​ Paul Armentano, who is the Deputy Director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, gave a statement on the election results. He said that while the mid-term elections didn’t result in a ‘clean sweep’ for all reform measures and advocates, the majority of cannabis issues found a win. Momentum is clearly still strong, and cannabis advocacy is in an even better place than it was prior to this election. He added, “In the coming weeks, we anticipate that Congressional lawmakers will move ahead with longstanding promises to advance federal reform legislation while, at the state level, we anticipate numerous governments to once again take up a variety of bills protecting and expanding the rights of those adults who consume cannabis responsibly.”

 Colorado passed Proposition 122 by a margin of 51.0% to 49.0%. This measure legalizes the medical and adult-use of certain psychedelics. While retail sales are not allowed, the law will create a natural medicine services program for the supervised use of the newly-legalized substances, as well as a regulatory system for it’s growth, distribution, and sale. In addition to the medical legalization, Prop 122 also decriminalizes the possession and use of psilocybin, ibogaine, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline (but not the type of mescaline derrived from peyote). People will legally be able to grow their own, and gift them to others. Colorado’s decriminalization will take effect when the November 8th votes are officially certified. One leading supporter of the measure told Leafly that legal psilocybin “treatment centers” would probably begin opening in early 2025. Colorado is now the second state to legalize psychedelic substances. Oregon legalized psilocybin, and decriminalized possession of all drugs in 2020. ​

Voters in the Texas cities of Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen, and San Marcos all voted in support of municipal measures that largely basically decriminalize cannabis use and possession. The measure prohibits their local police officers from either arresting or citing people for Class A or Class B marijuana misdemeanors. A similar measure was passed earlier this year in Austin. Ohio voters in five different cities similarly passed ballot measures that either reduce or eliminate local marijuana possession penalties. Those towns include Corning, Helena, Kent, Laurelville, Rushville, and Shawnee. To date, voters in some two-dozen Ohio towns have enacted similar ordinances. In Rhode Island, voters in 25 of 31 eligible towns voted in favor of measures to allow for the opportunity to have licensed marijuana retail establishments in their localities. In Michigan, voters in numerous towns decided in favor of similar local measures to allow for the retail sale of either medical or adult-use cannabis products. In Connecticut, voters in two towns — Ledyard and Waterbury — decided in favor of ballot measures to permit retail cannabis sales.

Pro-cannabis Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman was able to win a crucial spot as Senator for the state. He won over Republican Dr. Oz in a hotly debated race. This mid term election was possibly one of the most watched in the country, even by non-cannabis advocates. Fetterman has been a staunch supporter of cannabis legalization in his current position as the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and made it clear he will continue to work for legalization as Governor. Fetterman has been a very vocal critic of President Biden’s lack of action on federal reform. Now that he’ll be on Capitol Hill, Fetterman’s voice will definitely lend to the strength behind the push for federal legalization. In addition to the Pennsylvania Governors race, South Carolina also had a pivotal cannabis win. This was when Republican cannabis advocate Nancy Mace won a congressional race there. This win will give her a chance to move forward with the States Reform Act, which is a bi-partisan federal cannabis legalization bill she sponsors. In New York, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the sponsor of his own CAOA cannabis legislation  also won reelection in his state, which gives him more time to work on promoting the ultimate legalization of cannabis.

Five states voted this week on adult-use cannabis legalization. Two of them voted to legalize, and the other three did not pass the measure, which was expected. With the two new legal states, that brings the number of recreational adult use legal states from 19 up to 21. One of the two states which has passed the legalization measure is Maryland. The state amendment passed by a margin of 65.5% to 34.5%. Cannabis is currently decriminalized through June 2023. This newly passed measure will take effect the next month, July 2023, and will allow adults over age 21 to purchase and use recreational cannabis. They may also grow up to two plants. Past convictions will also be expunged. The state will still need to set up a licensing or regulatory framework for adult-use cannabis sales. The second state to pass recreational cannabis legalization is Missouri, where voters passed a constitutional amendment by a margin of 53.1% to 46.9%. Missouri is moving fast on their new law. Recreational adult use cannabis will be legalized for adults over 21 in less than a month! As of December 7th of this year, 2022, adults can purchase, possess, and consume cannabis legally in the state. Private residences may grow up to 12 plants in the flowering stage. And individuals with certain prior cannabis convictions can apply for expungement. On the other, less fortunate, side of votes, measures to legalize recreation use failed in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. These were expected, though, as polling had shown that the measures did not seem to have enough support. Those three states do already have legal medical marijuana programs, but at this time, that will be the extent of it.      

