Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Details revealed of Trump-approved covert action plan for Venezuela

US President Donald Trump has greenlighted additional measures to pressure Venezuela and prepare for a potential broader military campaign, including covert CIA operations targeting President Nicolas Maduro’s government, the New York Times has reported, citing US officials. 

At the same time, Trump has approved a new round of back-channel negotiations that reportedly led to the Venezuelan president offering to step down after a delay of several years – a proposal the White House rejected, the outlet said on Monday. 

The Pentagon has deployed warships to the Caribbean and has carried out controversial strikes on small boats it claims are involved in drug smuggling from Venezuela. The White House maintains that Maduro is an illegitimate, cartel-linked ruler, fueling speculation that direct military action might be imminent. Maduro has denied the drug trafficking allegations and warned the US against launching “a crazy war.”

According to the NYT, while Trump has not yet deployed combat forces to Venezuela, Washington’s next steps could involve “sabotage or some sort of cyber, psychological, or information operations” aimed at increasing pressure on the Maduro government. 

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Congress Abandons Effort To Let VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana On Veterans Day

Advocates are sharply criticizing congressional leaders for advancing a spending bill ahead of Veterans Day on Tuesday that omits bipartisan provisions allowing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical cannabis to patients in states where it’s legal—even though the policy was approved by the full Senate and House of Representatives earlier this year.

While there’s been significant focus on language in appropriations legislation that passed the Senate on Monday that would ban hemp products containing THC, another key setback for reform advocates is the lack of the medical marijuana provisions for veterans—different versions of which advanced through both chambers.

“The absence of this provision is incredibly disappointing, and makes no sense whatsoever,” Morgan Fox, political director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “It is uncontroversial, revenue-neutral, previously approved by both chambers, and long overdue in order to help veterans find relief.”

“The timing of the announcement—just days before a holiday to show our gratitude to service members—is quite insensitive,” he said, referring to the bill’s unveiling on Sunday, just two days before Veterans Day.

Here’s the text of the House-passed version: 

“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans Health Directive 1315 as it relates to—

(1) the policy stating that ‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved marijuana program’;

(2) the directive for the ‘Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management’ to ensure that ‘medical facility Directors are aware that it is VHA policy for providers to assess Veteran use of marijuana but providers are prohibited from recommending, making referrals to or completing paperwork for Veteran participation in State marijuana programs’; and

(3) the directive for the ‘VA Medical Facility Director’ to ensure that ‘VA facility staff are aware of the following’ ‘[t]he prohibition recommending, making referrals to or completing forms and registering Veterans for participation in State-approved marijuana programs’.”

The Senate-passed language reads:

“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used in a manner that would—

(1) interfere with the ability of a veteran to participate in a medicinal marijuana program approved by a State;

(2) deny any services from the Department to a veteran who is participating in such a program; or

(3) limit or interfere with the ability of a health care provider of the Department to make appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take steps to comply with such a program.”

The negotiated bill contains no language on the issue at all.

“Denying our veterans access to a medicine that so many use to ease physical pain, or the trauma of PTSD, is straight cruelty,” Adam Smith, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment.

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Pets Will ‘Suffer Needlessly’ If Federal Hemp Ban Takes Effect And Limits CBD Access, Veterinarian Says

The federal hemp ban that was included in a spending bill President Donald Trump signed last week could inadvertently hurt a patient demographic that isn’t usually associated with cannabis: Dogs, cats and other pets who’ve come to rely on cannabinoids as part of their veterinary medical care.

As certain GOP lawmakers in Congress pressed for a policy change to prevent the sale of consumable hemp products, the narrative often revolved around the idea that a strict ban would close a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the crop, leading to the expansion of an often unregulated market for intoxicating cannabinoids.

But while there’s broad consensus that gas station THC vapes and copycat hemp edibles appealing to youth should be addressed, stakeholders and advocates say that narrative paints an incomplete picture, as the language included in appropriations legislation that’s set to take effect next year threatens to upend legitimate enterprises as well—including those that provide access to CBD for pets.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted to distance himself from that argument before Congress passed the bill with the hemp provisions. He said that the Farm Bill and hemp legalization provisions he championed were always meant to be about industrial uses, and CBD products would be spared even with a ban on intoxicating elements of the plant.

