CO Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed, Czech Legal Pot Bill Coming in March, More… (1/25/23)

A pair of Delaware marijuana legalization bills are moving, Ukraine patients and veterans beseech the parliament to act on a pending medical marijuana bill, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Delaware Marijuana Legalization Regulation Bill Advances. One of a pair of bills that aim to legalize marijuana has passed its first committee hurdle. House Bill 2, which deals with taxation and developing rules for the legal marijuana industry, passed the House Revenue and Finance Committee on a 7-2 vote Tuesday. The other bill in the package sponsored by Rep. Ed Osienski (D), House Bill 1, is getting a hearing today. That bill legalizes marijuana. (Update: House Bill 1 was approved by the House Health and Human Development Committee today.) Last year, the legislature passed the basic marijuana legalization bill only to see it vetoed by Gov. John Carney (D), but narrowly defeated the regulation bill. This year, Democrats are in a stronger position and could override a gubernatorial veto.

Asset Forfeiture

Colorado Bill Would End Civil Asset Forfeiture and Further Opt State Out of Federal Program. Three Republican lawmakers have filed a bill to end civil asset forfeiture and replace it with a criminal process requiring a conviction before asset forfeiture could proceed. The measure, House Bill 1086, would also make it more difficult for law enforcement to do an end run around state law by handing cases off to the feds, who then return most of the seized funds back to the originating law enforcement agency. The bill also reduces the percentage of seized funds that law enforcement agencies can get under state forfeiture from 50 percent to 25 percent.

International

Czech Marijuana Legalization Bill to Be Presented in March. A draft marijuana legalization bill should be ready by the end of March, anti-drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril said. The bill will cover rules for cultivation, production of marijuana products, distribution, sale, and export to other countries. Voboril said he wanted the new marijuana regime in place next year. There are currently plans to create a registry of consumers, small producers, or marijuana associations, but talks in working group set up by the prime minister are ongoing.

Ukraine Patients', Human Rights, and Veterans' Groups Call for Legal Medical Marijuana. A bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana (No. 7457) has been sitting before parliament for the past six months, and now patient, veteran, and human rights groups are appealing to members of Parliament to move on it. Some 89 groups have joined the appeal. "The patients' community has been fighting for six years to ensure that people with serious illnesses can relieve pain with medicines based on medical cannabis. These are patients with epilepsy, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, multiple sclerosis and PTSD. Such treatment is a normal practice in more than 50 countries of the world. Today, our patients abroad can receive medicines based on medical cannabis, it is necessary to give them such an opportunity in Ukraine," said Inna Ivanenko, the executive director of the Patients of Ukraine Charitable Foundation.