New York state has a state-run Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, which will pay for the buildout of New York’s first 150 retail dispensaries. Back in June, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that part of the team to manage that would include NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber and entrepreneur Lavetta Willis. NY Cannabis Insider has recently reported that these two people may actually hold significant conflicts of interest. Both Webber and Willis have strong financial ties to the major global cannabis brand Cookies, including a partnership between Webber, Willis and Cookies U on a $50 million cannabis training facility in Detroit, in addition to a deal in which Cookies dispensaries in Michigan will carry the duo’s Players Only branded weed. Last month, Cookies opened it’s first location in New York City, which at this time is only selling branded merchandise, not cannabis. Once the adult use market officially openes, Cookies is fully expected to enter the market and begin selling cannabis, too. With Webber and Willis on this management team, they are basically tasked with raising funds for dispensaries that will end up competing with Cookies, and thus their own financial interests. NY Cannabis Insider spoke to Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia University Law School, said, “I think it’s a problem.” He added that he couldn’t say whether the business relationship is legally prohibited, but that it is still “a problem.” No comments have been made yet by the state representatives on this matter.  

In a time of historic inflation, cannabis prices have tumbled due to various industry issues. According to the new Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2022 just published, adult-use cannabis farmers in the US grew 554 more metric tons of cannabis in 2022 than they did the year before, and the crop’s value fell by $1 billion. Ealier this year, cannabis had been the countries fifth most valuable crop, but now, due to prices, it’s dropped to America’s sixth largest cash crop. The Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2022 finds that, generally, Western US cannabis farmers grew too much over the last year. Meanwhile, Midwest and Eastern farmers did not grow enough to meet their region’s demand. And while licensed farmers are still not allowed to sell across state lines, the black market still does. This ends up hurting legal western farmers, and over-charges Midwest and East Coast customers. For example, residents of Illinois and Maine, pay some of the highest prices for marijuana in the country, while customers in Colorado, Oregon, and California pay some of the lowest prices. 

