Chronicle AM: Cory Booker Plans Mass Drug Prisoner Clemencies, CA Safe Injection Site Bill Delayed, More… (6/20/19)

Cory Booker wants to grant clemency to thousands of federal drug prisoners, a pair of drug reform amendments pass the House, the Russians move to start cultivating marijuana and opium, and more.

Marijuana Policy

House Approves Amendments Stripping DEA Funding and Pushing FDA to Regulate CBD. The House on Thursday approved two amendments to appropriations bills, one that would transfer $5 million from the DEA to an opioid treatment program and one that directs the Food and Drug Administration to set regulations for using CBD in foods and dietary supplements. The former amendment was authored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said: "I offer this amendment because ending the war on drugs has to mean changing our priorities in order to keep all communities safe and healthy. The best way we do that is by offering people the help and support they need before arrest and criminalization should be considered in the first place."

Harm Reduction

California Safe Injection Site Bill Bumped to Next Year. A bill that would have allowed San Francisco to launch a pilot safe injection site program has been bumped to next year by its sponsors. AB 362 passed the Assembly earlier this year, but after the Senate referred it to three different committees for review, Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) and Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) pulled the bill, saying they needed more time to build alliances to ensure passage next year.

Sentencing Policy

Cory Booker Says He Will Grant Clemency to Thousands of Drug Prisoners. New Jersey senator and 2020 presidential candidate Corey Booker said Wednesday that he is elected, he will grant clemency to nonviolent drug offenders currently sitting in federal prisons. His clemency plan could affect more than 17,000 prisoners in three categories: those doing time for marijuana, those whose sentences would have been reduced if the criminal justice overhaul signed by President Donald Trump last year were applied retroactively, and those affected by the disparity between sentences for possession of crack versus powder cocaine.

International

Official Death Toll in Philippines Drug War Reaches 6,600. The official death toll in President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs has reached 6,600, the Philippines National Police reported Thursday. That's up from just under 5,000 in November 2018. Duterte has recently acknowledged both that despite his efforts, drug use has increased in the country, and that the poor are feeling the brunt of the crackdown. Human rights groups put the toll much higher, some as high as 30,000, with killings divided between police and shadowy vigilante groups.

Russian Duma Approves Cultivation of Opium, Other Psychoactive Plants. Citing Western sanctions that threaten its supplies of opioids and other medications, the Russian parliament has approved a bill to allow the cultivation of psychoactive plants, including marijuana and opium poppies. The bill must still be approved by the Federation Council and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)