A staffer for Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey faces charges for drug trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm.
Lamar Cook of Springfield is accused of trafficking 200 or more grams of cocaine and illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.
“The Governor’s Office has been made aware of the arrest of an employee, Lamar Cook,&#8221; a Healey spokesman told<a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/employee-for-gov-healeys-office-fired-following-his-arrest/3835936/"> NBC 10 Boston</a>.
“The conduct that occurred here is unacceptable and represents a major breach of the public trust. Mr. Cook has been terminated from his position effective immediately. This criminal investigation is ongoing, and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work,” the statement added.
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According to the Hampden District Attorney’s office, there’s an “ongoing and active” investigation going on by state authorities and Homeland Security Investigations into cocaine trafficking in Springfield, which started when authorities came across two packages at the Hotel UMass in Amherst with “suspected cocaine” inside.
In addition, authorities seized 9 kilograms of the drug on Saturday while busting a “controlled delivery operation” at the Springfield State Office Building, where Cook, 45, worked. Authorities searched the building with a warrant on Monday.
However, the Hampden DA’s office said in a press release that there could be “additional charges” as part of the Hotel UMass seizure of the 13 kilograms of cocaine.
Cook pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Thursday and faces another hearing on Friday, according to<a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/who-is-lamar-cook-from-western-massachusetts-deputy-director-to-alleged-drug-trafficker/"> WWLP</a>.
&#8220;Eight kilos?? Whoa. That&#8217;s a LOT of dope,&#8221; Fox News Contributor and law enforcement expert Paul Mauro posted to X.
The arrest sparked criticism of the governor.
&#8220;A top aide to Gov. Maura Healey is a drug trafficker. This is beyond shocking. This is a reflection not just on our governor and her failed leadership and management skills, but on our entire state, and we shouldn’t tolerate it. Gov. Healey owes Massachusetts an explanation,&#8221; Brian Shortsleeve, a Republican running for governor in Massachusetts, posted on X.
Healey came under fire last year for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-gov-refuses-to-help-deportations-as-ice-busts-alleged-illegal-alien-child-rapists-in-her-state">refusing</a> to comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation orders.

Boston, MA – August 8: Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a morning press conference announcing significant action related to the state’s emergency shelter system.

