Trump Urges ‘Very Quick Trial’ and Death Penalty for Drug Dealers

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave a clue to his vision for a potential return to the Oval Office, saying in a Washington, D.C. speech that the nation needs to get tough on crime and sentence drug dealers to the death penalty. Speaking before the conservative nonprofit the America First Policy Institute, Trump said that drug traffickers should face execution after a “very quick trial.”

“The penalties should be very, very severe,” Trump said during his speech on Tuesday, as quoted by The Hill. “If you look at countries throughout the world, the ones that don’t have a drug problem are ones that institute a very quick trial death penalty sentence for drug dealers.”

Trump added that the United States would not face the problems associated with illicit drugs if authorities were tougher on crime. He praised other countries that have quick trials for suspected drug dealers.

“It’s terrible to say, but you take a look at every country in this world that doesn’t have a problem with drugs, they have a very strong death penalty for people that sell drugs,” he said.

“It sounds horrible, doesn’t it? But you know what? That’s the ones that don’t have any problem. It doesn’t take 15 years in court. It goes quickly, and you absolutely — you execute a drug dealer, and you’ll save 500 lives,” the former president continued.

At one point in his address, Trump applauded the way Chinese President Xi Jinping handled drug traffickers, recalling a time when Xi told him about “quick trials” for drug criminals in China that he estimated sentenced people in “two hours.”

Trump’s appearance at the America First Policy Institute’s two-day summit marked the first time the former president has spoken publicly in Washington, D.C. since he left office in January 2021. His remarks on harsh punishment for drug dealers came in a speech calling for the nation to get tough on crime and support law enforcement agencies and their officers.

Former President Calls for American Police State

Trump said that the country is becoming unsafe for its citizens, highlighting instances of attacks on everyday Americans in cities including Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia that have been extensively reported by conservative media.

“The dangerously deranged roam our streets with impunity. We are living in such a different country for one primary reason: There is no longer respect for the law and there certainly is no order. Our country is now a cesspool of crime,” said Trump, only 18 months after leaving office at the end of his first term.

Trump advocated for what would be a huge increase in police officers across the country, saying that there should be a police car on every corner. He called for a “no-holds-barred national campaign to dismantle gangs and organized street crime in America.” The former president also called for efforts to defeat violence “and be tough and be nasty and be mean if we have to.”

“We’re living in such a different country for one primary reason: There is no longer respect for the law, and there certainly is no order. Our country is now a cesspool of crime,” Trump said.

“We are a failing nation,” he added, only 18 months after leaving office.

Trump also said that encampments of unsheltered people in cities should be relocated to “large parcels of inexpensive land at the outer reaches of the city.” The former president added that such camps should also have tents staffed with healthcare professionals including medical doctors and psychologists.

To fight back against crime, Trump argued that the president should ignore state authority by deploying the National Guard and “go beyond the governor,” completely ignoring the Republican Party’s often repeated support for states’ rights.

“When governors refuse to protect their people, we need to bring in what is necessary anyway,” Trump said, adding that “the next president needs to send the National Guard to the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago until safety can be restored.”

Trump has a history of supporting draconian tactics to deal with drug traffickers and other criminals. In 2017, he called then-President Rodrigo Duterte of the Phillipines to praise him for his crackdown on drug dealers that led to the killing of an estimated 12,000 people at the hands of police and vigilantes.

“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump reportedly said, referring to the country’s rash of extrajudicial deaths. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

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LA Cannabis Social Equity Partnerships

The Los Angeles Social Equity Verification period came to an end at 4pm on Monday, July 25th. Recall that verification is required to enter into the Social Equity Retail Lottery this Winter. The verification period will be followed by a 90-day review period. Then, the Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) will notify qualified applicants of their eligibility to enter this cannabis licensing lottery.

For those that don’t qualify or fail to obtain verification, consider forging a partnership with a verified applicant who wins a lottery ticket. We won’t know who those folks are until after the lottery this winter. However, it makes sense to begin considering your options. Even if a verified applicant doesn’t win the Social Equity Retail Lottery, other licensing options are available. For example, cultivation and delivery licensing will only be open to verified social equity applicants until 2025.

