Tag: the war on (some) drugs

DeSantis Signs Bill To Strip Florida Medical Marijuana Cards From People With Drug Convictions

Some medical marijuana patients and caregivers in Florida could see their state cannabis registrations revoked under a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) this week.

DeSantis on Monday signed SB 2514, a broad budget bill that touches on cancer, dentistry and other health-related matters. But it also contains a provision that directs the state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted of—or plead guilty or no contest to—criminal drug charges.

The measure says a patient or caregiver would have their registration immediately suspended upon being charged with a state drug crime, and the suspension would remain in place until the criminal case reaches a final disposition.

DOH officials would have authority to reinstate the registration, revoke it entirely or extend the suspension if needed.

Authorities would be required to revoke a person’s registration if the patient or caregiver “was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre to, regardless of adjudication, a violation [of state drug law] if such violation was for trafficking in, the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or possession with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver a controlled substance.”

The enacted version of the legislation focuses specifically on production and distribution. It does not contain an earlier restriction from prior versions that would have also revoked registrations for people who merely purchased illegal drugs, including more than 10 grams of marijuana for their own use.

It also clarifies that patients and caregivers would have a process to request their registrations be reinstated. That would involve submitting a new application “accompanied by a notarized attestation by the applicant that he or she has completed all the terms of incarceration, probation, community control, or supervision related to the offense.”

It’s not clear from the plain language of the revised bill whether it would impact only future criminal cases involving medical marijuana patients and caregivers or whether DOH would need to review the records of existing program registrants and revoke registrations of an untold number of Floridians with past drug convictions.

Keep reading

Arizona Voters Will Decide on Designating Drug Cartels Terrorist Organizations

Arizona voters will decide in November on whether or not to designate drug cartels operating at the U.S. Southern border with Mexico as terrorists.

The vote will come after the Arizona state senate failed to pass a measure last year due to a slim Republican majority, per The Hill.

“Arizona is on the frontlines of a war that Washington ignored until President Trump took action. This resolution gives the Trump Administration another tool to defend our state, uphold the rule of law, and protect innocent lives,” state Rep. Steve Montenegro (R) said in a press release.

The resolution comes after the Trump administration added eight drug cartels to its list of terrorist organizations despite pushback from the Mexican government.

“Groups on the list are subject to financial sanctions, and their members cannot legally enter the United States. It is also illegal to give material support to a foreign terrorist organization,” noted The Hill.

“The Arizona ballot initiative would also direct the state Department of Homeland Security to ‘do everything within its authority to address the threat posed by drug cartels,’” it added.

Keep reading

Using Hemp Flour And Oil Can Make Gluten-Free Baked Goods With ‘Optimal’ Texture And ‘Significant’ Nutrition, Study Shows

A new study suggests that hemp seed and hemp oil can be made into a promising gluten-free flour mix that offers an “optimal baked texture” along with “significant nutritional impact.”

The research, from a six-person team at the University of Calabria, in Italy, used hemp seed flour and oil to make gluten-free cupcakes, testing various parameters to explore the feasibility of hemp as an alternative flour.

Initially, authors found that replacing butter with hemp oil in a traditional recipe—made with 00 wheat flour—reduced the consistency of the cupcake batter. But when the wheat flour was replaced entirely with hemp flour, the batter’s consistency “was restored.”

“Replacing butter with CBD-enriched hemp oil reduced batter consistency. The subsequent, gradual incorporation of hemp flour led to a further decrease,” the paper, published in the journal Molecules, says. A mix of hemp and maize (corn) flour didn’t meaningfully improve the consistency.

“However, when hemp flour was used exclusively, the consistency of the batter was restored to a level comparable to the traditional formulation,” the study says, “resulting in an optimal baked texture.”

In addition to detailing a process authors described as “an efficient method for extracting CBD-rich oil”—which involves maceration along with the use of microwaves—they found that hemp oil “presents a viable alternative to traditional oils and fats for creating functional foods.”

Evaluating various physical properties of the resulting hemp flour–oil mix, researchers concluded that “hemp oil and hemp flour are viable ingredients for traditional cakes and desserts, notably contributing increased nutritional value through the CBD-enriched hemp oil and the beneficial profile of hemp flour.”

The study comes as more research evaluates the nutritional value of hemp in both humans and animals.

Keep reading

Doctors Group Launches Campaign Empowering More Healthcare Professionals To Join Drug Decriminalization Movement

A group of doctors who support drug policy reform is launching a new campaign aimed at equipping physicians and healthcare professionals with skills to play a greater role in advocating for the decriminalization of drugs. Organizers say there’s a need for more voices from the medical community to take part in ongoing discussions around cannabis, psychedelics and harm reduction issues.

Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR) says it’s spent the past year developing its new advocacy toolkit intended for healthcare professionals and scientists on “Transitioning from a Criminal Justice Model of Drug Use to a Health-focused Approach.” It includes guides to help would-be activists craft opinion pieces and engage with lawmakers and the media in order to “educate on the failures and lasting harms of the War on Drugs” and “confidently reframe drug use through a compassionate public health lens.”

