Drug War Daily Digest -- October 20, 2026

Bolivia Sterilization Bill Challenged, MA Polls Oppose Marijuana Repeal, Philippine Truth Commission, More...

Kratom and OH-7 products are sold in various forms. (US FDA)

Marijuana Policy

Two New Massachusetts Polls Find Strong Opposition to Marijuana Sales Repeal. The latest polls on the Question 8 initiative, which would end retail marijuana sales and home cultivation, continue the strong trend showing the measure losing decisively. According to Marijuana Moment, a UMass Amherst/WCVB poll released Monday had opposition to Question 8 at 61 percent, with only 31 percent in favor. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe survey on Tuesday reported even worse news for initiative backers: 71 percent opposed it and 21 percent supported it. Both polls interviewed voters earlier this month, and neither showed any demographic group with majority support for the initiative.

NORML Urges Appeals Court to Reconsider Cannabis-Contract Decision. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) filed an October 15 amicus brief asking the US 6th Circuit Court to reconsider a September ruling that bars the payment of breach-of-contract damages in federal court when that payment would enforce conduct prohibited by federal law (such as selling marijuana in states where it is legal even though federal prohibition remains). The brief, which NORML announced on Monday, argues that state-legal marijuana markets need to be able to enforce contractual remedies in order to maintain accountability, both benefiting market actors and protecting consumers. The case, Hello Farms Licensing MI v. GR Vending MI, concerns the contradiction between state legality and federal prohibition. NORML seeks reconsideration by the original panel or the full court.

Veterans' Organization Survey Finds Support for Marijuana Legalization. Marijuana Moment reports a survey of some 470 members of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) that found support for medical marijuana at 87 percent and support for recreational marijuana at 61 percent. The detailed tables in the IAVA report show even stronger support for medical marijuana research at 91 percent and for research by the Department of Veterans Affairs at 88 percent. The survey also asked about whether respondents interested in cannabis as a treatment option were comfortable discussing it with their doctor, with 70 percent saying they would and 29 percent saying they had already done so.

Morocco Withdraws Nearly 1,500 Cannabis Licenses. The Moroccan online media outlet Hespress reported on October 15 that Moroccan authorities have yanked 1,490 cannabis licenses because of regulatory noncompliance. The figure includes 1,300 licenses held by farmers and 190 held by other businesses.

Medical Marijuana

Bedrocan Bankruptcy Threatens Patients' Access to Cannabis Medicine. According to an October 12 report in Business of Cannabis, the bankruptcy of two Dutch Bedrocan companies on October 7 is leaving British children with severe epilepsy in limbo with their medicine trapped in storage, patient advocates told the publication. They have been using Bedrocan's Bedrolite, a standardized CBD-dominant variety of medical marijuana, but Bedrocan says it needs permission from the Dutch Office of Medical Cannabis to transfer that stock to patients.

Bedrocan has a Danish operation that entered restructuring on October 1 and continues to produce medicine, but Bedrolite is made only in the Netherlands. It would take at least six months to get a Bedrolite operation up and running in Denmark, leaving patients in the lurch unless Dutch regulators act.

South African Providers Report Stalled Medical Marijuana Approvals. According to an October 14 report in Cannabiz Africa, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has not approved any new medical marijuana applications since July (except for one under threat of legal action) nor explained its lack of action. The only path toward approval to use medical marijuana is known as Section 21, which permits access to unapproved medicines with approval from the authority.

The authority has not confirmed a formal suspension or responded to requests for comment, but AKOS BIO chief executive Anton Ofield-Kerr said no approvals have been granted since July 18, except for the one mentioned above. Cannabiz Africa notes that it is not entirely disinterested; its publisher, Brett Hilton-Barber, is a member of the Cannabis Crisis Committee urging changes.

