Two West Coast police groups have changed their positions and now support federal cannabis legalization efforts, marking the first time that a statewide police officers organization has called for an end to the nation’s prohibition of marijuana. In a recent announcement characterized as a “historic shift,” the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) and the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (ORCOPs) expressed support for federal legislation creating a legal pathway for marijuana to be legalized from coast to coast.

“The ship has sailed,” PORAC wrote in a policy position paper cited by SFGATE announcing the group’s call for legalizing weed at the federal level, “and for the vast majority of Americans, cannabis is legal and accessible.”

The two groups represent thousands of law enforcement officers working for police and sheriff’s departments across California and Oregon. In an announcement from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), a cannabis policy group funded in part by interests in the alcohol and tobacco industries, the two police groups expressed their support for the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act. If passed, the legislation would amend the federal Controlled Substances Act to exclude cannabis activities undertaken in compliance with state or tribal regulations. 

“The STATES Act does what every federal bill should do –help all 50 states succeed in the policies they choose,” CPEAR executive director Andrew Freedman said late last year when the group endorsed the STATES Act. “Whether you are pro-legalization or anti-legalization, we can all acknowledge the current federal posture of having its head in the sand is not working.” 

“This bill will create the commonsense guardrails that will protect our youth, protect our roads, battle against addiction and psychosis, and keep cannabis out of communities that do not want it,” he added. “This legislation does not aim to open new cannabis markets. Instead, it simply aligns federal policy with state policy so that existing cannabis markets are safer, and federal efforts can be focused on keeping cannabis out of states where it remains illegal.”

California Cop Group Opposed Prop 64

PORAC, the largest police officers professional organization in California and the largest statewide group in the nation, opposed Proposition 64, the 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana in California after receiving more than 57% of the vote that year. But as cannabis became normalized in the state following legalization, the perception of many members has changed, leading the professional organization to change its stance on legal weed.

“A fair amount of officers patrolling the streets nowadays know nothing other than legalized marijuana in the state of California,” PORAC president Brian Marvel told San Francisco Bay Area online news source SFGATE. “They are much more receptive to conversations on marijuana.”

Marvel said that the STATES Act would allow federal agencies to coordinate their operations directly with local law enforcement to support legal cannabis farms while working to reduce unlicensed cultivation.

“We’re not making a moral judgment as to whether you should smoke it or don’t smoke it, but we want to make sure [legal cannabis companies] aren’t being drowned out by the illegal market,” said Marvel.

“We really need to do everything in our power to eradicate the illegal grows in California,” he added.

Marvel said that the policy shift made by the two police officers groups is also relevant to the ongoing conversation regarding psychedelics policy reform. He noted that many of the group’s members are more concerned with how the drugs can be used safely rather than focusing on the continued prohibition of psychedelics.

“Let’s not … bury our heads in the sand and just say ‘No no no, we’re going to be doing pure enforcement,’ when the reality is we should be focusing on violent crimes and making our communities safer,” Marvel said.

The policy change by PORAC and ORCOPs was praised by leaders who are working to reform the nation’s cannabis policy. Republican U.S. Representative Dave Joyce of Ohio, a supporter of an updated version of the federal bill known as STATES 2.0, thanked the two police groups for supporting the legislation.

“As a former prosecutor, I know firsthand that our law enforcement officers are already stretched thin – forcing these public servants to walk a discrepant line between state and federal policy not only defies state’s rights but is an inefficient use of precious law enforcement resources,” Joyce said in an announcement from CPEAR about the police groups’ endorsement of the legislation. “Most importantly, it does nothing to enhance public safety and, in many cases, works against it. The STATES 2.0 Act would address this confusing discrepancy and empower law enforcement in their efforts to enforce cannabis law and address the unique needs of the communities they represent.”

The move by the two police groups to back federal cannabis policy reform was also welcomed by representatives of the regulated pot industry. Lex Corwin, the founder of California-based cannabis brand Stone Road Farms, said the “development is indicative of the changing ideological landscape surrounding cannabis.”

“The California police group is right– the ship has sailed. More Americans are in favor of legalization than ever before and a majority of Americans live in a state with recreational or medical access,” Corwin wrote in an email to High Times. “It’s time for America’s law enforcement to focus on the actual crimes plaguing society. Violent crime is up across the nation and the sooner we shift our law enforcement resources from eradicating a harmless plant to solving real crime the better.”

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Another year being weird is in the books, and what an eventful one it’s been! From THCa to Schedule III, our community is jumping through as many loopholes as ever, and with just as many doomsayers out there waiting to yuck our yum. It can be both exhausting and exhilarating at the same damn time.

As usual though, while the doom & gloom may be great for headlines & clicks, the hearts of the diehards beat on. Our demise is continuously overstated – we’re a resilient kind. We continue to find a way.