Moreover, for those of you who are social equity applicants awaiting verification, knowledge will be your greatest tool in establishing successful, balanced, partnerships with investors or incubators. This blog has written extensively about the risks that present themselves with these kinds of partnerships, and more generally about cannabis partnerships. As a general rule, partnerships last longer and produce greater benefits when all parties stand on equal footing.

Some social equity licensees won’t mind allowing a management company, investor, or incubator to take over the day-to-day operations of the company. Many will want to maintain decision-making authority over their business and brand. Either way, the regulations require that the social equity owner maintains voting and economic rights conducive to their ownership share (51% or more). And, either way, social equity partners should have adequate business acumen. More on this below.

How to forge a relationship with a compatible Social Equity licensee

Ultimately, this decision is about compatibility. Trying to force a social equity owner to accept a minimized role in their own corporation is bound to end in a lawsuit. Similarly, expecting an owner without cannabis business experience to make key decisions could result in financial loss for the company.

If you’re an individual investor (or group of individual investors) that knows very little about what it takes to operate a business in the cannabis space, it makes sense to find a social equity partner who possesses that knowledge to manage operations for the company. We’ve written on this blog before about entity selection. In this scenario, an LLC would be your best choice for most entities owned by a social equity applicant. This arrangement allows the social equity partner to manage the company. Meanwhile the partner-investor takes on the administrative roles related to finance and budgeting. In this way, the investor keeps an eye on the spending of their capital contribution, while the owner-operator focuses on building a successful business.

If you’re a management company, institutional investor, or incubator, you might seek out a social equity partner comfortable with just voting and economic rights and the accompanying right to elect a number of board seats. It also makes sense to form a C-Corporation in this scenario. A C-Corp allows for more flexible fundraising while maintaining the licensee’s control of the company. That way, the company’s structure satisfies regulatory requirements, affords the social equity partner adequate authority over their company, and enables the management company or incubator to conduct a profitable business.

There are of course important tax considerations that need to be made when choosing between a corporation and LLC, and social equity applicants and their partners should consider these with a qualified tax advisor. In general, having a solid operating plan will attract further investment to sustain the company through its start-up stage.

Social Equity licensees: Here’s what you should know before seeking investment

Social equity partners historically get the short end of the stick when it comes to these deals. To avoid that outcome, it makes sense to learn basics business. You should also find an attorney to represent you at the negotiating table. Once upon a time, my mother and I sought cannabis licensing and these are all things I wish we’d known at the start.

     1.  If you intend to operate your cannabis business, start drafting a business plan now

If you know the industry well, you probably have a lot of great ideas. But great ideas are best on paper. Begin the process now of evaluating whether they’ll work in practice. We have explained before that a cannabis business plan is a great tool for that. Good business plans contain:

• an executive summary: self explanatory, just sums up the other sections and includes some information about yourself and anyone else who will operate the business with you.
• an overview of the products and/or services: what will you contribute to the market? and how?
• a marketing analysis with a corresponding marketing strategy: who is your consumer base? how will you reach them?
• financial planning, and key budget elements: how much money will you need to operate? and how will you spend it wisely?

You can share your business plan with trusted friends and advisors for feedback.

Even if you don’t intend to operate, you should decide what kind of business you want to run, beyond just the license type. Do you want to be a retailer that serves high-end consumers and tourists, or a mom-and-pop shop that serves communities and patients? Knowing will help you identify the right kind of incubator or management company.

       2. You should consider who you’d want to employ to help you run your business

Having a team and a plan in place before you seek out start-up funding ensures that you’re taken seriously by investors. Even if you don’t plan to operate your business, you should still build a team of advisors who might even serve as board members for your C-Corp, or otherwise provide you with counsel in making key decisions.

