AUDIO:
"The Humboldt Chronicles," Nov. 17, 2022.
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CHUCK ROGERS:
This is the Humboldt Chronicles. I'm Chuck Rogers with producer Larry Trask and Comet the radio dog. The Humboldt Chronicles is made possible by MOCA Humboldt. Much appreciation for your support of the Humboldt Chronicles.
LARRY TRASK:
Happy Wednesday evening and an early Happy Thanksgiving to you. One thing that I am thankful for, Chuck, is that the midterm elections are over with. I mean, as a person with no discernible life, I do follow politics rather closely. But after months and months of political advertisements in the daily barrage of emails, soliciting donations, I for one am happy to take a break from politics for a little while.
ROGERS:
Yeah, I am too. I mean, I'm kind of a political person too. And I don't know that I'm gonna be able to stop keeping up with it because now there are fights in the House, there are fights in the Senate and we have candidates who have already announced for 2024, for so I think I still have things to follow. It's kind of a curse. I can't get away from it, you know? So what's our topic tonight for The Humboldt Chronicles instead?
TRASK:
Well, you're not gonna get away from it as were doing politics. Alright. We're doing politics. And more specifically, the midterm election, the results of the midterm elections. But after tonight's show, I promise we'll take a break from politics for at least a month.
ROGERS:
All right, we'll hold you to it.
TRASK:
All right. Well, uh, as you know, there were a few cannabis related issues on the ballot in various states and the results were really quite mixed in Maryland, voters did approve marijuana legalization. A legalization referendum question four was on the ballot in the old line state asking voters a very simple question. And this is the the ballot question in its entirety. Do you favor the legalization of the use of cannabis by an individual who is at least 21 years of age on or after july 1st 2023 in the state of Maryland. End quote. Uh And that question was answered in the affirmative by nearly 66% of Maryland's 1.6 million voters. Uh The legalization doesn't kick in until next summer. Uh implementing legislation has already been approved in Maryland, Which makes legal purchase up to 1.5 oz of weed at any one time, as well as possession of up to 2.5oz and adults will also be permitted to cultivate up to two plants and to give cannabis as a gift provided no money is exchanged,
ROGERS:
Wow, approval in Maryland. That's a blue state, but I don't know that I would guess 66% approval. Marijuana was also on the ballot last week in the predominantly red state of Missouri, although the measure received quit. This is um not just from cannabis opponents, but also from state democrats who felt the initiative did not adequately address issues such as restorative justice and Social Equity Missouri amendment three nevertheless was approved by voters by a 53% margin out of more than two million votes cast when fully implemented, the initiative will allow show me staters to purchase and possess up to three ounces of weed and grow up to 18 plants in various stages of development. A 6% sales tax will be imposed, portions of which can be tapped by individuals seeking to have nonviolent marijuana convictions. Expunged additional provisions include the implementation of a seed to sale tracking program, employment protections and the ability of local jurisdictions to opt out of retail operations under certain conditions.
TRASK:
Not every state with a chance to legalize marijuana did so. However, things didn't go so well for advocates in the Dakotas though, North Dakota voters approved medical marijuana ballot initiatives sometime in the past and the state has decriminalized possession uh statutory measure two, which would have made recreational use legal, was rejected by voters uh 55 to 45 with more than 238,000 ballots counted, advocates vowed to continue to fight the success of which at least one Republican state leaders called inevitable. We'll have to wait and see if that prediction is accurate And things didn't go any better for marijuana supporters, just a bit south of North Dakota as voters in the Mount Rushmore State rejected measure 27, uh that would have legalized recreational purchase possession and use of cannabis. The measure failed 53% to 47%. Now, as you may recall, South Dakota voters did approve a reform measure in 2020 but a legal challenge to that measure that was led by South Dakota governor Kristi Noem succeeded at the state Supreme Court and uh, the ballot vote was invalidated like its neighbor to the north South Dakota does allow medical use of marijuana, but the evil weed remains against the law for recreational use
ROGERS:
in the odds and ends category Larry, we should note that while texas as a whole remains under prohibition voters in five texas cities, Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and SAN maRCos. Each past cannabis reform measures last Tuesday. How well, here's how under the Home rules provision in texas, localities can enact laws that conflict with state laws under certain conditions. Even though multiple polls show strong support for decriminalization among the majority of Texans, including those registered as republicans, marijuana is still illegal statewide yet. Larry in these few cities, they've decriminalized it themselves.