Over the past year we’ve covered some major ground in our little experiment over here – from fighting bullshit legislation, to sounding the alarm about spray terps, rebranding the term stoner to praising mylar bags – it’s hard to think of any hot button issues we DIDN’T bitch about. We campaigned for small batch, and macrodosing, while asking important questions like ‘can weed bring us closer to god?’ and ‘who raised you fucking people?’. I called many of us addicts, while Matt called those who don’t smoke cops. (Only teasing, he didn’t say that.) But to say we’ve got range, and depth, at this point I’d say that’s a pretty massive understatement. We’re fuckin’ meta, baby. (The adjective, not the company.) It’s crazy to see the legs this lil’ section has developed, and the voices that are now asking to be a part of it – we’re truly just getting started…

But if you remember last year’s recap, I had promised to evolve this section with some new features & assets that I thought would be coming online and well… they didn’t. Instead, some other things happened, and we’ve had to take a different direction, so let’s start there.

What’s going on with High Times?

Now if you’ve been following the news lately you might’ve seen some stories out there starting to count us out, or preying on our demise. I’ve had a lot of articles shared with me over the past few weeks that contained questionable information about the company and our situation, so I figured this was a good medium to set the record straight. I know every person that dislikes the brand or me personally has shared these articles, and celebrated that we’re likely all out of jobs. Well friends, I hate to break it to you, but the truth, as always, is likely going to be much less satisfying than the idea you’ve made up in your head. You’ve got some valid questions and while I don’t have all the answers right now, I’d like to give a little update for all of you wondering what’s up.

Right now, High Times is in the process of a rebirth. While I can’t speak to or for any other area of the High Times enterprise, I can speak to what’s going on in this particular house. As you all know, our media business is an important cornerstone of this industry. Now in its 50th year of operation, the magazine’s voice has been a rallying cry for our culture longer than most of us have been alive, and it’s one many people, including myself, would like to see given the proper love and care it deserves in order for it to continue to bear fruit for the community for many years to come. Because of that, and many other things that actually have very little to do with us, High Times is currently in the process of changing ownership.

What does this mean?

Similar to the acquisition that happened in 2017, sometime in the next few weeks, or months, High Times will be acquired, and thus have a new owner. We are in a process right now where court appointed representatives are studying what we do & packaging up our business to offer it to potentially interested parties who may want to develop or operate it going forward. This is company-wide, and every asset and business area we have is being analyzed. 

Now, our media business has operated independently from the other business areas forever, but it is possible, and honestly likely, that this side of High Times will be separated from some of the other assets our former leadership amassed over the past few years. I know that this may seem like a loss for the brand, but in reality optimizing our lean business model in order to ensure we can grow and prosper for years to come is essential for every business, and it’s the media side’s biggest priority. This is likely a necessary decision for the future of all of our current business areas. Speaking for my team, we all love what we do, and are honored to do it – we simply can not imagine letting this voice fall off into the ether, and we’re doing everything in our power to protect it. While it’s not 100% in our control, I’m feeling pretty good about the future right now, for the first time in a while.

While sure, any change of this magnitude is scary, and uncertain, the truth is that High Times is an incredibly resilient brand. It WANTS to breathe, and grow – it just needs the room to do so. Had you told me 10 years ago High Times would be publishing longer than VICE I probably wouldn’t have believed you, but with all I’ve seen over the past 7 years here it no longer surprises me. I have watched countless people try to hold us down or count us out in my time here, and none have been successful. The brand continually carries on in spite of whatever gets in its way. High Times really is just like the plant we all love so much, it’s a weed – it’ll bloom through whatever cracks of light it gets. And we’re here to prod those little cracks to let some more light in.

Now, while I can’t promise that whoever the new owner is will want to keep me or any of this around, I can tell you my priority is ensuring this team continues on. That the work continues on. What I can promise you, dear reader, is that I will keep doing whatever in my power is best for this business, this brand, this community, and the information that you deserve, no matter what the future brings, or what may happen to my role at this company. I have fought many an executive who thought we could just Chat GPT this work out, and I am not afraid to continue that argument as long as they’ll have me, but we don’t get to control everything… Whatever the case, we’ll find a way forward.

Silver Linings

So with that brief explainer, let’s loop back around to my initial point. 

Because of all that’s been going on the past few months, the growth that I expected to see at the end of last year obviously hasn’t happened – respectfully, our priorities have to shift with the business – but rest assured, we haven’t given up! In fact, in true High Times fashion, we turned those lemons to lemonade, and worked out some new, more cost-effective, ways to get these ideas over the finish line. We even worked out a few kinks to spruce the projects up a bit. While we’re still underwater dealing with this sale, and addressing the very real concerns many of you have raised to us, I am confident that the new model we’ve hypothesized will allow us to create a bunch of that content we’ve been waiting to make for you – no matter who is manning the ship at that point. I don’t want to let too much out of the bag yet, but yes, we have heard all your requests for video content and podcasts, and we’re not too far from the day we’ll get to introduce them to you.

