Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Oklahoma Overrun With Chinese-Operated Marijuana Farms

Chinese gangs are taking advantage of loose marijuana rules in Oklahoma to grow and transport marijuana to other states for sale on the black market, authorities say.

Oklahoma narcotics officials told Congress $153 billion worth of marijuana is unaccounted for and likely leaving the state for the black market in other states.

As many as 85 percent of licensed grow sites have connections with Chinese owners or operators, according to Mark Woodward, information officer with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

Since 2022, the state has shut down more than 6,000 illegal growing operations. Most U.S. states have made marijuana legally available, but taxes and regulations have pushed up its price, leaving an opening for black market sales.

Donnie Anderson, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, said at a press conference in March 2025 that his department was conducting raids on illegal marijuana operations every day.

Here’s what we know about the ongoing crisis.

Black Market Operations Flourish

Oklahoma approved medical marijuana in 2018, licensing its cultivation and sale within the state. The state then reported an explosive growth of growers as the law established no cap on the number of farms that could be licensed to grow marijuana and no limit on how many marijuana plants each farm could cultivate.

The majority of these sites are run by Chinese nationals, according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

By the end of 2022, Oklahoma had 8,400 farms licensed for growing marijuana. The state stopped issuing new licenses in 2022. As of mid-2025, there are under 2,000 licensed farms, which is still more than enough to meet the needs of the 325,000 patients licensed to use marijuana for medical purposes.

As the state has increased the reporting required of the licensed growers, it has come to light that an enormous amount of marijuana is not accounted for.

Between March 2024 and March 2025, medical marijuana dispensaries sold 1.7 million pounds of marijuana in Oklahoma, according to Anderson, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. But farms licensed to grow marijuana reported growing 87 million plants of marijuana, with a typical yield of one pound per plant.

Anderson told Congress on Sept. 18, 2025, that the marijuana produced by 85 million plants is unaccounted for. That amount is worth around $153 billion, according to state estimates. It is unknown where all the unaccounted product went.

Locals Recruited as Straw Owners

The Oklahoma law, passed in 2018, prohibits marijuana grown in the state from being transported to other states.

Enforcing that law is a challenge. Oklahoma is at the intersection of North-South and East-West interstate highways. In addition, to obtain a license, growers must have two years of residency in the state. Anderson told Congress that some out-of-state operators paid local “straw owners” to fraudulently obtain an Oklahoma license.

These operations are growing marijuana in Oklahoma and transporting the drug to other states for sale. And in one case, one Oklahoma man was registered as owning 300 farms, said Anderson.

The vast majority of these grow sites have a Chinese connection. According to Woodward, currently there are 1,995 active farms in the state, and 85 percent are Chinese-operated or owned.

Several recent convictions of Chinese operators in Oklahoma show the connection between Oklahoma marijuana cultivation and East Coast Chinese criminal organizations.

One case from December 2024 involved Jeff Weng and Tong Lin, who were convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Weng operated out of Brooklyn, New York, while Tong Lin oversaw the grow operation in Wetumka, Oklahoma. According to witness testimony, they transported more than 56,000 pounds of marijuana out of Oklahoma over seven months.

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Utah Church That Uses Marijuana, Psychedelics And Vapes As Sacraments Sues Over Police Raids

Months after Utah’s ban on flavored vapes, Blackhouse, a former Sugar House vape shop, became a sanctuary and a safe haven for those searching to get flavored cartridges—for spiritual and religious practices.

The electronic cigarettes joined other sacraments that have been at the center of religious legal challenges in the state like psychedelic mushrooms and cannabis. But, after Utah law enforcement agencies raided the Sugar House location, as well as the Salt City Sanctuary in South Salt Lake in August, all of these sacraments have been put into legal question, with the Sugarleaf Church, the institution overseeing both sanctuaries, initiating a lawsuit to keep them.

“Officers arrived using riot gear, AR-15s, pry bars, and battering rams, forcibly entered both sanctuaries, and immediately began disabling the security systems and surveillance cameras with a crow bar,” the church said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in August.

During the raids officers confiscated cannabis and psilocybin products, which the church called “sacramental property,” as well as thousands of flavored vape cartridges, blank checkbooks, waivers, clergy rosters, cash donations, tablets and membership records.

The church is asking a judge to order law enforcement to stop interfering with members’ free exercise of religion and to award compensatory damages. The institution is also asking the South Salt Lake Police Department and the Utah State Bureau of Investigation to undergo mandatory religious sensitivity training and for the immediate return of property.