France's Permanent Medical Marijuana Program Still Awaits Final Rules. French patients waiting for the government to approve a permanent medical marijuana program will have to wait a little longer, according to an October 16 report in Business of Cannabis. The report cited an October analysis by Augur Associates, which said unnamed sources involved in the process think the proposal text has reached the Conseil d'État, but cautioned that this has not been publicly confirmed.

This is the second of two regulatory packages aimed at replacing an extended pilot program with a permanent one. The first one, addressing cultivation and product specifications, has already advanced through the Conseil d'État and the European Union's technical notification procedure. Although hearings set for this week were postponed last month, Augur thinks the program could be up and running by early next year. That assessment is based on the regulatory path ahead rather than an announced launch date.

Extrajudicial Killings

Philippine Truth Commission Hears Mother's Account of Duterte Drug-War Killing. Rappler reported on October 15 on an October 9 session of the independent, civilian-led Philippine Truth Commission. It relayed the testimony of Lorna Pepaño, who described the killing on May 18, 2020, of her son Christian in Quezon City. She said she had sent him out to get her hypertension medicine when gunmen mistook him for someone else and shot him down.

The commission also heard from forensic pathologist and commissioner Raquel Fortun, who examined Christian's body and confirmed multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. She challenged details in his death certificate and noted a lack of police records and investigation into the killing. Such failures could encourage other killings, she said.

Established May 27, the commission will gather testimony, records, and forensic findings to seek accountability and institutional reform. It is separate from the Philippine government and the International Criminal Court. Its first conference, at which it plans to release a report, is scheduled for November 23.

ICC Prosecutors Outline First Witnesses as Duterte Trial Preparations Continue. In an October 19 article in Politico.ph, the Philippine News Agency reported that International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors plan to present five witnesses in this year's portion of the trial of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, with more witnesses possibly coming later. Duterte is charged with the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder for unleashing a bloody war on drug users and sellers that left thousands dead during his administration.

In its article on the same hearing, Rappler reported that Judge Joanna Korner has provisionally rejected a defense request to limit disclosure to 10,000 documents. Korner said that was an arbitrary ceiling that could block prosecutors from disclosing all documents the defense would need to prepare its case.

Trial is set to begin on November 30, but the court is still dealing with disclosure issues and arrangements for presenting evidence.

Harm Reduction -- Medication Assisted Treatment

Norway Makes Heroin-Assisted Treatment Permanent. István Gábor Takács reported in an October 1 Drugreporter story that the country decided last month that pilot projects for heroin-assisted treatment that began in Oslo and Bergen will be made permanent. The programs provide a supervised setting where patients who have not responded to methadone, buprenorphine, or other opioid-assisted treatments will be provided pharmaceutical-grade heroin. The move follows a June evaluation in which participants reported better health and quality-of-life outcomes and less illegal heroin use. That evaluation also found the program has substantial costs and staffing needs. Now, other areas of the country can launch similar programs.

Kratom and 7-OH

Florida County Considers 7-OH Ban. Hillsborough County (Tampa) commissioners will vote Wednesday on whether to advance a ban on concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products, Axios Tampa Bay reports. Such products are already restricted by a statewide temporary emergency order, but the county wants its own ordinance in place if that order expires. Under the proposal, selling such products would be a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. Kratom itself would not be banned, but retailers selling any form of kratom would have to post warning signs or face fines. If the measure advances on Wednesday, there will be a public hearing and final vote as early as November 10.

International

Bolivian and International Groups Oppose Forced-Sterilization Proposal Targeting Women Who Use Drugs. A bill filed in the Bolivian legislature in July that would authorize the forced sterilization of homeless women who use drugs has drawn opposition from a broad coalition including Bolivia's Programa Libertas, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

In a joint statement on October 15, the groups said the measure would aggravate the harms of harsh drug laws and violate reproductive autonomy. Instead of resorting to ever harsher criminal justice measures, the groups are calling for the government instead to support voluntary drug treatment, community-based harm reduction, and the decriminalization of drug use and personal possession.

