The Office of National Drug Policy (ONDCP) director Dr. Rahul Gupta, often referred to as President Joe Biden’s appointed “drug czar,” spoke about the ongoing discussion of rescheduling cannabis.

In a recent interview with Star Tribune on May 24, which was originally featured in the news outlet’s free email newsletter, the first question inquired about Gupta’s “main takeaway” in regard to federal rescheduling. “We’ve had a policy for over half a century where so many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Gupta responded. “We’ve had so many people arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated. We know white, Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, but Black and brown incarceration rates are higher.”

He cited Biden’s October 2022 announcement to pursue pardoning cannabis offenses and instructing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department (of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review the current schedule category that cannabis is positioned in. Now that request has been acted upon through the HHS in August 2023, with more recent moves suggesting progress within the Drug Enforcement Administration as well, Gupta commented on the importance of what happens next. “This is going to be really important to remove barriers to critical research and perhaps drug development, and it could also lead to more research into the benefits of medical marijuana,” he said. “Clearly this decision is going to have a historic and long-lasting impact.”

When asked if Gupta could offer clarity in how federal law enforcement will alter their prioritization of cannabis, he referred to other substances that are included in the Schedule III classification and thus have much lower priority, such as Tylenol with codeine and testosterone. “It will have an impact on racial disparity, incarceration and prosecutions,” he said. “And whether in Massachusetts or West Virginia or Texas, Americans should be able to get treatment for their condition.”

It’s important to note the differences between rescheduling cannabis and federally legalizing cannabis. Rescheduling cannabis doesn’t include approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means that it can still lead to cannabis-related prosecution. Furthermore, the status of cannabis as a federally illegal substance means that incarcerations and prosecutions will continue if or when cannabis is rescheduled to a Schedule III substance.

In another interview between WGCU and Gupta published on May 20, he suggested that Schedule I substances have no approved medical use, but anything categorized between Schedule II-V “can be prescribed when appropriate by a licensed provider who has a DEA registration…” However, the FDA hasn’t approved cannabis as a medicine overall, just a few exceptions with drugs derived from cannabis.

The Star Tribune subject shifted to the topic of banking, but preferred to refer the question to others involved more closely in that discussion. “We do know the drugs that are Schedule III are in legitimate interstate commerce within the federal system. I’ll leave it to others to talk about the commercial process,” he said. “The focus for the president has been making sure Americans are able to get the help they need no matter where they live, and on the other side making sure we’re not [harming] people.”

One of the final questions in the interview asked that if a new president is elected later this year, how this entire process of rescheduling could be paused, canceled, or reversed. “The president has given the opportunity to Congress to take action; he did because he could wait no longer,” Gupta said. “The independent reviews of these agencies followed established processes and procedures in getting to this result. That process is driven through science. I can’t provide any hypothetical answers to what may happen. This is a change that is driven by policy, by science, by data, regardless of the political process.”

He concluded the interview by restating how the president is following through with his promise to help the people avoid being incarcerated. “The president has been very consistent: No one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana,” Gupta said. “These steps to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III is a policy that is consistent with science in the 21st century.”

Former ONDCP director Gil Kerlikowske, who served under former President Barack Obama between 2009-2014, recently spoke on the podcast Sagely Speaking with Mary Bono on May 13. Kerlikowske’s response to Biden’s approach to rescheduling cannabis was more negative. “It’s not medicine. This is all Big Cannabis,” Kerlikowske said. “This isn’t people my age that are just old hippies that want to open up a pot shop somewhere. This is a huge business like Big Tobacco. Absolutely.”

He explained that the HHS decided not to reschedule cannabis due to no evidence of health three years ago, but now has changed its tune, with the DOJ expected to follow suit. Later on in the discussion, Kerlikowske compared the rise of cannabis to the rise of Big Tobacco.

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The nine-member committee first convened almost two years ago and gave their final approval to a lengthy list of proposals in Oakland, California over the weekend, which will now head to the governor and legislature to consider. 

The draft final report notes that federal and state governments have long targeted Black people with “discriminatory arrest and incarceration,” and the scope of this unjust policing was only exacerbated when the War on Drugs began in 1971 under the Nixon Administration. 

“Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address long standing racial disparities and inequalities,” said U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at the meeting. 

The first vote approved a detailed account of historical discrimination against Black Californians, specially examining areas like voting, housing, education, disproportionate policing and incarceration, among other topics.

