The fund will provide direct capital and startup financing to social equity applicants as the state takes meaningful steps to ensure that New York’s cannabis industry is the most diverse and inclusive in the nation.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is set to pledge $200 million to support social equity applicants within the state’s burgeoning marijuana market.
On Wednesday, Hochul revealed an extensive State of the State book, laying out the plan for 2022, including policies she will pursue as well as her intentions to promote equity and economic justice in the cannabis industry.
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
“Together these actions will help ensure that as New York’s cannabis industry thrives in the year ahead, more New Yorkers can reap the rewards,” the book says.
Hochul emphasized that creating “opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those from historically marginalized communities,” is important now that the market stands to generate billions of dollars.
Though marijuana legalization was signed into law last year by her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, marijuana business licenses have yet to be approved.
“In support of that goal, Governor Hochul will create a $200 million public-private fund to support social equity applicants as they plan for and build out their businesses,” the document says. “The fund will provide direct capital and startup financing to social equity applicants as the state takes meaningful steps to ensure that New York’s cannabis industry is the most diverse and inclusive in the nation.”
It continues, “Licensing fees and tax revenue will seed the fund and leverage significant private investment.”
In addition, 50% of all licenses will be awarded to equity applicants, including individuals from impacted communities, as well as minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs), distressed farmers, justice-involved individuals and service-disabled veterans.
“Together, these actions will help ensure that as New York’s cannabis industry thrives in the year ahead, more New Yorkers can reap the rewards,” the book reads.
Moreover, New York will also set up a new Division of Harm Reduction within the Office of Addiction Services and Supports to address harm reduction principles and strategies, including expanding access to naloxone and buprenorphine, and investing in fentanyl test strips, to name a few.
Harm Reduction Campaigns
In December, New York City became thefirst in the nation to open two overdose prevention centers (OPC) where people can use illicit drugs and receive medical care and services in an attempt to curb the drug overdose crisis plaguing not just NYC but the entire country.
To tackle the growing issue, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) filed a pair of requests for applications (RFAs) last week to provide funding to research the efficacy of a variety of harm reduction policies, including decriminalization and safe consumption sites.
A total of nine selected applicants will run studies as part of the five-year program that will approve up to $6.75 million for the projects within the fiscal year.
A new study looking into the effect of THC on a specific type of stroke found worse outcomes for patients who were marijuana users.
A new study found that people dealing with a bleeding stroke might face worse outcomes if they’re also cannabis consumers. The study is the largest of its kind to look into the impact of THC on this severe form of stroke.
Published in the journal Stroke, the study examined the effect of THC on a specific type of bleeding stroke called aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. This occurs when a blood vessel bursts on the surface of the brain, creating a bleeding patch between the brain and the surface above. It’s a serious condition, one that isn’t all that common, occurring less than 200,000 times a year.
Per the study’s findings, regular marijuana users who’ve experienced this stroke are twice as likely to face worse outcomes when compared to non-cannabis users.
The study analyzed data from over 1,000 patients treated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and looked into their urine samples, comparing and contrasting those who’ve consumed substances (including THC) within the past three days and those who hadn’t. The former were more likely to experience negative side effects like delayed cerebral ischemia (a condition that occurs when the brain doesn’t have enough oxygen flow), long-term disability, and even death.
An interesting discovery that the study made was the fact that out of all the substances tested, only cannabis increased the risk of delayed cerebral ischemia.
While the results are not wholly understood, studies like this show how important it is for doctors to have a full picture of their patients’ habits, helping them be on the lookout for symptoms and side effects that they might not have been expecting. While the connection between cannabis and bleeding strokes is conclusive, it’s significant enough to warrant more studying, especially since cannabis is becoming an increasingly available substance.
The recreational cannabis market in Montana accumulated $1.5 million in sales in its first weekend, according to the state revenue department, reported helenair.com. With a statewide 20% sales tax on recreational cannabis, that opening weekend amounts to $313,396 in tax revenue for the state. The 4% tax on the $432,617 in medical sales provided an additional $17,305 in tax revenue to the state.
“The rollout of the adult-use program went off without any issues from the department’s supported IT systems,” Cannabis Control Division Administrator Kristan Barbour said in an email sent to the portal. “We were able to successfully verify with (the) industry that our licensing and seed to sales systems were working on Friday to ensure a successful launch on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022. The successful launch was a result of staff’s hard work and planning over the past six months to meet the challenges of implementing HB 701.”
