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As we begin to read the first book of Samuel, Fr. Mike highlights the miraculous birth of Samuel and how Hannah's deep longing for a son never became an idol in her heart. Today's readings are 1 Samuel 1-2 and Psalm 149.

For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.

Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

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Navigating through all of the new rap artists emerging out of NYC can be tough. Finding someone who is fresh, interesting, and likes to get stoned might even be a mission. Lucky for me, I stumbled upon Cleotrapa. 

Cleo being from Staten Island, which happens to be my hometown, made the assignment even more intriguing. Pair that with the fact that she’s Ice Spice‘s “baddie friend” who’s been by her side in most of the snippets and videos that have stacked up millions of views, this was undoubtedly someone who I had to meet. 

Initially, the first step was to talk to her team. I needed to know what this woman really smokes. Initially, her team led me to believe Cleo was smoking Sprinklez. This is a trend I’m seeing a lot in New York with the youth—they’re leaning towards premium flower with added terpenes. So, I did my due diligence and found her some new flavors of Sprinklez through the homies over at Pressure Paint. I let her team know that I was fully equipped with the bud of choice, and we made plans to get stoned and talk some shit.

Eventually, the game plan turned into a fashion week smoke out. It’s that time of the year in NYC, I’m linking up with Cleotrapa, and we’re going to get baked and hit up some events. Upon arrival at our meetup spot, I hopped in the car, presented her with my acquisition, and she went on to tell me how I was misinformed about her strain preference. Checkmate? I think not! I ended up coming extra prepared and traded her for some buds I had from a beautiful batch of Galactic Runtz courtesy of Wood Wide out of Mendocino and some delicious LA Pop Rocks locally grown by the homies Brooklyn Boys Cannabis Co. She was happy with the gifts, we ended up twisting up some fatties, and inevitably got the car so cloudy that we could barely see anything. Her song “Rockstar” had just dropped, racking up thousands of views in real time, which was why it ultimately became our soundtrack as she proceeded to make social media magic on our way to the event in the passenger seat.

Moments later, we arrive at Belaire‘s NYC headquarters. Cleo has been invited by one of my super-knowledgeable stoner friends, Trinidad James, to get an exclusive look at his Hommewrk line. With just a few clicks on Google you’ll quickly find that Trinidad James is a Grammy-award winner and behind the scenes contributor to some of our favorite artists’ projects. While it wasn’t exactly a smoker’s crowd, Trinidad and I compared rosin pods while he gave Cleo a full tour of his new line, along with some inspirational words. We nearly ended our night there, but I wanted to contribute to this evening’s vibes and give Cleotrapa the entire scope of cannabis in NYC.

Last but not least, I took her over to the beautiful new dispensary in NYC’s Upper East Side, The Herbal Care (THC). THC is one of NYC’s premier legal spaces for cannabis. Overall, it was a lovely affair. Cleo’s energy was infectious as she legally dispensed bud to some of her adoring fans at the counter. At one point, I looked over and noticed THC’s owner, Markel Bababekov, shouting, “Let’s give it up one time for Cleotrapa!” as the legendary photographer, Johnny Nunez, snapped away and the crowd went wild. She officially became a celebrity guest budtender, and pulled it off like an absolute natural.

Furthermore, with fashion week and budtending case study a success, I decided to do my typical move and have my in-person interview back at the Astor Club. Cleotrapa and I already smoked outside, in cars, and she even got a taste of the legal business. So, it’s only right that I show her my favorite under-the-radar club with some of the best cannabis in the country. Taking advantage of one of the best menus I’ve ever experienced, we rolled joints of Maine Trees Blue Lobster, Archive‘s Moonbow, and some delicious Permanent Marker from Marijuantauk Gardens. With a proper sesh in motion, I was finally able to get some questions off to her. 

What can you tell us about the first time you ever smoked cannabis?

