SIFs in Seattle and more [#80]

This Week in Drugs

During the hiatus, Sam and Tyler will discuss the biggest stories and forecast upcoming events in drug policy.

News Updates:

• King County health officials voted unanimously to implement a pilot program for two safe injection sites where people can consume illegal drugs under medical supervision.
• Conservative groups call for stopping rules against e-cigs, new study on health effects
• A memo from the Office of National Drug Control Policy on January 9th encourages Federal Agencies to stop using the term “addict” and adopt person-first language.
• Rodrigo Duterte threatens martial law, then claims he didn’t

Headlines:

• German MPs vote to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes
• As planned, DC cannabis activists gave out thousands of free joints in the nation’s capital on Friday in order to have people smoke out Trump’s inauguration. Organizers went above the 4,200 joints planned, saying that they gave out over 8,000. Anthony Papa, who was caught up in a police sting operation in the 80s, leading him to become an anti-Drug War activist with the Drug Policy Alliance, has received a pardon from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
• With marijuana now legal for those 21 and older in Massachusetts, Rep. Paul McMurtry sees an opportunity to revive a measure that failed last session to raise the tobacco purchasing age to match that of other legal drugs.
• El Chapo, notorious drug cartel leader from Mexico, has been extradited to the United States. His charges include murder, drug trafficking and money-laundering, and he is facing additional indictments.

Forecast:

• 60th Commission on Narcotic Drugs will be the week of March 12th. Stay tuned for updates from SSDP and civil society’s delegation.
• January 23rd, is SSDP’s birthday! This does come with a little disclaimer, since SSDP kind of has two birthdays: the more officially recognized one is October 1, 1998, when a group of drug policy reformers at RIT first decided on the name Students for Sensible Drug Policy. They then organized for a few years, and the second birthday is January 23, 2001, which marks the day SSDP became a legally recognized nonprofit organization. Donate to them for their birthday!

Music Credits:

Intro: Dance for Sport by the2ba
Outro: Carter Dean by America: The Robot

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The post SIFs in Seattle and more [#80] appeared first on This Week in Drugs.