Law Enforcement

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics is working with law enforcement in an effort to target criminal organizations operating within the state’s medical cannabis program.

The California Department of Justice’s annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting said that nearly 1 million illegally grown plants were eradicated and more than 200,000 pounds of processed cannabis were seized during the 2022 season.

California Gavin Newsom (D) called for creating the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce, a multi-agency unit designed to combat illegal cannabis operations.

DEA Museum historian Kasey Sease, Ph.D. admitted that the reasons for criminalizing drug use were based on racial, ethnic, and class prejudice. 

Massachusetts authorities are investigating the circumstances around the death of former Trulieve employee Lorna McMurrey, who OSHA concluded died after inhaling “ground cannabis dust” at the company’s Holyoke facility.

The Amsterdam council is expected to vote against banning tourists from the city’s cannabis-serving coffee shops.

Conservative police commissioners in the United Kingdom want to reclassify cannabis from a Class B to a Class A drug, which would put the plant in the same category as heroin and cocaine.

New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon wants individuals to file their own expungement applications instead of requiring the state’s judicial branch to find eligible cases, a change to the current legalization law. 

Michigan State Police have not made any additional statements regarding the decision to halt cannabis blood testing after discovering a pattern of false positives for THC which could affect more than 3,000 cases.

New Jersey has recorded a precipitous drop in arrests related to cannabis manufacturing, distributing, and dispensing since legalizing adult-use cannabis.

A group of New York state lawmakers sent a letter last week urging New York City Mayor Eric Adams to “move swiftly” in clamping down on illegal cannabis sales.

An Alabama woman was held in Etowah County Detention Center for three months after saying she smoked cannabis on the day she learned she was pregnant.

A North Carolina court upheld drug conviction charges against a man who mailed fifteen pounds of cannabis through FedEx; the defense had argued that law enforcement did not have cause to search the package due to the federal legalization of hemp, which is largely indistinguishable from THC-rich cannabis.

Cannabis businesses operating in DC are not sure what to expect from the increased regulatory oversight. One business owner said, “This doesn’t seem like they’re working to bring us into conversations. It does follow a similar trend, that they are trying to crush small businesses.”

The rapper Afroman released security camera footage on social media this week of law enforcement raiding his Ohio home. During the raid, armed police officers confiscated a vape pen, a couple of roaches, and cash.

Joseph Schooling, who earned Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal for swimming, has been suspended from competition after he admitted to consuming cannabis in another country.

In the last 13 months, California’s Department of Cannabis Control has executed 232 search warrants, seized more than half a million pounds of unregulated cannabis, and eradicated more than 1.4 million illegal cannabis plants.

The Michigan State Police is ceasing blood tests for cannabis after discovering false positives for THC in testing procedures that have been used for more than 20 years.

A police chief in Arkansas has formed a group to oppose the state’s upcoming cannabis legalization ballot initiative, focusing his argument on drug dogs becoming “useless” if the measure is successful.

The Zide Chruch of Entheogenic Plants, a church in Oakland, California that uses cannabis and psychedelics as communion, has filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department over a 2020 raid of their site.

Members of the New York City Fire Department will no longer be subject to random drug tests as per a Uniformed Firefighters Association leaked document.

California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Cannabis Control, and State Water Resources Control Board have launched their 2022 enforcement program addressing the effects of cannabis cultivation on the environment.

Despite having decriminalized the possession of up to 10 grams of cannabis, Maryland’s state Court of Appeals ruled that cannabis odor is sufficient grounds for a brief, “investigatory” traffic stop.

The DEA reported an uptick in cannabis arrests and seizures for last year, marking the highest federal enforcement figures since 2011.