I know you’ve got more questions – and that the road ahead seems long, and tired, but the truth is we’re far closer to many of our goals than we’ve ever been, and we’re all fighting harder than ever. With all the momentum we’ve built over our collective history in this fight, let’s not forget to remember how far we’ve come. We’re doing the things our ancestors thought impossible; it would be silly to give up now. 

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Glass bongs, money counters, a La-Z-Boy recliner and a snow cone machine were among the goods auctioned off Friday at an auction hosted by the CHP and CDTFA to raise money for unpaid taxes on cannabis businesses.

The California Department of Taxes and Fee Administration released a notice last week about the auction, held Friday, February 16 in Los Angeles. The notice said that the property to be sold had been seized from 10 cannabis businesses in the Los Angeles area, nine of which were operating illegally according to the CDTFA. One was a legal dispensary that hadn’t paid its taxes. In total, the 10 businesses owed more than $14.4 million in unpaid taxes.

“Seizing and auctioning property from cannabis businesses that evade the law is a tool to recover the taxes owed to the state,” said CDTFA Director Nick Maduros in a statement.

Public notices of sale for the seized property to be sold Friday have been issued by the CHP and they are readily available online at the CDTFA website. The list of items to be sold can be described as varied at best and bizarre at worst, given who will be selling them.

Some notable items included multiple boxes of glass bongs, speakers, refrigerators, the aforementioned snow cone machine and La-Z-Boy recliner, cameras, televisions, sandwich boards, framed art and other miscellaneous items.

Proceeds from the auction will be put towards the unpaid liabilities owed by these ten businesses. This is the first such time that California government entities have auctioned off seized items from cannabis businesses, and it certainly marks the first time the California Highway Patrol has ever sold bongs to anybody that I’m aware of. 

That said, commercial properties seized from delinquent California cannabis businesses have been auctioned off in the past. In March of 2022 the CDTFA released a notice about the auction of a property in Whitter associated with a cannabis business, accused at the time of illegal sales, which owed over $850,000 in unpaid taxes. The CDTFA said at the time they hoped to recover at least $220,000 from the sale of this property.

“Unlicensed cannabis operators not only undercut legitimate businesses, but they also cheat California communities out of revenue for vital programs,” Director Maduros said in 2022. “These businesses are not licensed under the laws approved by California voters, and many of their products are unregulated.”

California has ramped up enforcement of illegal cannabis businesses in recent years with the introduction of the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce in late 2022. Since its creation by Governor Gavin Newsom, UCETF has seized over $317 million in unlicensed cannabis as the result of serving 218 search warrants across .

“Since its inception in late 2022, California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce has hit the ground running with year-round operations that spanned from the Oregon state line all the way down to San Diego,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We’ve sent a strong message that illegal operations that harm our natural resources, threaten the safety of workers, and put consumer health at risk have no place in California. While there is more work to be done, we made progress last year and I look forward to going further alongside our county, state, and federal partners.”

Since its inception, UCETF has also seized 128 firearms during raids on cannabis businesses. They have seized and eradicated 347,321 illegal cannabis plants in their history and seized over 189,000 pounds of dried cannabis bud in 2023 alone.

“California is effectively decreasing the illegal cannabis market by leveraging the strengths and knowledge of over 20 state agencies and departments alongside our local and federal partners. The UCETF’s progress in 2023 reflects California’s ongoing commitment to disrupting  and dismantling illegal cannabis activity,” stated Director Nicole Elliott of Department of Cannabis Control (DCC). “I look forward to working with all our partners in 2024 to build on this progress.”

The CDTFA and CHP auction took place at the CHP parking lot at 777 W. Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015 Friday, February 16. You can call 1-951-880-1990 for more information. Neither the CDTFA or CHP have yet indicated if they plan to auction off more bongs in the future.

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A series of amendments to state law prohibit employers from discriminating against job applicants based on past or off-the-clock pot use, and the list of jobs now includes police officers. 

Per a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last October, law enforcement officials in California are updating employment policies for police officers—specifically, removing questions for police job applications about past cannabis use.

Dec. 7, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training issued a bulletin announcing changes in the way aspiring police officers are asked about prior pot use. The bulletin arrives 30 days after a new California law went into effect, which affects law enforcement jobs and many other types of jobs against discrimination surrounding off-the-clock pot use.

Newsom signed Senate Bill 700, spearheaded by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), along with dozens of other bills Oct. 7. SB 700 amends Government Code section 12954, which “prohibits discrimination against a person in hiring, termination, or term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing the person for their use of cannabis off the job and away from their workplace.”

“To meet the provisions of GC § 12954, the POST Personal History Statement—Peace Officer and Personal History Statement—Public Safety Dispatcher forms have been modified to remove inquiries about a candidate’s prior cannabis use,” the bulletin reads. 

