Law Enforcement

Police agencies in Georgia are returning the THC/CBD products and cash seized during recent raids after a legal challenge proved law enforcement didn’t understand the state’s hemp law.

Nearly double the rate of people in Japan were involved in cannabis-related criminal cases compared to last year, a record for the country where 70% of offenders are in their 20s or younger.

The Tuscaloosa, Alabama City Council Public Safety Committee advanced a provision to lower penalties for low-level cannabis crimes to a ticket instead of the maximum penalty of 180 days in jail.

A 30-day restraining order issued by a judge in Fulton County, Georgia prohibits Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gaston from prosecuting people for possessing or selling synthetic cannabinoids.

Law enforcement raided a Los Angeles dispensary for all of its cash — including the budtender tip jars — over an appealed $66,000 fee related to the company’s inability to pay taxes in cash during the pandemic.

South Dakota law enforcement officials are arresting medical cannabis cardholders issued by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, arguing that the cards are invalid for non-tribal members.

Police in New Zealand have set aside more than $600,000 to revive a national cannabis eradication program one year after the operation was canceled.

The Indiana Senate passed a proposal by state Sen. Mike Young (R) which would allow the state attorney general to intervene when county prosecutors decide not to pursue cannabis-related charges.

An armored car company in California filed a lawsuit against the FBI and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department, alleging they illegally seized cash the company was transporting for state-licensed cannabis companies.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Gary Chambers Jr. from Louisiana was featured smoking a blunt in his first campaign ad, which emphasizes the many failures of the war on drugs.

Austin, Texas residents will have the opportunity to vote in May on ending enforcement of low-level cannabis offenses and no-knock raids by police.

Oregon recently allocated $25 million under a new enforcement program to combat illegal cannabis grows in the state.

A bill proposed by Missouri Democratic state Rep. Ian Mackey would prevent law enforcement from performing warrantless searches based on the odor of fresh cannabis.

Signatures for a ballot initiative to decriminalize cannabis and ban no-knock raids have been submitted to the city of Austin, Texas.

Researchers noted significant increases in the clearance rate for violent crimes following the legalization of cannabis in Oregon, relative to non-legalized states.

Plymouth, Connecticut Police Capt. Ed Benecchi called for opening adult-use cannabis dispensaries “as soon as possible” in the name of public safety after at least 39 overdoses in the state were linked to fentanyl-laced cannabis.

Illinois Judge Daniel P. Dalton ruled that the odor of unburnt cannabis is not probable cause for police to conduct a warrantless search during traffic stops.

Black people in Vermont are 14 times more likely to be defendants in felony drug cases than white people despite national data showing that Black people and white people use and sell drugs at similar rates.

A Republican-led cannabis legalization effort is aiming to federally deschedule cannabis and expunge some nonviolent cannabis crimes but stops short of social equity considerations.

Dallas County, Texas stopped prosecuting first-offense, misdemeanor cannabis cases, resulting in an overall decrease of 31%, but Black people still make up the majority of cases referred to the District Attorney’s office.

A recently surfaced letter by a high-ranking DEA official may have hinted that the agency considers delta-8 THC products synthesized from hemp extracts to be federally legal.

Federal authorities are accusing several sheriff’s deputies and a prosecutor in Maine of aiding an illegal cannabis operation.

The San Bernardino, California Sheriff’s Department has seized more than 60,000 cannabis plants, 9,000 pounds of processed cannabis, and destroyed 319 greenhouses over the last two weeks as part of “Operation Hammer Strike.”

A cannabis cash transport company is seeking the return of $166,000 that was seized by police in partnership with the DEA who said they had detected a “marijuana odor.”