Outdoor cannabis is harvested in the fall, which has been known as “Croptober” in the industry. This Croptober, cultivators across the United States are reporting incredibly good harvests. This year has had exceptionally favorable outdoor growing conditions, such as limited wildfire impact, no early freezes and warm days well into October all led to optimal growing conditions across the country. Jeremy Moberg, a cannabis grower in Washington state, also added that this, “was actually one of the cleanest air-quality years we’ve had.” And one cannabis consultant based in Boulder, Colorado, Van McConnon, said, “It’s been phenomenal … As good as any harvest we’ve had in the last 10 years.” While that normally would sound delightful, cultivators and processors are concerned that the massive amound of incoming crops are pouring into an already saturated market. States such as California, Colorado, Michigan and Washington have already been dealing with extremely low wholesale prices. This new influx of less expensive outdoor-grown flower could push prices even lower in the coming months, as those crops are processed and make their way into stores. There is a little bit of relief to this issue, though. A fraction of growers in some states like California and Colorado have opted out of outdoor planting this year, due to their states existing oversupply issues. This has reduced some of the competition. MJBizDaily spoke with cultivators and industry analysts in Michigan, Colorado, California, Washington state, New Mexico and Vermont to get the scoop on their state’s supply versus Croptober harvests. In Michigan, they learned that growing conditions this year were ideal for outdoor cannabis, yet prices for it are very low. One analyst said some outdoor growers might only get $100 or $200 per pound wholesale. Colorado growers often have to deal with early September freezes and snowstorms in some parts of the state, and wildfires and hailstorms in other areas. But this year has found mostly favorable conditions in the state, which means good crops and a lot of supply. In July, the wholesale price of indoor cannabis flower in Colorado dropped to an all-time low of $709 per pound, which was nearly half of the what it was last year. California growers have historically had to deal with a range of issues, such as drought, fires, smoke, and even overabundances of unexpected rain have been problematic. This year though, has overall been pretty good to outdoor farmers. Earlier this year, the average price per pound of cannabis flower was about $750 to $1,100 for quality, big buds and $300-$450 for smalls. But that was before the Croptober harvests. Doug Chloupek, the CEO and founder of Juva Life, a cannabis grower and life science research company with a cultivation arm in Stockton said, “The overproduction of cannabis cannot be absorbed into the legal supply chain, which has created the falling price of cannabis.” He also added, “The next two years are going to be survival of the fittest because people have run out of liquidity and the capital markets have dried up.” Some Washington State growers have said that for the most part, the weather this season has been mostly great, with a few challenges along the way. But as in other states, a pre-existing over supply has meant rock bottom wholesale prices, and because of this, there was a drastic reduction in what was planted this year. Hopefully those will help counter some of the oversupply issues. New Mexico also had a very successful outdoor season, and a huge supply of outdoor-grown cannabis is expected. This expectation has already dropped the price of wholesale flower in the market, going from up to $1,500 a pound wholesale ealier this year, to a current $850 per pound. On the positive side, though, Vermont growers are enjoying the new recreational market’s strength. Since Vermont is a newbie to legal recreational cannabis, the wholesale prices there have been close to $3,000 a pound on the upper end. Due to some early rains, some growers took down their plants earlier than planned, and others fought with moisture and humidity issues. A lack of supply in the new market, and these rain issues mean that there is still plenty of room for high prices. One insider said, “Everyone can pretty much sell whatever they grow at this point.”

Florida’s agriculture and consumer services commissioner, Nikki Fried, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the federal government. She was suing to allow medical marijuana patients the right to buy and own firearms. Current Federal law bans anyone who uses cannabis, even medical patients, from owning firearms, and they face felony charges if they lie about their marijuana use on the federal firearm application. This past week, a US District Judge gave a final ruling against Fried’s case. Judge Allen Winsor wrote in his ruling that “Florida’s medical marijuana users are ‘unlawful user[s] of . . . [a] controlled substance,’ so this law makes it a crime for them to possess firearms.” Fried’s lawsuit had argued that the federal ban requires state legal medical marijuana cardholders to choose between their health and their Second Amendment right. The judge wrote that this federal ban is meant to keep “guns from those in whose hands they could be dangerous,” and compared it to the ban on mentally ill individuals also being prevented from owning guns. He also wrote that regarding both the mentally ill and medical marijuana patients, he said “both categories of people can be dangerous when armed.” He continued to expound on it, and reaffirmed at they are simply “too dangerous to have guns.” Earlier this year, Fried stated, “I will never stop looking for outside-the-box ways we can further this fight until we achieve full and equitable legalization.” 

Small and Medium sized cannabis businesses in Canada are in an “unprecedented financial crisis raging in the legal cannabis sector,” and at risk of collapse. This would leave only the largest operators, and the Canadian governemnt, in control of the entire cannabis market within Canada. A group of 45 small and medium sized cultivators and processors have asked their government for help. And joining them is the Cannabis Council of Canada, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. They have issued a short-form working paper statement which requests the immediate need for Government intervention to save "failing small businesses" in the Canadian cannabis market. Part of their statement read, “… without immediate action, the participation of small businesses in the future of legal Canadian cannabis is materially at risk.” They pointed out that approximately 98% of all small and medium sized cultivation and processing businesses in Canada’s cannabis industry are not able to earn enough income to break even, due to the incredible tax and administrative burdens on them. The coalition is recommending emergency intervention planning with a roundtable group which would include the relevant Canadian agencies.

