A state judge dismissed a lawsuit recently filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office against the city of Austin. The suit claimed an ordinance that deprioritizes low-level marijuana arrests goes against the state’s constitution and could cause chaos.
Travis County Judge Jan Soifer dismissed the suit last week, ruling that the ordinance was not unconstitutional and didn’t stop police from making drug arrests.
The suit was filed in response to the Austin Freedom Act, a voter-approved ordinance that bars police from issuing citations or arresting individuals for Class A or Class B marijuana offenses, except when the violation is connected to a more serious charge.
Assistant Attorney General Ryan Kercher told reporters that the Texas Constitution leaves drug criminalization up to the state’s legislature, and that decriminalizing marijuana at the city level illegally circumvents the rules. Special Counsel Jacob Przada told reporters that inconsistency in rules will be confusing and cause chaos.
Emails Reveal NY Gov. Was Warned of Bad Deal
A batch of leaked emails obtained by The City, revealed that New York cannabis officials repeatedly voiced concerns over numerous policy decisions that negatively impacted the rollout of the state’s marijuana program.
One such decision was a $150 million deal with investment firm Chicago Atlantic Group to finance a cannabis business loan program. A number of officials were concerned that the contract included provisions that purportedly benefited the company at the expense of the state.
The contract reportedly contained steep lending costs and strict repayment terms for dispensary loans and the state was required to back a guaranteed 15% investment on every loan to Chicago Atlantic even if they defaulted.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year publicly chastised the state’s regulators for the failed rollout of the state’s cannabis program. But according to the unearthed emails, the governor’s office received repeated warnings from cannabis officials, but still went through with the deal.
CA Looks to Legalize Psychedelic Therapy
California lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would legalize psilocybin therapy for veterans and first responders.
Earlier this month, California state Sens. Brian Jones (R) and Josh Becker (D) introduced the Heal Our Heroes Act, which would create a pilot program for military veterans and first responders to access psilocybin treatments for mental health issues in a regulated setting.
“To be clear, I’m not calling for the widespread legalization of psychedelic drugs,” Jones said in a news release. “Rather, I’m championing a targeted medical treatment aimed specifically at aiding veterans and first responders in their recovery.”
Jones said the bill is meant to give experts a chance to study the effectiveness of psychedelic treatments while hopefully providing relief to patients.
If passed, the bill would authorize San Francisco, Santa Cruz and San Diego counties to run the pilot program. The counties would be responsible for authorizing licensed physicians or surgeons, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, licensed professional clinical counselors or naturopathic doctors to be facilitators.
The pilot program would only run for three years and counties would be expected to collect data and produce a report at the two-year mark. Participants would be screened for suitability before being allowed into the program.