TRASK:
Yeah, it's kind of weird texas. There's a number of states, I think there's some 30 some states or so that have some form of home rule provision. That's what they call it that allow localities to, you know, to to figure out their own laws, even if they're not implemented at the state level. But the, in each of these home rule states, typically, you know, the state government does have the authority to go in and then revoke that, that home rule provision. So if a locality does something that the state just completely dislikes, they do have authority to go in and revoke it.
ROGERS:
So I wonder if the state of texas is gonna see how it goes in these what five cities and kind of let them be laboratories to see how it goes and then make a decision. Or if things are at such a fever pitch politically right now, uh, somebody in the state legislature will see this as an opportunity to score some points. I don't know.
TRASK:
Yeah, it'll be interesting to watch. I mean, this had happened at least one prior election where a couple of other localities had done something similar to this and they've been let it's been let stand and, you know, in texas like they, they fancy themselves. You know, we're we're free people and we don't need any government telling us what to do. So this kind of, no matter where your politics lie on the left right scale, this kind of fits in with that independent nature that texas
ROGERS:
liberty. Exactly. Finally, while it doesn't have anything to do with marijuana, we should note that voters in colorado narrowly approved proposition 1 22 to decriminalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms by adults purchase through state regulated healing centers in this colorado joins Oregon as the only two states to have decriminalized hallucinogenic mushrooms. Both states on medical grounds, proposition 1 20 to 1 by seven points in colorado a narrower margin than advocates had been predicting. So after last Tuesday's election, we now have 21 states where recreational use of marijuana is no longer against the law. The remaining 29 states mostly have some mix of medical allowances slash decriminalization with only South Dakota Kansas, Wyoming and Idaho, fully banning weed. After a short break, we'll continue our discussion of all things political with a guest who knows a thing or two about Washington D. C. You're listening to the Humboldt Chronicles.
TRASK:
Welcome back to the Humboldt Chronicles tonight. We're talking politics even though I think pretty much everybody is done with politics.
ROGERS:
Yeah, for sure. Here's a question for you. Larry, let's say you were a betting person, a gambling person. Not that you are, but were you a gambling person? Would you have bet
TRASK:
against
ROGERS:
a red wave happening during these midterm elections?
TRASK:
I would not. Now, I I have to put in my standard disclaimer that I'm a pessimist. So I always expect what what's the worst and being, you know, being a partisan of the left. I I expected to get trans. Yeah. And I I think there's probably some people right now who are saying, oh, I knew this was gonna happen all along. But I'll bet that almost nobody even the most optimistic democrat thought the election was going to go the way that it did.
ROGERS:
Yeah, I happen to know an optimistic democrat who happens to be in Washington -- just the person we should ask about this. Our Congressman Jared Huffman, what do you think? Let's ask him,
TRASK:
He's a good man to talk to about these things.
ROGERS:
There you go.
TRASK:
The punditry has a lot of theories about why the midterms went the way that they did. Some people say it's a reaction to threats to democracy or reproductive rights. Do you have a theory on why the election turned out how it did?
REP. JARED HUFFMAN:
I have lots of theories Larry and honestly, I think it's important that we not look at the entire country and say this was the 2022 election. I mean, it was a different outcome in different places for different reasons. So, you know, when you look at the state of new york, which ended up, uh you know, they're still counting a few votes, but it looks like a narrow republican majority where a few seats in new york would have been the difference. Uh the democrats could and should have held, but things went very poorly for us in the state of new york. On the other hand, we did great in michigan and Illinois and the state of Washington. So, um you know, you've got to sort of look around the country and understand the different dynamics that were at work. A lot of it is explained by really radical maga republicans and the donald trump factor that helped democrats, certainly the Dodd's decision and the abortion issue was also very helpful to democrats and and the overlying threat of democracy and um you know, extremism from the republicans, uh you know, all of that I think played out, but also we had really strong Democratic candidates and a lot of these races and candidates still matter
ROGERS:
given the message from the voters in general, is there any reason to expect a less obstructionist republican party once things get going in this next session?
HUFFMAN:
Oh no, it'll be worse. I regret to inform you the Republicans that will be back in the 218th Congress are going to include a lot more maga Republicans that Donald Trump um kind of dominant strain of the Republican party these days. And so you're gonna see all of the obstruction of the past Congress and more and it's very likely that they will have the majority so they'll be able to um obstruct and in a more um uh I guess obstructive way.
