Drug War Daily Digest – November 9, 2026

Philippine authorities hunt for Duterte's drug war killings architect Sen. Bato dela Rosa, a major psychedelics pharma company completes its psilocybin application, and more.

An LA Times investigation finds gaps in California's program to test cannabis products. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

California Investigation Finds Gaps in Cannabis Pesticide Screening. Paige St. John reports in a November 8 Los Angeles Times investigation that the state's cannabis-testing system fails to catch hazardous chemicals not on its required screening list. The Times commissioned testing that found improvements in some previously contaminated brands but also found chemicals regulators do not test for. While the Department of Cannabis Control defended its testing, surveillance, and enforcement system, the reporting describes long enforcement delays and incentives to substitute regulated chemicals with ones that are not screened for.

The newspaper's methods account, by St. John and Sean Greene, says three laboratories screened 49 inhalable products for 376 pesticides in total. The small sample included brands targeted for earlier contamination problems and had exceptions to state-licensed products, so the results do not establish contamination rates across the market. Some comparisons also use future California limits or federal tobacco-testing benchmarks rather than current cannabis limits.

Medical Marijuana

Lawyers Warn DEA Registration Policy Threatens Dual-Purpose Cannabis Licenses. A November 9 analysis by Dickinson Wright attorneys Christopher Lynch and Benjamin M. Sobczak examines how federal medical marijuana registration could exclude businesses serving both medical and adult-use customers. They discuss an October 27 DEA order proposing to deny a Minnesota dispensary's application on three grounds: its dual-purpose state license, dispensing without a practitioner's certification, and state permission to sell artificially derived cannabinoids. The authors warn that similar licensing structures and affiliated adult-use businesses elsewhere could face scrutiny, particularly in Washington State.

Florida Proposes Delivery-Device and Harvest-Failure Rules. Florida's November 6 Administrative Register published proposed nonemergency rules governing medical marijuana delivery devices and transfers after crop losses. The device proposal addresses department approval, restrictions on child-appealing designs, dispensing consistent with a patient's approved route of administration, and recalls.

The proposed harvest-failure regulation would allow approved transfers after qualifying losses of at least half a harvest, with documentation, testing, and tracking requirements. Transfers could not exceed the amount lost, and a business would need department approval before acquiring replacement cannabis. These are proposals replacing emergency-rule provisions, not newly adopted rules; a hearing may be requested within 21 days of the November 6 notice.

German Providers Challenge Proposed Telemedicine and Mail-Order Restrictions. Ben Stevens reports in Business of Cannabis that German medical marijuana providers and pharmacists challenged the case for tighter medical access at the Cannabis Health Symposium held the week before his November 9 report. Conservative members of the federal governing coalition are seeking to amend the country's medical marijuana law to impose restrictions, although Stevens reported that the package was blocked within the coalition. The government bill targets medical cannabis flowers: it would require an initial in-person consultation and recurring in-person contact for follow-up prescriptions, and prohibit mail-order dispensing of flowers. Pharmacy courier delivery would remain available.

Prohibition Partners has warned that the package in its current form could shrink the German market by 50%.

Speakers at the symposium acknowledged industry problems, such as weak identity checks, aggressive marketing, and questionable prescribing on some platforms, while arguing that targeted standards would be preferable to restrictions affecting all patients. Pharmacy representatives also raised concerns about platform fees, proliferating products, and pressure on pharmacists to investigate how prescriptions were obtained.

Hemp

Illinois Enforcement Pause. CBS Chicago reports Illinois paused enforcement against hemp plaintiffs and Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association members through November 19. The law, scheduled to take effect November 12, would remove most hemp-derived THC drinks from ordinary retail shelves by limiting products to 0.4 milligrams of THC. Brewers and beverage companies warn of lost sales and possible layoffs, while consumers could lose an alternative to alcohol outside dispensaries; supporters say tighter controls are needed to protect consumers, especially children.

