Drug Enforcement Administration

Dozens of Massachusetts lawmakers, including the House speaker and Senate president, are urging voters to defeat a November ballot measure that would roll back the state's marijuana legalization law. The push comes amid broader cannabis policy developments: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced medical cannabis dispensaries are now operating statewide, and a new North Carolina poll found majority bipartisan support for both recreational and medical legalization. Other state activity includes New Jersey advancing hemp drink and unlicensed-sales legislation, Oklahoma's new medical cannabis packaging rules taking effect November 1, and an Iowa psychedelic church securing a DEA agreement to import ayahuasca. These developments reflect continued momentum and regulatory flux across state-level cannabis and psychedelic policy.

Decades of U.S. and international food aid to Yemen, including hundreds of thousands of tonnes of donated wheat, have reportedly undercut local grain farmers and pushed many toward cultivating khat, a water-intensive stimulant leaf classified as a Schedule I drug in the U.S. Researchers say cheap imported grain makes it harder for Yemeni farmers to compete, while khat offers far higher profit margins despite consuming roughly 37 percent of the country's water. The trend has accelerated since a 2014 UN report, with cultivation expanding sharply amid civil war instability.

U.S. humanitarian commitments to Yemen ran as high as $1.5 billion annually before the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID sharply cut funding, leaving only a fraction of the UN's 2026 emergency appeal financed. Experts, including a Harvard historian and a Sana'a Center researcher, argue that "grain dumping" has entrenched dependency and empowered armed factions, urging locally sourced, accountable aid models instead. The State Department says it enforces strict anti-diversion standards and does not fund aid in Houthi-held areas.

A federal judge in Wyoming has sentenced Nicole Rae Phipps, 42, of Colorado, to 133 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for her role as a distributor in a multistate drug trafficking operation. Phipps pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Investigators with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, DEA and Homeland Security Investigations began tracking Phipps and co-defendant Denny Jason Shrove in August 2025, uncovering weekly supply runs between Colorado and Wyoming to obtain methamphetamine and fentanyl. Wiretaps identified at least five smuggling trips in October 2025 alone, and authorities estimate Phipps was responsible for trafficking between 22 and 44 pounds of methamphetamine. A federal complaint filed in January named Phipps and six co-defendants, with dozens more facing state charges.

U.S. Attorney Darin Smith said the case reflects an aggressive push by federal, state, and local agencies to dismantle regional drug distribution networks operating across the two states.

Luis Alberto Osorio of Elko, Nevada, pleaded guilty to straw purchasing of firearms, trafficking in firearms, harboring aliens, and conspiracy to launder money, the Department of Justice announced. Between April 2020 and September 2025, Osorio conspired with co-defendants to buy 140 firearms, including large-caliber and long-range weapons, along with magazines and ammunition, on behalf of individuals tied to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

Osorio also admitted to harboring people unlawfully in the U.S. to employ them at a Nevada mining company. Officials from HSI, the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada framed the case as part of broader efforts to disrupt firearms trafficking networks that supply cartels and fuel cross-border violence. The investigation involved a multi-agency Department of Homeland Security task force, including the FBI, ATF, IRS-CI, and local Las Vegas police. Osorio faces a statutory maximum of 70 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for February 11, 2027.