A sad farewell + a welcome pardon
This free-content issue includes: what Biden's pardon move means for MN, the loss of a cannabis advocate in CD2, a local interview with the national drug czar, and more
The Pre-Roll curates the most important cannabis news and developments at the intersection of policy, politics, and industry development. With over 1,500 subscribers, the Pre-Roll is Minnesota’s premier source for cannabis-related information and intelligence.
The Pre-Roll is written by Blunt Strategies, Minnesota’s first and only full-service strategic consultancy cultivated exclusively for the cannabis industry.
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1. Farewell to Legalization Advocate Paula Overby
On Wednesday, we received the sad news that Paula Overby, a longtime supporter of cannabis legalization and the Legalize Marijuana Now candidate in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, passed away from heart-related complications. Our deepest condolences go out to Paula’s family and friends.
The following language from Paula’s website reflects her deep belief and commitment to ending cannabis prohibition and its systemic, racist harms:
The misguided “war” on drugs has resulted in little more than the creation of a militarized police force that focuses on the incarceration of low-level drug users that feeds the for-profit prison industry and is waged primarily in communities of color and oppressive poverty, rather than addressing the root causes of this crisis. It is time to end this masquerade. We are not winning, and we are suffering enormous casualties. This misguided initiative is clearly not providing any relief from this public health crisis.
As noted by Kare11, this is the second election cycle where the Legalize Marijuana Now candidate in the 2nd Congressional District race has passed away just weeks before the election. The MN Secretary of State’s Office has said that, absent a court order requiring otherwise, the 2nd Congressional District election will proceed as scheduled on November 8, and Overby’s name will appear on the ballot. The race remains one of the tightest battlegrounds in the nation.
2. Biden Pardons Simple Marijuana Convictions
On Thursday, October 6, President Joe Biden announced executive action to pardon everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law since the crime was first established in the 1970s. From the New York Times’ reporting:
The pardons will not apply to people convicted of selling or distributing marijuana. And officials said there are no people now serving time in federal prisons solely for marijuana possession. But the move will help remove obstacles for people trying to get a job, find housing, apply to college or get federal benefits.
Mr. Biden urged governors to follow his lead for people convicted on state charges of simple possession, who vastly outnumber those charged under federal laws.
…
While studies show white and Black people use marijuana at similar rates, a Black person is more than three times as likely to be arrested for possession than a white person, according to a report from the A.C.L.U. that analyzed marijuana arrest data from 2010 to 2018.
A vast majority of marijuana arrests fall under the jurisdiction of states, but the crime has historically represented about a third of nationwide drug possession arrests by state and federal officials. According to preliminary F.B.I. data, more than 170,800 of the roughly 490,000 drug possession arrests in 2021 were related to marijuana possession.
Biden has also asked the U.S. Attorney General to review whether marijuana should be removed from the federal government’s list of Schedule 1 substances.
Following Biden’s announcement, the MNisReady Coalition, a coalition of Minnesota’s leading cannabis advocacy advocacy organizations, issued a statement calling on the Minnesota Board of Pardons to follow the President’s lead and pardon those with a criminal record for simple cannabis possession. From that statement:
The MNisReady Coalition is calling on the Minnesota Board of Pardons to take action to pardon offenders convicted of personal possession crimes, including 5th degree controlled substance crimes for the possession of non-plant cannabis products (which are currently a felony in Minnesota) following President Biden’s announcement that he is pardoning all federal marijuana possession offenses.
President Biden’s announcement is a significant step toward remedying the harms of cannabis prohibition at the national level for more than 6,500 Americans caught in the antiquated, failed war on drugs.
As part of his announcement, President Biden urged states to take similar action. In Minnesota, that power is vested with the Board of Pardons which is composed of Governor Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lori Gildea. Pardons require a unanimous vote of the Board.
The Minnesota Reformer, CBS Minnesota, and Pioneer Press all provided coverage of the implications of Biden’s announcement for Minnesota.
3. Vireo Lawsuit Update
The first hearing on motions for Vireo’s lawsuit against the MN Commissioner of Health, Director of the Office of Medical Cannabis, Attorney General, and several county attorneys has been scheduled for January 17, 2023. Paid subscribers of the Pre-Roll can look forward to a more in-depth news and analysis, as well as copies of the latest court documents, in Friday’s premium-content issue.
4. National Drug Czar’s Local Media Interview
Director of White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta sat down for a one-on-one interview last week with KSTP News. Gupta was visiting St. Paul for a summit of substance use recovery organizations. When asked about Minnesota’s new law legalizing hemp-derived THC edible products, Gupta said:
I think as we look across the country we have a patchwork of states some who have legalized marijuana products, others who have medical cannabis still others that have none basically. We’re monitoring both the processes but also in addition to the regulations, the data that comes out of it to look at what is the impact on communities, what is the business impact, what does the cost impact, what is the public health impact as well as the impact of the criminal justice.
5. Board of Pharma Among Growing Calls for a MN Cannabis Management Board
Twin Cities Business Magazine published a detailed article about the challenges and ambiguities of Minnesota’s new laws legalizing hemp-derived THC products. The article concludes with some noteworthy statements from the executive director of the MN Board of Pharmacy:
In an email to TCB, Board of Pharmacy executive director Jill Phillips, said the board lacked expertise and experience with this industry, yet was tasked with interpretation, education, and enforcement of the new statute.
“Also, there were no additional funds and resources provided to support this effort and the board is limited in terms of administrative tools to enforce the new law,” she wrote. “To compensate, we work closely with our sister agencies and law enforcement to fill the gaps. Most importantly however, these businesses (manufacturers, distributors, and retailers) are not licensed and therefore, we are not able to identify all the players. This is a critical need that must be addressed in the upcoming legislative session.”
Ultimately, Phillips said the establishment of a cannabis management office is necessary moving forward. Additional and revised legislation is needed to address the gaps in the previous bill including taxation of the products, adequate funding for additional infrastructure to support the new industry, and licensing.
“We continue to work together as a cross-agency team to build the infrastructure necessary to support this new legislation in the interim,” she wrote.