At Salt City Sanctuary the agents seized “4.24 kilograms of packaged marijuana flower; over a kilogram of ‘fresh flower’ marijuana; 956 1-gram pre-rolled marijuana joints, 8 display jars of marijuana flower, 152.5 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, mushroom gummies and sample packs, numerous edibles with THC, and rolling papers,” according to a motion to dismiss filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

At Blackhouse, officers confiscated “significant quantities of raw marijuana; psilocybin mushrooms; THC vapes, cookies, gummies, candies, syrups, oils, and similar products; psilocybin cookies, gummies, and similar products; and over 3,000 flavored vape cartridges and order receipts,” the district attorney’s office said in its motion.

Joshua Robers, a church reverend, was also arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail during the Salt City Sanctuary raid. He faces multiple charges in 3rd District Court, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a third-degree felony.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit this month and declined to comment because the litigation is ongoing.

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US Military Reportedly Preparing for Strikes on Drug Labs Inside Venezuela

Payback may be about to find narco-traffickers in their own turf.

The US is reported to be preparing for military strikes on drug labs inside Venezuela, and the planned actions may also include drone attacks on major drug traffickers.

The strikes within the Bolivarian socialist state could potentially begin in a matter of weeks.

BREAKING: The Trump administration is now drawing up options to launch drone strikes INSIDE VENEZUELA against the cartels, per NBC.

The strikes could occur within weeks against cartel members, leadership and drug labs.

President Trump has NOT yet approved anything.

These… pic.twitter.com/kbGY2SRlmP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 26, 2025

NBC News reported:

“Those sources are two U.S. officials familiar with the planning and two other sources familiar with the discussions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly.”

Three alleged drug boats from Venezuela reportedly carrying narco-traffickers and drugs have already been destroyed in the last weeks.

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Coca Prohibition Is More Harmful Than The Plant Itself, World Health Organization Review Concludes

The consumption of the coca leaf in its raw form by millions daily across the Andes carries no significant risks, but official coca control strategies are associated with “substantial public health harms,” according to a review commissioned by the World Health Organization.

Filter viewed an advance copy of the report that was distributed to members of the WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD).

Coca, the mildly stimulating and medicinal leaf that is the base ingredient of cocaine, was banned globally by the UN in 1964 after its investigators claimed coca leaf chewing is “definitely harmful” and “the cause of racial degeneration of many population groups.” A WHO paper also described the use of the calcium-rich plant as “a social evil.”

But despite U.S.-backed militarized efforts to eradicate coca leaf production in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador throughout the decades-long drug war, the consumption of the plant—which for many Indigenous communities holds profound spiritual value—has remained stubbornly prevalent, with production in Colombia at all-time highs.

“Research reviewed for this report did not reveal evidence of clinically meaningful public health harms associated with coca leaf use,” states the comprehensive scientific review commissioned by the ECDD. “The research record does, however, robustly document the substantial public health harms associated with coca control strategies at all scales.”

The review is currently in draft form and subject to copyediting. It was commissioned amid growing international calls to end the blanket prohibition of coca, as Filter previously reported.

In October, the ECDD will discuss the report, which was prepared by an international group of independent contracted experts, and consider whether to recommend a change to coca’s current Schedule I status—the most restricted category, meaning researchers often find it impossible to source the understudied leaves.

Any recommendations would be presented in December to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which has a rotating membership of 53 United Nations member states. In March 2026, the CND would vote on any recommendations. It could reschedule or even deschedule the coca leaf—which would have huge ramifications, ending the criminalization of its use and potentially providing a major economic boon for Latin American producer countries.

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Michigan Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Tax Increase That’s Projected To Bring In $420 Million In New Revenue Every Year

A plan to raise money for road repairs by increasing marijuana taxes quickly advanced through the Michigan House late Thursday as part of what officials called a larger framework for a state budget deal.

The proposed Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act would impose a 24 percent tax on the wholesale price of marijuana sold or transferred to a retail shop, beginning in January.

That would generate an estimated $420 million a year, according to the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency. Most of the funding from the proposed Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act would go into a new Neighborhood Road Fund for local roads and bridges.

The pot tax proposal passed the Republican-led House with bipartisan support in a 78-21 vote just hours after it was unveiled, with opposition from 10 Republicans and 11 Democrats. It now goes to the Democratic-led Senate for further consideration.

