Daily Drug War Digest -- September 24, 2026

Trump tells a drug policy whopper at the UN; Idaho is set to vote on an initiative that would end citizens' ability to change drug policy through the initiative process, and more. 

Scotland leads Europe in fatal drug overdoses. The Scottish government wants drug decriminalization, but London doesn't. (Creative Commons)

Drug Policy

Idaho Initiative Would End Citizens' Right to Change Drug Policy Through Initiative Process. Uncertain that they can continue to maintain marijuana prohibition by leaving it up to the voters, the state's Republican lawmakers have passed a legislative initiative asking voters to give up their authority to change drug policy through the initiative process. That measure, Grant Legislature Exclusive Authority and Prohibit Citizen-Initiated Measures on Marijuana, Narcotics and Psychoactive Substances Amendment (HJR 4) is on the November ballot.

The measure passed the House 58-10 and the Senate 29-6 after proponents claimed it would protect the state from being influenced by "rich weed companies."

"The proposed constitutional amendment ensures that out-of-state weed barons are not able to hijack the Idaho ballot initiative process and legalize marijuana," argued Blaine Conzatti, president of the arch-conservative Focus on the Family-allied Idaho Family Policy Center. "The adoption of HJR 4 would reserve those decisions for the people of Idaho acting through their elected representatives."

The Republican-dominated state legislature has fended off marijuana reforms for more than a decade, with not even medical marijuana getting through. Likewise, no marijuana legalization initiative campaign in the state has ever qualified for the ballot. Still, lawmakers and HRJ 4 supporters are determined to ensure that voters don’t get a chance to make a choice they disapprove of. 

Foreign Policy

Trump Tells a Drug Interdiction Whopper at the UN General Assembly. During his speech Tuesday before the UN General Assembly, President Trump told a number of lies, including one directly relevant to his administration's lawless campaign of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. 

"The United States has carried out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea," he claimed. 

He has made similar claims in recent months, with varying percentages, but experts say that because it is not known how many drugs are getting through, it is impossible to determine how many are intercepted. 

In April, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that precisely 98.2 percent of drugs smuggled on the high seas had been stopped. That claim was based on Customs and Border Protection data on drug seizures, which were 98.2 percent lower last November than last July (before the attacks started). But seizures do not measure all trafficked drugs, and the figure was only a snapshot of two specific months, not an overall trend, anyway. 

"Drug seizure data measure interdiction activity, not actual trafficking volume," said  Bergen-Cico, a professor of public health at Syracuse University who studies drug trafficking, told the AP at the time. "As drug policy researchers have noted, no one knows how much goes uncaught, and changes in seizure data are insufficient to make definitive claims about policy outcomes."

International

Scottish Leader Reiterates Call for Drug Decriminalization. First Minister John Swinney has reiterated his government's support for drug decriminalization as drug overdose deaths continue to climb. Last year, 1,133 people died of drug overdoses, up 11 percent from the previous year, leaving Scotland secure in its title of drug death capital of Europe. 

The rising death toll was "unacceptable and intolerable," Swinney said during First Minister's Questions. He also expressed d his "deepest sympathies" to all those who had lost a loved one as he cited "intergenerational poverty and trauma" and an "upsurge in grossly harmful synthetics" as reasons for the rise in deaths.

Afterward, he told reporters that his government still favored drug decriminalization as a response. Such a move would be part of a broader strategy that could offer "more control and ability to provide greater support to those affected by drug use," he said. 

The Scottish government has supported decriminalization since 2023, and the ruling Scottish National Party included it in its platform in 2024. But United Kingdom drug policy is set by London, which as rejected decriminalization as "dangerous."

Swinney added that his administration is already "testing to the limits what we can do in Scotland," citing its establishment of Britain's first safe injection site in Glasgow and its first pill-testing site, set to open soon in Glasgow.