Specifically, questions 80-83 and questions 79-82 have been modified. General inquiries about an applicant’s prior criminal history will remain unchanged. The revised forms are available on the POST Website. Other provisions of GC § 12954, which was initially added to the Government Code by Assembly Bill 2188 (2022), pertain to drug screening tests. The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training does not require drug testing nor provide guidance in establishing drug use policies. Hiring agencies will need to determine how to adjust their drug testing and/or policies to meet this new law. 

“This law becomes effective January 1, 2024.” 

Employees of most types of jobs in California already are protected for off-duty pot use.

In Sept. 2022, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2188, a bill from Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D) that makes it unlawful for employers of all kinds to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment for off-duty cannabis use.

“Existing law, on and after January 1, 2024, makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace, except as specified.”

The series of amendments make it harder for employers to punish employees and future employees from past pot use.

Other States Take Similar Actions

Some adult-use states have chosen to allow past pot use for aspiring police officers while others have not.

Nevada officials recently amended hiring standards for police officers to allow applicants to be eligible to apply, who would have been disqualified for certain cannabis-related offenses. Nevada’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) voted to amend rules that prevented applicants from becoming a peace officer if they have been convicted of a drug-related offense.

Other states didn’t exactly follow the same pattern. A lawsuit filed last month aims to block officers on police forces in New Jersey from consuming cannabis, even off the clock.

The New Jersey Monitor reports that Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea, filed an 18-page complaint on Oct. 16, arguing that because federal law prohibits anyone who uses a controlled substance including cannabis from possessing a firearm, Jersey City cannot employ police officers who consume adult-use cannabis. Shea was joined in his announcement with Mayor Steven Fulop and Jersey City Police Department officials.

The State of New Jersey, Matthew Platkin as Attorney General of the state of New Jersey, The New Jersey Civil Service Commission, Norhan Mansour, Omar Polanco, Mackenzie Reilly, Montavious Patten, and Richie Lopez are listed as the plaintiffs. 

“Police officers in New Jersey are required to possess and receive firearms in order to fulfill their duties as law enforcement officers. New Jersey legalized the regulated use of recreational marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey through passage of the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMM Act),” the lawsuit reads. “In doing so, New Jersey failed to address the impact of the federal firearm laws on the use of regulated marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey for persons who are required to possess and/or receive firearms or ammunitions as part of the job duties, including police officers in Jersey City.” 

California and other states are choosing to allow prospective police officers who used to smoke pot in the past.

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A web of lies and conspiracy is unfolding involving at least four law enforcement officers and multiple city officials in the area of Franklin County, Maine. 

While two former Franklin County deputies await charges for allegedly keeping an illegal cannabis operation in Farmington, Maine in the loop of law enforcement surveillance, two other officers were cleared of federal charges after the court determined that they didn’t know why they were running plates and using government databases.

The Sun Journal reports that former Wilton police officer Kevin Lemay of Farmington and former Oxford County Sheriff deputy James McLamb of Auburn were each charged by the federal government on Nov. 9, 2021, with tampering with documents. The charges alleged that they used government databases to confirm that a cannabis operation was under surveillance, and then destroyed electronic evidence.

Federal prosecutors believe that Lucas Sirois—the ringleader—allegedly led a $13 million illegal cannabis operation and cops working for him on the inside, monitoring any potential investigations. Maine State Police officers and other law enforcement raided locations in Farmington and other places in Franklin County on July 21, 2020. After over a year of investigations, 11 people were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 9, 2021, as well three businesses connected to Sirois.

But he allegedly had several cops working for him on the inside.

The two former cops were accused of running license plates per the request of Franklin County deputies Bradley Scovil and Derrick Doucette. They allegedly ran the plates to confirm that those deputies were under surveillance by law enforcement. The two former cops allegedly received cars and money in exchange for keeping the operation team in the loop. 

Sirois also allegedly had city officials working for him on the inside: Former Rangeley Selectman David Burgess also admitted he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cold, hard cash from Sirois to advocate for town decisions that benefited him and his cannabis operation. Burgess pleaded guilty in June to charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud (bribery), and conspiracy to defraud the United States and impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service (tax fraud). His outcome was a bit less forgiving: Burgess also waived his right to appeal so long as his sentence is less than nine years.

Doucette and Scovil pleaded guilty in a federal court to conspiracy to defraud and deprive residents of Franklin County of their “right to the defendants’ honest and faithful services through bribery,” and are currently awaiting sentencing.

They won’t be doing any longer than five years in the slammer, though. Thanks to a plea deal, Doucette and Scovil waived their right to appeal the sentences, as long as their sentences are no longer than four years and nine months.

Former officer Kevin Lemay of Farmington and former deputy James McLamb of Auburn, who also once served as town manager in Dixfield, each requested dismissal of the charges against them, saying they didn’t know the reasons for using government resources.

