Safe Drug Consumption Sites Possible In US, New Zealand's Aerial Weed Busts, Ireland Looks At Legalizing Marijuana

Here's How Safe Drug Consumption Sites Could Get Green Light

Just days after National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) director Nora Volkow said safe consumption sites are "preventing people from dying," congressional researchers issued a report focused on opioid regulations under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Interestingly the part of the document discussed supervised consumption site policy.

Even though the Biden administration is open to prioritizing "harm reduction" as a response to drug abuse while examining information on marijuana legalization and sites where people could use illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment, "uncertainty remains as to the legality of supervised consumption sites under the CSA," per the report.

"Congress could resolve that uncertainty by enacting legislation. If Congress decided to allow supervised consumption sites to operate, it could consider the breadth of such authorization," the research agency said. "One option would be to exempt supervised consumption sites from CSA control entirely."

The report suggested possible steps Congress could take to resolve the issue, reported Marijuana Moment.

One would be "to exempt from federal prosecution facilities operating in compliance with state and local law, as it has done with state-sanctioned medical marijuana activities.

"Another option would be for Congress to impose specific registration requirements for supervised consumption sites under the CSA, as it has done for entities that administer medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction," CRS said.

Nevada To Award First Consumption Lounge Licenses

Meanwhile, Nevada regulators are getting ready to award the state's first independent cannabis consumption lounge licenses. The state Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) said on Wednesday that it would hold lotteries on November 30.

Out of 20 elected businesses, 10 are reserved for social equity applicants.

"The CCB anticipates the first lounges to be licensed and able to open during the first half of 2023," the notice says.

Nevada officially began accepting applications for cannabis consumption lounges in October. Last June, the Nevada Senate approved the cannabis consumption lounges legalization bill in a 17-3 vote, sending it to democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak's desk who signed it into law a week later. Under the law, there are two new licensing categories for cannabis businesses: retail cannabis consumption lounges and independent cannabis consumption lounges.

Aerial Cannabis Operation Will Soon Begin, New Zealand Police Confirm

Although medical cannabis products are available and accessible in New Zealand following the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Act of 2018 and the 2020 Medicinal Cannabis Scheme (MCS) becoming law, many who need cannabis to alleviate pain and symptoms of debilitating illnesses are struggling to obtain it.

Much-needed help is coming from the so-called "green fairies" who manufacture quality products, though they cultivate cannabis illegally and thus are under threat of prosecution.

Over the summer, police conducted searches for large-scale illegal marijuana-growing operations and seized over 34,000 plants valued at $95 million, reported Newshub.

Nationally-coordinated operations are ready to kick off.

"Police will conduct aerial searches for large-scale illegal cannabis growing operations, as we did last summer," a spokesperson told Newshub. "The nationally-coordinated operation will be conducted across several regions of New Zealand as part of the police's wider cannabis investigation and prevention operations."

Cannabis advocates are disappointed.

"I don't really understand why the police are continuing this vendetta," Pearle Schomburg, convener of the Auckland Patients Group, adding that "people cannot afford the legal products."

Ireland To Legalize Low-Level Possession Of Rec Marijuana Under New Bill

An Irish lawmaker introduced legislation seeking to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 18 and older.

"The bill itself is quite moderate. It's amending existing legislation that dates back 42 years ago—and 42 years ago was a very, very long time," said TD (parliament member) Gino Kenny of People Before Profit. "We need a different narrative in relation to drug reform because criminalizing people for small possessions of any drug, particularly cannabis, is a complete waste of time, and it's a waste of resources."

The bill before the Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) raised some eyebrows among top government officials.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the former health minister who currently serves as the head of Ireland's government, doesn't seem to favor the measure seeking to legalize the possession of up to seven grams of marijuana by adults, as it may lead to "glamorizing" cannabis use.

"There are real concerns within the health community and the medical community about what cannabis can do to young people," Martin said.

However, he signaled that he is not openly against it either.

"I will examine it and we will look at data and we'll take advice from a number of disciplines—be it policing, be it health," Martin said. "And certainly, I would prefer a system that decriminalizes in the sense that were there to help people with challenges with harmful substances such as cannabis."

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