ROGERS:
Well, given that congressman Huffman doesn't expect any cooperation from republicans in the next Congress, that makes us wonder whether he's looking to get a lot done during this lame duck session. We asked him about that,
HUFFMAN:
I want to make sure that we um you know, don't allow bad policy to slip through, but we may have an opportunity in this lame duck to pass cannabis banking reform. That would be great for Humboldt County We may also have an opportunity to include a public lands package in one or more of the must pass bills and of course I have a big public lands bill, including portions of Humboldt, that would be part of that. So those are probably the two biggest, you know, plays for the final months of this Congress.
TRASK:
So it sounds like congressman Hoffman is not expecting a whole lot of cooperation from republicans when they take over in January, which, you know, who knows what the future holds, but that would be consistent with past behavior in similar situations. Uh, so that would point up the lame duck session is really the only chance to get anything done. Uh, and as you know, uh, Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey had gotten together with Chuck Schumer and some other folks to put together a bill that was introduced in the Senate and probably went nowhere to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. And so I, I found uh, some audio from, from, so Senator Booker or he talks about the possibility of getting something done during the lame duck session.
(SENATOR CORY BOOKER):
I just have a feeling that we can get something done. But the problem we have right now is the clock, there's very little time in this lame duck and a lot of things that people want to do. Um, so I talked to schumer yesterday, it's just gonna be hard to get as much done as as we need to. Um, and then when the House of Representatives takes over, even though there's a lot of House members from states that have legalized marijuana in one way or the other, I just don't see the republicans wanting to advance to advance that. So it's either now or might be many years from
TRASK:
now. So Booker's not sounding too tremendously optimistic about getting anything done during the lame duck session. We did ask congressman Hoffman what he thought about that.
ROGERS:
Yeah, and he's not quite as pessimistic. I take it and maybe you interpret it this way to that. He thinks maybe there can be a few steps taken towards progress on this. Maybe, possibly,
HUFFMAN:
Well, I agree with him, but I don't think it's all bad news and my hope is that Senator Booker, who has been, you know, a real leader on this would support some type of banking reform because it's it's teed up and ready to go. We've passed it out of the House, it's been held in the Senate, you know, in part because of the filibuster by but in part because, you know, Senator Booker and some others have insisted on some broader reforms in there that include the restorative justice peace President Biden has taken some really strong action on that front and encouraged governors around the country to do the same. And so, you know, my hope, you know, I'm not trying to throw the restorative justice folks under the bus at all. But I think it's important that we take this opportunity to lock in the banking reform and if we can get some restorative justice in there too? That's great. But I hope that Senator Booker will help us get that bill through the Senate.
TRASK:
And you believe that you would get some support from the republican side on the banking bill?
HUFFMAN:
I do.
ROGERS:
As a procedural question, what happens to the MORE Act in the new Congress? Does it have to be reintroduced sent back to committee, re voted on again because it's already past one. What's what's the status there?
HUFFMAN:
Yeah. It would have to get reintroduced in the new Congress along with my ship act. We're planning on reintroducing as well. And that's to allow craft cannabis producers as soon as we de schedule cannabis federally to be able to sell direct to consumers in all states and territories.
ROGERS:
Congressman. You mentioned de scheduling or removing completely cannabis from the controlled substances act. Do you think that's a real possibility?
HUFFMAN:
I think it's inevitable. I think it's absolutely a possibility. And it's just a matter of when we do it. And that's why I've introduced this ship act, that is basically a trigger law that is going to be ready to take effect as soon as the descheduling occurs,
ROGERS:
Congressman, are you concerned at all about the health of the California cannabis industry in general? And do you think needs to be some sort of reform at the state level? Or is the industry just dealing with the difficulties of transitioning from traditional market conditions to the legal market?
HUFFMAN:
My view is that it's some of each, certainly folks who are trying to make this transition from the black market, if you will to being legal operators, uh, often, you know, have a rude awakening that you gotta pay workers comp insurance, you gotta pay your taxes, you got to get all these permits and water rights and other things. You know, it's, it's a lot that we ask of businesses that play by the rules, but it's the way we do it. Uh, and for some, it's, it's overwhelming and that's pushed them back into the black market. And a lot of folks, you know, kinda have one ft in each market. Uh, and so I think you're always going to need to have rules and regulations in any, uh, legalized industry, but we've gotta constantly, uh, review and consider those regulations to make sure that we're not having unintended consequences, like driving folks back into the black market. And I think there's some calibration is needed in California.