A separate bill approved Thursday—and tied to the pot tax proposal—would extend new federal income tax exemptions on tips and overtime pay to state filers for three years. That would benefit qualifying workers but cost the state more than $150 million annually between 2026 and 2028, according to the fiscal agency.

The votes came shortly before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Democratic Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall announced a framework agreement to pass the budget before a potential government shutdown next week.

That will include a road funding plan totaling between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion in annual funding, according to Hall, R-Richland Township.

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Feds Move To Dismiss Marijuana And Gun Rights Case In Anticipation Of Landmark Ruling From Supreme Court

The Trump administration is asking a federal court to dismiss one of multiple pending cases concerning marijuana and gun rights, in large part because it expects the U.S. Supreme Court to make a precedent-setting ruling on the issue.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Tuesday, attorneys for the Justice Department urged a judge to dismiss a case “without prejudice” that involves a man charged in 2022 after police discovered cannabis and a handgun in his vehicle during a traffic stop.

Attorneys for the man, Jared Michael Harrison, also want the court to dismiss the case—but they take issue with DOJ’s specific request, as dismissing the case without prejudice would mean he could be prosecuted again. And they criticized the government’s arguments in support of its motion, noting that the department relied heavily on the length of the court battle that’s lasted three years. The lawyers also challenged the idea that outstanding Supreme Court cases that similarly deal with cannabis and federal firearms laws justify dismissal without prejudice.

But according to the federal government, the request would be “in the interest of justice,” while recognizing that the constitutionality of the statute in question–18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)—”remains open both in this case and in the country as a whole. ”

“There are currently seven petitions for certiorari pending before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of § 922(g)(3) under the Second Amendment, six of which involve as-applied challenges, and are a mix of petitions filed by the United States and criminal defendants,” DOJ said, adding that they expect there’s a “reasonable likelihood that the Supreme Court will grant certiorari” in at least one of the pending cases.

“Continuing to pursue this case at this time would needlessly waste judicial and prosecutorial resources,” the government’s filing said.

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Bipartisan Lawmakers Say Hemp THC Ban In Spending Bill Violates Congressional Rules, As They Prepare New Measure To Regulate Market

Bipartisan House lawmakers are pushing back against attempts to ban hemp THC products, arguing that it would “deal a fatal blow” to the industry and, as currently included in a spending bill, violates congressional rules. To that end, the members say there are plans in the works to introduce an alternative measure to regulate the market.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Friday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and 26 other members said the appropriations legislation that’s advancing in the House with the hemp ban provisions intact would upend the industry that’s emerged since the crop was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

While the Senate ultimately stripped similar language from its version of the agriculture spending measure following a procedural protest from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), there’s still concern among stakeholders that it could wind up in the final package delivered to the president following bicameral negotiations.

If that were to happen, the lawmakers wrote that “it would deal a fatal blow to American farmers supplying the regulated hemp industry and small businesses, and jeopardize tens of billions of dollars in economic activity around the country.”

“Additionally, there are serious procedural concerns with how the language ended up in these bills,” they said. “This language has not been considered in a markup or hearing by any relevant authorizing committee and there was no public forum for members to express concerns with this language and preferred alternative legislation more appropriate for the relevant authorizing committees.”

Specifically, the letter says the inclusion of the hemp provisions in the House bill “clearly violates” a rule prohibiting language that changes existing law through general appropriations legislation.

“Perhaps most concerning is the characterization by proponents of this language that the bill will not negatively impact the industrial hemp industry,” it says, referring to comments from certain legislators such as Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who have championed the controversial proposal.

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Kamala Harris Slams Trump for Pardoning ‘the Fentanyl Dealer Ross Ulbricht’

I confess I haven’t read 107 Days, Kamala Harris’ new memoir about her short-lived presidential campaign, cover to cover. But I did read at least one sentence, and it was a doozy.

“The Justice Department is going after Trump’s enemies list,” the former vice president writes, “while Trump supporters have been pardoned and released: January 6 rioters who attacked police, the fentanyl dealer Ross Ulbricht, numerous tax cheats.”

Ah, Ross Ulbricht, the fentanyl dealer who was not convicted of actually dealing fentanyl—or any drug—himself.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison for his role in operating the Silk Road, an online marketplace where people could buy and sell illicit drugs. “By punishing Ulbricht as if he personally distributed narcotics, the government set a dangerous precedent for internet platforms and personal liability in the digital age,” wrote Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward in the April issue of Reason. “Pressure to hold platform operators liable for everything from misinformation to sex work has grown in the past decade as Ulbricht and his supporters—especially those in the libertarian and cryptocurrency communities—fought for his freedom.”