[LAUGHS] I was in 7th grade. I went to IS 49, and my school was right across the street. I see my friend with a couple of kids and she was like, “Come walk with us to the store.” So, I was like, “Cool.” I figured we would just walk to school together. Then, they walk into this building, go into the staircase and stop. This boy pulls out some weed he was crushing in loose-leaf paper. He rolled up. We smoked, and I thought I was so high. I don’t even think we smoked that much. We walked across the street to school and I’m telling everybody I’m high. I’m thinking I’m the coolest just laughing OD in class. That was so funny.

Okay, so since you started young, how was the first time you got in trouble? 

My mom….She never knew I smoked. I had gotten some weed from somebody and I rolled it up in a regular loose-leaf paper. I did not know what I was doing. I did not know how to roll, and I think this was still middle school. I was really doing it for pictures, just making it look like I’m smoking it. I mean I wanted to smoke, but I didn’t roll it right. It’s a damn regular loose-leaf paper! I uploaded the pictures to Facebook, and my mom saw it. I lied and said there was no weed in there, it’s just an effects filter I used and showed it to her. I told her I edited the photo to have a blurred, smokey effect. And she was kinda believing it, but then she was like, “Why do you want people to believe that you are smoking?” So, I still got my ass beat for trying to look like I was smoking! 

At what point did you become an everyday stoner?

When I learned how to roll. Actually, before I learned how to roll, I would still get mad high with my friends. I would be with my friend all the time in her room getting mad high. She knew how to roll, her cousin knew how to roll, so we would just buy weed and get high. Since I didn’t know how to roll and she did, I would only smoke with her. I would make sure I was with her all the damn time. I was sleeping over there partially just to get high because I could not do anything like that at my crib. So, we was smoking it down. And she would try to teach me how to roll, but that was so fucking hard for me.

Did you finally get the hang of it?

Not until I got a boyfriend, who was like, “If you’re gonna smoke, you gotta roll.” I’m like, “Damn what the fuck? Alright, fine.” He really forced me to start rolling. I started rolling with Backwoods, and that’s what I learned with. Now I think Backwoods are disgusting—I only smoke papers.

These days, when is your favorite time to get high? 

I love to get super high and hit the studio. I love to get high and start writing to music. 

So, your track “Rockstar” is doing great numbers and it is an independent release. With music being a serious venture for you, how have you been able to make yourself stand out?

I’ve never stopped making videos. It’s something that I can’t stop, because if I have some shit to say, I want to say it in a video. I’m gonna be way more animated and you’re gonna know how I feel. I like to talk shit and just say it in a video. I’ve been doing them since 2018. And even before that, I’ll look at my Facebook and realize I’ve been talking shit the entire time!

You’re on a TV show and your music is buzzing, what else are you working on?

My clothing. So, before music or before anything, I wanted to go to school for fashion. I wanted to be a fashion designer, and it’s just so funny how the world works when you have a platform. My mom didn’t want me to do fashion design. She told me that fashion designers had it hard and it took a long time for them to make money. So, what I realized it came down to was me having my own personal brand. When you have your own personal brand, you could do what the fuck you want to do. So, with my clothing line, I know that I can do it and make a lot of money. My mom was really doubting me. She knew where she was coming from, but I know where I need to take this. I’m glad that I’m doing everything I want to do. I pushed myself, I stayed consistent.

Check out Cleotrapa’s new self-designed merch here: https://cleotrapa.com/ along with her new freestyle “Muggy Mcquire” here: 

The post Cleotrapa, Ice Spice’s ‘Baddie Friend’ Is Our New Stoner Bestie appeared first on High Times.

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Around this time last month, Hawaii lawmakers and advocates were preparing for a possible shift to an adult-use cannabis market after the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would legalize and regulate recreational cannabis. 

However, a key Hawaii House committee chair announced Tuesday that his panel would not hear the measure ahead of the legislative deadline next this week, effectively killing the bill for 2024.

Hawaii remains the oldest medical-only cannabis market in the U.S., as the state legalized medical cannabis back in 2000.