Major Drug Bust Shakes Up Massachusetts’s Dem Governor’s Office

Cocaine

Crime

Drugs

Massachusetts

maura healey

As history shows, nearly every civilization has progressed and evolved using some form of alcohol. But no civilization in history has ever experimented with the types of industrialized THC products Western countries are now recklessly legalizing, commercializing, and normalizing. We might pause to ask ourselves why zero Asian countries have done so and why China is so anxious <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/06/24/1238497863/chinese-marijuana-farms-new-mexico">to promote</a> this cultural suicide weapon here.
A 2023 <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01917-8/fulltext__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaIIr-JHw$">global study</a> on life expectancy showed we are back to pre-pandemic levels with one notable exception: Teens and young adults in Western countries are dying at higher rates, driven largely by suicides and substance use.
Traffic fatalities continue to be a major cause of death in young adults, which is one reason The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has been vocal about <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mattwalsh_/video/7559991047514836237">his opposition</a> to the legalization of marijuana. In fact, a recent study of dead drivers in a major Ohio county morgue found that 42% of them tested <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/fatal-crash-report-finds-nearly-half-deadly-wrecks-tied-illegal-drug">positive for THC</a>. 
Pot apologists quickly jumped to their defense, noting that THC can be detected for up to a month after use. But the national past 30-day marijuana use rate <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/08/facts-about-marijuana/">is only 16%</a>, yet these drivers had average THC levels 5 to 10 times the state legal limits.
Some will argue, “Well, it&#8217;s no worse than alcohol.”
Marijuana use, however, is associated with <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6296897/#:~:text=Analyses%20revealed:%201)%20daily%20marijuana,marijuana%20use%20and%20negative%20consequences.">more alcohol</a> consumption, and marijuana users are <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/marijuana-smokers-five-times-more-likely-develop-alcohol-problem">five times</a> more likely to become alcoholics. It has also been reported that up to 40% of marijuana users <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/daily-marijuana-use-is-now-more-common-than-daily-alcohol-use-in-the-u-s-new-study-finds">use daily</a>, and up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/marijuana-use-disorder__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta8e51DO8$">30% meet criteria for addiction</a> — both far higher percentages than for drinkers. Using alcohol to excuse marijuana use or legalization is simply an exercise in lazy whataboutism.
Speaking of which, THC strongly induces suicidality even in patients who were not depressed to begin with, and state legalization has led to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.01.1.15__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta6a4o0FY$">sharp increases</a> in youth suicides. Up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heavy-cannabis-use-linked-to-schizophrenia-especially-among-young-men/__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaHeiA8hc$">30% of schizophrenia</a> cases in young men are attributable to THC use now.
Marijuana smoke is also causing the same <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/marijuana-head-and-neck-cancer-wellness/">type of cancers</a> as tobacco smoke, while also <a href="https://www.tctmd.com/news/cannabis-use-again-tied-increased-cvd-risk-young-people">dramatically increasing</a> the risk of heart attacks and strokes in younger users. Further, as the American College of Cardiology <a href="https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Journal-Scans/2025/06/04/14/21/Chronic-Marijuana-Smoking">reports</a>, THC has been shown to cause damage to major blood vessels regardless of the mechanism of ingestion.
Add to this the well-known adverse effects on <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/124806/long-term-cannabis-blunt-brains-motivation-system/">motivation</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4586361/">educational</a> achievement, and the costs of the cannabis culture to government budgets are simply staggering. One study on the costs of legalization in Colorado, for example, conservatively <a href="https://centennial.ccu.edu/briefs/marijuana-costs/">estimated</a>, “For every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization.” And that’s even at a 15% sales tax rate.
While there is simply no conservative case for the legalization of marijuana, the libertarian case suffers from serious flaws. First of all, the utopian assumption that legalization would lead to a “safe and regulated” product that would eliminate the black market has now gone 0-for-24 in our marijuana legal states. Many legal THC products are <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://viiahemp.com/collections/high-thc__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaX4gqjCQ$">more potent</a> than ever before, even more than the now highly potent plant itself. The industry has defied <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VkrWO8H08Q">regulation</a>, and the black markets are <a href="https://alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu/cannabis-black-market-thrives-despite-legalization/">thriving</a>. Legalizing marijuana to eliminate the black market is like giving your dog ticks to rid it of fleas. You just double the infestation.
More importantly, substances like THC are the exception that proves the libertarian rule. Libertarianism works when people are free to act in their own best interest and, by extension, their family, community, and country. Chemicals like THC are designed to promote the opposite type of citizen. Libertarians should be the most opposed to the drug culture because it undermines the very foundation of their ideology.
The <a href="https://learnaboutsam.org/2025/06/leading-experts-warn-marijuana-rescheduling-driven-by-politics-in-stunning-jama-psychiatry-report/">politically</a> driven potential rescheduling of marijuana will only fuel this destructive industry with tax breaks and marketing privileges. Republicans should note that young male voters <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-young-men-voters-election-latinos-democrats-ff30e38698a41132cf90345fffabe579">moved to the Right</a> last November while radical Democrats were still enticing them with more weed.
Much attention has been paid to the influence of transgender ideology on the radicalization of Charlie Kirk’s assassin. But as we saw with the transgender school shooter in Minneapolis, THC may have also played a role. As discussed in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/Z1b3TYJli5A?si=vXQjsRYLTa6VQdWz&amp;t=1252">recent episode</a> of the Liz Wheeler show, a close friend of the suspected Utah assassin reported rampant drug use in his apartment and that “We’d have a mostly weekly magic night at the apartment where everyone would come drink, get high and play magic.”
Charlie Kirk gave his generation more credit than some in the GOP. Despite the criticism, he stood up to the lies of the THC industry. Republicans will never outbid Democrats in the race to the drug culture bottom. Nor should they, as <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/648821/americans-views-marijuana-effects-worsen.aspx">polls show</a> we may have already reached the bottom, with public sentiment now turning against marijuana.
Charlie knew that minds can be changed, but facts cannot. Truth and the future of this great country are worth standing for, regardless of the cost. 
Principled conservatives should do more than eulogize Charlie. They should emulate him.
* * *
Matt Poling is a physician, Medical Director of Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, and Faculty Advisor for Texas A&amp;M Young Americans for Freedom. <a href="mailto:mpoling@sw.org">mpoling@sw.org</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
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Close-up of young adult man rolling a marijuana joint on blur background.

