Law Enforcement

A Texas judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to nullify voter-approved local cannabis decriminalization ordinances in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos.

The owner of seven unlicensed New York cannabis shops has been fined $15.2 million, including $7 million in disgorgement fines and $8.2 million in penalties for operating without a license, ignoring multiple notices by officials, and selling cannabis to underage customers.

Joe Biden has announced that the US Justice Department is moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. In his announcement, he stated that he is committed to “righting the wrongs” of prohibition, though Schedule III status doesn’t do anything specific to help those currently incarcerated.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced this week that the state’s cannabis enforcement task force has seized more than $61 million worth of illegal cannabis products since the start of the year.

Despite state laws legalizing cannabis commerce, federal Customs and Border Patrol agents in New Mexico have for months been seizing legal cannabis shipments as they are shipped between the state’s southern and northern regions.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that city officials will take action across the city against illegally operating cannabis shops as part of an enforcement effort called “Operation Padlock to Protect.”

Missouri AG Andrew Bailey has launched an investigation into illicit vape and cannabis product distributors in the state, sending civil investigative demands to 22 companies selling delta-8 and delta-9 THC products.

European law enforcement officials say they coordinated the takedown of a cannabis investment Ponzi scheme affecting at least 186,000 victims last week with a law enforcement action that included more than 400 officers in 11 countries.

Federal agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection have seized more than $300,000 in state-legal cannabis products via traffic checkpoints in New Mexico.

Police said that a multi-agency law enforcement operation last week in East Oakland yielded about $10 million worth of illicit cannabis products.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has signed a bill to recriminalize the possession of certain drugs in the state, undoing key provisions of the state’s voter-approved decriminalization bill that took effect three years ago.

California lawmakers may look to undo employment protections covering legal, off-duty cannabis use by law enforcement-related positions including police officers, dispatch, animal control, and coroners.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed into law two cannabis regulation bills this week: one to allow law enforcement and other government agencies to search medical cannabis businesses, and one to ban intoxicating hemp products in the state.

Connecticut lawmakers have advanced a proposal giving the state attorney general and law enforcement officials more power to penalize and shut down shops that illegally sell THC products. The bill will be considered next on the House floor.

Lawmakers in the Hawaii Senate voted decisively to legalize adult-use cannabis on Tuesday but the proposal faces an uncertain future in the House, which rejected a legalization proposal last year.

Leading veterans groups and U.S. law enforcement officials have urged the Biden Administration to reschedule cannabis, highlighting its potential benefits for veterans and the need for reform to enhance treatments and reduce unnecessary legal consequences.

Idaho lawmakers could strengthen the state’s already tenacious prohibition on cannabis under a new proposal that would establish a mandatory $420 fine for low-level cannabis possession cases.

The Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce in California says it seized nearly 190,000 pounds of illicit cannabis during its first calendar year of operation, valued at nearly $312 million.