The dismissals were granted by federal Judge Lance Walker because the government and the indictment failed to demonstrate that Lemay and McLamb were aware of a future grand jury investigation into the cannabis operation, or that their actions would affect those proceedings. That aspect is required for a conviction of tampering charge.

“Mr. Lemay is pleased that the court has granted his motion and dismissed the charges against him. He has always maintained that these charges were baseless,” his attorney, Stacey Neumann, of the law firm of Murray, Plumb & Murray in Portland, Maine told The Sun Journal in an email.

“From the outset, it has been our position that Mr. McLamb should not have been charged,” McLamb’s attorney Michael Turndorf of Turndorf Law in Portland wrote in an email. “This process has severely impacted Mr. McLamb’s life. I hope and trust that he can move on from this and lead a happy and productive life,”

Scovil and Doucette were allegedly involved in the conspiracy from June 2019 to July 21, keeping the illegal cannabis operation  Farmington informed.

Other co-defendants in the conspiracy case include Lucas Sirois,  his estranged wife Alisa Sirois, his father Robert Sirois, former Rangeley Selectman David Burgess, Brandon Dagnese, Kenneth Allen, and Ryan Nezol.

Former Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Alves also pleaded guilty to federal charges of tampering with documents for her role in the conspiracy. Her license to practice law was suspended for nine months, but has since been reinstated. Alves was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $2,000 in exchange for pleading guilty.

Allen and the Sirois family members pleaded not guilty and their cases are pending.

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If employees who drive buses, operate forklifts, and work with hazardous equipment aren’t allowed to test positive for pot should the police? After New Jersey’s Attorney General said that law enforcement officers can consume pot off-duty last year, a lawsuit aims to block officers on police forces from consuming cannabis, even off the clock.

The New Jersey Monitor reports that Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea, filed an 18-page complaint on Oct. 16, arguing that because federal law prohibits anyone who uses a controlled substance including cannabis from possessing a firearm, Jersey City cannot employ police officers who consume adult-use cannabis. Shea was joined in his announcement with Mayor Steven Fulop and Jersey City Police Department officials.

The State of New Jersey, Matthew Platkin as Attorney General of the state of New Jersey, The New Jersey Civil Service Commission, Norhan Mansour, Omar Polanco, Mackenzie Reilly, Montavious Patten, and Richie Lopez are listed as the plaintiffs. 

The lawsuit argues that federal law prohibits police officers from carrying ammunition, thus making them ineligible to be police officers.

“The Federal Gun Control Act […] prohibits regular users of controlled dangerous substances, including marijuana/cannabis, from possessing or receiving firearms and ammunition,” the lawsuit reads. 

“Police officers in New Jersey are required to possess and receive firearms in order to fulfill their duties as law enforcement officers. New Jersey legalized the regulated use of recreational marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey through passage of the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMM Act). In doing so, New Jersey failed to address the impact of the federal firearm laws on the use of regulated marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey for persons who are required to possess and/or receive firearms or ammunitions as part of the job duties, including police officers in Jersey City.” 

The lawsuit clarified where specifically the law would need to be applied.

“This action seeks a declaration pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, that the CREAMM Act and specifically N.J.S.A. 24:6I-52(a)(1) is preempted as it applies to adverse employment action to any individual who is an unlawful user of any controlled substance, including marijuana/cannabis, where such person is required to possess and/or receive a firearm or ammunition as part of his or her job duties.” 

Shea defended his reasoning in challenging police officers’ eligibility based on testing positive for cannabis.

“Every citizen in the state of New Jersey has the right to use marijuana,” Shea told the media at Jersey City’s public safety headquarters. ”If one of our officers wants to do that, they could smoke as much as they want—they can no longer perform the duties of a police officer, and we will have to terminate them if we become aware.”

How This All Started

In April 2022, Attorney General Matt Platkin told law enforcement officials in New Jersey that state law requires them to allow officers to consume cannabis off-duty. This law was recently challenged in Jersey City: The state Civil Service Commission concluded that Jersey City must rehire a police officer who was fired after she tested positive for cannabis. At least three other officers fired for the same reason have also challenged their terminations, the New Jersey Monitor reports.

The CREAMM Act was passed on December 27, 2020. The CREAMM Act authorizes the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) to expand the existing Medicinal Cannabis Program, and develop, regulate, and enforce adult-use rules and activities.

Shea added at the press conference that the CRC is “refusing to acknowledge the conflict between the federal law and the state law.” The lawsuit highlights the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, banning states from overriding federal statutes. “We all agree that they smoked, they utilized marijuana, cannabis, or THC. We all agree that they would need to carry a firearm to be police officers,” he said. “So it should be as simple as a judge clarifying the supremacy clause.”

