Law Enforcement

California officials announced that the state’s multi-agency task force dedicated to stopping illicit cannabis operators had conducted its single largest cannabis seizure yet, with an estimated $123.5 million worth of cannabis plants and products seized.

California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force and agencies including the Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Department of Cannabis Control report having seized over $316 million in illicit cannabis products during Q1 2025.

The Colorado State Patrol said about 600 pounds of cannabis was stolen earlier this month from a secured evidence parking lot. The cannabis had been seized during a “highway drug investigation” and was scheduled for destruction.

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that the odor of cannabis alone is insufficient probable cause for police to conduct a vehicle search.

The FBI has denied the process for federal background checks laid out by Delaware’s cannabis legalization policy, sending state lawmakers and officials scrambling to rework the adult-use program’s licensing requirements.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that the number of federal charges for cannabis trafficking has hit an all-time low, down 93% since 2012.

37-year-old Ma Yang, a Hmong American woman who has lived in Wisconsin since she was 8 months old, was deported to Laos last week due to filing a guilty plea in 2020 for her role in a federal cannabis trafficking case.

The state of Wyoming has agreed to pay a $150,000 settlement over an erroneous 2019 raid on a hemp farm suspected of growing illegal cannabis plants.

The California Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force, led by the state’s Department of Cannabis Control, reported seizing $534 million worth of illegal cannabis plants last year.

An Illinois Senate proposal would stop police from using the odor of raw or burnt cannabis as grounds for a vehicle search, so long as the driver is at least 21 years old.

The Tacoma, Washington City Council has unanimously passed a resolution to make prosecutions for entheogenic psychedelics the lowest priority for law enforcement.

Officials with the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division are pushing elected officials to pass legislation creating a task force under the agency dedicated to stamping out illicit cannabis activity.

In a letter to Elon Musk, the chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called for an end to raids by the DEA and CBP on state-legal cannabis businesses.

Officials in Toronto said they will stop cracking down on illegal cannabis shops due to budget and safety concerns.

A New York Supreme Court Judge has ruled that the New York City Sheriff’s Office and the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) must stop conducting warrantless raids on unlicensed cannabis shops.

A Florida court of appeals has ruled that due to the growing popularity of legal cannabis and hemp products, the alert of a police K9 that has been trained to detect cannabis is no longer sufficient on its own to justify a vehicle search.

The county executive in Montgomery County, Maryland says that overly strict hiring rules regarding past cannabis use have made the recruitment process for local law enforcement too difficult.

The $735,000 settlement highlights the growing need for law enforcement to align with hemp industry regulations, as legal operators push back against arbitrary product seizures.

Armed robbers last week held at gunpoint five cannabis workers at a licensed California cannabis farm, making off with more than 150 pounds of processed cannabis that officials estimated to be worth about $150,000.

The Illinois Supreme Court this week ruled that the smell of raw cannabis is grounds for police to conduct a vehicle search during a traffic stop. The ruling departs from a previous decision by the court that found the smell of burnt cannabis is not grounds for searching a vehicle.

New Mexico lawmakers are considering giving new enforcement powers to officials with the state’s Cannabis Control Division; the proposal would establish a “Compliance Bureau” aimed at disrupting the illicit cannabis market.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of eight licensed New Mexico cannabis operators alleges that federal agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs & Border Protection unlawfully seized state-legal cannabis products and cash, violating the companies’ Fifth Amendment right to due process.

Canadian authorities said they took down an organized crime group on Vancouver Island in British Columbia that is believed to have produced tens of thousands of counterfeit candy bars containing cannabis and psilocybin.

A New York judge this week ordered the owner of an unlicensed cannabis retailer in upstate New York to pay $9.5 million for selling cannabis without a license.