XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1191 -- 7/13/23
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1191

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ROLLS OUT PLAN TO CONFRONT XYLAZINE-FENTANYL
PHENOMENON [FEATURE]
The White House rolls out a National Response Plan for the emerging
threat of fentanyl combined with xylazine. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/13/biden_administration_rolls_out

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
It looks like there will be no medical marijuana for North Carolina this
year, Minnesota's program adds 19 new qualifying conditions to its
already lengthy list, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/12/medical_marijuana_update

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
We have a pair of Customs and Border Patrol miscreants this week, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/06/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. LUXEMBOURG PASSES LIMITED LEGAL WEED BILL, FL DECRIMINALIZES FENTANYL
TEST STRIPS, MORE... (6/29/23)
Amsterdam wants a city district to be part of a national regulated
marijuana supply experiment, Florida's attorney general challenges a
marijuana legalization initiative, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/29/luxembourg_passes_limited_legal

5. WHO CALLS OUT GLOBAL MORPHINE PAIN RELIEF DISPARITIES, VANCE WANTS US MILITARY FORCE AGAINST CARTELS, MORE... (7/3/23)
A British festival organizer is reaming the Home Office over its sudden requirement that pill testing efforts be licensed, another Republican politician wants to use the US military to fight Mexican drug cartels,
and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/03/who_calls_out_global_morphine

6. OHIO LEGALIZATION INITIATIVE HANDS IN SIGNATURES, MEXICO VIOLENCE
FLARES IN MORELOS, MORE... (7/5/23)
Maryland saw a big opening weekend for legal marijuana sales, Oklahoma
medical marijuana operators are suing regulators over a new fee
schedule, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/05/ohio_legalization_initiative

7. DELAWARE FENTANYL/XYLAZINE TEST STRIP PILOT, SAFE BANKING ACT COULD
GET COMMITTEE VOTE, MORE... (7/6/23)
A bipartisan marijuana legalization bill is filed in Pennsylvania, New
York puts legal weed sales at farmers markets on hold, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/06/delaware_fentanylxylazine_test

8. SCOTLAND CALLS FOR DRUG DECRIM, GERMANY UNVEILS DRAFT LEGALIZATION
BILL, MORE... (7/7/23)
Florida's governor signs a bill allowing medical marijuana patients to
use telehealth, a trio of Pennyslvania medical marijuana bills is
heading for a Senate floor vote, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/07/scotland_calls_drug_decrim

9. NEW QUALIFYING CONDITIONS FOR MN MEDMJ, PA POT POLL SHOWS DECLINING
SUPPORT, MORE... (7/10/23)
Virginia's GOP governor indicates he is not interested in legal
marijuana sales, a New York city has to pay for firing a medical
marijuana patient, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/10/new_qualifying_conditions_mn

10. MA THERAPEUTIC PSYCHEDELIC INIT, CA POT COMPANIES USED FAKE UNIONS,
MORE... (7/11/23)
Oregon's most populous county backs away from a widely criticized harm reduction program, California pot companies tied to fake labor unions
could lose their licenses, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/11/ma_therapeutic_psychedelic_init

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================

1. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ROLLS OUT PLAN TO CONFRONT XYLAZINE-FENTANYL
PHENOMENON [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jul/13/biden_administration_rolls_out

In its latest move to confront the rapidly rising incidence of overdose
deaths and other deleterious consequences of the combination use of the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine ("tranq") and fentanyl, the Biden administration on Tuesday released a National Response Plan (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FENTANYL-ADULTERATED-OR-ASSOCIATED-WITH-XYLAZINE-EMERGING-THREAT-RESPONSE-PLAN-Report-July-2023.pdf)
to coordinate a whole-of-government approach to the threat.

The plan calls for a public health campaign of increased testing and
treatment and more data collection to see how the drug combo spreads and contributes to overdose numbers. But it also calls for looking into
whether to schedule xylazine and includes the reflex resort to law
enforcement to try to suppress supply.