The way the law is written, however, will permit such limited concentrations of THC that most growers and manufacturers say the idea of a CBD carve-out is infeasible. And for companies marketing such non-intoxicating products, that could spell doom—or at least force them to take on the significant added cost of extracting CBD isolates so as not to run afoul of the law.

Tim Shu, founder and CEO of the company VetCBD, tells Marijuana Moment that the passage of the appropriations legislation is cause for concern for animal companions, many of which have found relief from conditions such as arthritis, epilepsy, pain and other health conditions with the help of CBD.

Just like the 0.3 percent THC by dry weight limit that currently defines hemp, the more restrictive THC limit prescribed under the newly enacted law is “arbitrary,” Shu said. He also stressed the importance of the “entourage effect” for cannabis that makes it so having the plant’s natural ingredients—THC, CBD, terpenes and other compounds—work together often enhances their therapeutic efficacy.

“If the rule stays unchanged, then essentially anyone that’s producing CBD products from hemp are going to have to use CBD isolate,” he said. “And the problem with that is that we know from increasing evidence that the entourage effect does have benefits—it does appear to be a real thing.”

“This is something that people tend to forget about. Everyone’s thinking about intoxicating hemp properties, right? The delta-9, delta-8 THC stuff that you can find at gas stations. But the reality is that there are a lot of people and animals that rely on full-spectrum CBD products from hemp to not suffer,” Shu said. “And as usual, the neediest suffer the most.”

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States Are Already Rebelling Against Trump’s New Hemp THC Ban

Last week, High Times broke down how Congress ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and, in the process, scheduled the recriminalization of most hemp-derived products. The deal President Donald Trump signed caps legal hemp at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, bans synthetic or chemically converted cannabinoids and gives the industry one year before most hemp products (including drinks, gummies and vapes) are treated as Schedule I marijuana.

On paper, the ban is national and absolute. In reality, it’s already turning into a state-by-state fight over who actually controls cannabis policy.

Paper Law vs. Real-World Enforcement

Technically, cannabis has been federally illegal the whole time, yet a $32 billion marijuana industry operates in dozens of states. Now, a $28.3 billion hemp sector is being shoved into the same contradiction.

Law professor Jonathan Adler told MJBizDaily: “While marijuana is illegal for purposes of federal law, the federal government doesn’t have the resources, doesn’t have the personnel to go after individual retailers, individual buyers, let alone individual users.” If that is true for state-licensed cannabis, it is even more true for hemp seltzers in grocery stores.

In Ohio, for instance, this tension is already out in the open. Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order to ban hemp-derived THC at the state level, but a judge put the order on hold. Now, lawmakers are talking about pulling hemp THC into the state’s cannabis regime instead of treating it as pure contraband. According to ABC-5, House Speaker Matt Huffman, who supports stricter rules, still asked: “Now, are we going to go around and start cuffing 17-year-old clerks at gas stations? No, but we’ve got to get this thing in shape.”

Texas and Kentucky Push Back

Texas now sits in direct conflict with the new federal definition. Economist Robin Goldstein writes in the Houston Chronicle that the state’s “THC hemp business” represents “a $4.5 billion industry that supports thousands of businesses, most of them small and independent.” He credits Governor Greg Abbott with taking “courageous action to save Texas hemp” by vetoing a state ban and issuing an executive order that kept intoxicating hemp products legal under HB 1325.

Under Abbott’s order and HB 1325, Goldstein notes: “THC hemp products have already been explicitly legalized under Texas law.” Now the shutdown deal makes those products illegal again at the federal level, but state law “is therefore now in conflict with U.S. federal law.” In his words, “recreational intoxicating hemp is just as legal in Texas as recreational intoxicating cannabis is in California,” and “Texas and its THC industry simply join the conflicts-with-federal law club.” His bottom line: “I see no more reason that THC hemp businesses should stop operating in Texas than that THC cannabis businesses should stop operating in California.”

In Kentucky, the governor is sending a similar signal, albeit in softer tones. When asked about the federal hemp language, Governor Andy Beshear said at a press briefing that “hemp is an important industry in Kentucky,” and that “we should have appropriate safety regulations around it, but we should make those regulations here in Kentucky —talking to the industry and making sure that we get that balance right.”