Shea said the officers who were fired were all offered jobs in his department that did not involve guns, but the city refused to give them their old jobs back. He added that they were fired not because they used cannabis but because they can no longer carry a firearm, thus becoming ineligible to be police officers.

The commission argued that there is no basis in the state’s adult-use cannabis law, the CREAMM Act, which allows employers to fire someone who uses cannabis outside of the scope of work on the clock, meaning Jersey City can’t fire officers who simply test positive for cannabis because they could have smoked weeks ago.

The decision aligns with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which said last March that people who consume cannabis are ineligible to possess firearms or ammunition under the federal Gun Control Act of 1968.

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A former member of the Inglewood Police Department is expected to plead guilty to drug distribution charges for allegedly selling large amounts of cocaine while serving as a police officer. 

47-year-old John Abel Baca of Whittier, California was originally arrested on October 2, 2021 after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he sold cocaine to an informant on two occasions in 2021. A recent announcement by the United States Department of Justice indicated that Baca recently agreed to plead guilty to one charge of cocaine distribution. 

Baca served as an officer with the Inglewood Police Department for 21 years before being accused of drug dealing. He also served as the police union representative. The DOJ press release said that Baca brought a federal informant an undisclosed amount of cocaine on April 29, 2021. A recording of this meeting would later show that this was for the pseudo-purpose of the cooperating witness showing the cocaine to potential buyers. 

According to the DOJ, a second meeting was then arranged in which Baca agreed to provide the witness with one kilogram of cocaine for $22,000 USD. That meeting was arranged for May 4 of the same year when Baca reportedly delivered the kilogram of cocaine to the informant’s workplace and then collected $22,000 from the informant’s residence later that same day. 

A plea agreement entered by Baca would later show that before these exchanges, Baca allegedly told the witness in February that he could get him one kilogram of cocaine, two kilograms of “white china” heroin and an unlimited supply of black tar heroin which the witness said Baca claimed he had stolen during traffic stops in his capacity as a police officer with the IPD. 

The DOJ said that in Baca’s plea agreement he admitted that he “abused his position of trust as a police officer, including by stealing drugs from IPD’s lock-up and reselling them.”

Another man involved in this case is also awaiting trial after authorities said he may have helped Baca distribute the drugs while Baca was still a police officer. 

44-year-old Gerardo Ekonomo of South Los Angeles was arrested on October 28, 2021 in connection with the John Baca case, who was arrested just a week prior to Ekonomo. CBS Los Angeles said in 2021 that Ekonomo’s arrest is what ultimately led to Baca’s downfall. 

Federal authorities alleged that Ekonomo, who had previously been approved to serve as a police informant for Baca, was culpable in helping Baca distribute drugs. When Ekonomo’s home was raided in 2021, police found drugs and a firearm in his home as well as a kilogram of heroin and half a kilogram of suspected cocaine buried in his backyard.

Ekonomo was also arrested in Las Vegas in June of 2021 with three kilograms of heroin in his car, according to the article by CBS LA. It was after this arrest that Baca reportedly contacted the Las Vegas Police Department to see if Ekonomo could help his case by cooperating with IPD. The charges were not dropped but Ekonomo was then registered to work as an informant for Baca.

However, according to an FBI affidavit, Ekonomo never actually did any work as an informant. The FBI alleged that Ekonomo ‘conducted no documented operations after he was signed up as an informant,” and that Baca “[was] willing to abuse his position as a law enforcement officer in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and to assist and protect his co-conspirators.”

Ekonomo faced a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum life sentence if convicted at the time he was arrested in 2021. Before Baca accepted his plea deal he faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 60 years. It was not immediately clear how Baca’s plea deal would affect his sentencing or when Ekonomo’s trial was set to begin. 

This case remains under investigation by the FBI and the DOJ said that the Inglewood Police Department has given their full cooperation in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cassie D. Palmer of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section. John Baca is due in court on October 17 where he is expected to plead guilty.

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Despite the dramatic shift in opinion about cannabis in America, Kentucky law enforcement agents continued to charge people with cannabis-related charges at a steady rate, in tandem with offenses across the board.

According to analysis of the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) data, more than 300,000 people in Kentucky have been charged with a cannabis-related crime over the past two decades. That’s nearly two people every hour, every day between June 2002 and July 2022, the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy wrote. To be fair, just one out of 10 of the 3.1 million people charged with a crime in Kentucky in that time period faced cannabis charges, but the numbers are still too high.

“Every corner of the commonwealth has seen people charged with cannabis crimes with some counties having dozens charged and others tens of thousands,” Kentucky Center for Economic Policy wrote.

“Data also reveals starkly different conviction rates, with some rural areas nearly twice as likely to convict someone for a cannabis charge than Kentucky’s biggest city. Still, as much of the country has moved to more permissive policies, Kentucky continues to subject people to incarceration, burdensome fines, community supervision, and criminal charges for cannabis crimes. These consequences have lasting, harmful effects on people’s economic security, employment, health, housing and ability to fully participate in community life. And these consequences often fall disproportionately on low-income and Black and Brown Kentuckians.”

