Corrections Canada is embracing harm reduction by handing out snorting straws and drug testing strips to prisoners; marijuana arrests declined dramatically in Virginia after legalization, and more. 

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Marijuana Policy

Doh! Virginia Data Shows Dramatic Decline in Marijuana Arrests and Prosecutions After Legalization. Here's a shocker for you: Marijuana legalization leads to fewer marijuana arrests and prosecutions. Data released last week from the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission shows a dramatic decline in pot busts following decriminalization in 2020 and legalization in 2021. 

Simple pot possession charges plummeted after the reforms, as did distribution charges. Possession charges fell to near zero, while distribution charges, which peaked in the early 2010s, also dropped sharply.

Still, marijuana offenses have not completely vanished from the scene. Marijuana offenses such as underage possession and possessing or consuming pot in a motor vehicle, created under criminal code reorganizations in 2022, led to more than 4,000 criminal charges. More than half (51.8 percent) were for underage possession, while another 38.9 percent were for motor vehicle violations.

Authorities also filed public use charges against 351 people and convicted 247 of them, and they busted 13 people for illicit growing, but only managed to convict three of them. 

Before marijuana reforms, marijuana was a major part of arrest numbers and court dockets, with the state reporting 26,470 marijuana-related arrests in 2019. In 2020, as decriminalization took hold, that number dropped to 13,674, just over half as many. And now, only kids and car-borne scofflaws are racking up pot charges. 

Hemp

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Seeks Support for Hemp-Derived Intoxicating Products Bill. State Sen. Dawn Keefer (R) is seeking support from colleagues for a bill she intends to file that would keep products with hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoids legal but would add age limits and new requirements for registration, testing, and labeling. 

Keefer is calling the proposed bill the Pennsylvania Hemp and Cannabinoid Act.

"The bill gives responsible hemp businesses a clear state framework and keeps intoxicating products out of the hands of children while federal hemp policy remains unsettled," she wrote in a memo to colleagues seeking cosponsors.

Hemp was legalized in 2018, opening the door for an unanticipated wave of hemp-derived intoxicating products. Pennsylvania has not responded, Keefer said, noting that there is no statewide regulation of those products with "no Pennsylvania age gate, no uniform testing or labeling standard, and no retail accountability. Those products are sold next to candy and snacks," she said. "Some are packaged and flavored to appeal to children."

Keefer said that her bill is "not adult-use marijuana legalization" but that it would protect "responsible Pennsylvania farmers, manufacturers, and retailers" who have "built a lawful market."

"What it does is protect the responsible consumable hemp industry and keep harmful products away from children," the senator’s cosponsorship memo says. "It requires Department of Agriculture registration, independent testing and truthful labels, 21-and-over sales with ID checks, and a ban on candy-style packaging and youth-targeted marketing. It also grandfathers existing Pennsylvania operators who can document lawful pre-enactment operations."

While federal hemp policy is in flux, with a ban on products with more than 0,4 milligrams of THC per container set to go into effect in November amidst an ongoing battle to prevent that from happening, states can set their own hemp policies, similar to what has happened with marijuana. The question now is whether states that ignore the federal hemp ban (if it is imposed) can follow the same path as states that legalize marijuana even though it remains federally illegal. 

Keefer said that "federal delay is not a reason for Pennsylvania inaction."

"If Congress lets the federal cap take effect, our state still needs age limits, testing, and a public registry so responsible operators can comply," she said. "If Congress replaces the cap with a regulated federal market, Pennsylvania still needs its own 21-and-over retail rules."

International

Canadian Prisons Will Distribute Snorting Straws as a Harm Reduction Measure. Corrections Canada has confirmed that it will soon begin handing out paper straws in federal prisons in a bid to make snorting drugs safer. 

In a memo distributed to Corrections staff, the prison service said the straws were being newly "introduced" for "safer snorting" and "intended for inhaling substances in powdered form or inhaling vapor from heated substances."

The memo said paper straws will "reduce harm" by lessening the risk of internal nose cuts that could occur from homemade or plastic straws and reduce infections from diseases such as hepatitis B and C, while "recognizing that overdose and toxicity risk remain."

Corrections Canada will also allow the distribution of foil strips "for safer smoking," as well as drug-testing strips for fentanyl, benzodiazepine and xylazine.

The agency said it was responding "to increased inhalation, smoking and snorting substances among federal inmates," adding that "harm reduction must adapt to reduce overdose risks, prevent the transmission of infectious diseases and align with current evidence-based practices."

It added that harm reduction interventions "are widely recognized as cost-effective because they help prevent the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C, reducing the need for significantly more expensive medical treatment and long-term health care costs associated with these conditions."

Training for staff charged with distributing supplies begins October 1, with the first straws and test strips going out on October 13. 

Philippines Sentences Two to Life for Selling 44 Pounds of Weed. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has announced that two men were sentenced to life in prison for selling 44 pounds of marijuana. Roldan Jacinto and Rocky Jet Bagoling were sentenced on September 24 in a regional trial court branch in Benguet for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Under the provisions of that law, mere possession of slightly more than a pound (500 grams) of marijuana is punishable by up to life in prison.

The Philippines holds more than 170,000 people in prison, the vast majority jailed for drug charges. There is no official public breakdown of which prisoners were charged with which drugs, but drug enforcement is heavily weighted toward methamphetamine. Still, marijuana is one of the most used and seized illicit substances in the country, according to the Dangerous Drugs Board.