Another Year Without Adult-Use Reform for Hawaii

The Hawaiian Senate approved the bill, SB 3335, in a 19-6 vote on March 5 where it eventually hit the floor of a lower House chamber for consideration and narrowly advanced in a 25-23 vote last month. 

From there, the legislation headed to the Hawaii House Finance Committee for consideration where House Finance Committee Chair Rep. Kyle Yamashita (D) ultimately shared that his panel would decline to hold a hearing on the legislation.

He recognized that this was the furthest progression for adult-use cannabis legislation while calling the path to legalization a “deeply divisive issue” in a statement.

“Due to numerous concerns regarding the implementation of the bill, the House has decided against further deliberation in the House Finance Committee,” Yamashita said. “This decision is strengthened by the prevailing ‘no’ votes from committee members expressed on the House floor.”

Yamashita continues, citing the “abnormally fiscally challenging year” and that the committee needs to prioritize other expenses, like the recovery of local communities following last year’s wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui, as the full cost of implementing adult-use cannabis legalization “is unknown.”

“As lawmakers, it would be remiss of us not to allocate funding to safeguard critical government services, including education, infrastructure, roads, and other essential services for Hawaiʻi’s residents and kūpuna, especially during a period of fiscal uncertainty,” Yamashita’s statement concludes. “We recognize that now is not the opportune time for its implementation, as we navigate the challenges of managing the largest wildfire recovery efforts in Hawaiʻi’s history.”

A Tabled Legalization Plan Not Without Its Flaws

The bill was primarily based upon Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez’s legalization plan released in November 2023 and would have allowed adults over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of cannabis and five grams of concentrates while establishing a recreational cannabis sales framework.

The proposal would have enforced a 14% excise tax on recreational cannabis products and a 4% tax rate on the medical cannabis market. It also included home cultivation provisions and would have allowed residents to grow a maximum of six plants and possess up to 10 ounces of home-grown flower. 

Additionally, the original bill would have automatically expunged tens of thousands of arrest and conviction records for low-level cannabis convictions in the state, though that measure was later amended and limited to a single-county pilot program.

Advocates criticized the bill for its creation of additional law enforcement protocols. It included provisions to impose THC blood limits for drivers (despite the practical issues with THC metabolites remaining in the body days or even weeks after consumption) and would have created a cannabis enforcement unit within the Department of Law Enforcement, along with eight positions in a drug nuisance abatement unit in the AG’s office. 

The legislation also included a provision subjecting those found with loose cannabis, an open package for a cannabis product or a cannabis pipe in a car to up to 30 days in jail.

Hawaii’s Ample Support for Reform and Looking Ahead to Next Session

The issue of adult-use cannabis legalization has been divisive among lawmakers in the state House and Senate, but a majority of Hawaii residents appear to support the move according to a recent poll finding that 58% of adult residents in the state are in favor.

Even before the Hawaii House Finance Committee made its call, it was already evident that clearing the House was the main hurdle for the legislation. 

Gov. Josh Green has already indicated that he would likely sign an adult-use cannabis legalization bill should it hit his desk.

“I don’t think the sky would fall, honestly, if marijuana were legalized,” Green said recently in an appearance on Hawaii News Now. “I also have some thoughts that marijuana might blunt the effect, if you will, of people on these heavy drugs, these horrible drugs.”

It’s a bit of déjà vu for advocates, as the Senate also passed an adult-use cannabis legalization bill last year only for it to stall in the House.

House Speaker Scott K. Saiki (D) cited the “overwhelming testimony and serious concerns” from Hawaii’s law enforcement industry and that lawmakers need more time to consider the impact legalization will have on children, the economy and “overall well-being.”

However, the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. David Tarnas (D), is already looking ahead and plans to introduce a revised bill next session, according to Marijuana Moment.

“During the interim, I look forward to working with the Attorney General’s office to improve the language of the bill to address issues brought up during the House debate on this bill,” Tarnas told the publication in an email. 