A South Dakota cannabis activist group is accusing several state officials of engaging in illegal campaigning against pro-cannabis measures in the state. According to news site Dakota News Now, the cannabis activist group, New Approach South Dakota, has filed information requests to determine if officials violated the state’s election laws by voicing opposition to the pot-related proposals.  South Dakota state law says that “any government official or employee of the state is permitted to speak their opinion of a candidate or ballot measure in their personal capacity.” However, that same law also “states that no government agency or official can influence the election of any candidate or ballot measure in their official capacity.” The officials in question include the leaders of South Dakota’s two largest cities, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken and Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender. The sheriff of the state’s largest county is also included, along with several other individuals. The activists at New Approach South Dakota are alleging these people may have broken the law on not influencing while in their official capacity. Among the potential infractions is a “press conference held a week ago in downtown Sioux Falls that featured TenHaken, Milstead and others, as well as a press conference the same day in Rapid City,” (according to Dakota News Now). New Approach South Dakota said in a Facebook post, “Your tax dollars should not be used to promote any politician’s personal political agenda.”

 Canadian cannabis company, Canopy Growth, has formed a new holding company called Canopy USA. This new company will allow them to fast track into the U.S. market, enabling them to exercise rights to acquire Acreage, Wana and Jetty, as well as controlling a conditional ownership position of approximately 13.7% in TerrAscend. Canopy Growth has also reduced its cash interest costs, which means it can continue to pursue growth through investments and acquisitions. If Canopy Growth is able to remain on the Nasdaq, it should be viewed as a positive sign. US Cannabis companies are not allowed on the stock exchange while cannabis remains federally illegal. But Canadian based companies are. Jefferies Analyst, Owen Bennett, thinks that other MSOs could do something similar with a holding company, and have ownership via non-voting shares. That’s important because then those MSOs could access institutional capital. 

​ Information from New Frontier Data projects the U.S. cannabis industry growth to more than double in size over the next eight years, due to increased legalization and consumer demand. Currently the 2022 U.S. cannabis market is approximately $32 billion. The projection data estimates the total market nationwide will be $72 billion by 2030.  Mathew Swinburne, who is the associate director of Network for Public Health Law-Eastern Region of Baltimore, presented a report on this data to a work group. He said that jobs in the cannabis industry have risen from about 321,000 in 2020 to approximately 428,000 a year later.   

In the US Constitution, there is something called the ”Dormant Commerce Clause,” which prohibits state legislation that might affect interstate or even international commerce. The clause helps in situations where different states have different legislations on different matters, and hands the issue over to federal supervision, as opposed to being a state issue. For example, the clause was first used in 1873, when one state wanted to tax the railroads that passed through it. The Supreme Court, however, ruled against it citing this clause, which prevented the state from benefiting itself while affecting an individual in another state.     Currently, many states who have legalized some form of cannabis have decided to limit the licenses to residents of the state. States like Colorado, which was the first to legalize recreational use, saw an increase in migration to the state for those hoping to get into the state’s new cannabis industry. But now, even though cannaibis is still federally illegal, it looks like limits on licenses for state residents only may be subject to this Dormant Commerce Clause. In Maine, a lawsuit was filed against the state for it’s ban on out of state residents holding a license. And the state lost, thanks to this clause. New York state is currently in the middle of a similar lawsuit recently filed. The Dormant Commerce Clause could likely also affect the transportation of cannabis across state lines, because removing the existing ban on it would improve the efficiency of multi state operators. Right now a similar type of interstate issue is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. This one involves the interstate commerce of pork products and a new California law. That case has different Justices of the Supreme Court considering different angles of the Dormant Commerce Clause. Nothing has been decided at this time, but the outcome could definitely affect the cannabis industry.