In 2020, Montana officially became the 14th state to legalize adult-use cannabis, with 58% of voters saying yes to the initiative during the November election. The initiative legalized the possession and use of one ounce or less of cannabis or eight grams or less of marijuana concentrate by adults over the age of 21.
Retail marijuana sales for adults 21 and older started in Montana on January 1, 2021.
Adults are now authorized to purchase up to one ounce of cannabis at a time. Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed a bill in March to implement legalization and then a legislative panel approved the rules for the adult-use program in December.
Furthermore, state residents can now legally grow certain amounts of marijuana. Cannabis and cannabis-infused products will be taxed at 20% and people previously sentenced for cannabis-related felonies could ask to be resentenced or seek to have their conviction expunged.
CBD dominant strains aren’t as popular as THC, but there are plenty of perks associated with them. Here’s what you should know when consuming a CBD dominant strain.
The Fresh Toast – It is has become crazy popular, but do you know what to expect when consuming a CBD dominant strain?
We’re in the era of CBD. The cannabinoid has quickly become the second most popular cannabinoid, following THC, a compound that has hundreds of years of history. CBD is in tinctures, oils, clothes, and pillows. It can also be smoked and vaped, having different effects than THC strains.
Even if CBD isn’t known for its psychoactive effects, its presence in cannabis strains has been associated with pleasant and mellow highs, some of which are perfect for beginners or for people who don’t want to worry about having a cannabis infused panic attack. Thanks to it’s less intoxicating properties, CBD dominant strains are great for people who are looking for medicinal benefits of the plant or are planning on consuming it during the middle of the day, before doing an activity that requires some concentration. Here is what to expect when consuming a CBD dominant strain.
The effects of CBD strains are similar to those produced by consuming CBD oils and products, only it’s faster acting due to the way in which the compound is ingested. These strains tend to provide relief from pain, inflammation, anxiety, and even seizures. Unlike THC dominant strains, CBD strains are not associated with side effects, such as anxiety, dizziness, increased heart rate, and nervousness.
CBD can be consumed for reasons other than medicinal
Photo by Colton Duke via Unsplash
CBD has been linked with alleviating depression, anxiety, insomnia, and more, making it into a great option for people who are looking for medicinal effects. Still, even if you’re someone who’s not looking for the medicinal effects of CBD, these types of strains can be a good fit if you’ve had negative experiences with THC or are looking to try something new.
Consumption method matters
Photo by Erin Hinterland via Pixababy
As is the case with most forms of cannabis, the way in which the compound is consumed matters and affects your high. Smoked CBD acts faster than CBD consumed orally, for example. Some experts believe that smoked CBD might be more effective than CBD consumed orally, which takes some time to kick in and is difficult to notice if you’ve never experienced it before.
CBD produces a personal experience, one that’s difficult to describe, kind of like describing a THC high to someone who’s never experienced it. While you won’t feel high as if you’d smoked THC, CBD may help you feel relaxed and loose, perhaps energized or sleepy. It all depends on your body, your experience with the compound, and your method of consumption.
You may not have heard the wonderful news. Our great overlords and global saviors at Pfizer announced their intentions to get into the medical cannabis market via their $6.7 billion acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. Of course, the giant pharmaceutical company has a lot of “expendable cash” available due to the pandemic.
However, the news of Pfizer wanting to break into the medical cannabis industry isn’t something new. Every advocate understood that once cannabis is legalized globally, these giant pharmaceutical companies would definitely make their claim to some portion of the marketplace. Whether this is a “good” thing or a “bad” thing is irrelevant; the truth of the matter is that pharma entering into the cannabis industry is an inevitability.
Photo by FatCamera/Getty Images
Putting my personal prejudices aside for a moment, along with some of the more atrocious historical facts of the company, perhaps this could be the dawn of the next wave of cannabinoid medicines. While some might cringe at the idea of pharma handling this sacred plant, cannabinoid-based medicines will evolve into more standardized packaging. It will eventually become dose specific and potentially a robust cannabinoid treatment protocol for a large group of conditions.