Texas Hemp Appeal Arguments Canceled Ahead of Change in Court. Zach Leggio reports in The Texas Tribune that the 15th Court of Appeals has canceled December 8 arguments in a challenge to Texas hemp rules, leaving the matter for the three newly elected Democratic justices who take office in January. The outgoing court also canceled arguments in three other cases so it could finish opinions in cases already heard.

The challenged rules include testing, packaging, and recordkeeping requirements, as well as steep license-fee increases: manufacturers' fees rose from $258 to $10,000 per facility, and retail registration fees rose from $155 to $5,000. A Travis County judge temporarily blocked the rules in April.

Psychedelics

Compass Completes Psilocybin Application to FDA. Compass Pathways announced November 9 that it has completed its new drug application for COMP360, its investigational synthetic psilocybin formulation for treatment-resistant depression. The company says its application draws on two Phase 3 trials and a Phase 2b study involving more than 1,000 participants. The company is looking at launching in the first half of next year, but that will depend on federal approval and federal and state scheduling changes needed to bring the treatment to market. Psychedelic Alpha reports that the filing joins pending applications involving Usona's psilocybin treatment and Resilient Pharmaceuticals' MDMA treatment.

Criminal Justice

Pennsylvania Overdose Prosecution Review Highlights Uneven Use and Rescue Concerns. A new Spotlight PA review authored by Ed Mahon finds that the state saw 684 criminal cases carrying a drug-delivery-resulting-in-death charge from 2021 through 2025, a charge that can bring up to 40 years in prison. A separate media-based database ranked Pennsylvania first for drug delivery resulting in death cases during 2011–2022, with Lancaster, Monroe, Cumberland and York counties accounting for a disproportionate share of the cases relative to their populations.

Critics say the law is often used to target people only for sharing drugs, and that it discourages calls for assistance during overdoses. Some family members of people lost to overdoses, conversely, see the prosecutions as bringing accountability.

31 states had a drug-induced homicide law as of May 1, 2024, according to an analysis cited by Spotlight PA. These included only six of the 33 states which offer a "Good Samaritan" affirmative defense for efforts to seek emergency medical help in an overdose situation. Pennsylvania is not one of those six.

Extrajudicial Killings

Oversight Report Describes Boat-Strike Pause, Targeting Review and Resumption. The Pentagon inspector general's October 29 report on Operation Southern Spear describes a pause in maritime strikes against alleged drug-running boats beginning in late June for Venezuela earthquake assistance and a review of targeting procedures, with the strikes resuming in August. SOUTHCOM reported four lethal strikes and 13 people killed or presumed dead for the period from July through September. The report says revised guidance sought better identification of targeted vessels and lists two oversight evaluations as ongoing as of September 30: one on intelligence processing and dissemination, the other on compliance with the military's targeting process.

Philippine Truth Commission Requests Investigation of Death Certificates. The Philippine Truth Commission formally asked the Professional Regulation Commission on November 9 to examine death certificates for 13 drug-war victims and determine whether the signing doctors should face disciplinary proceedings. Its letter asks the Board of Medicine to identify the physicians, examine the basis for the recorded causes of death, preserve records, and investigate whether similar practices occurred in other cases. The commission says discrepancies it identified have deprived families of accurate official accounts. It offered the certificates to the regulator and said corrections would also require cooperation from civil registrars, health authorities and the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Families and Pathologist Challenge Accounts of Two 2017 Killings. Relatives of Christopher Lazaro and Alberto Paragas, both killed in August 2017 amidst former president Duterte's bloody war on drug users and sellers, described being pressed to accept police accounts of their deaths at the November 6 session of the non-governmental Philippine Truth Commission. Marissa Lazaro said officers demanded money and delayed providing records; Rizza Quiamco said police sought her signature on a document supporting their version of events.