He also cited his plans to collect factual information about those public safety and health concerns, including those suggesting that legalization could increase youth use and fatal car crashes (though even Tarnas cited the abundant research affirming that recreational cannabis legalization does not increase youth use or car crashes).

“We have lots of work to do on this important matter,” he said.

Advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project’s Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies, told Marijuana Moment that this move will “condemn hundreds of Hawai’i residents to traumatic police encounters” while missing the opportunity for millions in additional tax revenue.

“While this is a setback, this was also the furthest legalization has ever got in Hawai’i,” O’Keefe said. “Advocates are not giving up until we get legalization past the finish line.”

The post Hawaii House Committee Declines Hearing for Rec Weed Measure, Killing Effort for 2024 appeared first on High Times.

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The Iowa state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to cap the THC potency of consumable hemp products, sending the measure to the desk of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds for consideration. The legislation, House File 2605, was passed by the Senate by a vote of 31-18 after receiving approval from the Iowa House of Representatives last month.

If signed into law by the governor, the measure would amend the Iowa Hemp Act to cap the THC potency of hemp products at 4 milligrams per serving, with a maximum limit of 10 milligrams per package. The legislation also requires warning labels on hemp product packaging and sets a minimum age of 21 to purchase hemp products containing THC. Additionally, the bill adds new restrictions and sanctions related to the manufacturing, possession and sales of consumable hemp products, including penalties for businesses that sell such products without first registering with state regulators.

Republican Senator Dan Dawson, the sponsor of House File 2605, said the bill is “desperately needed regulation.”

“There has to be some type of guardrails on here,” he said, the Des Moines Register reported on Tuesday.

The senator said that the bill is needed to maintain separation between over-the-counter hemp products and those regulated by the medicinal cannabidiol (CBD) program, which was passed by state lawmakers in 2014 to legalize the possession of low-THC CBD products for medicinal purposes.

“The Iowa Hemp Act, or the program that we’re talking about here today, needs to be at a milligram usage less than our medical cannabidiol program, otherwise the lines are blurred,” argued Dawson, according to a report from online news source We Are Iowa.

“The medical cannabidiol program actually puts an individual with a doctor to get these products, that’s the biggest distinction,” added Dawson, the Capital Dispatch reported on Tuesday. “The Iowa hemp program has none of those barriers there. So if we want to protect Iowans with these products … there has to be some type of guardrails on here, to make sure that the medical cannabidiol program is the program that we can direct Iowans to when they have one of these diagnosed conditions.”

Lawmaker Warns of Bill’s ‘Unintended Consequences’

During a House debate on the bill last month, Democratic Representative John Forbes told his colleagues that he has concerns the bill will have “unintended consequences” for people who use hemp products outside of the state’s regulated cannabidiol program, including people who are using THC or CBD to help them recover from opioid addiction. 

“I think we’re not hitting the nail on the head here, when it comes to being able to help Iowans that are seeking out this as an alternative to maybe taking other prescription medications, and increasing quality of life, helping them,” Forbes said.

Forbes also noted that many CBD products come in formulations such as capsules with 2 to 4 milligrams of THC per serving. Under House Bill 2605’s provisions, such products would only be available in packages of two to five capsules, a restriction that many manufacturers would find overly burdensome. If the bill is signed into law, many consumers may find that the hemp products they are accustomed to purchasing may no longer be available in Iowa.

“It does have a major impact on, I think, the people here in the state of Iowa that sought out ways to manage their health issues,” Forbes said, according to a report from The Gazette. “A lot of the people that go to these do purchase them because they’ve been on chronic pain medications and they’re trying to reduce that.”

“This legislation will make it much more difficult for people in the state of Iowa,” he added. “They’re going to go out and buy this stuff online … they won’t have a business they can go into.”

In the upper chamber of the state legislature, Republican Senator Tom Shipley said that when he helped draft the Iowa Hemp Act in 2019, he knew that there were “some nefarious motives behind this,” including some businesses that had plans to sell products that were not covered by the law.

