Chronicle AM: Houston Narc Charged With Murder in Bogus Drug Raid, DEA Moves on Pot Research, More… (8/26/19)

The DEA finally moves on expanding marijuana research opportunites, a former Houston cop who led a lethal bogus drug raid is charged with murder, a Florida poll shows strong support for marijuana legalization, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Federal Government to Expand List of Marijuana Research Growers. The DEA said Monday it would move to expand the number of growers allowed to grow marijuana for research papers. The move comes three years after DEA began accepting applications from researchers, but it had yet to act on any of them, and weeks after researchers filed court papers asking a judge to force the DEA to process their applications.

Florida Poll Has Two-Thirds Support for Legalization. A new poll by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates has support for marijuana legalization at 67% among likely Florida voters. Only 29% opposed legalization. The poll comes as two legalization initiative campaigns seek to position themselves to appear on the 2020 ballot.

New Jersey Governor Vetoes Pot Expungement Bill. Gov. Phil Murphy (D), a proponent of marijuana legalization, has vetoed a bill that would have allowed people with small-time pot convictions to get their records expunged. Murphy said the expungement process in the bill was too cumbersome and he wanted it to be easier. "Nobody that I know – certainly not me – is opposed to automatic expungement. That's something we would all like to be able to flip a switch and you're expunged," Murphy said earlier this year.

Law Enforcement

Former Houston Cop Who Led Deadly Bogus Drug Raid Charged with Murder. Prosecutors have charged the former Houston police officer who led a February raid that left two innocent homeowners dead and five officers injured has been charged with murder after authorities said he lied to obtain a search warrant for the raid. Gerald Goines, a 35-year veteran, faces two murder counts in the deaths of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle. A second former officer, Steven Bryant, is charged with tampering with evidence. Gaines falsely told a judge an informant had purchased heroin at the home and that the man selling drugs was armed so he could obtain a no-knock warrant. Police found no heroin at the home; only personal use amounts of marijuana and cocaine.

International

Mexican Bishop Calls for Dialog Between Government and Armed Groups, Including Drug Cartels. A bishop in the country's opium farming heartland is urging the federal government to hold talks with armed groups, including drug cartels, saying that many in the drug business now can't make ends meet and are "seeking an exit." Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoze of Chilpancingo-Chilapa (Guerrero state) commented after Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero said last week that the government was in talks with armed groups such as so-called community police and self-defense militias, but not the cartels. "If the government wants to dialogue with these criminal groups and, above all, wants to talk with these community police forces, I think that’s good," Bishop Rangel said. "To get peace you have to dialogue, even with Satan, with whomever it might be to get peace. But they have this point of view that we don’t want to talk because they break the law. At least you have to listen to them." Rangel added that the opium economy had collapsed because of the rise of fentanyl and now some cartel leaders "no longer want to fight because it doesn’t make sense. What are they fighting over? … Now, nothing."