If you’re a lone-wolf with a huge investment company or management company as a partner, you’re bound to feel outnumbered. It’s vital to have people who are knowledgeable about business in your corner. That person could be a family member, your pastor, or your barber who owns his own shop. The advice and support of someone you trust and the representation of a good attorney will keep you on relatively equal footing with even a large corporation.

     3.  Read and stay updated on the regulations

This represents one of the most important practices of a good owner-operator. You want to be the first to know when a new law or rule will effect your business. We write extensively about regulations on the Canna Law Blog. But if you can, read them for yourself, attend regulatory meetings, and discuss them with your team of trusted advisors. It might benefit you to join a trade organization. These groups often update their members when new laws affect the trade, and advocate on members’ behalf. This is key, as social equity licensing has been a regulatory rocky road from the start. I wrote a guide to advocating for better regulations earlier this summer, which I encourage you all to read.

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Cannatourism: Canada’s best vacation spots for a high holiday

Weed is legal in Canada, and it's vacation season. Here are the best safe spots to toke, eat, vape, and vacation.

The post Cannatourism: Canada’s best vacation spots for a high holiday appeared first on Leafly.

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Is weed or alcohol more addictive?

There’s a common perception that cannabis is safer and less addictive than alcohol, but what does the science say?

The post Is weed or alcohol more addictive? appeared first on Leafly.

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Brittney Griner testifies as Biden considers trading Russian prisoner to free her

The president is reportedly open to releasing a Russian arms dealer to bring the WNBA star home, but the Russians aren’t rushing to make a trade.

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Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Cannabis Decriminalization Bill

A Senate panel met on Tuesday to consider a bill that would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, less than a week after the legislation was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two Democratic colleagues. The bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, was introduced on July 21 by Schumer, the senior senator from New York, Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon and New Jersey’s Senator Cory Booker.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which is chaired by Booker, discussed the legislation and heard testimony from witnesses at a hearing held at the nation’s Capitol on Tuesday. Under the nearly 300 pages of legislation, marijuana would be removed from regulation under the federal Controlled Substances Act, where the drug is listed under the most restrictive Schedule I, and states would be allowed to create their own cannabis policies. The measure would also establish a national tax on cannabis products, expunge records of past federal cannabis convictions, and allow nonviolent cannabis prisoners to request resentencing.

Booker, the chair of the subcommittee and the only Black senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that national cannabis prohibition has “miserably failed” and has led to a “festering injustice” of enforcement policy that disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities. According to a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, Black people in America are almost four times more likely to be arrested for a cannabis-related offense than whites, despite relatively equal rates of pot use.

“Cannabis laws are unevenly enforced and devastate the lives of those most vulnerable,” Booker said during the Tuesday hearing.

Witnesses Testify To Support Cannabis Decriminalization Bill

Weldon Angelos, a former federal cannabis prisoner and criminal justice reform advocate, appeared before the subcommittee to testify in favor of the legislation. Sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for a first-time cannabis conviction and firearms possession charge, Angelos spent 13 years behind bars before being released in 2016. He told the senators at the hearing that expungement is a vital element of cannabis policy reform.

“Each arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentence makes the world a little bit smaller for those bearing the modern scarlet letter,” Angelos said, referring to what life is like for those with a conviction for a drug offense.

Representatives of the law enforcement community also testified in favor of the legislation to reform the nation’s marijuana laws. Edward Jackson, chief of the Annapolis Police Department, told the subcommittee that “there is nothing inherently violent” about cannabis.

Jackson said that decriminalization would permit police officers to concentrate on more serious crimes and help restore the community’s trust in law enforcement.

“I have spent far too much time arresting people for selling and possessing cannabis,” Jackson testified.

Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Missouri, lodged his opposition to the cannabis legalization bill and expungement, arguing that the legislation “would wipe clean the criminal records of illegal alien traffickers.”

“When these criminals trafficked marijuana, they broke the law,” Cotton told his colleagues on the subcommittee. “Whether some find that law unfashionable or even unfair, what they did was illegal.”