“We found out some people could find an angle to get around things and do things that are not good for Iowans,” Shipley said. “And I just want to stand up in support of Senator Dawson’s bill to try and close some of these loopholes that even I could figure out were coming.”

In addition to regulating hemp products that are being used by consumers therapeutically, supporters of the legislation said it is needed to help protect those who choose to use hemp recreationally. Dawson said the bill is “desperately needed regulation on this industry, to not only protect industry but also to protect the consumers who might indulge in these products.”

The post Iowa Legislature Passes Bill To Cap Potency of Hemp Products appeared first on High Times.

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At a recent legislative meeting by the Washington, D.C.’s Council of the District of Columbia meeting on April 2, the council unanimously approved the “Medical Cannabis Patient Card Extension 4/20 Medical Cannabis Sales Tax Holiday Week Emergency Amendment Act of 2024,” which addresses three primary changes by amending the DC Official Code Title 7.

First, it makes medical cannabis patient and caregiver cards now valid for six years (previously it lasted only two years before requiring renewal).

Second, it provides the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) with “emergency closure authority.” This gives the agency power to close unlicensed cannabis retailers and seize “any” cannabis products if it poses a threat to the safety of the public.

And finally, it extends the currently existing medical cannabis tax holiday (April 20-24, which was approved in 2022) to now last between April 15 to April 28.

According to councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the measure is essential to the success of the district’s medical cannabis industry. “The popular tax holiday is critical to the district’s effort to attract qualifying patients back to the legal market as well as sustainable and viable medical cannabis program,” McDuffie said.

Prior to the measure being passed, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote about pending legislation being considered by the council, urging them to consider the tax holiday extension. “This change will improve patient access to the program and would make the District consistent with Maryland’s six-year medical cannabis patient card,” Bowser wrote. “The bill further supports our local industry by implementing a Medical Cannabis Tax Holiday, which temporarily suspends sales taxes for purchases made at licensed medical cannabis dispensaries.”

She added that approving the ABCA’s power to shut down illegal cannabis stores is crucial. “Most importantly, this measure explicitly authorizes the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration to close unlicensed cannabis retail stores,” Bowser explained. “As we saw in the recent tragic murder inside an unlicensed cannabis dispensary, these unlicensed stores pose a direct threat to our communities and we must take strong action to shut down bad actors.”

The murder that Bowser referenced includes the death of local rapper, Phil Da Phuture, who was working at a dispensary when a robbery took place. Although he cooperated with the robbers, he was shot, and later died at a nearby hospital.

During the meeting, council members said that there are approximately 200 illegal dispensaries operating through Washington, D.C., and only 70 of which have applied for a license.

The council also chose to veto a measure that would have changed zoning rules for placing dispensaries near schools, and discussed another measure that seeks to revisit the authority of the ABCA.

Currently, dispensaries must be located at least 300 feet away from schools or recreational areas that children frequent, although medical cannabis dispensaries are exempt from this if they stand in an industrial or commercial area. “This emergency legislation would remove that exception and prohibit all medical cannabis retailers from locating within 300 feet of schools or recreation centers,” said councilmember Brooke Pinto, who added that if passed, it would “…allow affected applicants to change their locations without negatively impacting their locations.”

Only two dispensaries would be affected by the measure if it was passed, but McDuffie explained his disapproval. “It is tough work to find a location,” McDuffie said, adding that qualifying real estate in Washington, D.C. “…is not readily accessible when it comes to what they are required to use and the restrictions we put on them in terms of where they can locate. So I can’t support this.”

Washington D.C. passed an initiative to remove criminal penalties for minor cannabis offenses in July 2014, which was followed by the passage of an initiative to tax and regulate adult-use cannabis in November 2014, which became effective in February 2015.

Earlier this year in January, the council passed emergency legislation that cracks down on illegal dispensaries relying on the “gifting” loophole to make sales. “This gap in the law, if not fixed, will render the onramp meaningless, allow unlicensed establishments that do not apply to keep on operating, and significantly harm the good actors that have applied,” said councilmember Charles Allen in a January council meeting.

