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Big Victory for Gun and Drug Rights

On Thursday, the justices of the United States Supreme Court unanimously concluded in deciding the case of United States v. Hemani that the US government violates the Second Amendment of the Constitution in enforcing a prohibition on people owning or possessing guns merely because those individuals also use marijuana. Further, the reasoning of the decision suggests that the court may similarly throw out such denials of respect for the right to own or possess guns in regard to people who use at least some of the other drugs subject to the US government’s drug prohibition.

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Next Step, Remove Marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) took a significant step in reducing the scope and harm of the US government’s war on marijuana when they jointly announced in April the immediate easing of some aspects of marijuana prohibition under US law. The changes include the moving of marijuana regulated under a state medical marijuana license from the most restrictive Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to the less restrictive Schedule III of the act.

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California Repeals its New Tax Increase on Marijuana

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a repeal of a substantial tax increase on marijuana sales in the state. By raising the cost of marijuana on the legal market, the tax increase was leading people to opt instead for making purchases on the black market.

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California Does Not Stop Its Marijuana Tax Increase After All

On the first day of July already relatively high marijuana taxes in California went up more with the kicking in of a tax increase from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. It had looked like this tax increase would likely be avoided. But, here it is.

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The California Assembly Unanimously Votes Against a Tax

California has earned a reputation for high taxes. Yet, this week there is a sign of hope for tax resistance in the state legislature. On Monday, the California Assembly voted unanimously to delay by five years a tax increase that had been set to go into effect on July 1.

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Vaping Madness at the FDA

“For the children.” That is a go-to justification for politicians and bureaucrats seeking to infringe on individual rights. It was on display last week in the final minutes of the testimony of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary before a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Makary was exaggerating the extent of vaping among high school students and saying that the addiction to vaping among “kids in America” is “something that we have to address” and a “top priority” for Donald Trump’s presidential administration.

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The Big Fall in the US Government’s Marijuana Arrests since States Started Legalizing

Marijuana is still illegal under United States law, as it was before the waves through states to first legalize marijuana for medical use and then adopt, starting in 2012, “recreational marijuana” legalization. Faced with this expanding of respect for free choice, the US government has backed off in large part, scaling down its war on marijuana effort.

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Two Years into His Drug War that Continues Today, Nixon Privately Stated that Marijuana is ‘Not Particularly Dangerous’

A newly reported on March of 1973 recording of a private conversation of then President Richard Nixon with some of his executive branch aides includes Nixon commenting that marijuana is “not particularly dangerous.” He also stated that penalties related to marijuana should be evaluated to make sure they are not too harsh. Nixon, as an example, described as “wrong” a Texas 10 year prison term for a marijuana offence.

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President Joe Biden’s Underwhelming Marijuana Reform Accomplishments

In October of 2022, I wrote about the underwhelming nature of President Joe Biden’s pardons for some people convicted of marijuana offenses. What Biden proclaimed was a big rollback in the war on marijuana was really much less. The same goes for the new effort by the Biden administration to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.

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Expunging Millions of Marijuana Records in America

Earlier this month, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) related that its tabulating of state court actions across America has produced the estimate that, since 2018, state courts have expunged, or sealed, marijuana-related records from 2.3 million cases.