Cannabis Industry Reacts to Senate Hearing

Mason Tvert, partner at cannabis policy consulting firm VS Strategies, told High Times after Tuesday’s hearing that it “is refreshing to finally see a significant discussion of cannabis policy in Congress’ upper chamber.”

“History has shown that the more people talk about and hear about cannabis, the more quickly support grows for ending its prohibition,” Tvert wrote in an email. “Hopefully there will be more to follow, and members will have an opportunity to continue hearing about the many important aspects of this major policy issue, from expungement and equity to the economics and public safety benefits of legalization.”

Ryan G. Smith, co-founder and CEO of online cannabis wholesale platform LeafLink, urged lawmakers to approve comprehensive cannabis policy reform at the national level.

“For far too long, communities of color have been disproportionately harmed by unjust cannabis laws,” Smith wrote in an email to High Times. “Today’s hearing was a step forward, but now it’s time for Congress to take real action to end prohibition and support communities that have been unfairly targeted and left behind.”

But George Mancheril, co-founder and CEO of cannabis industry lender Bespoke Financial, is not optimistic that meaningful cannabis policy reform measures will be approved in the near future, noting that less controversial bills such as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would allow banks to offer financial services to legal cannabis companies, have not fared well in the upper chamber of Congress.

“This hearing was an important step towards federal cannabis legalization but illustrated the long road still ahead. Passing comprehensive legislation is significantly harder than limited scope proposals such as the SAFE Banking Act which stalled in the Senate numerous times,” Mancheril said in an email. “The current political and economic environment will likely continue to keep all such cannabis focused bills on the fringe of political discussion and unlikely to pass any time soon but we hope that future hearings will drive the discussion towards the mechanics and timeline for federal regulation to provide greater clarity and transparency to the industry and to all stakeholders.”

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Griner Testifies That Russian-Provided Interpreter Gave Incomplete Translation

The American basketball star Brittney Griner on Wednesday provided details of her arrest and first moments in Russian custody, testifying that an interpreter provided by authorities left her clueless during hours of questioning.

Griner, who was arrested in February at a Moscow airport for carrying cannabis oil in her luggage, faces up to 10 years on the drug charges.

The trial began earlier this month, with Griner pleading guilty to the charges during a court appearance on July 7. In her plea, Griner said “there was no intent,” and she “didn’t want to break the law.”

Griner said at that hearing that she preferred to give her official testimony later.

That moment arrived on Wednesday, with Griner testifying for the first time and shedding light on the lead-up and aftermath of her arrest on February 17.

According to the Associated Press, Griner “described making a grueling 13-hour flight to Moscow from Arizona while recovering from COVID-19,” and “said she still does not know how the cannabis oil for which she had a doctor’s recommendation ended up in her bag but explained she had packed in haste while under great stress.”

Most notably, Griner said “that a language interpreter provided during her questioning translated only a fraction of what was said and officials instructed her to sign documents without providing an explanation,” the Associated Press reported.

The AP has more: “Along with the interpreter provided an incomplete translation, Griner said she was offered neither an explanation of her rights nor access to lawyers and was instructed to sign documents without receiving an explanation of what they implied. After hours of proceedings she did not understand, she was allowed to hand over her personal belongings to a lawyer before being led away in handcuffs, Griner said. She said she received only a cursory translation of the allegations at her during a Feb. 19 hearing where a court sanctioned her arrest.”

According to The New York Times, Griner testified “from an enclosed witness box.”

The Times, citing Griner’s lawyers, said that the “verdict is expected in August.”

Griner’s detention has become a symbol of the contentious relationship between the United States and Russia, with her arrest coming days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In May, the U.S. reclassified Griner as “wrongfully detained,” a move that signaled an intention to negotiate her release.

President Joe Biden has faced mounting pressure, both from lawmakers and Griner’s brethren in the athletic world, to secure her freedom.

Last week, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators filed a resolution calling for Griner’s release.

Earlier this month, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, after the WNBA star sent the president a letter.

“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Brittney Griner wrote in the letter to Biden.

“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees,” she continued. “Please do all you can to bring us home. I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore. I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”

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