Pakistan Prison Report Links Drug Enforcement and Bail Restrictions to Growing Imprisonment. An October 8 Pakistan Prison Data Report from Justice Project Pakistan finds that the country's prison population has ballooned by 50 percent since 2019 and points to drug law enforcement as one of the primary drivers of the increase, along with bail restrictions and slow progress in establishing specialized courts.

In Sindh, more than 5,000 people were being held on drug charges, up 42.4 percent over 2024. In Punjab, drug arrestees made up about 27 percent of prisoners, with four out of five drug arrestees being held without bail ahead of trial. An August 2025 reform restored bail for some cases, but only those registered from August 18, 2025, onward. The report calls for broadening bail access to include older cases and finding alternatives to imprisonment for low-level drug offenses.

Spanish Researchers Question Forensic Thresholds Separating Personal Drug Use from Trafficking. In a September 29 article in the Revista Española de Drogodependencias, Pablo García Cortina and Francisco Azorín Ortega argue that there is little scientific justification for some drug quantity benchmarks used to turn possession cases into trafficking cases. Using transparency requests to draw on forensic guidance, they examined the benchmarks used for substances involved in chemsex. They found that GBL was treated as equivalent to GHB and that synthetic cathinones had the same benchmarks as methamphetamine, and they call for transparent, scientifically grounded standards that reflect differences among substances and how they are used instead of using poorly supported benchmarks to set thresholds for criminal prosecutions.

English Wastewater Study Finds 11 Percent Fall in Estimated Ketamine Consumption. A Home Office report on monitoring wastewater to monitor drug levels released October 14 estimates that ketamine consumption fell by 11 percent between early 2025 and early 2026. The program used seven-day samples taken between January and April of each year beginning in 2021. The program measures six illicit drugs, and cocaine had the highest estimated quantity consumed among those sampled. Such studies can help mark changes in drug markets, but they do not count individual users or establish prevalence across the entire United Kingdom.

Amnesty Contrasts Regional Death-Penalty Reforms with Singapore's Drug Executions. In an October 8 regional briefing, Amnesty International notes that Singapore has become a regional outlier with its continued embrace of the death penalty for drug offenses. The authoritarian city-state had executed 19 people through September 30 this year, all for drug crimes. It executed 17 more last year.

But Amnesty notes that other Southeast Asian countries, while still retaining the death penalty for some offenses, have tightened its use. Malaysia abolished mandatory death sentences in 2023 and has reduced its death row population from more than 1,200 then to only about 100 at the end of 2025. Thailand narrowed the circumstances allowing death sentences with its 2021 drug law, and Vietnam ended the death penalty for drug transportation in 2025, but still retains it for some other drug crimes.

Argentina to Host US Regional Counternarcotics Unit. The Buenos Aires Herald reported on October 6 that Argentina will host a regional unit of the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (colloquially known as "drugs and thugs"). The arrangement, which was announced by Argentine Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva, concerns civilian counter-narcotics cooperation, not a US military deployment. The State Department said it would commit $13.35 million, including $7.5 million for Argentina and the rest for regional work, but offered little detail on which countries would participate.

Additional items with an international focus appear in Marijuana Policy, Medical Marijuana, Extrajudicial Killings and Harm Reduction -- Medication Assisted Treatment.

Events

DPA Roundtable to Examine Disability, Racism, Homelessness and Drug Use. The Drug Policy Alliance will host its Drug Researchers' Roundtable October 29 at 4:30pm Eastern. Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal and Dr. Kelly Knight will discuss findings from the San Francisco cohort of the POLY HOME study of fentanyl-stimulant polysubstance use among people experiencing homelessness. The session, "Examining the Intersectional Impacts of Disability, Structural Racism, and Homelessness on People Who Use Drugs," will not be recorded. Readers can register through the linked event page; access needs and questions can be sent to [email protected].