For that to happen, pharma has to dig their money-hungry hands into the market and begin to do some R&D. In the case of their recent acquisition, we can already see that they are targeting specific conditions and will be creating a medication instead of trying to sell tinctures, whole plant, etc.
“The proposed acquisition of Arena complements our capabilities and expertise in Inflammation and Immunology, a Pfizer innovation engine developing potential therapies for patients with debilitating immuno-inflammatory diseases with a need for more effective treatment options,” stated Mike Gladstone, global president & general manager, Pfizer Inflammation and Immunology.
“Utilizing Pfizer’s leading research and global development capabilities, we plan to accelerate the clinical development of etrasimod for patients with immuno-inflammatory diseases.” Etrasimod is Arena’s drug candidate for the treatment of immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases.
This type of cannabinoid medicine would be able to be obtained via health insurance, meaning that it could make cannabinoid-based medicines widely available for people who may need it.
What’s Some Good That Can Come From This?
While it’s probably easier to pander to the masses and frame Pfizer as the devil incarnate, they too are simply a force of reality that exists and behaves according to its own self-preservation. If they are about making profits, then they will adapt to the market needs and if endocannabinoid-treatment options will become a thing, then their self-preservation would create a net-benefit.
By no means am I saying that I support their aggressive strategies and overall influence on virtually every major institutes in society. I’m merely saying that the involvement of Big pharma will further legitimize cannabis as medicine. In fact, it will probably crack the medical side of cannabis wide open and we’ll begin to develop a large range of drugs from these discoveries.
Over the past few years we have seen some giant leaps occur within medical cannabis and the moment it’s completely legal on a federal level you can bet on the fact that the pharmaceutical companies will be increase research into cannabis and potential medicines.
With easily accessible and widely available cannabis medicines which will be purchasable through your insurance provider will create a new era of medical cannabis. At that point in time, we will have a complete separation between “cannabis medicine” and recreational cannabis. While whole plant medicine will still be considered medicinal, doctors will probably be motivated by the pharmaceutical industry to push their drugs. This means we’re about to venture into the potential downside of their involvement.
Photo by HighGradeRoots/Getty Images
Pharma Weed — What Could Go Wrong?
As mentioned above, if Big Pharma is making drugs, they will want to sell it. The vast majority of anti-cannabis scientists were at one point funded by pharma. They were actively campaigning against cannabis because it interfered with their profit margins. For example, States that legalized medical cannabis saw a reduction in opioid use, which directly affected some pharmaceutical companies.
As for Pfizer itself, I’m not sure where their lobbying and research dollars influenced most, mainly due to the complex nature of their finances. In order to track down what they spend and where will take thousands of hours of research, going through thousands of papers and following the money-trail.
Nonetheless, with Pfizer entering into the market now, they will most assuredly be pushing their medicine over whole-plant medicine. You’ll begin to see studies that claim that their medication performed better than the plant by itself and potentially even a few smear campaigns.
In fact, I wouldn’t put it past the pharmaceutical industry to make up stuff about cannabis being spiked with fentanyl to reduce the trust in buying cannabis from the streets.
Additionally, pharma will increase the perceived value of cannabis in order to sell it at a higher premium to the insurers. This is primarily how pharma makes their money. They develop a drug, pass it through the FDA (which gets 75% of their funding from pharma according to some sources), and then sell it to the insurers to buy at a hyper inflated price. If a medicine costs mere dollars to produce, pharma would sell that to the American Taxpayer at hundreds of dollars…per pill! This is standard practice.
Pharma would probably also try to patent as much of the process, cannabinoids, etc in the process. It would be highly important to keep an eye on the intellectual property battles that will surely occur sometime in the near future.
Bottom Line
Pharma will invade the medical cannabis industry and try to dominate the market share. In all likeliness, they will succeed on that front. However, if the current cannabis community can maintain their independence, then there’s enough of the pie for everyone. Those who trust pharma blindly will follow suit with the cannabinoid medicines they provide, while those who are more inclined to natural healing will remain with the homegrown crowd.
However, it’s important to ensure that all of these options are available in the future, and whenever you hear about more restrictions on homegrown medical cannabis, pay attention to who is funding it.
With record levels of public and regulatory support for the regulated cannabis industry, the value of the domestic market will increase significantly over the next three years.
Headset, a provider of data and analytics focused on the cannabis industry, released its updated long-term forecast for the U.S. cannabis market, which is expected to reach $45.8 billion in sales by 2025.