In addition to reparation recommendations, the task force also approved a public apology that acknowledges the state’s responsibility for past wrongs and promises the state will not repeat them. The apology would be issued in the presence of people with ancestors who were enslaved.

“An apology and an admission of wrongdoing just by itself is not going to be satisfactory,” said Chris Lodgson, a Coalition for a Just and Equitable California organizer.

Members quantified the impact of racially discriminatory enforcement and incarceration over drugs by incorporating analysis on the cost of time spent in prison with other collateral consequences relating to drug convictions. They assessed racial discrimination based on comparisons of average arrest rates, convictions and sentencing between Black and white people who engaged in drug-related activity at comparable rates who experienced disparate consequences in the criminal legal system.

The task force “recommends that compensation for community harms be provided as uniform payments based on an eligible recipient’s duration of residence in California during the defined period of harm (e.g., residence in an over-policed community during the ‘War on Drugs’ from 1971 to 2020),” according to the report.

Members also recommended that the Legislature enact an “individual claims process” to compensate people who can prove “particular injuries,” like an individual who was arrested or incarcerated for a drug charge in the past, especially if the drug is now considered legal, as cannabis is in many states.

The panel specifically concluded that the legislature should pay an estimated 1,976,911 Black Californians $115,260 in 2020 dollars, reflecting a total of $2,352 per person for “each year of residency in California during the 49-year period between 1971 and 2020,” or a total of $227,858,891.023 in reparations for all affected, according to Marijuana Moment.

“To measure racial mass incarceration disparities in the 49 years of the war on drugs from 1971 to 2020, the Task Force’s experts estimated the disproportionate years spent behind bars for African American non-Hispanic Californian drug offenders compared to white non-Hispanic drug offenders,” the report states. “Since these disparities are measurable in years, the experts attached a monetary value to these disproportionate years spent in prison by calculating what an average California State employee would have earned in a year.”

The report notes that the drug war resulted in “massively disproportionate incarceration of African Americans,” additionally contributing to unemployment and homelessness in economically depressed African American communities once incarcerated individuals were released. The panel is also proposing additional compensation for health disparities and housing discrimination.

It also points out the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine enacted by Congress during the Reagan administration, specifically citing it as one example of drug policy being authored in a way that disproportionately impacted Black communities.

Additionally, the task force made recommendations to reinstate affirmative action, abolish the death penalty, restore voting rights for formerly and currently incarcerated people, provide free college tuition to those who qualify for reparations under the proposal, eliminate cash bail and provide universal single-payer healthcare, among others.

Members will convene once more on June 29 before submitting the final report to the legislature.

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Lawmakers in Louisiana are considering a bill that could put minors behind bars for possessing even small amounts of pot, less than a year after the state enacted legislation to end jail time for low-level cannabis possession convictions. The measure, House Bill 700, was introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives by Republican state Representative Larry Bagley on March 4 and approved by a legislative committee last week.

Last year, the Louisiana legislature passed House Bill 652, a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis. The bill was passed in June and went into effect in August, ending the possibility of jail time for possessing less than 14 grams of weed. The legislation was hailed by cannabis reform advocates including Peter Robins-Brown, policy and advocacy director at Louisiana Progress, a partnership between the Coalition for Louisiana Progress and Louisiana Progress Action Fund.

“Marijuana decriminalization will truly make a difference in the lives of the people of our state,” Robins-Brown said after the decriminalization bill was passed last year. “It’s an important first step in modernizing marijuana policy in Louisiana, and it’s another milestone in the ongoing effort to address our incarceration crisis, which has trapped so many people in a cycle of poverty and prison. Now it’s time to make sure that everyone knows their rights under this new law, and that law enforcement officers understand how to properly implement it.”

But now some of that progress is in jeopardy from Bagley’s bill, which would once again put jail time on the table for minors caught possessing small amounts of cannabis. The legislation would amend Louisiana’s decriminalization bill to resurrect jail time as a possible sentence for weed possession by young people, but would not affect the penalties imposed on adults convicted of the same offense.

Hard Labor for Half a Lid

Under HB 700, people under 18 caught with less than 14 grams of cannabis can be placed on probation or “imprisoned for not more than fifteen days” on the first conviction, according to the text of the legislation. For cases involving amounts of cannabis greater than 14 grams, a first conviction can put a kid behind bars for up to six months.

The penalties become more severe upon subsequent convictions. A minor’s second conviction for possessing up to 14 grams of cannabis can result in six months in jail. A third and fourth conviction subjects children to sentences of two and four years imprisonment, respectively, “with or without hard labor,” for possessing less than a half-ounce of weed.