The Governor added: “I think that we can protect our kids. I think that we can do the right thing to protect all of our people while not handicapping an industry that supports a lot of people.” Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul tried to strip the hemp ban from the bill and warned leadership it would devastate the hemp sector, while Senator Mitch McConnell, who pushed hemp legalization in 2018, led the effort to close the so-called loophole.

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Trump Suggests Airstrikes On Cartels In Mexico, Colombia: ‘Okay With Me’

President Donald Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office on Monday that potential military strikes in Mexico to disrupt the drug trade would be “okay with me”.

He expressed rare openness to direct Pentagon action inside America’s neighbor to the immediate south, at a moment of ongoing deadly drone strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. This is sure to turn US-Mexico relations in a more negative direction, but Trump doesn’t seem overly concerned with this as he ramps up the pressure, also on Colombia.

He said he’d be willing to do this to prevent drugs from entering the United States, and further he’d be proud to “knock out” cocaine factories in Colombia.

On Colombia, where the president, his family and top officials have recently been hit with US sanctions, Trump said as follows:

“Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it personally. I didn’t say I’m doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives by doing it.”

This renewed war on drugs rhetoric has been met with immense controversy, including among some US Congress members who demand a Congressional vote before war is declared on Venezuela or any other sovereign Latin American country.

But the administration has also been utilizing ‘terrorism’ labels to justify strikes, which up to now has included targeting over twenty alleged drug boats and killing some 80 people.

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Trump Administration Sees Marijuana As A ‘Hazard,’ Federal Prosecutor Says, Drawing Criticism From Lawmakers And Advocates

Lawmakers and advocates are pushing back after a U.S. attorney announced his office will be aggressively prosecuting cannabis possession and use offenses on federal lands, stating that it’s the administration’s position that “marijuana use is a public safety hazard.”

U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming Darin Smith caught some by surprise on Thursday after his office said it would be “rigorously” prosecuting cannabis cases, while citing a recent reversal of previously unpublicized Biden-era marijuana enforcement guidance that deprioritized such action.

“Marijuana possession remains a federal crime in the United States, irrespective of varying state laws,” Smith said. “The detrimental effects of drugs on our society are undeniable, and I am committed to using every prosecutorial tool available to hold offenders accountable.”

He doubled down on that position in comments to WyoFile, telling the local outlet: “This administration thinks that marijuana use is a public safety hazard and this office is going to uphold the law and ensure safety and security of the public within our jurisdiction.”

Marijuana Moment reached out to the White House for clarification on President Donald Trump’s position on cannabis, but a representative did not provide comment by the time of publication.

While questions remain as to the specifics of both the Biden- and Trump-related marijuana prosecutorial guidance actions, the federal attorney’s message has added to the uncertainty around how the current administration views its enforcement role as federal and state cannabis laws continue to conflict.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marijuana Moment that simple cannabis possession “is not a threat to public safety, and it is ridiculous to justify the prosecution of individuals with an outdated law that does not reflect the current use of cannabis in the United States”

“The federal government needs to catch up to the states, recognize the legitimate industry that has emerged, dismantle the stigma surrounding the plant, and reform its outdated scheduling of marijuana as a dangerous drug,” she said.

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US Takes Out Drug Boat in Caribbean Sea Under Newly Unveiled “Operation Southern Spear” as White House Plans to Continue Strikes

The US military on Saturday executed another strike on a drug trafficking vessel operated by narcoterrorists under the new Operation Southern Spear program, the US Southern Command announced on Sunday. 

On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed. The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific and was struck in international waters,” US South Com said in an X post.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Operation Southern Spear at the direction of President Donald Trump on Thursday.

“Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it,” he said on X.

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Rhode Island’s US Senators Defend Vote To Ban Hemp Despite Concerns It Will Kill A Growing State Industry

Mike Simpson is one of Rhode Island’s biggest cheerleaders for hemp cultivation and the plant’s derivative products—remedies, he believes, that may help where pharmaceutical medicines cannot.

It’s that very reason Simpson helped co-found Rhode Island’s only outdoor hemp farm, where he says many of the business’ products ship all across the country.