This past week, Cannabis activists gathered outside the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C. and hosted a smoke-out in protest of Brittney Griner’s detention in a Russian prison. Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DC Marijuana Justice (DCMJ) organized the demonstration, and told The Washington Post, “Just as it’s unacceptable for Americans to sit behind bars for simple possession of cannabis, it’s absolutely unacceptable for an American sitting in a Russian gulag.” Gulag is a reference to the forced labor camps in Russia during Stalin’s rule. He added, “We feel compelled to protest the Russian Federation and President Putin, who’s clearly using an American citizen as a pawn in his war against Ukraine.” To bring attention to their protest, Eidinger’s justic group organized a cannabis “smoke out,” which began at 4:20 pm, right in front of the Russian Embassy. Demonstrators also had with them an enormous inflatable joint printed with the message, “Free Britney Griner and the Russians from Putin,” which was written in Russian. The other side of the giant inflatable joint was for the United States government, and written in english it said, “Free 420 Prisoners.” The DC Marijuana Justice group had issued a statement earlier this month, saying, “We call on the President to go one step further and pardon Americans convicted of other nonviolent cannabis offences such as distribution and cultivation. It’s these prisoners who need President Biden’s pardon the most.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says Congress is getting “very close” to introducing and passing a ‘safe banking’ measure for the cannabis industry. During the New York State senate debate over the weekend, Schumer was asked if more research needs to be done before cannabis legalization happens. While Schumer said that research is “very, very important,” he pointed out that “many states have approved legalization of cannabis,” and so the policy is already “upon us.” And regarding the status of the cannabis measures currently before the senate, Schumer said, “we are getting very close.” He then spoke of how he is working with fellow senators on from both parties to get the SAFE Banking Act passed. According to several lawmakers who’ve spoken previously on the subject, there is a plan to file the SAFE Banking Act some time during the lame duck session, which is the period between next week’s midterm elections and the end of the current Congress, which is the end of this year. 

 At the New York state senate race debate this weekend, incumbent Chuck Schumer, who is also the current Senate Majority Leader, met with challenger Republican Jim Pinion. Schumer and Pinion were both asked about cannabis legalization issues. During the debate, Pinion tried to link legalizing cannabis to drug deaths, as well as illegal immigrants. Pinion started out by saying, “we need to deal with the fact that we’re not talking about your mom and dad’s dope. We’re talking about THC levels that have been off the charts.” He also said that in his opinion, legalizing at the federal level “before we’ve actually done the due diligence seems reckless and irresponsible.” He then pulled up the “fentanyl laced cannabis” claim saying, “we now have people that are trying to smoke marijuana and are going to drop dead.” The theory that cannabis is laced with fentanyl has been debated, with some studies showing that it is a myth, but other people claiming it is happening. But it’s worth noting that whether its happening or not, no one would ever get fentanyl laced cannabis if it were purchased through a licensed, regulated retailer. Pinion finished up his cannabis misinformation by trying to blame legalizing cannabis for the country’s immigration issues. He said legalizing cannabis would cause “unintended consequences. It is a thread that runneth between all of this, from the border crisis to even this conversation about marijuana, because Chuck Schumer has not taken the business of securing our border and people are dying.”  ​