Bagley has said that HB 700 is needed because schools in the state are having trouble keeping cannabis off of school grounds, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. He said that prosecutors have no way to force children into drug rehabilitation programs without the threat of incarceration and that judges are unlikely to incarcerate a minor for possession of small amounts of pot.

“It was presented like this bill is about trying to put people in prison. It’s not,” Bagley said.

But Robins-Brown, who is now the executive director of Louisiana Progress, said that school disciplinary action including suspension, expulsion or exclusion from athletics and other activities is a more appropriate way to address the problem.

“We don’t think we should be criminalizing youth more harshly than adults,” Robins-Brown said.

Megan Garvey with the Louisiana Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers noted that other options exist to compel minors into drug treatment. Under state law, family court judges can mandate parents or guardians place their children in treatment programs.

But the bill is receiving bipartisan support from lawmakers. State Representative Nicholas Muscarello voted in favor of HB 700 in committee despite generally supporting laws relaxing cannabis prohibition.

“We are trying to rehabilitate children. This allows our courts to kind of keep them in check and put them in drug courts,” said Muscarello. “No judge is putting a kid in jail for six months for marijuana.”

Although he also voted for the bill in committee, Republican state Representative Danny McCormick expressed concerns about HB 700’s revival of jail time for kids caught with weed. He questioned why the penalties were more severe than laws prohibiting possession of alcohol or tobacco by young people. Under Louisiana law, people under 21 can be fined up to $100 and lose their driver’s license for up to six months for possessing alcohol, while minors possessing cigarettes can be fined $50.

“Alcohol, in my opinion, would be greatly more harmful than marijuana,” McCormick said.

Last week, the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice approved HB 700 after amending the measure to include exceptions for minors who are registered medical cannabis patients possessing regulated cannabis products. On Monday, the bill was scheduled for a floor debate by the full Lousiana House of Representatives to be held on April 5.

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Two advocacy organizations are coming together to decriminalize entheogens and continue fighting against the War on Drugs. Decriminalize Nature (DN) and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) announced in a press release on January 27 that they are partnering up to target entheogen decriminalization and put an end to the War on Drugs by creating a Community Healing Alliance.

Both of these organizations have a longstanding history with drug advocacy, and this collaboration will no doubt strengthen the cause. As SSDP Board Member and also co-director of DN Michigan, Myc Williams believes that this partnership is essential to push progress forward. “A national alliance of these two organizations is a unique opportunity to tackle the harms of the drug war from all sides,” Williams said. “We are paving a path of unity that addresses both the injustices of current drug policy and provides accessible avenues for healing from the traumas that have occurred as a result.”

Many other people involved in this cause, such as SSDP Executive Director Jason Ortiz, are confident that this is the dawn of a new campaign. “We are uniting today to build the power needed to correct the profit driven framing being forced on us by corporations and their countless lobbyists,” said Ortiz. “This alliance will pair youth leaders with community practitioners to ensure that decriminalization and reparations are the priority for the drug policy movement as we end the disastrous and malicious war on drugs. Wherever they have a lobbyist, we will have an organized community ready to meet them.”

Additionally, many other DN and SSDP members of various roles provided hopeful statements about the Community Healing Alliance. One of the founding members of DN, Larry Norris, mentioned that DN and SSDP have worked together before in the past, but this official move to bind together will bolster support even more. Likewise, DN National Board Member Julie Barron shared her excitement to see what the two organizations will accomplish for people who are in need of support and healing.

Through many research studies, there is evidence that incarceration for drug possession or use does not improve public health and safety. A study conducted in January 2010, entitled “Treating Drug Abuse and Addiction in the Criminal Justice System: Improving Public Health and Safety,” suggested that convicting people of drug-related crimes simply spotlights the need to focus on other ways target the problem. “Punishment alone is a futile and ineffective response to drug abuse, failing as a public safety intervention for offenders whose criminal behavior is directly related to drug use,” the study concludes. “Addiction is a chronic brain disease with a strong genetic component that in most instances requires treatment. The increase in the number of drug-abusing offenders highlights the urgency to institute treatments for populations involved in the criminal justice system.” Furthermore, there are studies suggesting that prison therapy to treat drug addictions can be harmful, not helpful, to an individual’s recovery.

