reflects an ongoing controversy over marijuana odor and probable cause. In states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use, some courts have held that the smell of cannabis, whether detected by a human or a police dog, can no longer justify a search, since it does not necessarily constitute evidence of a crime. And while Texas has not legalized marijuana for any use, it has legalized hemp, which comes from the same plant species and cannot be distinguished from marijuana without a laboratory test to measure THC content.

In 2019, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1325, which changed the state's definition of "marihuana" to exclude "hemp, as that term is defined by Section 121.001" of the Texas Agriculture Code. Consistent with federal law, Section 121.001 defines "hemp" as "the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds of the plant and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis."

The difference between legal "hemp" and prohibited "marihuana," in other words, is the THC concentration, which cannot be measured by smell or even by a field test. "Before H.B. 1325," Dallas attorney Jon McCurley notes, "marijuana's distinct and readily recognizable odor often [led] law enforcement to believe that a criminal act was occurring." But after H.B. 1325, "simply detecting the odor of marijuana may not be enough to justify a search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment because in order to search or get a warrant, law enforcement officials must have probable cause that a crime has been committed or is about to be committed."
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More:

Dallas voters attack an all-purpose excuse for police harassment: 'I smelled marijuana'

The ballot initiative says a whiff of weed does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure, which was already doubtful in light of hemp legalization.

reason.com

 

[searcher]

Records to be Cleared for People Who Bought Drugs MADE by the Police​

Dec 11, 2024

The number of people affected is in the thousands (happening in FL).


9:18

Prefer to read.....................

Florida prosecutor seeks to clear records of people charged with buying police-made crack in 1980s

A Florida prosecutor says he will seek to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions of people who bought crack cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office between 1988 and 1990

abcnews.go.com

Broward prosecutor seeks to clear records of people charged with buying police-made crack in 1980s

The prosecutor in Broward County is seeking to vacate convictions after police had to make crack cocaine because they didn't have enough of the drug.

www.wlrn.org

 

[searcher]

Virginia Senate Passes Bill to Legalize Retail Marijuana Sales Despite Federal Prohibition | Tenth Amendment Center

Adults over 21 in Virginia can possess and grow marijuana, but retail sales remain illegal. This legislation would establish a framework for a retail marijuana market in Virginia administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Under the proposed law, retail marijuana sales would begin...

blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com

 

[CiscoKid]

Virginia Senate Passes Bill to Legalize Retail Marijuana Sales Despite Federal Prohibition | Tenth Amendment Center

Adults over 21 in Virginia can possess and grow marijuana, but retail sales remain illegal. This legislation would establish a framework for a retail marijuana market in Virginia administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Under the proposed law, retail marijuana sales would begin...

blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com

Meh. I can grow better stuff in my backyard tomato patch. Why purchase it and pay all those taxes?

 

[nickndfl]

Florida still refuses to add grow at home to a recreational legalization bill

Right now you can get 1g medical vapes for $22.50-$25.00 each. Vidacann manufactures 20g bars that look like blue xanax and are around $1-$2each. A 1/4 sends me into the spirit world.

 

[CiscoKid]

Florida still refuses to add grow at home to a recreational legalization bill

Too bad. You guys certainly have the right weather for it.

 

[nickndfl]

It grows like weeds outdoors. Replant seedings and they go 6 feet in 3-4 months.

 

[searcher]

 

[pmbug]

So the Lt. governor pressured the Texas legislature to pass SB3 before the end of the regular session a week or so ago. SB3 calls for a total ban on all products containing any THC. Now there is a mounting pressure on the Governor to veto the bill before the June 22 deadline. If he doesn't veto it, it becomes law in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that he has still not decided if he will sign or veto legislation banning THC products in Texas.

“I’m going to give it the thoughtful consideration from every angle that it deserves,” Abbott said of Senate Bill 3, which would ban all hemp-derived THC products in Texas starting in September.
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Abbott has until June 22 to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to take effect without his signature.

His judicial demeanor is a very different approach compared to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who as the leader of the Texas Senate is the ban's biggest champion. The former TV broadcaster has used showmanship as and confrontations with reporters to portray THC as a dangerous drug that is leading to damaging health effects for both children and adults.

“This is to save an entire generation from being hooked on drugs,” Patrick said at a carefully staged press conference with reporters two weeks ago where he showcased all the different THC products for sale in Texas.
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The legislation has caused an avalanche of Republican opposition from people who run THC business and those who use the products as an alternative to prescription drugs or alcohol, including veterans.

THC retailers have exploded over the last few years since the Legislature inadvertently legalized hemp-derived forms of the compound. Texas now has more than 8,500 retailers selling those THC products, many of which can produce the high traditionally associated with marijuana, which is banned in the state except for certain medical uses. Abbott’s office has been flooded with petitions from groups opposed to an all-out ban.
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-thc-ban-veto-20372298.php

 

[Casey Jones]

So. Another important state will legalize it.