So far in Europe, only one country has legalized recreational cannabis use. That is the country of Malta, which is a tiny island with a population of just about one half million people. The island lies just off the coast of Sicily, Italy, which doesn’t make it easily accessible by people living on the main continent of Europe who want to access cannabis. Some people think of Amsterdam as allowing cannabis, but technically it is not legal, only decriminalized. They alllow small amounts of cannabis to be sold and consumed in their coffeeshops, but the market is not regulated. And the city of Amsterdam is the only place in The Netherlands that allows this access for tourists. But the face of European cannabis access is about to change. Germany, which has the largest economy in all of Europe, has been making plans to legalize recreational cannabis. This week, key details of their plans to legalize and regulate were published. Adults in Germany will be able to purchase cannabis flower, capsules, sprays, and drops. However, interestingly, edibles will be prohibited. German residents will be allowed to grow up to three plants at home, so they could potentially make their own edibles. The German recreational cannabis legalization would apply to adults 21 and older, but there is also some discussion of potentially allowing some limited access for those 18 - 21. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said their current target direction on production is for, “…planning complete cultivation in Germany.” Keeping all the cannabis cultivation within Germany would be a dissapointment to some international producers, who had been hoping they would allow imports. As for when this all could happen, most officials in the know say that due to the regulation plans needed, rollout would likely happen near to the end of 2024. Right now, Germany needs get approval for their plans from the European Union to ensure it is compatible with European Union and global drug laws. Then they will potentially work on tweaking the draft before it’s finalized and submitted for approval by German lawmakers and made officially into law. Legalizing cannabis for recreational use could potentially generate 4.7 billion euros annually for the German economy. Mike Sassano, CEO of Somai Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of cannabinoid formulations for the European markets, believes that all the other countries in European Union will follow with similar legalization measures after Germany. He said that since Germany is Europe’s largest economy, and generally sets the trends and agendas for the rest of the continent, he believes that after Germany’s imminent legalization, there “…will be a cannabis wildfire in Europe.”

Many industry experts believe that federal cannabis legalization is inevitable. Everything seems to be pointing in that direction, but the experts also agree that it isn’t happening very soon. There are several measures that the House has before it now. But while cannabis advocates do want legalization, not all the measures may be the best way for the industry to go. One industy expert said that legalization measures such as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) could actually be detrimental for the majority of cannabis businesses. Enormous taxes in CAOA could keep illegal cannabis blossoming, and only the large corporations would survive.   But there are other potential measures, such as the State Reform Act, which could be better for the industry as a whole. This measure Federally decriminalizes cannabis and fully defers power over regulation to the states, similar to alcohol. Any legalization measures, though, are still up against the many lawmakers who still do not support cannabis, even for medical usage. Benzinga news spoke to an industry insider on what is needed for those lawmakers to change their minds. They say the backing from American doctors is what is truly needed. And in order to get that, they need published results in Medical Journals from successful human trials. Getting human research trials successfully published in medical journals must be done through the proper legal channels, which can be tricky and complicated. But one group, comprised of the nonprofit organization Battle Brothers Foundation and Israeli company, NiaMedic Healthcare and Research Services, has just gotten such approval, and can now begin. Everything takes time, but there is movement towards cannabis legalization coming from many different directions, such as this one. And one of these days, one of those directions will get us there. Hopefully, in a manner that can benefit the industry as a whole, not just the few enormous multi-state operators. 

Despite assurances from the governor and regulators, New York marijuana industry officials and experts are increasingly concerned the state’s adult-use market won’t launch by the end of this year as planned. The uncertainty has left many applicants and businesses in a standstill while they wait. A New York cannabis attorney who specializes in regulatory issues and compliance, David Pejovic, said, “A lot of the excitement died down actually because of how long it’s taken.” Part of the delay is that adult-use regulatory policies and operational procedures have still not been finalized. And regulators have still not announced the first round of approved applicants. There are currently more than 250 licensed family farmers now harvesting product for retail sales, but they don’t know what to do with it given the uncertainty in the system. The New York Office of Cannabis Management had spokesperson Trivette Knowles speak on the delays. She said, “There has been no change in our expectation that sales will begin before the end of 2022 … Regulations … are expected before the end of this year with additional licensing opportunities opening in the first half of 2023...” New York adult-use retailers are projected to generate $1 billion-$1.2 billion in sales next year, growing to $2.2 billion-$2.7 billion by 2026, according to the 2022 MJBiz Factbook. 

