How CBD Can Help Deter Hormone Disrupter Chemicals
Scientists have been looking into the link between hormone imbalance, early menstruation, and quality-of-life for decades.
The post How CBD Can Help Deter Hormone Disrupter Chemicals appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
Marijuana legalization in Arizona seems to be a very real possibility.
In a win for compassionate medicine, four terminally ill patients in Canada will be granted access to psilocybin.
TFT Poll: Trump And Biden Equally Likely To Legalize Marijuana If Elected
No major presidential candidate has emerged as the nominee for the United States of Weed.
The post TFT Poll: Trump And Biden Equally Likely To Legalize Marijuana If Elected appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
Psilocybin shows promise in treating conditions like depression, so this company has come up with a novel way of delivering and dosing the substance.
The post New company to put psilocybin on dissolvable sublingual strips to help treat depression appeared first on Leafly.
“CBD Nation” shines a light on the science behind medical cannabis…and the people who depend on it.
What’s the Difference Between Marijuana CBD And Hemp CBD?
Some patients believe CBD has the most medicinal benefit of all the cannabis compounds. But most don’t realize that there are actually two versions of this product.
The post What’s the Difference Between Marijuana CBD And Hemp CBD? appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
The Laws And Regulations On Hemp CBD In All 50 States
Though the FDA is a federal agency, its policies have a significant impact on the states.
The post The Laws And Regulations On Hemp CBD In All 50 States appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
Image via
Oregon could see a massive reduction in racially disproportionate drug possession arrests if voters approve a decriminalization ballot measure this fall, according to a new report by state justice officials.
This year, Beaver State drug reform advocates overcame extreme difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and managed to get two progressive drug reform measures on this year’s state election ballot. Thanks to their valiant efforts, Oregon will vote on two separate measures in November – one to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy and another that would decriminalize minor possession of all illegal drugs.
Ahead of the election, state officials have prepared reports predicting what would happen if these ballot measures pass. As part of this process, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission was tasked with analyzing the ramifications of the drug decriminalization initiative. If passed, this measure would prevent police from arresting any Oregonian for minor possession or use of any drug.
The commission predicts that approval of the measure would reduce felony and misdemeanor drug possession convictions by 91 percent across the board. According to the analysis, this reduction would be “substantial for all racial groups, ranging from 82.9% for Asian Oregonians to approximately 94% for Native American and Black Oregonians,” Marijuana Moment reports. Overall, this would reduce racially disproportionate drug possession arrests in the state by an incredible 95 percent.
The report notes that racial “disparities can exist at different stages of the criminal justice process, including inequities in police stops, jail bookings, bail, pretrial detention, prosecutorial decisions, and others.” Unfortunately, the committee said they did not have enough data to provide specific estimates on how decriminalization could improve each of these categories.
Still, the report concludes that the massive decrease in convictions “will result in fewer collateral consequences stemming from criminal justice system involvement, which include difficulties in finding employment, loss of access to student loans for education, difficulties in obtaining housing, restrictions on professional licensing, and others.”
In a separate report, the Financial Estimate Committee has analyzed the financial costs and benefits of enacting these two initiatives. The drug decriminalization measure also includes a massive investment in drug treatment funding for the state, which is predicted to cost around $57 million per year. The measure would use the state’s ample cannabis tax revenue to cover these expenses, which should be no problem, considering that weed tax revenue is expected to hit $182 million between 2021 and 2023.
The decriminalization measure would also save money by decreasing law enforcement costs. “These savings are estimated at $0.3 million in 2019-21 and $24.5 million in 2021-23,” the report predicts. “The savings are expected to increase beyond the 2021-23 biennium.”
The financial committee also estimated the cost of the psilocybin initiative at $5.4 million during its two-year startup period. During this initial period, officials will be drafting regulations on the safety and efficacy of psilocybin-based treatments. After this process is complete, any adult in the state “would be allowed to purchase, possess, consume, and experience the effects of psilocybin only at a licensed psilocybin service center during a psilocybin administration session with a licensed psilocybin service facilitator.”
Once the program is underway, the report estimates that it will cost the state $3.1 million a year, but these costs will be completely covered by fees and taxes imposed on legal psilocybin producers and retailers.
Sam Chapman, campaign manager for the psilocybin initiative, told Marijuana Moment that he was glad that the report highlighted the “regulations and safeguards that are built into the measure.” Chapman added that his group felt that the financial committee also “saw and respected our approach to keep the psilocybin therapy program revenue neutral once up and running.”
All in all, these reports conclude that the two measures would bring massive social justice and health benefits to Oregon without adding an undue financial burden to taxpayers. Hopefully, these reports will help sway voters in favor of approving these comprehensive drug reform measures.
Image via
A U.S. Army veteran sentenced to life without parole for selling less than $30 worth of marijuana has been resentenced to time served and is slated to be released after serving nine years.
In 2008, Louisiana resident Derek Harris was busted for selling 0.69 grams of weed to an undercover officer who came to his door asking to buy it. Initially, Harris got 15 years — a travesty in itself — and then fell victim in 2012 to the state’s draconian Habitual Offender Law.
That sick and sadistic legal code empowers judges to resentence inmates who have prior records. As a result, Derek Harris ended up condemned to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Last month, attorneys from The Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) argued before the Louisiana Supreme Court that Harris had been improperly sentenced, citing ineffective legal counseling — specifically that Harris’s lawyer remained silent while he was given a mandatory minimum sentence that “shocks the conscience.”
The court agreed. This past Thursday, the Vermillion Parish District Attorney’s office resentenced Harris to time served and, after nine years behind bars, he will walk free.
The court’s decision will not only liberate Harris, it also defies and seriously weakens a 1996 ruling that prohibited inmates from legally fighting their “post-conviction” penalties. In a statement, the PJI wrote, “Mr. Harris’s resentencing gives hope to many others around the state who have unjustly suffered under the Habitual Offender Law, and will now be able to challenge their sentences post-conviction.”
All but one member of the Louisiana Supreme Court voted to allow Harris a new hearing. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Weimer wrote that Harris “developed a substance abuse problem after returning from his honorable military service in Desert Storm, and his prior offenses were nonviolent and related to his untreated dependency on drugs.”
Cormac Boyle, a PJI attorney who represents Harris, pointed out that the Habitual Offender Law disproportionately targets Black defendants and, following this case, he hopes it will be reconsidered.
“It is certainly time for Louisiana to rethink how it uses the Habitual Offender Law,” Boyle said. “While in theory such a law may be fine, in practice it perpetuates and exposes some of the worst aspects of the criminal justice system.”