The ABCA can now “issue warnings, fines, and cease-and-desist orders to unlicensed businesses that have not applied to the medical cannabis program,” according to a report from the DCist.

Unfortunately, a local illegal dispensary called Kaliiva which had already started its transition from operating illegally to applying for a legal license recently raided earlier last month. Kaliiva was one of the first illegal dispensaries to receive a placard, according to The Outlaw Report, which is the first step toward receiving a license. The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), as well as the Department of Health, and the DC Licensing and Consumer Protection, have the power to conduct inspections on their own accord, despite what the ABCA has established.

The post Council of the District of Columbia Votes To Extend 4/20 Tax Holiday appeared first on High Times.

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The city-sanctioned version of the famous 4/20 Hippie Hill event in San Francisco has been canceled, but it’s not the end of 4/20 celebrations in San Francisco. SF Weed Week, will feature a variety of events beginning with an art opening featuring cannabis mylar art on April 5 and a schedule of events running April 13-21. Instead of just one day of celebration, the event spans an entire week of all things cannabis, featuring cultivators and breeders at cannabis lounges throughout the city and unique strain premiers, such as releases of Rainbow Belts, Blue Lobster, Pink Jesus, Chikitaz, The Butcher, Sherb Haze, and Peppermint Sleighride.

SF Weed Week creator David Downs is an award-winning cannabis journalist and author. Downs is the senior editor at Leafly and the former cannabis editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the event website, Downs created SF Weed Week after thinking about what an event like SF Beer Week would be like if it was cannabis-themed instead. 

“Weed growers are rock stars, and strains are celebrities,” Downs said through a press release. “I want to give these strain releases the same rock star treatment that album releases get at Amoeba Records. And we’re going to. It’s going to be dope.”

While SF Beer Week features unique new beer varieties and flavors, SF Weed Week boasts strain releases in participating lounges, including Mission Cannabis Club, Meadow, SPARC, Moe Greens, Solful, The Vapor Room, and Flore. 

Ali Jamalian, owner of Sunset Connect, is a founding advisor of SF Weed Week who is proud to be a part of an event that puts the spotlight on San Francisco weed. 

“San Francisco’s cannabis culture has so much to offer,” Jamalian said in a statement. “It only makes sense to showcase the cannabis epicenter of the world in a week-long celebration spread across the city with an array of amazing events and activations. All for free of course.”

Especially in the wake of the cancellation of this year’s Hippie Hill event, fellow founding advisor Ben Grambergu, director at 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center, feels that SF Weed Week offers an alternative celebration that lifts up the community. 

“The organizers of Hippie Hill deserved a break, and SF Weed Week is here to extend the celebration across the entire city with the best cultivators in the world sharing their gift with the most dedicated enthusiasts in the world,” Grambergu said. “Look, the Bay Area has and always will be an epicenter of cannabis culture. SF Weed Week is proving to the doom loop haters that the scene is thriving. With a week full of incredible activations, world-class cannabis, and meet and greets with the rockstars who produced it; this event has something for everyone.”

The post San Francisco Set To Host Inaugural Weed Week appeared first on High Times.

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As we conclude the book of Judges, we hear about the horrifying events that occurred among the tribes of Israel in the days when "every man did what was right in his own eyes". The readings for today are Judges 19-21 and Psalm 148.

For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.

Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Support The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

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As a “laboratory of democracy,” Oregon’s experiment with decriminalizing all drugs—including hard drugs like heroin and meth—has run its course and come to an end. The Oregon law was reversed on April 1 under new legislation signed to impose misdemeanor charges for crimes involving hard drugs.

On Monday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed House Bill 4002, which reverses the first-of-its-kind, voter-approved drug decriminalization law that was enacted three years ago.  HB 4002 was approved by the state Senate 21-8 after the House approved it 51-7.