Possession remains the most common cannabis charge in Kentucky, a Class B misdemeanor that can lead up to 45 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.

Cannabis Charges Impact Lives

Just how widespread is the issue? The report’s county-by-county data also shows that every community in the state is affected. “Every Kentucky county had people charged with cannabis offenses during these two decades—from 68 people in Robertson County to 72,717 in Jefferson County,” the report reads. “Expressed as the number of annualized cannabis-related charges per 1,000 county residents in the two-decade period, 1.5 people per 1,000 had a cannabis charge in Robertson County in contrast to 8.4 people per 1,000 in Carroll County. Lyon County is an outlier, where 16.4 people per 1,000 had a cannabis charge.”

The report was completed and written by authors Kaylee Raymer, Ashley Spalding, Pam Thomas, Dustin Pugel, and Carmen Mitchell. You can read the center’s full report in PDF format here.

“While most of those 300,000 people were charged with possession, their lives are still impacted,” Kaylee Raymer, policy analyst for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, told Fox 56. “Whether it’s through fines and fees, it could affect their ability to get public housing or their ability to get a job if that’s on their record. So there are still consequences that come with cannabis-related charges.”

The Kentucky Legislature reduced the penalty for cannabis possession in 2011 and the 2023 General Assembly took an important step in legalizing a limited model of medical cannabis starting in 2025. The only qualifying conditions are chronic pain, chronic nausea/vomiting, epilepsy/seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms/spasticity, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

That said, Kentucky is still among just 18 “cannabis desert” states that continue to prohibit cannabis in spite of the shift in public opinion.

Over the past two decades—running from July 1, 2002 to June 29, 2022—an estimated 303,264 people in Kentucky were charged with various cannabis offenses, according to AOC data published by the Vera Institute of Justice.  Since 1983, the prison custody population has increased 168%, the Vera Institute of Justice reported in its recent Incarceration Trends Report.

In 2019, 20,087 people were charged with a cannabis offense, with a 53% conviction rate. But due to the pandemic, there were much fewer arrests and case delays as most courts were closed.

Curiously, despite cannabis being viewed as virtually harmless by many, cannabis conviction held steady in tandem with conviction rates for all offenses. Between 2003 and 2021 the conviction rate for people charged with cannabis offenses was 59% and for all offenses was 63%, on average.

New Changes in Kentucky Cannabis Law

There are also new laws in place, particularly regarding hemp-derived cannabinoids.

On March 23, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed a bill to regulate hemp-derived delta-8 THC products. Beshear signed an executive order last year to regulate delta-8 THC and similar products, but that only affected the packaging and labeling of products.

House Bill 544 mandates that only adults 21 and over can buy products containing delta-8 THC—a hemp-derived compound frequently marketed as psychoactive—which began on August 1.

Per the bill, the state will regulate “any product containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol or any other hemp-derived substance identified by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as having intoxicating effects on consumers.” 

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If Minnesota police search a vehicle solely based upon the smell of pot, they can’t justify searching a vehicle, even if there is evidence found of other alleged crimes. Even after appealing a lower court decision to suppress the evidence—twice—the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed, and the dismissal of his charges stands.

In a ruling filed regarding a case the State of Minnesota Court of Appeals on Sept. 13, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed that cannabis odor does not constitute probable cause to search a vehicle.

The case has been ongoing for two years. On July 5, 2021, just before 10 p.m., a Litchfield police officer stopped a car for an obscure local law: the light bar mounted on the vehicle’s grill had more auxiliary driving lights than are permitted under Minnesota law. The officer asked the driver, Adam Lloyd Torgerson, for his license and registration. Torgerson, his wife, and his child were present in the vehicle. The officer stated that he smelled pot and asked Torgerson if there was any reason for the odor, which he initially denied. But cops found a lot more than just pot.

A backup officer was called in. The couple denied possessing any pot, but Torgerson admitted to smoking weed in the past. The second officer stated that the weed odor gave them probable cause to search the vehicle and ordered them to exit the vehicle. The first officer searched the vehicle and found a film canister, three pipes, and a small plastic bag in the center console. The plastic bag contained a white powder and the film canister contained meth, which was confirmed in a field test.

Torgenson was charged with possession of meth pipe in the presence of a minor and fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance after the unwarranted search of Torgerson’s vehicle. 

Police Aren’t Allowed to Do That, Multiple Courts Rule

But the search had one major problem—cops weren’t searching for a meth pipe. They only searched his car because they could smell pot, and the meth and paraphernalia were a surprise for everyone. Still, they had no grounds to search the vehicle. The man’s charges were later dismissed after the district court determined the odor of cannabis alone was insufficient basis for probable cause to search the vehicle, regardless of whatever other drug paraphernalia they found. 