This is just the latest in a series of steps the administration has
taken since late last year to address the emerging phenomenon. Last
December, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug
czar's office) head Dr. Rahul Gupta hosted (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2022/12/27/readout-from-dr-guptas-listening-session-with-public-health-and-safety-leaders-on-xylazine-and-efforts-to-address-trends/)
a listening session with public health and public safety leaders and
subject matter experts from several states and territories about trends
they are seeing related to xylazine and efforts to address these trends.
In January, Dr. Gupta convened (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2023/01/18/readout-of-evolving-and-emerging-drug-threats-committee-meeting-regarding-xylazine/)
the Evolving and Emerging Threats Committee to discuss the emergence of fentanyl adulterated with xylazine in the illicit drug supply.

In February, the Food and Drug Administration took action (https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-action-restrict-unlawful-import-xylazine)
to restrict the unlawful entry of xylazine active pharmaceutical
ingredients and finished dosage form drug products into the country and
in March, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued (https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-reports-widespread-threat-fentanyl-mixed-xylazine)
a public safety alert to warn the American public of a sharp increase in
the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. In April, Dr. Gupta
named (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2023/04/12/biden-harris-administration-designates-fentanyl-combined-with-xylazine-as-an-emerging-threat-to-the-united-states/)
the xylazine-fentanyl combination an emerging public health threat, the
first time such a designation has been used since Congress authorized it
in 2018.

"Since we announced the emerging drug threat earlier this year, we've
been working tirelessly to create the best plan of attack to address
this dangerous and deadly substance head-on," said Dr. Gupta (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/07/11/fact-sheet-in-continued-fight-against-overdose-epidemic-the-white-house-releases-national-response-plan-to-address-the-emerging-threat-of-fentanyl-combined-with-xylazine/)
in a statement. "Now, with this National Response Plan, we are launching coordinated efforts across all of government to ensure we are using
every lever we have to protect public health and public safety, and save
lives. As a doctor, I have seen the devastating consequences of xylazine combined with fentanyl firsthand. And as President Biden's drug policy
advisor, I am laser-focused on finding every tool we have and following
the best evidence-based practices to take on this new challenge. This
will be an all-hands-on-deck effort -- but I am confident we can take
action together and eradicate this emerging threat."

Fentanyl first emerged as a significant actor in the illicit drug market
in the early to mid-2010s, while xylazine entered the scene in the late
2010s. Now, xylazine has been detected in nearly every state in the
country, and xylazine-involved overdose deaths are skyrocketing, albeit
from very low initial levels. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) reported last month (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7226a4.htm?s_cid=mm7226a4_w)
that the monthly percentage of fentanyl deaths with xylazine detected
jumped from 2.9 percent in January 2019 to 10.9 percent in June 2022.
CDC also found that the death rate from xylazine overdoses jumped
35-fold from 2018 to 2021.

Xylazine is a tranquilizer, not an opioid, and thus does not respond to
opioid overdose reversal drugs such as naloxone. It also has other
serious potential health effects, including wounds that may eventually
require amputations, as well as breathing difficulties.

"If we thought fentanyl was dangerous, fentanyl combined with xylazine
is even deadlier," Dr. Gupta said in a press call (https://rollcall.com/2023/07/11/biden-administration-offers-plan-to-counter-deadly-xylazine-use/)
previewing the plan Monday.

But he warned that the plan will need Congress to step up with funding
if it is to be be fully implemented. He noted that the Biden
administration Fiscal Year 2024 budget request includes funding for
emerging threats.

"We will do what we can with what we have until we get the resources
from Congress," Dr. Gupta said. "It's a matter of utilizing what we have
right now in order to save lives while we're encouraging Congress to
pass the president's budget and provide those resources as quickly as
possible. We're going to move ahead as quickly as possible because the
fact is that lives are on the line."

================ ...
___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
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Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
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Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

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--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

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