In 2020, nearly 60% of Oregon voters passed the state’s drug decriminalization law, Measure 110, which in a radical move, decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs and was designed to direct drug addicts to rehab instead of doing time. The bill made the personal use possession of illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and meth punishable by a mere ticket and a maximum fine of $100. 

But critics claim the law created a hellscape of drug addicts on the streets of cities like Portland. The New York Times called it a “deluge of overdose deaths.” How true are these claims? Oregon ranked 17th for the highest drug-related deaths last year, with 30 fentanyl overdose fatalities for every 100,000 people—up from 36th out of the 39 states (including Washington, D.C.) that reported fentanyl overdose deaths in 2019. This was too high of a climb amid the state’s experimental drug law, some analysts said, however it was still lower than the rates seen in other states. 

Fast forward to August 2023, and 56% of Oregonians said they disapproved of the drug decriminalization law, and lawmakers—Republicans and Democrats included—introduced legislation to reverse the bill. Liberal commentators, however, said the state is reigniting a police state.

Statesman Journal reports that beginning on Sept. 1, Class E violations, which were created under Measure 110, eliminating criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, will be repealed under the new law. The new law means that people caught with small amounts of illegal drugs will face a new “drug enforcement misdemeanor.”

HB 4002, raised the punishment for personal use possession to a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. It gives cops the green light to confiscate the drugs and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks. 

It also establishes ways for rehab treatment to be offered as an alternative to jail time by encouraging law enforcement agencies to create “deflection programs” that would divert people to addiction and mental health services instead of the criminal justice system.

In a letter to Senate President Rob Wagner and House Speaker Julie Fahey, Gov. Kotek wrote that the bill still encourages law enforcement to prioritize “pre-arrest deflection.”

“Implementation of House Bill 4002 will be complex, but committing to clarity and coordination is one way to improve its likelihood of long-term success,” the governor stated. “Therefore, I direct the Criminal Justice Commission to leverage their full authority for deflection programs to use a standardized certification document that is easily identifiable as evidence of a person’s successful completion.”

“Committing to this approach is one strategy to reduce collateral consequences of justice system involvement and can help mitigate the racial and ethnic disparities this legislation is projected to create,” Kotek stated in her letter. “For example, pre-arrest deflection for all standalone PCS charges can support a simplified sealing process later by reducing the number of records created and, based on historical data, could potentially reduce the disparate impact of criminalization of communities of color.”

Republican leadership responded to the governor signing HB 4002.

“Republicans stood united and forced Democrats to do what Oregonians demanded: recriminalize drugs,” said House Leader Jeff Helfrich. “Make no mistake, this bill is not enough to undo the disaster of Measure 110. House Republicans are ready to continue the work we started and bring real change to Salem in the next session.”

Rep. Tim Knopp, a Republican, said that the bill ends a crisis that the state was grappling with. 

“Make no mistake, this bill is not enough to undo the disaster of Measure 110,” Knopp said in a statement. “House Republicans are ready to continue the work we started and bring real change to Salem in the next session.”

“Now that the Governor has given the recriminalization bill her stamp of approval, we can finally end the chapter on Oregon’s experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs.”

“HB 4002 is not a perfect solution; legislators will have much more work to do in upcoming sessions. But it sets a standard for how the state should approach the drug addiction crisis: by empowering law enforcement and our behavioral health systems to work together to help Oregonians struggling with chronic addiction seek life-saving treatment.” 

The changes under the new law take effect Sept. 1.

The post Oregon Recriminalizes Hard Drugs, Ending State’s Drug Experiment appeared first on High Times.

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Officials at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado announced last week that the college will offer a minor in psychedelics studies to prepare students for careers related to the class of drugs, which show great therapeutic potential. The new program, which is slated to launch in the fall, is designed to give students a humanities and social science approach to studying psychedelics.

The new minor was created for students who wish to study the historical and current applications of psychedelics and other natural medicines. The program will also explore the growing field of psychedelic therapy, which has the potential to treat a number of serious mental health issues including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and substance misuse disorders. 

