MN House Votes to Legalize Cannabis, with Singapore Set to Hang Man for Two Pounds of It, More… (4/25/23)

Another year of no marijuana legalization for Louisiana, the European Union sanctions Syrian officials and entities for trafficking in a Middle Eastern amphetamine, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Louisiana Marijuana Legalization Bill Killed in Committee. A bill that would have legalized marijuana, House Bill24, is dead after failing to win support in the House Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday. The measure garnered only three "yes" votes in the committee. Bill sponsor Rep. Candace Newell (D-New Orleans) has introduced the bill for the last several sessions and has vowed to continue filing it until it passes.

Minnesota House Votes to Legalize Marijuana; Senate Vote Coming Friday. The House on Tuesday gave final approval to a marijuana legalization bill, House File 100, on a vote of 71-59. The Senate is set to vote on its version of the bill on Friday. There are some differences between the two bills which will have to be ironed out in conference committee if and when the Senate bill also passes.

Drug Testing

Missouri Measure to Outlaw "Drug Masking Products" Gets Senate Committee Hearing. A measure that has already cleared the House as part of a larger crime bill, House Bill 1108, would make it harder to cheat on drug tests by criminalizing the distribution and sale of synthetic urine or any other "drug masking product." The bill would make the offense a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum one year in jail and $2,000 fine. The bill get a hearing Monday in the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, where it heard testimony from a lobbyist for Quest Diagnostics, the largest drug testing company in the country. No vote was taken.

International

UN Asks Singapore to Halt Execution of Man for Two Pounds of Marijuana. The United Nations Human Rights Office called Tuesday for Singapore to "urgently reconsider" the looming Wednesday execution of a man convicted of abetting a conspiracy to distribute two pounds of marijuana. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to death in 2018. Under Singapore law, crimes involving more than one pound of marijuana merit the death penalty.

"The death penalty is still being used in a small number of countries, largely because of the myth that it deters crime," the UN Human Rights Office said. "We have concerns around due process and respect for fair trial guarantees. The UN Human Rights Office calls on the authorities not to proceed with his execution," it added.

British billionaire Richard Branson, who sits on the Global Commission on Drug Policy, has also called on Singapore to halt the execution, prompting the Singapore Home Affairs Ministry to push back, saying Branson showed "disrespect for Singapore's judges and our criminal justice system with such allegations." Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years. If Tangaraju is hanged, it would be the country's first execution in six months. Eleven executions were carried out last year, all for drug offenses.

Council of Europe Sanctions Syrian Officials, Companies over Captagon Trafficking. The Council of Europe, the executive organ of the European Union, has issued sanctions against 25 individuals and eight entities for their role in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs, notably Captagon, an amphetamine popular in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The trade in amphetamine has become a regime-led business model, enriching the inner circle of the regime and providing it with revenue that contributes to its ability to maintain its policies of repression against the civilian population," the Council said. "For this reason the Council designated various members of the Assad family – including multiple cousins of Bashar al-Assad, leaders and members of regime-affiliated militias and businesspeople with close ties to the Assad family, as well as persons associated with the Syrian army and the Syrian military intelligence."

Sanctions on Syria were first introduced in 2011 in response to the violent repression of the civilian population by the Assad regime. EU sanctions in place regarding Syria target the Assad regime and its supporters, as well as sectors of the economy from which the regime was making profit.