Key Cannabis Markets In The US
The forecast compiles an analysis of all 50 states to measure the total potential market in the coming years. And, according to Headset, states with significant growth potential, including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia, are expected to play a role in expanding the total addressable market.
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
Key takeaways from the U.S. Market Forecast include:
Florida could reach $3.2 billion sales in 2025, making it the second largest cannabis market in the U.S., behind California.
With adult-use licenses expected to be issued in 2023, New York is projected to be the third largest market in the U.S. with a 21+ population of 15 million and sales reaching $2.8 billion by 2025.
New Jersey, with its adult-use transition expected in March 2022, is projected to boast a 21+ population of 7 million that will produce $1.6 billion in sales by 2025.
Ohio, an emerging market in 2021, is projected to actualize a majority of its potential and post annual combined sales reaching $1.6 billion by 2025.
Virginia, with an untapped market of a 21+ population nearly as large as New Jersey, is expected to reach $1.3 billion in spending power by 2025.
“Within the last decade, opportunities for growth and development within the market have accelerated after Colorado, Washington and several other states legalized adult-use cannabis. Despite the country’s piecemeal approach to legalization, individual states have created optimal conditions for improved scalability and sophisticated operations across distinct markets,” said Cy Scott, CEO and co-founder of Headset.
“With record levels of public and regulatory support for the regulated cannabis industry, the value of the domestic market will increase significantly over the next three years.”
Photo by Darren415/Getty Images
Methodology
In order to forecast each market in all 50 states, Headset utilized separate methodologies depending on current market status and data availability.
For markets that offer Insights Premium data, the company leveraged per capita spending data and then applied growth rates (CAGRs) based on historical growth in each market.
In markets that did not provide Insights Premium data, Headset used a different methodology that consisted of census data, per capita spending and estimations for the likelihood of legalization for medical and adult-use markets.
As schools start welcoming students, many parents have unanswered questions about safety protocols and protective measures.
Omicron cases are higher than ever, just in time for kids to go back to school following their holiday break. While some states and schools are taking aggressive measures in order to control the spread of the virus, the majority of experts have mixed opinions on how to move forward.
Here’s what parents should know about this back-to-school season, keeping in mind that advice varies depending on the state where your kid goes to school.
Is it too soon to go back to school?
Photo: Drug Policy Alliance
While this answer depends largely on your community, in areas of high transmission rates, the best option for kids might be to go remote for some time, particularly if located in areas like New York and Washington D.C., which currently have very high levels of transmission. Still, many kids benefit from in-school learning, not only because of their brains but also due to socialization and for the meals that these locations provide.
Should kids get tested before heading back to school?
Photo by cicerocastro/Getty Images
Many schools are requiring negative tests for kids to go back to school. These mandates are necessary, keeping infections in check and guaranteeing the safety of teachers and students alike. “I think all those things put together, it’s safe enough to get those kids back to school, balanced against the deleterious effects of keeping them out,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News.
While some schools might provide at-home test kids for kids, others might not afford to, and might not ask for a negative test result. If kids haven’t had contact with someone with COVID-19 and are feeling fine, there shouldn’t be a need for a test unless the school is requiring one.
What are the vaccine and mask mandates?
Photo by MI PHAM via Unsplash
Despite the new variant, kids and parents should be reassured that getting vaccinated has a positive impact. While pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 have hit new highs, a large majority of these kids haven’t been vaccinated, making it very important for parents to take their kids to get their vaccines as soon as they can.
When it comes to face masks, it appears like these are necessary for school settings, no matter the kid’s vaccination status. Three-ply surgical and KN95s masks are the ones that are currently being recommended for kids and people of all ages.
Plugs, or cannabis suppliers, are getting more local, more geo-centric as people prefer to receive legal packages in the mail and feel more comfortable buying local.
Interesting story out of California last week where the marijuana industry is sending an SOS letter to the state government saying their legal industry is on the verge of collapse. The gist of the story is that higher taxes, not enough locations, too many fees, and too many consumers going to the illicit market are causing a financial firestorm for legal marijuana businesses.
