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The California Assembly on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill that would establish a pilot program to allow certain jurisdictions throughout the state to authorize safe consumption sites where people could use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment.<\/p>\n
The legislation from Sen. Scott Wiener (D) cleared the chamber in a 42-28 vote. Because it was amended during the Assembly committee process<\/a>, it must still return to the Senate for concurrence following the July recess before potentially heading to the governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a years-long journey for SB 57, which was first introduced in December 2020 and passed the full Senate in April 2021. Prior to the latest floor vote in the Assembly, it advanced through the Health Committee and Public Safety Committee.<\/p>\n Wiener, who has championed several drug policy reform bills in the legislation, including one to\u00a0legalize possession of psychedelics that\u2019s sat in legislative limbo<\/a> since clearing the Senate and two Assembly panels last year, said following Thursday\u2019s vote that safe consumption sites \u201care a proven strategy to save lives & get people into treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill now returns to the Senate after our July recess for final sign off before heading to the Governor.<\/p>\n Huge thanks to Assemblymembers @MattHaneySF<\/a> @AsmCarrillo<\/a> @SantiagoAD53<\/a> @laurafriedman43<\/a> for working with us as a team to get this done.<\/p>\n Huge win for public health.<\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 30, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cEvery overdose death is preventable,\u201d the senator said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cWe have the tools to end these deaths, get people healthy, and reduce harm for people who use drugs. Right now, we are letting people die on our streets for no reason other than an arbitrary legal prohibition that we need to remove. SB 57<\/a> is long overdue, and will make a huge impact for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n As Wiener has previously pointed out, these types of harm reduction programs have precedent, with other countries having already effectively demonstrated that they can save lives. Despite federal obstacles, New York City became the first city in the U.S. to sanction safe consumption sites<\/a>, and\u00a0officials have touted the early results<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the federal level, the White House drug czar recently said that the Biden administration is reviewing broader drug policy harm reduction proposals<\/a>, including the authorization of supervised consumption sites\u2014and he went so far as to suggest possible decriminalization.<\/p>\n \u2014 While the Biden administration is still investigating the clinical efficacy of such facilities, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Rahul Gupta said that the proposal to lift the existing federal ban is on the table. The comments come as the Justice Department is in ongoing litigation<\/a> in a\u00a0case concerning the legality of safe consumption sites that was brought about as a challenge to a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, Safehouse.<\/p>\n DOJ said in February that it is actively \u201cevaluating supervised consumption sites<\/a>, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, the Supreme Court\u00a0rejected a request to hear a case<\/a>\u00a0on the legality of establishing the Safehouse facilities, but the case is still before a lower federal court.<\/p>\n The National Institutes of Health (NIH)\u00a0put out a pair of requests for applications<\/a>\u00a0(RFAs) in December for an effort that will provide funding for efforts to investigate how that and other harm reduction policies could help address the drug crisis.<\/p>\n Gupta previously said that it\u2019s critical to explore \u201cany and every option\u201d to reduce overdose deaths, and that\u00a0could include allowing safe consumption sites<\/a>\u00a0for illegal substances if the evidence supports their efficacy.<\/p>\n The secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, has also signaled that the Biden administration would not move to block the establishment safe injection sites, stressing that \u201cwe are literally trying to give users a lifeline.\u201d<\/p>\n But a department spokesperson\u00a0later walked those remarks back<\/a>, stating that \u201cHHS does not have a position on supervised consumption sites\u201d and the \u201cissue is a matter of ongoing litigation.\u201d In any case, it would be up to DOJ to decide whether to pursue operators of the facilities under the Controlled Substances Act.<\/p>\n At the state level, a New York Assembly committee advanced a bill last month to establish a\u00a0statewide safe consumption site program<\/a>, allowing regulators to authorize facilities where people could use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment.<\/p>\n In a setback for advocates, however, Vermont\u2019s governor recently vetoed a bill that would have simply created a working group tasked with crafting a plan to open safe consumption sites<\/a>.<\/p>\n A poll released in April found that a majority of Americans (64 percent)\u00a0support allowing safe consumption sites<\/a>.<\/p>\n Back in California, the legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that provides significant tax relief<\/a> for the state\u2019s marijuana industry, which advocates and stakeholders hope will drive down the illicit market while supporting licensed businesses and equity interests.<\/p>\n California Marijuana Tax Relief Bill Heads To Governor\u2019s Desk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Jernej Furman<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post California Assembly Approves Senate-Passed Bill To Allow Safe Drug Consumption Site Pilot Program<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The California Assembly on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill that would establish a pilot program to allow certain jurisdictions throughout the state to authorize safe consumption sites where people could use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment. The legislation from Sen. Scott Wiener (D) cleared the chamber inContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":55594,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55595,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55593\/revisions\/55595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: California Assembly Approves Senate-Passed Bill To Allow Safe Drug Consumption Site Pilot Program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"