The state appealed the case, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. The case was appealed a second time, this time to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which agreed with the lower court’s ruling. 

 “This search was justified only by the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle,” the Minnesota Supreme Court decision reads. “Torgerson moved to suppress the evidence found during the search, arguing that the odor of marijuana, alone, is insufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. The district court granted Torgerson’s motion, suppressed the evidence, and dismissed the complaint. The State appealed. The court of appeals affirmed the district court’s suppression order. Because we conclude that the odor of marijuana emanating from a vehicle, alone, is insufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, we affirm.”

It amounts to basic human rights that apply—regardless of whether or not a person is addicted to drugs.

Other States do Precisely the Same Regarding Pot Odor as Probably Cause

An Illinois judge ruled in 2021 that the odor of cannabis is not sufficient grounds for police to search a vehicle without a warrant during a traffic stop.

Daniel J. Dalton, Associate Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit, issued a ruling in response to a motion to suppress evidence in the case of Vincent Molina, a medical cannabis patient arrested for cannabis possession last year.

In that case, Molina was arrested despite the decriminalization of small amounts of cannabis in Illinois in 2019 with the passage of the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. 

In some states, the issue of probable cause and cannabis was defined through bills.

Last April, the Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill that reduces the penalties for public cannabis consumption and bars police from using the odor of cannabis as the basis for the search of an individual or auto. Under Maryland’s House Bill 1071, law enforcement officers would be prohibited from using the odor of raw or burnt cannabis as probable cause to search a person or vehicle. 

The rulings represent the rights of citizens when they are pulled over by police, even if there are hard drugs involved.

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A police officer in Jersey City, New Jersey was fired for testing positive for THC in a drug test. Last week, that officer was reinstated to his position with back pay.

Norhan Mansour was fired well after Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Jersey in 2021 (with sales beginning in April 2022). After the bill was signed, the Jersey City Police Department clarified that although cannabis was legal, police officers were prohibited from consuming cannabis when off the clock. Mansour was one of four officers who were terminated due to a positive THC test in June 2022, all of whom pursued a lawsuit in April 2023.

Mansour’s attorney Peter Paris explained the hypocrisy of his firing. “What Jersey City is doing is equivalent to terminating police officers because they had a beer off duty,” Paris said in June. “Except it’s worse because there is no constitutional right to drink beer, while there is a constitutional right in New Jersey to consume cannabis.”

According to a Jersey City Times report from June, the case was settled by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. In favor of reinstating Mansour, Judge Kimberly Moss said that state law “…precludes employers from terminating an employee simply because the employee uses cannabis and precludes employers from terminating their employees solely due to the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the employee’s system,” Moss said. 

At a meeting on August 2, the commission claimed that the city’s argument is “unpersuasive,” adding that the federal ban on cannabis consumers owning firearms doesn’t apply to law enforcement officers. “The Civil Service Commission finds that the action of the appointing authority in removing the appellant was not justified,” the commission stated. “The Commission therefore reverses that action and grants the appeal of Norhan Mansour. The Commission further orders that the appellant be granted back pay, benefits, and seniority from the first date of separation without pay until the day of reinstatement.”

In October 2022, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission introduced a new directive on drug testing requirements for law enforcement in the state. By February 2023, Attorney General Matthew Platkin had also revised a policy on drug testing for law enforcement. “Due to the complex nature of the law, and in order to provide uniformity in state employee drug testing as it pertains to the use of cannabis, it is necessary to revise this policy,” Platkin stated.

The topic of individuals owning firearms has also been explored in depth over the past few years, both in relation to law enforcement as well as civilian gun ownership under federal law.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced earlier last year that she planned to sue the Biden administration “…to block a federal rule that prohibits medical marijuana users from buying guns or maintaining concealed-carry permits.” Then in Florida last November, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit that aimed to prevent medical cannabis consumers from buying firearms. 

In February, a federal court case in Oklahoma ruled that banning cannabis consumers from owning guns is unconstitutional. Brian Vicente of Vicente Sederberg LLP described the case as a significant step forward for cannabis consumer rights.

“For decades, and across various states, medical cannabis patients have been asked to choose between participating in their state’s legal cannabis program or owning a firearm,” Vicente told High Times in February. “This federal court decision secures the rights of adults to both use cannabis and own guns and effectively removes the restriction, and associated stigma, that these adults face. This is part of a broader trend of conservative states embracing marijuana policy, with both Alabama and Mississippi establishing medical cannabis programs in 2022 and Oklahoma poised to legalize cannabis on March 7 of this year.”

Similarly, a federal court decision in Texas in April also found that banning consumers from possessing firearms is unconstitutional as well. “Quite simply, there is no historical tradition of denying individuals their Second Amendment rights based solely (or even partially) on the use of marijuana,” the case filing stated.

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