This is bad for legal businesses. No taxes are paid on illegal sales, no revenue is created to pay for those state marijuana licenses, no 280E tax code relief, and a whole lot of fees for software, banking, and technology. The state has pledged $100 million to help figure out the legal cannabis industry. But that just tells half the story of why the cannabis industry may have just hit its first maturity point as an industry as a whole.
For consumers it was never about legalization; it was about accessibility.
What, what does that mean?
As the drama playing out in California proves, consumers are not worried about the legality of their transaction, they are worried about price and accessibility. Yes, lab testing is nice, but not for the 50% markup in prices legal shops have to charge to pay for all those things like licenses, storefronts, technology, tracking, security, taxes, etc.
In a recent survey on Cannabis.net’s social network, The WeedFeed, illicit growers, when asked about how business is going as we enter 2022, answered with the following type of quips:
It is fine, but not nearly as crazy as the past few years, everyone seems to have a weed guy now.
Not as busy as before, people now have plugs that are local and I am not shipping as much.
Steady but not the crazy demand from previous years, there is just so much weed around now.
Everyone has a plug.
That is a fascinating turning point in the supply/demand curve of the cannabis industry. Yes, everyone loves cannabis from the legal and illicit market, but supply is now starting to keep up with demand in many areas. Supply as a whole, including both legal and illicit suppliers, seem to be filling the overall demand curve of local cliental. Plugs, or cannabis suppliers, are getting more local, more geo-centric as people don’t want to get illegal packages in the mail and feel more comfortable buying local.
Photo by athima tongloom/Getty Images
As access continues to expand for millions of people, and they get a “weed guy”, prices will come under pressure. As consumers have more choices and offerings, competition has to heat up from suppliers in order to create sales. Price points and quality will now be the king of the jungle in the consumer’s world.
Remember, every cannabis consumer survey so far has shown consumers don’t really care, or remember, anything about branding or packaging, but they do know how much they paid for a product and if the product delivered the desired results. Consumers in highly developed markets like California and Colorado has massive access to a wide variety of products and prices, both legal and illicit, and getting some product is as simple as clicking a few buttons on an app or making a phone call.
The more mature the market, especially if it has legal recreational and medical sales, the more access there is to products for the WHOLE population of that area. Need a pre-roll? Your nephew has a card, or your son knows a guy. Want some great edibles? Swing in the dispensary on the corner, or my corner store guy sells edibles on the side. Need it fast? Plenty of delivery options from both the legal market and illicit market online so you can order off a website or app. Can wait a day or two? You can still order, and have it sent in the mail to you, but who wants to wait these days when there are so many local plugs to get you your weed in a few hours?
Does that mean everyone in America has access to affordable marijuana? No, states that do not have any type of legal marijuana program will have the LEAST accessible product. As states add medical programs and growing licenses, whether caregiver or industrial, more product leaks into mainstream society. If a state has legalized both recreational and medical marijuana, then the odds are overwhelming that market saturation will start to show within 2 years. The supply eventually catches up with demand because supplying the demand generally makes someone money.
California = the laughing stock of the cannabis world; the poster child for how not to legalize. Corporations be warned: if u don’t welcome legacy to legal, we will just stay outside the system— and outcompete you for another
80 years. https://t.co/1ExOIfRJOW
California voted on legal recreational marijuana in 2016, on the same ballot Trump/Pence was on at the time. In 2022, the legal industry is on the verge of collapsing for a variety of reasons, one of them being consumers don’t mind buying on the illicit market at all, as 73% of them do. The reason they can do it is that so much product is accessible, albeit not legal, per se. If people have access to quality products at 33% off the legal price, they will look to save their wallet over the benefits of having lab-tested bud. Ten-percent off? Maybe people still pay more for that lab test, but 35 to 45% off the legal prices, load up the hookah pipe and lab testing be damned.
As California’s letter and the Cannabis.net survey shows, accessibility is starting to reach its first tipping point in America. States like Illinois and Oklahoma have vibrant illegal markets that can supply the Midwest. No longer to people have to risk years in jail driving from the Emerald Triangle to New York City. The trip is a lot shorter from illegal grows in upstate New York and Ohio vs. from San Francisco.
The scariest part going forward for the legal weed industry is that accessibility will increase forever, or until it is no longer economically viable to be an illegal cannabis grower and seller. When we get to the point where illegal growers are throwing in the towel, what happens to the legal version of those businesses that have to pay taxes, overhead, fees, licenses, etc.? They will be gone before the illicit guys as margin compression will force only the lean businesses models to survive.
