Cannabis Law: the Path to Legalization in New York
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Cannabis Law: The Path to Legalization in New York April 14, 2021 Cannabis Law: The Path to Legalization in New York April 14, 2021 Speaker Biographies: Taire Herasme '21, Student, Albany Law School Taire Herasme is a third-year law student at Albany Law School and is pursuing a Master of Science in Bioethics at the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College. Herasme is a native of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. She graduated cum laude from Binghamton University obtaining her BA in Political Science and Latin American and Caribbean Area studies. She has held internships with the New York State Assembly, the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Claims Bureau, and the New York State Department of Health, Division of Legal Affairs. Herasme has a general interest in health law and insurance. Richard Zahnleuter ’81, Former General Counsel, New York State Department of HealthRichard Zahnleuter Rick Zahnleuter is an experienced attorney with a passion in the field of health care operations, regulatory frameworks, and litigation. In his capacity as General Counsel, Zahnleuter led the 180-member Division of Legal Affairs and represented the 6,000-member staff of the entire Department. The Department has regulatory jurisdiction over many matters, including controlled substances, medical marijuana, cannabinoid hemp, hospitals, nursing homes, emergency medical services, laboratories, infectious diseases, public water systems, funeral homes, certain licensed healthcare professionals including physicians, and also health insurance plans including Medicaid. Mr Zahnleuter holds a J.D. from Albany Law School and a B.S. in Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University. Chris Alexander, Government Relations and Policy Manager for Village, a Multi- State Cannabis Company Chris Alexander is a criminal justice reformer, advocate, and policy expert. He is a native of Hollis, Queens and the son of immigrant parents who came to the United States from the Caribbean island of Grenada. Alexander is a seasoned politico with significant policy-making experience. He has previously worked for the New York State Democratic Party, as a Legislative aide to Congress, and as Counsel to the New York State Senate where he managed the work of several Committees providing oversight over the affairs of New York City and over New York State’s criminal justice system. Mr. Alexander received his J.D. from City University of New York School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from Syracuse University. Nicole Quackenbush, Former Medical Marijuana Program Director, New York State Department of Health Nicole Quackenbush is the Senior Director of Clinical Account Services for Magellan Rx Management, providing oversight and promoting clinical best practices for Magellan Rx’s ADAP Center of Excellence. Nicole has over 22 years of diverse professional experience, including experience with retail pharmacy, program management, regulatory development, compliance, prescription drug monitoring programs, and implementation of IT solutions in the healthcare setting. Prior to joining the Magellan Rx Management Team, Nicole worked for the NYS Department of Health, where she served as Director of New York State’s Medical Marijuana Program. Axel Bernabe, Assistant Counsel for Health to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Axel Bernabe is Assistant Counsel for Health to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. In this role, he oversees all legal and policy deliberations in the health portfolio and provides strategic counsel to the operations, press, and budget teams in the Executive Chamber and the State Department of Health. As part of his responsibilities, Bernabe oversees the development and implementation of all medical, hemp, and adult use cannabis initiatives in the State. Over the past four years he has directed and supervised the expansion of the medical cannabis program and the launch of the State's hemp program. Bernabe is also responsible for driving the administration's proposed Cannabis Act that would comprehensively regulate all segments of the cannabis economy, including the creation of a new Office of Cannabis Management that would permit the implementation of an adult-use program. Prior to joining the Cuomo administration, Bernabe was a partner at the law firm of Constantine Cannon, where he was a nationally recognized legal expert in the healthcare sector, particularly on antitrust matters. Mr. Bernabe received his LLP (J.D.) & BCL, Law Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from McGill University and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa. CANNABIS LAW: THE PATH TO LEGALIZATION IN NEW YORK Morphine, Cocaine, Heroin Before The War on Drugs. Legal psychoactive medicines in the 1800s. www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net www.AddictionScience.net 1914 Federal Harrison Narcotics Act 38 Stat. 785 Taxed “opium or coca leaves” (Section 1). Requirement to register. Tax: $1/year. Social Equity? The passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 has been attributed in part to opium addiction caused by the Chinese immigrant community.