The High Cost Of Getting High: How Legal Weed Is Destroying A Generation

Cannabis: A Cultural Suicide Weapon

Alcohol

Cancer

China

Marijuana

Mental Health

Opinion

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) — The deadliest police operation in Brazil&#8217;s history killed at least 132 people, public defenders said on Wednesday, as Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses found overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.
State police said the raids targeting a major drug gang the day before had been planned exhaustively for more than two months, designed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where a special operations unit was waiting in ambush.
&#8220;The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired,&#8221; Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, told a news conference. Rio police officials confirmed 119 deaths so far, including four police officers. Police said they had arrested 113 suspects in the operation and seized 118 firearms.
Santos said there was no connection to global events Rio will host next week related to the United Nations COP30 climate summit, including the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and British Prince William&#8217;s Earthshot Prize.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was surprised to learn Rio police had launched an &#8220;extremely bloody, violent&#8221; operation without notifying or involving the federal government, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told journalists.
The minister said he planned to meet with Rio&#8217;s governor and could increase the number of federal security officials there.
Lula, who returned to Brasilia late on Tuesday from a trip to Malaysia, met with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and cabinet members on Wednesday to discuss the matter, his office said.
Rio has hosted several global events over the past decade, including the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July, without violence on the scale seen on Tuesday.
The city&#8217;s most deadly police raid before Tuesday was a 2021 raid that left 28 people dead in the Jacarezinho neighborhood. In 1992, 111 were killed when Sao Paulo police stormed the Carandiru Penitentiary to put down a prison rebellion.
Residents of the Penha neighborhood in Rio gathered dozens of corpses from the surrounding forest overnight and lined up more than 70 of the bodies in the middle of a main street.
Several civil society groups and public security experts criticized the heavy casualties of the military-style raid. The United Nations Human Rights office said it adds to a trend of extremely lethal police raids in Brazil&#8217;s marginalized communities.
&#8220;We remind authorities of their obligations under international human rights law, and urge prompt and effective investigations,&#8221; the agency said in a statement.
Rio Governor Claudio Castro said he was certain those killed in the operation were criminals firing guns from the forest.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anyone would be walking in the forest on the day of the conflict,&#8221; he told reporters, calling the raids an effort to combat &#8220;narcoterrorism.&#8221;
&#8220;The only real victims were the police officers,&#8221; he said.
The Rio state government said the operation was its largest ever to target the Comando Vermelho gang, which controls the drug trade in several favelas &#8211; poor and densely populated settlements woven through the city&#8217;s hilly oceanside terrain.
(Reporting by Janaina Quinet and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Additional reporting by Oliver Griffin, Isabel Teles, Luciana Magalhaes, Eduardo Simoes and Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Editing by Brad Haynes and Rosalba O&#8217;Brien)

Police operation against drug trafficking at the favela do Penha in Rio de Janeiro

Over 130 People Killed In Massive Rio Drug Raid, Corpses Line Street

Brazil

Police

The United States carried out its eighth strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat on Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth revealed.
Dramatic video shows the long vessel buzzing through the Eastern Pacific before being hit by a &#8220;lethal, kinetic strike&#8221; and bursting into flames. Two smugglers were killed in the strike.
&#8220;The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics. There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike,&#8221; Hegseth wrote on X.
&#8220;Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
The vessel was known by our intelligence to be… <a href="https://t.co/BayDhUZ4Ac">pic.twitter.com/BayDhUZ4Ac</a>
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Trump administration&#8217;s strikes have mainly taken place in international waters near <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-authorizes-covert-cia-action-in-venezuela?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Administration+Authorizes+Covert+CIA+Action+In+Venezuela">Venezuela</a>. The U.S. has also authorized a covert CIA operation in Venezuela against the country&#8217;s socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, while issuing an arrest warrant over his alleged role in drug trafficking in the region.
“We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re gonna stop them by land also,&#8221; President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“I think Venezuela’s feeling heat, but I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too. We’re not going to let this country, our country, be ruined because other people want to drop their worst. They have given us their worst, they’ve loaded up our country with prisoners,&#8221; the president added.
Maduro has called the strikes “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country,” while accusing the Trump administration of “seeking a regime change” in Venezuela.
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‘A Lethal, Kinetic Strike’: Hegseth Says U.S. Has Taken Out Another Drug Boat

Donald Trump

Pete Hegseth

President Donald Trump put Colombian President Gustavo Petro on notice in an early Sunday morning announcement, calling on him to rein in drug production in his country and threatening to do it for him if he chose not do so on his own.
Trump lashed out at Petro via his Truth Social platform, saying that he planned to put a stop to all payments and subsidies that the United States gave to Colombia would be stopped if Petro — &#8220;a low-rated and unpopular leader&#8221; — didn&#8217;t comply with his wishes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/RkULBLNrzI">pic.twitter.com/RkULBLNrzI</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979892335690629356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,&#8221; Trump posted. &#8220;It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America. AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA.&#8221;
&#8220;The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;
Just one day prior, Trump posted about another strike on narco-terrorists in a submarine headed toward the United States, saying that the two terrorists who&#8217;d survived the attack were being returned to their home countries — Ecuador and Colombia.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/3oRyqbFY0X">pic.twitter.com/3oRyqbFY0X</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979621169629155743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route. U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics. There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed,&#8221; he posted. &#8220;At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore. The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Meets With Donald Trump At The White House