It is just too dang expensive to sell weed legally in America when everyone has a plug.
For the fifth year in a row, this diet was ranked number overall one for its effect on weight loss, heart health, and more.
Diets come and go, with many taking the world by storm and then vanishing without much fuss. According to the U.S. News & World Report, the Mediterranean diet is an exception to this rule, continuing to reign supreme for the fifth year in a row, earning the top spot for best diet.
The magazine’s rankings feature a list of the 40 best diets, while also splitting them up in categories, like best diets for diabetes and best diets for weight loss. When it comes to best diets overall, the top three rankings included the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the Flexitarian diet, which all give the user a sense of choice and freedom.
“I think it’s important to note that the top three diets — Mediterranean, DASH and flexitarian — all offer variety, flexibility and few, if any, rules,” Gretel Schueller, the Health managing editor of the U.S. News & World Report, told CNN. “All the diets that perform well are safe, sensible and backed by sound science. The diet winners also all provide adequate calories with a focus on vegetables, fruits and whole grains; a modest amount of lean protein, dairy; and an occasional treat.”
The diets were selected according to criteria developed by experts, including how easy they were to follow, their effects on weight, whether the diet helped prevent conditions like heart disease or diabetes, its long-term functioning, and more.
Diets that land high up on the list tend to approach the concept of diet in a modern way, focusing on what people are eating instead of what they’re depriving themselves of. These diets tend to recommend meal plans that are healthy, delicious, filling, and that support a change of lifestyle instead of a diet that you’ll quit after you’ve lost the pounds that you initially wanted to get rid of.
Photo by Jamie Brown via Unsplash
The Mediterranean diet is based on the types of food consumed in countries like Greece, Spain, and Italy, which are all located near the Mediterranean sea. People who live in these countries usually have better heart health and more stable body weight. These diets consist in consuming large amounts of fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds, legumes and more, while still consuming cheese, yogurts, poultry, and dairy in smaller amounts. The foods that this diet limits include red meat, added sugars, processed foods, and the like, something that includes a lot of foods, especially for Americans.
Despite some limitations, it’s a healthy diet that has amassed followers from all over the world, while also helping them discover new dishes and approaches to foods that are delicious and filling.
Could the United Kingdom be next to join the cannabis legalization trend that is moving across Europe? Anything is possible.
Although there are no confirmed or announced plans for the U.K. to take this road anytime soon, news from London signals possible changes along those lines. Namely, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has said he plans to stop prosecuting adolescents and young adults caught with marijuana, reported Metro.
Photo by Mayara Klingner / EyeEm/Getty Images
New Scheme As Positive Intervention
While medical use of cannabis was legalized in England in 2018, Khan now seeks to introduce a new scheme in which people under 25 caught with marijuana in their possession will be offered certain classes or counseling instead of being arrested.
The goal is to address illegal drug use by providing more positive interventions. While Mayor Khan does not have the authority to decriminalize or change the classification of cannabis, or any other drug for that matter, the newly announced measures would essentially decriminalize cannabis possession for adolescents and young adults.
A similar scheme was introduced in Ireland and a recent report noted that it rendered positive results. In 2021 fewer people were charged or issued a summons for possessing drugs and those caught with cannabis were issued a warning.
Initially, Khan’s scheme will be introduced in the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley, with plans to reach other areas if it is successful.
A spokesperson for the mayor said that Khan believes that drug use and connected crimes are preventable and not inevitable, which is why he decided to try with deterrence and early intervention.
“A core focus of this work is investigating various ways in which young people can be diverted away from low-level drug use by being better informed about its harm, and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime is actively involved in discussions around this scheme,” the spokesperson added. “We know that we’ll never be able to simply arrest our way out of the problem, which is why we continue to work on schemes that provide young people with support and education, rather than simply putting them through the criminal justice system – with the aim of diverting them away from drug use and crime for good.”
Photo by Dejan Marjanovic/Getty Images
The spokesperson further pointed out that funding for the pilot has not yet received final approval from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
Kahn’s initiative comes on the heels of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announced crackdown on illegal substances all the while the police discovered traces of cocaine in 11 of the 12 toilets of the UK Parliament, signaling hypocrisy in the U.K. government.