Both DN and SSDP have accomplished many things over the years. DN is newer to the advocacy scene, having been founded in Oakland in 2019, but its efforts have grown rapidly and there are chapters in over 50 cities in the U.S. Over these last few years, the organization has helped decriminalize entheogens in 14 cities. Its mission is to improve the lives of people interested in using entheogenic plants as a natural alternative to medical treatment, and also expand access by advocating for decriminalization “through political and community organizing, education and advocacy.”

Many chapters have been actively working on decriminalization efforts in their jurisdictions since last year. The Decriminalize Nature Boulder Chapter in Colorado has recently been working to change the language of a decriminalization effort aimed for the ballot next year. Decriminalize Nature Michigan spearheaded a signature gathering campaign last year.

SSDP on the other hand was founded in 1998, which now includes thousands of youth members and over 100 chapters throughout the U.S. The organization seeks to empower new generations to not only learn about and participate in politics, but to embolden their advocacy by fighting against causes that might harm other students or youth members in general.

To support this grassroots effort, feel free to learn more about what these organization stand for or donate to the cause for SSDP or DP.

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An Ohio non-profit organization and a cannabis cultivator are working together to help individuals who have been incarcerated for cannabis-related charges to receive education in cannabis cultivation.

Riviera Creek Holdings LLC cannabis cultivator and United Returning Citizens (URC) organization, which are both based in Youngstown, Ohio, are partnering together to support a program called URC Grows. The program will provide educational and job opportunities for those who have been convicted of cannabis crimes.

URC is a non-profit organization that helps those who have been affected by mass incarceration. They assist individuals with job searches, training, financial support, education and so much more. Through URC Grows, the organization hopes to extend these services and more by partnering with Riviera Creek. “United Returning Citizens created an Education, Workforce and Business Development Training Program for the next generation of workers,” URC shares on its website. “This program will be comprehensive and unique due to the nature of program phases, and the ultimate goal of creating employment opportunities with the enrollees while they are in the course.”

Those interested in growing cannabis have plenty of options to do so, but URC’s program stands out from the crowd due to its special certification. “URC Grows seeks to be different by providing an Ohio Department of Education Approved Certification, in three focused areas. We will also provide entrepreneurial development services and land for each entrepreneur to grow on, or employment in a URC operated grow facility,” the website shares.

Dionne Dowdy, Executive Director of URC, told local news station WFMJ there is a great need for reform and support of those who have been negatively affected by cannabis charges. “There were so many people that were jailed by this and now that everyone is making money off something that they are already sitting in jail for, we want to give them an opportunity, everyone needs a second chance and these are the things that they can do that were just natural to them that they will thrive in so why not give them this opportunity,” Dowdy said.

Riviera Creek CEO Daniel Kessel added that it is imperative that this program help prepare students with everything they will need to get a job in the industry. “We at Riviera are intending to help build the overall course work, what it looks like and as they graduate, Riviera is intending to bring some of those in house so they wind up with jobs right after graduation and we’re excited for that program to begin,” said Kessel.

Three Programs in Ohio Teach All Angles of Cultivation

URC Grows is split up into three programs. The first includes an agriculture program with a focus on hydroponic and aquaponic education. The second is a full-scale education program that covers the process of hemp production, from growing to processing and sales. The final program includes a focus on medical cannabis, but will ideally prepare students for when recreational cannabis becomes legal.

Following the completion of these programs, students will be “offered the opportunity to maintain and grow their own hemp for their hemp based business or agricultural goods.”

URC is one of five organizations that received grant funds from the Hawthorne Social Justice Fund within the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation. On June 10, 2021, the Hawthorne Gardening Company announced that it would be granting $2.5 million in funds to organizations whose efforts support criminal justice reform and social equity applicants. URC, as well as Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project Foundation, Minorities for Medical Marijuana and NuLeaf Project received support from this fund.

Dowdy added that supporting those who have been wronged by the War on Drugs can only be a boon for the city of Youngstown, Ohio. “We already have a problem with workforce now but if we’re taking the next people that are coming and we’re training them and giving them an opportunity to have a job, to have a career to take care of their family, not only would it help them, it would help our city, it would help our community, it will help with the crime,” she said about her hope for the program’s success.

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On his final day in office, Donald Trump pardoned 12 federal marijuana prisoners serving outrageous sentences.

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While DeLisi pushes a walker around his cell, Florida medical marijuana companies will bring in $800 million this year.

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The Michigan man, 69, sold three pounds of weed in 1994. It’s time for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to set him free.

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