TRASK:
One big problem that the cannabis industry faces here in California and elsewhere, too, I suppose, is the continued presence of a really large, non regulated market. And I'm wondering if you think that there's, that's something that really has to be tackled at the state level, or is there something that federal legislation could do to help, you know, bring people more into the legal market?
HUFFMAN:
Honestly, uh, the federal legalization. If we could just end prohibition, that would be the single best thing we could do to put an end to the black market and to lift up legal operators. Uh, short of that, I think we, at the federal level, we've got to do things like the banking reform, uh, like, you know, maybe making the postal service available, fixing, you know, the ability of folks to deduct business expenses on their federal income tax forms, um, incremental improvements would, I think, help those who are trying to get right with the law. Um, in terms of actually cracking down on the black market, which needs to happen. That's, that's the way we, uh, build up the legal channels of this industry. That needs to happen at all levels.
TRASK:
You are listening to The Humboldt Chronicles and we're going to wrap up our political discussion right after this quick break.
ROGERS:
Welcome back to the Humboldt Bay Ron Nichols. I'm Chuck Rogers with producer Larry Trask and Larry just listening to congressman Huffman. And you know, following this in general, it seems like a lot of people are expecting some level of chaos to be dominant in the new session of Congress in Washington. That's starting in january. Is that your take,
TRASK:
Well, you know, I mean obviously a lesson that we learned from the midterms is less than I should have learned long ago, which is that it's very difficult to predict the future and then what's gonna happen. But I think especially with the 2024 election looming. Uh, yeah, it does, it does feel like this is gonna be one of those wild sessions of Congress where both nothing and a lot happens. But I mean, if you look at at some of the things that we talked about, a number of things that were introduced, some of which were passed by both houses of Congress, that haven't made it into law yet for one reason or other. So there's a lot of, a lot of the kind of, the groundwork is built. But I think that you could take, you could, you could take a couple of very narrow things, uh, and probably find in, in a, in a normal political environment, probably find some bipartisan support for Huffman mentioned the banking bill a couple of times. That's something that in the past we've seen some conservative support for. So that would be a huge thing. Uh, to me, the, the provision of the RS code that prohibits uh, deduction of normal business expenses would be a game changer for people in the cannabis industry. And that also seems like something that, you know, pro business republicans could get behind, especially as more and more red states become legal states as, as we saw happen just just a week ago. So, you know, it feels like there are some narrow things that could actually have pretty significant impact that could be done even if it is a weird and wild congressional session.
ROGERS:
Yeah, I totally agree. I think those issues you just mentioned, uh, could get some republican votes a few, maybe just enough and there may be enough republicans who think that it's politically expedient for them to support something like this. And, you know, here's the other thing sometimes in Washington when there is a lot of chaos and when people are so focused on Some singular issue like this upcoming 2024 election, and anxiety builds and that's all you're hearing about sometimes that can provide political cover to get a few other things done that are not going to end up in the headlines. Maybe this could land in that zone.
TRASK:
Yeah, that's, that's true. And, and, you know, another possibility though, it's a practice I don't approve of. It's commonly done when you've got a huge must pass bill in front of Congress, uh, you know, a senator or a Congress person with enough power can put something in whether it's completely, you know, outside of the scope of the main bill or not. And, you know, that's another thing that could happen.
ROGERS:
And that forces those in Congress to decide whether to vote against the overall good project, even though there's a line in there, they don't like or not.
TRASK:
Right. Yeah. And when we've got some, some big spending bills that are gonna have to be passed, some must pass budget bills that are gonna come up. So there will be opportunities.
ROGERS:
They're going to be asked also for more funding for Ukraine and all kinds of things like that are coming up. So we'll see. I'm Chuck Rogers with producer Larry Trask. This edition of The Humboldt Chronicles will be posted soon at 941 lounge dot com. Lost Coast Outpost dot com and iTunes for listening and downloading, and we send much appreciation to our sponsor MOCA Humboldt. Thank you very much. We'll be back with The Humboldt Chronicles at six p.m. on the third Wednesday of January. That's right. We're taking December off, as is our tradition. So we'll see you next time, January the 18th at 6 p.m.