Ulbricht ultimately obtained that freedom, as Harris notes, from President Donald Trump, who granted Ulbricht a pardon after he had served 11 years in prison. One need not even approve of Ulbricht’s conduct to understand that clemency here was not the scandal Harris portrays.

His sentence was, for one, grossly disproportionate to his offenses: a double life sentence without the possibility of parole. The only way he would have otherwise been released was in a body bag. Serving more than a decade in prison is no small thing.

But his motivations should also matter, which Harris obscures by reducing Ulbricht to “the fentanyl dealer.”

“The Silk Road began as Ulbricht’s idealistic attempt to make the black market just a little safer by creating a place where people could vet buyers,” notes Reason‘s Zach Weissmueller, “avoid risky in-person transactions, find untainted drugs, and share safety information.” Indeed, Ulbricht, who has expressed remorse multiple times for any harm he caused, has said he “was trying to do something good.”

Harris isn’t wrong that Trump has issued pardons to some undeserving recipients. She could have chosen to highlight Scott Jenkins, for instance, the Virginia sheriff who was convicted of accepting cash bribes from businessmen in exchange for appointing them as auxiliary deputy sheriffs, a sworn law enforcement position, so they could take advantage of the special privileges associated with that role. Jenkins was sentenced to ten years in prison but did not serve a day of that. Why? “No MAGA left behind,” said Pardon Attorney Ed Martin on X.

Even still, Harris is entitled to her opinion on whether or not Ulbricht succeeded in his goal to “do something good.” Her throwaway line about him in her new book, however, is a reminder that no matter how many times she has tried to position herself as someone who supports redemption and sensible criminal justice reform—and to run away from her tough-on-crime past—she is still ever the prosecutor.

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Farmers Tell Mitch McConnell His Push To Ban Hemp Products With THC Will Cause ‘Catastrophic Consequences’

Dozens of hemp farmers from Kentucky are urging their state’s senior U.S. senator to back off from his push to recriminalize some products that are derived from their crops.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who successfully championed the federal legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill, has been working this year to roll back that policy by prohibiting hemp derivatives with a “quantifiable” amount of THC, saying that he never intended to allow a market for intoxicating cannabis products.

The recriminalization proposal has advanced in both the House and Senate this session, though a push by McConnell’s home state colleague, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), got the provision removed from their chamber’s bill ahead of its final passage. Paul has cautioned, however, that prohibitionist forces are working to include the ban in other legislative vehicles—which he said could potentially be enacted within weeks.

“If Congress moves to eliminate the end markets that make our crop viable, we will suffer immediate and catastrophic consequences,” the 58 farmers who have agreements to sell hemp crops they have harvested this season wrote to McConnell in the new letter on Monday. “We have taken out loans, hired the necessary help, planted the crop, and contracted with processors and/or brands. Any legislative change that pulls the rug out from under this market—especially mid-season—is a direct blow to our farms, families, and rural communities.”

The farmers, who are requesting an in-person meeting with McConnell, wrote that “hemp is the foundation of our diversified, sustainable farm operations that helps us weather tough commodity cycles, diversify away from tobacco and empower profit in an uncertain economy”—adding that its federal legalization in 2018 gave them a new crop with “real economic opportunity” for the “first time in decades.”

While the letter signatories do not support a ban along the lines of what McConnell has pushed in Congress this year—which they say would “empower the illicit market and destroy American farm income in the process”—they do back “responsible regulation” for the crop.

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Former Philippines president charged with ‘crimes against humanity’

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with “crimes against humanity.” The prosecutors have alleged that his ruthless war on drugs resulted in at least 76 killings, and have claimed that the real death toll is much greater.

The redacted 15-page charge sheet, dated July 4 but released only on Monday, alleges Duterte is responsible for murder during his time as Davao City mayor and as president, including 19 killings from 2013–2016, 14 “high-value target” deaths in 2016–2017, and 43 killings during broader “clearance” operations through 2018. Prosecutors say thousands more were killed in the operations.

The ICC, however, has faced international criticism and accusations of bias over perceived failures to address atrocities committed by Western countries. The United States, China, and Russia are not members, and the court has often struggled to enforce arrest warrants because it relies on state cooperation.

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