The commission also heard from forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun, who reported inconsistencies among death certificates, a medico-legal report and her examination of exhumed remains. She said a report describing Lazaro's stomach contents could not be reconciled with a body whose organs had not been examined and raised questions about documented wrist-binding marks.

Duterte Defense Challenges Expert Evidence Ahead of Trial. Janna Millenas reports in VERA Files that Rodrigo Duterte's lawyers have asked the International Criminal Court to exclude a prosecution expert's report and supporting material, arguing that prosecutors submitted them after the evidence-list deadline without first obtaining permission. The defense is also objecting to two studies it says the expert did not substantively use and other documents it calls redundant. The defense argues that the volume and timing would disrupt trial preparation.

VERA Files reported on November 9 that Trial Chamber III had not yet ruled on the application or objections. Prosecutors separately submitted an updated witness list identifying expected remote testimony and the proposed order of appearances. The drug war crimes-against-humanity trial is scheduled to begin November 30.

Philippine Police Report Hundreds of Leads in Dela Rosa Search. Police chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said officers had checked roughly 500 leads on Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa's whereabouts, including remote islands, Karen De Guzman reported for ABS-CBN News. Authorities are seeking to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, and the government has offered a 50-million-peso reward. Nartatez also said police were examining reports of possible interference and warned of administrative or criminal consequences where evidence warranted them.

Harm Reduction

Tusi Reporting Highlights Unpredictable Drug Mixtures. A November 9 analysis by Abby Pender in InSight Crime describes a drug market in which the name "tusi" identifies a variable mixture rather than a consistent substance. Although its name derives from 2C-B and it is often marketed as "pink cocaine," the reporting says ketamine commonly forms the base, with ingredients varying by producer and local supply. It cites Colombian drug-checking group Echele Cabeza's finding of up to 18 compounds across samples. Mixing and coloring existing drugs requires less infrastructure than synthesizing them, making production difficult to attribute to a single organization. The analysis underscores why a product's color or street name cannot establish its contents or effects.

International System

Mexico Addresses Addiction Approach During UN ECOSOC Review. During a voluntary periodic review by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the representative of Mexico described a human-rights-based addiction policy, training for teachers and frontline workers, and more than 1.6 million prevention activities during 2024–2026. The response did not directly address the question posed by one of the expert participants, which was about access to methadone.

Research

Overdose Trends and Emerging Benzodiazepines

A county-level analysis by Kale Williams and Brad Jennings in Axios finds overdose deaths fell in all 14 Oregon counties with sufficient data to determine a trend. Provisional CDC counts for the 12 months ending March 2026 show Multnomah County declining from 494 to 315 deaths, Clackamas from 105 to 60, and Washington from 99 to 52. Small counts are suppressed in other counties, preventing some comparisons. These are rolling-year figures, not totals for calendar 2026, and the analysis does not establish that a particular policy caused the declines.

UNODC's November 6 review of emerging benzodiazepines reports 51 distinct substances during the preliminary 2025–2026 reporting period, including 17 newly reported by multiple countries across four continents. It distinguishes geographical spread from the frequency of detections in drug samples and cautions that reporting varies among countries. The agency describes declining bromazolam detections following international scheduling alongside increased reports of alternatives, while etizolam continues to appear years after scheduling. It calls for updated laboratory methods and rapid information sharing to identify new compounds and metabolites.

Events

The Forum on the Arms Trade and Center for International Policy will hold their annual conference in Washington, DC, December 2, from 9:00am to 11:30am Eastern. A 9:30am panel on Latin America and boat strikes lists Adam Isacson of WOLA, Daniel Noroña of Amnesty International USA and Annie Shiel of the Center for Civilians in Conflict. Attendance is free; the downtown venue remains to be confirmed.

The North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition's 20th-anniversary gathering is scheduled for December 1–2 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. See the event page for registration information.

The Beyond the Laboratory webinar on academic cannabis research is scheduled for November 18 at 2:00pm Eastern, with Linda Klumpers and Riana Durrett.