I'm all for State Supremacy over Fuddrel diktats; but this is not the place to prove it. I've never been a big proponent of pot use or legalization...no, all the mocking I got, a few years back on GIM2, doesn't change my mind.

Here's what I see. I knew Colorado EXTENSIVELY for about 10 years. Discovered the area when returning from the Grand Canyon by car - which broke down, entailing a longer stay. I explored Grand Junction; the Durango area; the Million-Dollar Highway...

Later, siblings moved there - Boulder and Colorado Springs. Spent four leave periods, in the Springs area, going north for day-trip tourism. Hiked the Rocky Mountain National Park. A family custom evolved - a September reunion, my parents from Ohio, me from a Navy carrier, and everyone else local.

The Springs was a town out of a storybook. Clean, safe, lawful. A LOT of families chose to live in that area and commute 80 miles to Denver. The schools were twice as good. One helluva nice place.

Denver was gritty, but safe and basically, innocent. Crimes tended to be drug sales or barfights. Plenty of run-down places, but the odds were, if you got killed, you knew the killer.

The police force was small and unsophisticated. As I settled in there, mid-1990s, the Crips and Bloods were just moving in. Denver had no experience with big-time gang activities.

Okay...move forward ten years, and with much fanfare, POT gets legalized. (Everyone give a cheer!) I remember discussions with my Wisconsin coworkers...the young ones all wanted to vacation in Colorado and buy legal pot. (It's still not legal to test positive working on the railroad). The older ones complained that their kids wanted to go there.

And so it was. Colorado was gonna be RICH, with all the taxes they'd get from pot sales.

Didn't work out that way. First, pot isn't like alcohol - anyone with a planter in the light can grow his own pot. It's a weed.

Second, the costs in general order...yes, I cannot prove large-scale direct linkage. But, who's been to Colorado Springs lately? It ain't the same place. It's like Detroit 1940 to Detroit 2010. Crime, empty storefronts, insane, angry drivers..."Human Trafficking" operations, and large-scale arrests...a run-down look to wide swaths of the area.

Denver has BECOME Lost Angles. The laws (You may NOT idle your car more than 2 minutes in winter, whether or not you have enough interior heat to melt the freezing rain!). The attitudes. The "gays" control the city...the whole state, but it's glaringly obvious in the city. Homeless camps, of the kind I saw when I went to Houston in 1981. Except these weren't displaced tool-and-die men from Ford - these were imported Bedouins and Africans, done by NGOs, paid for by the money-printer.

Of course Denver is a "Sanctuary City." Oh, and, guns are grossly restricted - including magazine size. A state that once epitomized the Cowboy Ethos, now has New-York style firearms laws.

How did this happen? Well, government officials - twisted in the head (homosexuality is an indicator) who wanted to recreate a Liberal Utopia.

How did they get the public to vote for them? Voter fraud and voter corruption - import huge numbers of Californicators; allow illegals to vote...and turn it into rivaling Cults of Personality.

That's in the primaries. The general elections are just rubber-stamped D. Traditional values candidates, can walk.

How did THIS happen, and how did they manage to get the public to accept their turning Denver County and four surrounding counties, into a Third World Hellhole? Aldous Huxley had the answer: Soma.

Which is played by marijuana. Same effect.

It's not getting any better in Denver. The unthinkable is now happening - for the first time in over 50 years, prices on Colorado real estate are FALLING.

Yes, I blame pot for this. And calling me names, changes nothing. Nor does long Narrative-Shifter articles stridently insisting that it's something tied to TRUMP that's causing this chaos and loss of value.

 

[pmbug]

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday vetoed a contentious state ban on THC products and shortly after called a special legislative session asking lawmakers to instead strictly regulate the substance.

The late-night action just minutes before the veto deadline keeps the Texas hemp industry alive for now, while spiking a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Senate Bill 3 would have banned consumable hemp products that contained any THC, including delta-8 and delta-9.

Abbott, who had remained quiet about the issue throughout the legislative session, rejected the measure amid immense political pressure from both sides of the aisle, including from conservatives activists typically supportive of Patrick’s priorities.

Soon after midnight, Abbott called lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session beginning July 21 with consumable hemp regulation at the top of the agenda.

“Texas must enact a regulatory framework that protects public safety, aligns with federal law, has a fully funded enforcement structure and can take effect without delay,” Abbott said.

In a statement explaining his veto, Abbott argued that SB 3 would not have survived “valid constitutional challenges,” and that the bill’s total ban “puts federal and state law on a collision course,” noting that the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp products.

“Allowing Senate Bill 3 to become law — knowing that it faces a lengthy battle that will render it dead on arrival in court — would hinder rather than help us solve the public safety issues this bill seeks to contain,” Abbott said. “The current market is dangerously under-regulated, and children are paying the price. If Senate Bill 3 is swiftly enjoined by a court, our children will be no safer than if no law was passed, and the problems will only grow.”
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Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes THC ban, calls for regulation instead

The move infuriated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful head of the Senate, who had called the ban among his top five bills over 17 years in the Legislature.

www.texastribune.org