Fed Drug Cases Plummet as DEA Chases Immigrants, US Kills More Venezuelan Sailors in New "Drug Boat" Attack, More... (10/6/25)

A Florida appeals court is the latest to rule that the odor of marijuana is no longer grounds for a vehicle search, Wisconsin Republicans take on their own party as they try again to pass a medical marijuana bill, and more.

DEA agents have been diverted to chasing migrants, and federal drug prosecutions are dropping. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

Florida Court Blocks Police from Using the Smell of Marijuana Alone to Search Vehicles. A Florida appeals court has ruled that it no longer makes sense to allow police to search a person's vehicle based solely on the odor of marijuana. Second District Court of Appeals Judge Nelly Khouzam authored the opinion overturning a lower court ruling last Wednesday.

Under state law, "plain smell doctrine" long allowed for the smell of marijuana to be used as probable cause for vehicle searches. But with hemp and medical marijuana both now legal in the state, the state's laws have "fundamentally" changed, the appeals court held.

"For generations, cannabis was illegal in all forms -- thereby rendering its distinct odor immediately indicative of criminal activity. But several legislative amendments over the years have fundamentally changed its definition and regulation," Khouzam wrote. "The cumulative result is that cannabis is now legal to possess in multiple forms, depending on discrete characteristics such as where it was procured or its chemical concentration by weight."

"We are obligated under well-established constitutional principles to give meaning and effect to the legislature's significant amendments to cannabis regulation," the opinion continued. "In light of significant legislative amendments to the definition and regulation of cannabis, its mere odor can no longer establish that it is ‘immediately apparent’ that the substance is contraband. Accordingly, the plain smell doctrine can no longer establish probable cause based solely on the odor of cannabis. Rather, we now align the Fourth Amendment analysis for cannabis with the test that applies to other suspected contraband, such that its odor is a valid factor to be considered along with all others under the totality of the circumstances."

Medical Marijuana

Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill. A trio of GOP lawmakers have filed the latest legislation seeking to legalize medical marijuana in the Badger State. They include the powerful Senate President, Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk), who is the lead sponsor of the bill, as well as Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) and Assemblyman Patrick Snyder (R-Weston).

"Someone who suffers from a serious health condition should not have to make the choice to travel to another state or break the law so they can try an alternative medicine for relief," said Felzkowski in a statement. "This legislation is about giving our friends, family members, and neighbors suffering from a chronic illness the freedom to explore another option with their doctor. This is also a chance for small businesses in our state to take part in this market with reasonable regulations on making and selling these products, all while still protecting public safety."

This is the second time in as many years that Republicans, who control both chambers of the legislature, have tried to pass a medical marijuana bill. Last year, a bill that would have allowed medical marijuana only for severely ill people with specified chronic diseases was stalled by Senate Republicans, who objected to its provision for state-run dispensaries.

This year's bill would license dispensaries, growers, processors, and labs. It also includes measures "to ensure that medical cannabis is not abused or accessed by those without a medical need."

Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that have yet to approve medical marijuana. That even as a 2024 Marquette University poll found that 86 percent of state respondents believe it should be legal.

The bill is not yet available on the state legislative web site.

Drug Policy

Federal Drug Prosecutions at Lowest Level in Decades as Trump Emphasizes Deportations. With the Trump administration pulling federal law enforcement agents, including DEA agents, away from their normal tasks to focus on its mass deportation campaign, the number of federal drug prosecutions has hit the lowest level in decades.

A Reuters examination of more than two million federal court records found that so far this year about 10 percent fewer people faced prosecution on drug charges than during the same period last year, a drop of about 1,200 cases. That is the lowest rate of federal drug prosecutions since the late 1990s.

The decline in prosecutions was even more dramatic for complex conspiracy and money-laundering cases that are typically used against high level traffickers. Those prosecutions declined by 24 percent year-over-year.

In January, President Trump ordered thousands of federal agents to focus on what he called an "invasion" of illegal immigrants. That has led to the slowdown in those complex prosecutions long seen as central to combating sophisticated criminal networks, including drug cartels.

"We’re seeing a reduced amount of time on long-term investigations so agents can go out in their raid gear and be seen supporting immigration raids," a senior Justice Department official involved in those investigations told Reuters.

One prosecutors told the press agency a fentanyl investigation he was supervising was stalled because the agents working it had been forced to work on deportations instead. Another said drug ring investigations had been delayed.

But White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the move, saying that Trump's "highly successful efforts at closing the border and removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from our communities, along with prosecuting violent drug traffickers and targeting transnational cartels, means less illegal drugs are circulating in American communities."

But the professional drug fighters disagreed.

"You cannot conduct thorough, multi-agency drug investigations if you're running around doing this other stuff," said a former DEA official who supervised its shift to immigration enforcement.

Foreign Policy

US Attacks Another Venezuelan "Drug Boat," Killing Four. For the fourth time in as many weeks, the US military has attacked a Venezuelan boat it accused of carrying drugs, sinking the boat and killing all four people aboard. The attack came last Friday, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics -- headed to America to poison our people," Hegseth wrote in a post on X. "Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route."

But the US has supplied paltry evidence to support its claims, and some experts on international law say the lethal attacks are unlawful. They note that if people are suspected of criminal conduct, they should be arrested and prosecuted, not summarily executed.

"These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!" Hegseth added. But he and the administration are stretching the meaning of words as well as the letter of the law in attempting to justify their actions. Being a low-level operator in a drug smuggling operation is not the same thing as being an Al Qaeda or ISIS militant, and transporting illicit drugs in waters more than a thousand miles from any US coastline is not an "attack" in any normal sense of the term.

The campaign of lethal military assaults on Venezuelan "drug boats" also exposes US servicemembers to potential liability under US and international law. Look for a Chronicle feature article on this issue coming soon.