Last week, Circle K announced plans to incorporate medical marijuana sales at 10 Circle K stores across Florida as early as next year. This week, officials from the Florida Department of Health told the Washington Examiner that the state has not yet approved the Circle K plans, and said, “Florida has never approved a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center to operate out of a gas station,” However they did give a ray of hope for it to happen by saying that it would be possible, “subject to regulatory approval.” There is actually already one small similar shop in Portland, Maine, at the Atlantic Farms Gas N’ Grass cannabis convenience store.  

A real estate group released results of their survey of 1,000 Americans showing the overwhelmingly positive support and belief in the positive effects of cannabis legalization. Their survey found that the majority of Americans (71%) believe that legalizing cannabis improves states' economies. They also reported that: 91% of their respondents support cannabis legalization in some form 70% would vote in favor of recreational cannabis legalization 84% would vote in favor of medical cannabis legalization 41% believe state legalization positively effects real estate with more people flocking to such states. Prior data from another study showed that home values increased by $6,338 more in cities where cannabis was legalized. Their fascinating study results also showed that 70% of respondents said they would pay at market rate for a house near a cannabis dispensary or weed lounge, and 22% said they would pay above market rate. One other find from their survey was that only 8% of respondents considered cannabis legalization to be the most pressing social issue in the country, which suggests that cannabis legalization is unlikely to sway some voters.

The U.S. attorney in Oregon has charged six men with disguising themselves as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents during an armed robbery of marijuana. The six men from San Antonio, Texas, have been charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to recently unsealed court documents, in the afternoon of March 12, 2022, local law enforcement officers were dispatched to a rural address in Josephine County, Oregon after receiving reports of a possible armed robbery in progress. Minutes later, officers arrived on scene to find a residence where two empty vehicles were running in the driveway with all their doors open. The officers observed multiple individuals believed to be the suspects running away toward the back of the property. Officers observed body armor, badges, firearms, ammunition, and shell casings dumped all along the path where the suspects had fled. Back inside the residence, Officers found victims who told them that multiple armed individuals dressed in DEA attire and wearing body armor arrived at the property and restrained several of the victims with zip ties and duct tape. Officers found numerous plastic totes containing packaged marijuana in the idling vehicles, along with more of the fake DEA equipment, firearms, ammo, and shell casings. After an extensive search, law enforcement learned the identity of the suspects who had traveled from San Antonio, Texas to Southern Oregon. After arriving in Oregon, the group put on their DEA attire and posed, with firearms, for a photo in a local hotel room. Investigators found the incriminating photos and multiple text message conversations in which the conspirators discussed their robbery plans. One suspect was arrested the day of the robbery, several more were caught in early October, and one final suspect, Jordan Gammage, remains at large and is believed to be in the San Antonio area. 

On Tuesday a Russian court denied WNBA star Brittney Griner’s sentencing appeal, and upheld the 9-year sentence she received in August. Griner’s lawyers were quoted by The New York Times, saying, “We are very disappointed. The verdict contains numerous defects, and we hoped that the court of appeal would take them into consideration.” Griner will now officially begin serving her sentence, with credit for time served since her arrest in February. The Associated Press reported that each day “in pre-trial detention will be counted as 1.5 days in prison, so the basketball star will have to serve around eight years in prison,” from this point on, making her potential release date some time in the year 2030. The United States and Russia are still in discussions for a potential prisoner swap to secure the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen who has been detained in a Russian prison on alleged espionage charges since 2018. So far no deal has been made, but one experienced negotiator said he was “cautiously optimistic” that both Griner and Whelen will be released by the end of the year. President Biden said that his administration “will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible.” Griner had been traveling to Russia to play basketball with the UMMC Ekaterinburg Russian team, which she has played with since 2014 during the American WNBA season’s yearly off time. This is a very common practice for athletes, and in particular women’s sports like Basketball where players like Griner can make far more money overseas than they do in the states. Top men’s basketball players earn between $1 and $50 million a year. Griner, who is a superstar in her league, made $215,000 with her Phoenix Mercury team last year, and her four years prior to that earned her just under $140,000 a year. On the other hand, in Russia Griner earns closer to a million dollars for a season.