“We’re assembling a core group of ‘on-call’ health professionals who are willing to lend their voice when timely advocacy opportunities arise,” says a recent D4DPR email about the effort, funded through a grant from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). “Now more than ever, we need healthcare professionals like you to speak up—especially when critical legislation is being debated.”

Bryon Adinoff, D4DPR’s president, told Marijuana Moment that it’s “imperative” that healthcare professionals take part.

“We want to health them speak up and learn how to do it in the right way,” he said.

Among the topics D4DPR is prioritizing with the new initiative are cannabis regulation, the decriminalization and therapeutic use of psychedelics as well as overdose prevention centers. By and large, Adinoff said, other medical professionals and organizations have “not been sufficiently active in this area.”

Keep reading

GONE TO POT: Thailand Reverses Cannabis Decriminalization, Imposes Need for Doctor’s Prescription for Purchase

Thailand was the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, but the experiment appears to have gone awry, as the Thai government this last week moved to backtrack the policies, and impose new rules designed to rein in the weed ‘scene’.

As of last Thursday (26), customers now need a doctor’s prescription to buy pot — limiting consumption of the plant to medical purposes only.

CNN reported:

“Thailand’s public health minister told CNN on Wednesday he hopes to eventually recriminalize cannabis as a narcotic, in what would be a major reversal from Thailand’s liberal approach since declassification, which saw a boom of dispensaries and weed cafes opening across the country, particularly in tourist areas.

‘This must be clearly understood: cannabis is permitted for medical use only’, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin told CNN.”

Keep reading

Iowa Lawmaker Supporting Medical Psilocybin Bashes Bill That Would’ve Legalized Only A Synthetic Version Of The Psychedelic

An Iowa lawmaker who pushed for the passage of a bill to create a state program allowing the medicinal use of psilocybin said Gov. Kim Reynolds’s (R) decision to veto a bill pertaining to the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms was a “great decision.”

Rep. Jeff Shipley (R-Fairfield) said rather than focus on rescheduling a synthetic version of the drug, the state should instead prioritize creating a state program legalizing the psychiatric use of naturally occurring psilocybin.

House File 383 would have allowed for the prescription and distribution of synthetic psilocybin immediately following federal approval of the drug, and mirrored a similar bill, which was signed into law, in Colorado.

The bill dealt with crystalline polymorph psilocybin, a compound commonly known as COMP360, which is a treatment developed by the biotechnology company Compass Pathways to help patients with treatment of resistant depression, post traumatic stress disorder and anorexia nervosa.

Shipley said he “condemns Compass Pathways” for its approach at creating, and patenting, a synthetic version of the “natural psilocybin that God has given us that everyone knows and loves.”

Compass Pathways declined to comment on the veto of the bill, which it lobbied in support of, and on Shipley’s comment.

Shipley’s emailed statement also apologized for his vote in favor of the bill, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate.

“The proper legal framework is to reschedule psilocybin to schedule IV or III, and allow the relevant state regulatory boards to make it available as medicine,” Shipley said.

Reynolds, in her explanation of the veto, similarly said the state should have time to review any federal action on the synthetic version of the drug before it legalizes it at the state level.

Shipley was a vocal supporter of House File 978, which would have legalized the use of psilocybin for psychiatric treatment through a state program. The proposed program would have operated similarly to the state’s medical cannabis program.

The bill passed the House with an overwhelming majority in late April, but was not taken up by the Senate.

Keep reading

FDA Exposed: Hundreds of Drugs Approved without Proof They Work

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hundreds of drugs without proof that they work—and in some cases, despite evidence that they cause harm.

That’s the finding of a blistering two-year investigation by medical journalists Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee, published by The Lever.

Reviewing more than 400 drug approvals between 2013 and 2022, the authors found the agency repeatedly ignored its own scientific standards.

One expert put it bluntly—the FDA’s threshold for evidence “can’t go any lower because it’s already in the dirt.”

A System Built on Weak Evidence

The findings were damning—73% of drugs approved by the FDA during the study period failed to meet all four basic criteria for demonstrating “substantial evidence” of effectiveness.

Those four criteria—presence of a control group, replication in two well-conducted trials, blinding of participants and investigators, and the use of clinical endpoints like symptom relief or extended survival—are supposed to be the bedrock of drug evaluation.

Yet only 28% of drugs met all four criteria—40 drugs met none.

These aren’t obscure technicalities—they are the most basic safeguards to protect patients from ineffective or dangerous treatments.

But under political and industry pressure, the FDA has increasingly abandoned them in favour of speed and so-called “regulatory flexibility.”

Since the early 1990s, the agency has relied heavily on expedited pathways that fast-track drugs to market.

In theory, this balances urgency with scientific rigour. In practice, it has flipped the process. Companies can now get drugs approved before proving that they work, with the promise of follow-up trials later.

But, as Lenzer and Brownlee revealed, “Nearly half of the required follow-up studies are never completed—and those that are often fail to show the drugs work, even while they remain on the market.”

“This represents a seismic shift in FDA regulation that has been quietly accomplished with virtually no awareness by doctors or the public,” they added.

