News: Sessions Revokes the Cole Memo, and Other Bad News [#128]

This Week in Drugs

This week, Sam and Sarah talk about the latest drug news, which unfortunately was a lot of bad news from the past week. The biggest story is U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinding the Cole Memo, which has protected the state-regulated marijuana industry since 2011. But on top of that, an Ohio legislator is trying to push extra punishment for parolees who test positive for drugs, a top-ranking Turkey official channels Rodrigo Duterte in threats against drug suspects, and Georgia police arrested over 70 young black people for less than a single ounce of marijuana. But not all hope is lost — they also discuss how activists can fight back, and have a few positive headlines from the U.S. and abroad.

News Updates:

• Ohio legislator pushing legislation to require treatment for parolees who test positive for illegal opiates
• Jeff Sessions rescinds the Cole Memo
  • Fight back!
• Turkey minister Soylu tells police to break drug dealers’ legs
• Over 70 black young people arrested at Georgia house party for less than one ounce of marijuana

Headlines:

• Steve Lee, the dispensary owner who was elected to City Council in Kennewick, Washington, has since made even bigger headlines. Less than five minutes after Lee was sworn in, his peers elected him to serve as mayor pro tem, meaning he will stand in for the mayor when he is unavailable.
• There was a large drop in deaths of police officers in the line of duty in 2017, with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reporting a more than 11% drop, from 143 in 2016 to 128. This is the second lowest number of officer fatalities in more than 50 years, and correlates with drops in crime rates in recent decades.
• Salomon Chertorivski, a center-left mayoral candidate in Mexico City told Reuters this week the country’s largest city should lead the charge to end the prohibition on marijuana. He believes drugs should be a health matter rather than a criminal one and advocates for a step-by-step approach to progressive policies.
• A Massachusetts task force appointed by the state treasurer is recommending an overhaul of the state’s alcohol laws, which are widely seen as outdated. While one of their proposals is to raise alcohol taxes, they also want to eliminate limits on the number of alcohol licenses that can be held by grocery stores, allow brewpubs to sell their beer to retailers, and ease other restrictions on businesses.

Forecast:

• On June 26th, Oklahoma will vote on whether or not to legalize medical marijuana, it’s been confirmed by Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.
• Next week, Vermont is going to become the first state in the country to pass marijuana legalization through a state legislature!

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The post News: Sessions Revokes the Cole Memo, and Other Bad News [#128] appeared first on This Week in Drugs.