The State Department adds Barrio 18 to its list of foreign "narco-terrorist" organizations, Singapore prepares to hang a Malaysian over less than two ounces of heroin, and more.

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Marijuana Policy

California Governor Signs Marijuana Tax Rollback Into Law. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday signed into law a bill that will roll back a marijuana excise tax, Assembly Bill 564. Although lawmakers voted earlier this year to increase the tax to 28 percent, after protests from the industry and activists, they then voted to undo that move.

"We're rolling back this cannabis tax hike so the legal market can continue to grow, consumers can access safe products, and our local communities see the benefits," said Newsom.

"California's cannabis economy can bring enormous benefits to our state, but only if our legal industry is given a fair chance to compete against the untaxed and unregulated illegal market," said bill sponsor Assemblymember Matt Haney (D–San Francisco). "AB 564 helps level the playing field. It protects California jobs, keeps small businesses open, and ensures that our legal cannabis market can grow and thrive the way voters intended."

Foreign Policy

US Designates Salvadoran Gang Barrio 18 as Foreign Terrorist Organization. Barrio 18, a Central American gang originally based in El Salvador, is the latest drug trafficking organization to be designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. More than a dozen groups have been so designated as "narco-terrorist" organizations since the Trump administration took office in January, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The State Department accused the gang of carrying out violent attacks against public officials, security personnel, and civilians in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and said the move "further demonstrates the Trump administration's unwavering commitment to dismantling cartels and gangs and ensuring the safety of the American people."

The foreign terrorist designation has historically been bestowed on groups that use violence for political ends, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, not organizations such as gangs and drug cartels, which are motivated by profit, not politics. But the Trump administration has used that designation to justify its lethal attacks on Venezuelan boats it accuses of carrying drugs.

"The United States will continue to protect our nation by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding the violent and criminal activity of vicious gangs and drug cartels," the State Department said Tuesday.

International

ICC Prosecutors Seek Crimes Against Humanity Charges for Duterte Drug War Killings. In a move that occurred in July but was only made public Monday, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has formally sought to charge former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with crimes against humanity for directing a bloody war on drugs and drug users that saw thousands killed, either by police or by shadowy death squads connected to the repressive apparatus of the state. He was also charged with the killings in Davao City a decade ago when he was mayor there.

Duterte was an "indirect co-perpetrator" of the killings, said ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang.

In addition to 19 counts for the Davao City murders, Duterte faces two categories from the time he was serving as president and unleashed his brutal drug war. One includes 14 counts for the killing of "high value" targets across the country, while the third count is in relation to the murder and attempted murder of 45 people during a village clearing operation. [Ed: The numbers reflect cases prosecutors have enumerated, not the total number of killings in the Philippine drug war, which NGOs estimate is around 30,000 and of which the government acknowledges more than 6,000.]

Duterte and his alleged co-conspirators "shared a common plan or agreement  to 'neutralise' alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including murder," prosecutors said.

Duterte remains unrepentant, saying he organized the crackdown to rid the country of street crime.

Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be charged by the ICC. He has been in custody at The Hague since March.

Singapore Set to Do Another Drug War Hanging This Week.  Anti-death penalty activists in the Southeast Asian city-state warned Monday that a Malaysian man on death row for trafficking heroin is set to be executed this week. Datchinamurthy Kataiah, 39, will become the third Malaysian national and the eleventh person to be hanged this year in Singapore.

Activists said his family got notice Sunday that he will be hung Thursday at Changi Prison. He was arrested in 2011 and convicted of trafficking less than two ounces of heroin into Singapore. He had a 2022 date with hangman but won a reprieve pending a legal challenge to his execution. That challenge was dismissed by the Singapore court last month.

Under Singapore's harsh drug laws, anyone carrying more than 15 grams of heroin gets the death penalty, as does anyone caught with as little as a pound of marijuana. Activists have criticized the law as disproportionately targeting low-level traffickers and couriers.

Human rights groups including Amnesty International Malaysia and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, as well as more than two dozen other civil society groups issued a joint statement calling for an end to executions. Four other men, including three Malaysians, also face looming executions after their latest appeals were rejected.