More than half the approvals examined relied on preliminary data—not solid evidence that patients lived longer, felt better, or functioned more effectively. 

And even when follow-up studies are conducted, many rely on the same flawed surrogate measures rather than hard clinical outcomes.

The result: a regulatory system where the FDA no longer acts as a gatekeeper—but as a passive observer.

Keep reading

White House Announces Withdrawal Of Trump’s Drug Czar Nominee Who Embraced Medical Marijuana

The White House has notified Congress that President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)—who has publicly backed medical marijuana access—is being withdrawn.

About three months after Trump picked Sara Carter to become the next White House drug czar, the administration told lawmakers on Thursday that she’s no longer up for consideration for the position.

It’s currently unclear whether Carter withdrew from consideration herself or if it was a decision made by the president. Marijuana Moment reached out to the White House for comment, but a representative did not respond by the time of publication.

The notice published in the Congressional Record about the withdrawal of the nomination reads:

“WITHDRAWAL

Executive Message transmitted by the President to the Senate on June 26, 2025 withdrawing from further Senate consideration the following nomination:

SARA CARTER, OF TEXAS, TO BE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY, VICE RAHUL GUPTA, RESIGNED, WHICH WAS SENT TO THE SENATE ON MAY 6, 2025.”

There was some enthusiasm about Carter’s nomination among cannabis reform advocates, as she’s previously called medical marijuana a “fantastic” treatment option for seriously ill patients and said she doesn’t have a “problem” with legalization, even if she might not personally agree with the policy.

Given the role of ONDCP director in setting and carrying out the administrative agenda on drug policy issues, the fact that Carter went on the record enthusiastically endorsing medical cannabis represented a welcome development for advocates amid Senate confirmations of other officials with a mixed bag of marijuana records.

Under longstanding federal statute, the drug czar is prohibited from endorsing the legalization of Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), including marijuana. However, Democratic congressional lawmakers in April filed a bill that would remove that restriction.

Keep reading

Treasury Sanctions 3 Mexican Financial Institutions For Aiding Cartels In Fentanyl Trade; Sheinbaum Denies

Mexican President Sheinbaum has commented on the sanctions, denying any fraud and claiming the Mexican banking system is ‘sound’:

  • *SHEINBAUM: NO EVIDENCE OF MONEY LAUNDERING IN MEXICAN BANKS
  • *SHEINBAUM SAYS MEXICO ONLY FOUND ADMINISTRATIVE FLAWS IN BANKS
  • *SHEINBAUM: MEXICO ASKED US TREASURY MONEY LAUNDERING EVIDENCE
  • *SHEINBAUM: MEXICAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM SOUND, ACCUSED FIRMS SMALL
  • *MEXICO TRANSFERS TO CHINA COS ‘NOT MONEY LAUNDERING’: SHEINBAUM

Just a coincidence?

As Naveen Athrappully detailed earlier via The Epoch Times, The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sanctioned three financial institutions based in Mexico for allegedly laundering money for cartels involved in the illegal trade of fentanyl, the Treasury said in a June 25 statement. The institutions are CIBanco S.A., Intercam Banco S.A., and Vector Casa de Bolsa S.A. de C.V.

CIBanco and Intercam are commercial banks with assets worth more than $7 billion and $4 billion, respectively. Vector is a brokerage company managing almost $11 billion in assets.

FinCEN has determined that the entities launder money in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and have “collectively played a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl,” the statement said.

CIBanco facilitated illicit opioid trafficking by Mexican cartels such as Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Beltran-Leyva Cartel, and Gulf Cartel. Intercam was linked to CJNG, and Vector with the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, said the statement.

FinCEN said that between 2021 and 2024, CIBanco processed more than $2.1 million in payments from Mexico-based companies to entities in China that shipped precursor chemicals to Mexico. Intercam processed over $1.5 million during the same period.

As for Vector, the institution processed more than $1 million between 2018 and 2023.

The sanctions prohibit financial institutions in the United States from engaging in the transmission of funds from or to CIBanco, Intercam, or Vector. The prohibition also applies to any account or convertible virtual currency address administered by the three institutions.

Keep reading

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Regulators Approve Emergency Rules Banning Flower Access For Patients

The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday approved emergency regulations to begin accepting medical cannabis applications as soon as Gov. Jim Pillen (R) gives his final green light.

State law requires him to do so by Tuesday.

The emergency regulations, unveiled for the first time minutes before the 10 a.m. meeting, largely mirror a legislative proposal that lawmakers stalled on last month. The regulations would take effect for up to 90 days, pending Pillen’s approval. The two medical cannabis-related laws that voters approved mandate that applications must start being accepted no later than July 1.

Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna, an addiction prevention specialist through Heartland Family Service, affirmed that commissioners want public feedback on the emergency regulations through July 15, to inform future, formal regulations.

Public comments may be submitted to lcc.frontdesk@nebraska.gov, the repository for the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, which will forward the messages onto the state’s new Medical Cannabis Commission.

“The input that the public provides on these emergency regulations will help us immediately begin drafting the regular regulations,” Mueting said Thursday.

Keep reading