* When a Chinese community encroached on an adjacent Irish neighborhood in New York City, a pastor of the nearby Catholic Church of the Transfiguration was reported to have proclaimed (preposterously): *Psychiatric Times, “Commentary: Criminalization of Drug Use”, by Joseph D. McNamara, D.P.A., Sept. 2000 (Vol. XVII Issue 9). “Many girls who live in this neighborhood have been ruined by these ... [Chinese people]. Children as young as 11 and 12 have been led … into the opium dens, where they are induced to stupefy themselves with opium.”* *Stanford Law School, SLS Blogs, Legal Aggregate, “The Drug War at 100,” by George Fisher, December 19, 2014. The US victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in resentment of Mexican immigrants, but also in the acquisition of the Philippine Islands and the Spanish system there that provided opium to recovering addicts. Episcopalian missionaries opposed any opium use and successfully lobbied for the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 to constrain Chinese opium businesses, and physicians, who could prescribe opium “in the course of … professional practice only” (Section 2(a)), interpreted by law enforcement as never.* *The Consumer’s Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, Ch. 8, Edward M. Brecher, 1972. Social Equity? The passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 has been attributed in part to cocaine violence by the African American community.* A newspaper in New York City published “an account of cocaine-crazed killers insensible to lawmen’s bullets,” along with the headline: *Psychiatric Times, “Commentary: Criminalization of Drug Use”, by Joseph D. McNamara, D.P.A., Sept. 2000 (Vol. XVII Issue 9), citing New York Times Magazine, 1914. “... [African American] Cocaine ‘Fiends’ Are a New Southern Menace.”* *Stanford Law School, SLS Blogs, Legal Aggregate, “The Drug War at 100,” by George Fisher, December 19, 2014. www.cbp.gov 1937 Federal Marihuana Tax Act 50 Stat. 551 Taxed entire plant except “mature stalks.” Requirement to register. Tax: $24/yr importers; $3/yr producers; $3/yr anyone who “gives away”; $1/yr physicians. Social Equity? The passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 has been attributed in part to resentment of, and Cannabis violence by, the Mexican immigrant community: “In the early 20th century, ‘marijuana’ or ‘marihuana’ were primarily colloquial terms borrowed from Mexican Spanish, as the Brookings Institution’s John Hudak explains in his book Marijuana: A Short History. ‘During and especially after the Spanish-American War, Hudak writes, American resentment toward Mexicans and Mexican immigrants exploded.’ Authorities who wanted to prohibit use of the drug soon discovered that associating it with Mexican immigrants was an effective propaganda tool.”* *Washington Post, “‘Marijuana’ or marihuana’? It’s all weed to the DEA,” by Christopher Ingraham, December 16, 2016 7:00 a.m.EST “Crazed Mexican Runs Amok and Creates Reign of Terror in Plaza District”* *Stanford Law School, SLS Blogs, Legal Aggregate, “The Drug War at 100,” by George Fisher, December 19, 2014, citing the Los Angeles Times, 1918. 1937 “Tell Your Children”* “Marihuana” “Assassin of Youth” *1938-1940 rebranded “Reefer Madness,” “Doped Youth,” and “The Burning Question” 1970 Federal Controlled Substances Act 21 USC 812(c) Schedule I (c)(10) and (17) criminalized “marihuana” (as defined in Section 802(16)) and “tetrahydrocannabinols,” respectively. Psychotria - contains DMT (dimethyltryptamine, an hallucinogenic). Banisteriopsis - contains DMT enzyme inhibitor. Ayahuasca is a “central sacrament,” a religious ritual tea, in several religions throughout the US (the two major religions are Uniao de Vegetal and Santo Daime). Ayahuasca is said to be of value in treating PTSD. But isn’t DMT a prohibited Schedule 1 drug under 21 USC 812(c) Schedule I (c)(6)? Legal psychoactive drug as of 2006. Gonzalez v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Unaio de Vegetal 546 US 418 (2006) Upheld sacramental use under Free Exercise Clause and Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, rejecting a strict interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 2014 Federal Agricultural Act (2014 Farm Bill)(7 USC 5940) Authorized state departments of agriculture to regulate the production of “industrial hemp” as part of a pilot program. “Industrial Hemp”