But Lovewell Farms may cease operations now that Congress has approved reopening the federal government under legislation that would effectively ban hemp products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC. Now that it has been signed by President Donald Trump, the ban will go into effect in a year.

“This might be the final straw,” Simpson said in an interview Wednesday. “I may have to shut my whole company down.”

Simpson doesn’t sell intoxicating products, but said crops grown at his Hopkinton farm can contain up to 1 milligram of THC in it, as is allowed under existing Rhode Island hemp regulations.

“I have 700 to 800 pounds of flower that I grew this year that under that law would not be legal,” he said.

Simpson said he would grow crops with lower concentrations, but as a USDA-certified organic farm, there aren’t that many seed suppliers he can buy from.

“We’re really at the whim of what those folks are providing,” he said.

The provision in the shutdown-ending appropriations bill was championed by GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in order to close a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp but inadvertently paved the way for the proliferation of hemp-derived THC products like infused drinks—products which states have since scrambled to either regulate or ban.

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Hemp Provision in Spending Bill Could Kill Legit Industry

The hemp industry is gearing up for a lobbying effort following a provision in the recent government funding package meant to stop the sale of intoxicating hemp products but could inadvertently destroy a legitimate $28 billion industry and kill 300,000 American jobs.

The provision in the bill bans hemp products like gummies, drinks, vapes, and topical pain relief applications that contain low doses of THC — the part of the cannabis plant that can create intoxication in users at higher levels.

Hemp was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill. It “required the FDA to establish a regulatory framework for hemp products, but it never did, allowing intoxicating hemp products to be introduced in the marketplace without oversight or standardization,” the Hill reported.

The new ban tucked into the spending bill prohibits products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and is aimed at stopping the sale of intoxicating products often sold in gas stations and convenience stores.

However, the trade group U.S. Hemp Roundtable estimates the move would wipe out 95 percent of CBD products used to treat pain and other health issues, shut down small businesses and farms nationwide, and cost states $1.5 billion in tax revenue.

According to the trade group’s statement:

Despite misleading claims this language protects non-intoxicating CBD products, the reality is that more than 90% of non-intoxicating hemp-derived products contain levels of THC that are greater than the proposed cap of .4 mg per container. As a result, seniors, veterans, and many other consumers who depend on hemp for their health and well-being would be violating federal law to purchase these products, disrupting their care and leaving them scrambling for potentially harmful alternatives.

In Texas, for example, voters overwhelmingly supported the sale of legal hemp-derived products when properly regulated, according to Breitbart News’s reporting of a statewide poll in July. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) vetoed a THC ban bill that had passed the Texas Legislature.

While the spending bill was still in the Senate, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) unsuccessfully offered an amendment to remove the language, but the Senate voted overwhelmingly to table it. Paul warned on the Senate floor that the measure would “eradicate the hemp industry” and “couldn’t come at a worse time for America’s farmers.”

Supporters of the provision in the bill argued it was long overdue.

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Illinois Will Revisit Hemp Regulation Debate Amid New Federal Ban On THC Products, Governor Says

Tucked into the spending legislation approved by Congress this week was a provision banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products—a move that could upend an industry with annual sales now into the billions.

Hemp was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, which defined it as a plant with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. But the law didn’t account for total THC or other cannabinoids, creating a loophole that allowed companies to use compounds like delta-8 to make products with marijuana-like intoxicating effects. As a result, hemp-derived intoxicants have proliferated in gas stations, corner stores and other places with little to no regulation.

An amendment seeking to remove the language from the larger bill, proposed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was rejected in a 76-24 vote. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) voted with the majority.

Durbin said the hemp language was proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

“Throughout my career, I’ve tried my best to protect children,” Durbin said. “He asked for further regulation of the industry to make sure their products being sold at service stations and such weren’t dangerous to kids. That’s not too much to ask. I supported his position.”

Though he opposed the bill on the whole, the hemp provision hands Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) an indirect political win. The governor earlier this year pushed in vain for legislation that would have limited the sale of delta-8 and other hemp-derived intoxicants to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries. But House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, did not call it for a vote, claiming it did not have the support of 60 House Democrats.

“In the absence of action in Springfield, Governor Pritzker supports policies to protect people, including children, from being misinformed or harmed by these products,” a Pritzker spokesperson said.

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