The Bachelor of Arts minor in Psychedelics Studies entails a total of 12 course credits earned from classes such as Herbal Medicine and Theories of Psychedelic Assisted Therapies. In addition to exploring the clinical applications of psychedelic medicines, the curriculum “emphasizes religious and ceremonial contexts, cultural practices, policy implications and healing justice frameworks,” the university explained last week.

“Psychedelic minor graduates will be well prepared for a career in psychedelic-assisted therapy, with both Naropa University’s rigorous academic education and our singularly unique contemplative pedagogy woven throughout the curriculum,” Naropa University president Charles G. Lief, J.D. said in a statement about the new program. “Naropa is a higher education leader when it comes to incorporating justice, equity, anti-oppression, and understanding lineage and indigenous community relationships with plant medicines.” 

Naropa University was founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The institution’s name and inspiration are derived from the teachings of the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa. The university is internationally known for its unique educational program, which integrates Eastern knowledge and traditions with traditional Western scholarly pursuits.

“This minor will integrate well with the range of undergraduate majors offered at Naropa including Psychology, Interdisciplinary Studies, Art Therapy, Religious Studies, Creative Writing and Literature, Yoga Studies or Visual Arts,” Lief added. “Several of these majors have an online option, making the new minor very accessible to students in North America and beyond.”

New Opportunites for Careers in Psychedelics Therapy

The new minor in Psychedelics Studies will serve as a foundational curriculum for undergraduate students to learn and apply the mindfulness and compassion skills that are key to successful psychedelic therapy. Scholarships are available to support equitable access for students with fewer economic resources to increase opportunities for those who may be from marginalized communities or underserved geographic locations in order to create a more diverse field of practitioners.

“The emerging field of legal psychedelic-assisted therapy will require trained facilitators to meet the demand for these services,” said Joseph Harrison, M.S., executive director of the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies (NCPS). “Naropa’s psychedelic studies minor will provide primary education for students interested in working in this emerging field. We are creating a pathway for students that begins with the BA Psychedelic Studies Minor. Serious students can further their learning through Naropa’s Graduate School of Counseling Psychology and then our postgraduate training programs to become licensed practitioners in states such as Colorado and Oregon.”

Clinical research and other studies into psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin and MDMA have shown that the drugs have potential therapeutic benefits, particularly for serious mental health conditions such as depression, PTSD, substance misuse disorders and anxiety. Early last year, a California biopharmaceutical company announced positive results from a clinical trial testing MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. Research published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry in 2020 found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was an effective and quick-acting treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. A separate study published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that the Food and Drug Administration will eventually approve MDMA and psilocybin mental health treatments, according to a letter from the department in May 2022. In 2017, the FDA granted MDMA-assisted therapy Breakthrough Therapy designation, indicating that the therapy is a significant improvement over existing treatments. Last month, the agency took similar action with an LSD drug that is being studied as a treatment for anxiety.

“The minor in psychedelic studies integrates existing contemplative coursework across diverse disciplines with the latest scholarship on psychedelic studies,” said Betsy Gonzalez Blohm, dean of Naropa College and the Graduate Collective. “Contemplative pedagogy centering diverse perspectives to support inner and outer transformation is core to Naropa’s mission, and offering academic study about the history, policy and current research on psychedelics supported by our unique approach to education is an extension of that mission.”

The post Naropa University Offering Minor in Psychedelics Studies appeared first on High Times.

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Today we follow two stories of betrayal with Samson and Delilah and Micah and the Levite. Fr. Mike also explains why Judges is the best example of how God can use broken people to do his will. The reading are Judges 16-18 and Psalm 147.

For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.

Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

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Fr. Mike focuses on the last words Joshua speaks to the people of Israel, and how he calls them to choose the Lord above all other things. We all have idols in our lives that take us away from God; how are we choosing to love Christ above these idols today? Today's readings are Joshua 22-24, and Psalm 132.

For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.

Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

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