Trump Puts Colombian President On Notice Over Drug Production: ‘Close Up These Killing Fields’

Trump Puts Colombian President On Notice Over Drug Production: 'Close Up These Killing Fields'

Colombia

Politics

President Donald Trump closed out a Friday afternoon roundtable and gaggle with reporters by dropping the F-Bomb in response to a question about his administration&#8217;s position on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
While hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump was asked about Maduro recently offering the Trump administration a massive stake in Venezuela&#8217;s oil and mineral wealth.
&#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right,&#8221; Trump said to the reporter. &#8220;You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to f*** around with the United States.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Maduro: &#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right. You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to fuck around with the United States.&#8221; 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/EhG7Eeaq7P">pic.twitter.com/EhG7Eeaq7P</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979249952845934716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump then dismissed the media after answering the question.
After Trump&#8217;s recent actions targeting drug trafficking from Venezuela, the Maduro regime offered to give American companies preferential treatment in existing and future oil and gold projects, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/world/americas/maduro-venezuela-us-oil.html">reported</a>. The Trump administration rejected the offer and ended efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with the Maduro regime.
The president has focused on Venezuela in his effort to crack down on illegal drug trafficking. In August, the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-deploys-warships-near-venezuela-to-combat-drug-threats-sources-say?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Deploys+Warships+Near+Venezuela+To+Combat+Drug+Threats%2C+Sources+Say">sent</a> three guided-missile destroyers to patrol off the coast of Venezuela as the administration addressed threats from drug cartels. Just weeks later, Trump began ordering military strikes on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. military has taken out at least five boats that were suspected of transporting drugs to the United States. In those strikes, at least 27 suspected drug traffickers have been killed, U.S. officials said.
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After the most recent strike, a U.S. official told Fox News that two or three suspected drug runners <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-strike-targeting-suspected-drug-traffickers-leaves-survivors-report?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=U.S.+Strike+Targeting+Suspected+Drug+Traffickers+Leaves+Survivors%3A+Report">survived</a>, and a search and rescue helicopter was sent out.
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-authorizes-covert-cia-action-in-venezuela">authorized</a> lethal covert CIA operations in Venezuela. The administration has accused Venezuela of helping migrants cross into the United States illegally.
“Many, many countries have done it, but not like Venezuela, they were down and dirty,” Trump said.
The United States currently has a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro. The State Department has accused the dictator of participating &#8220;in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy&#8221; and coordinating &#8220;with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.&#8221;
Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, despite evidence showing that Edmundo González defeated the dictator at the polls. Maduro has moved to crack down on any opposition, forcing González into exile in Spain.

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question About Venezuelan Dictator

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question On Venezuelan Dictator

Illegal Immigation

Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela

In a fiery show of force echoing the new Trump Doctrine on narco-terror, the U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend captured, burned, and sank a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific — just days after the U.S. military obliterated an alleged cartel-run vessel from Venezuela.
As part of Operation Pacific Viper, the USCG Cutter Stone conducted three separate drug interdictions in one night, seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and capturing seven suspected traffickers, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday.
DHS added a viral flair to its announcement, posting on X, “ASMR: @USCG  captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat.&#8221;
“ASMR” stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which is a pleasurable, tingling sensation on the scalp and back of the neck that can spread through the body.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
ASMR: <a href="https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCG</a> captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat.
Over the weekend, as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the <a href="https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCG</a> Cutter Stone conducted three interdictions in a single night—seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehending seven suspected drug smugglers. <a href="https://t.co/wHRGUGYtTw">pic.twitter.com/wHRGUGYtTw</a>
&mdash; Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1965514384803061765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The video, which quickly gained traction online, showed the dramatic takedown of the vessel, engulfed in flames and repeatedly shot at. It’s the most visually striking moment yet in Operation Pacific Viper, a rapidly escalating Coast Guard effort that has already seized more than 40,000 pounds of cocaine since its launch last month.
The Coast Guard said the operation involves a &#8220;surge&#8221; of cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams working with international partners to interdict drug routes from South America. The weekend strike came just seven days after a separate, unprecedented move: a U.S. Marine Corps strike team sank another suspected drug boat in the southern Caribbean Sea, which officials say was operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan narco-gang.
That September 2 military strike — personally confirmed by President Donald Trump — marked the first direct lethal action against an alleged cartel vessel under Trump’s renewed war on narco-terrorism.
Speaking from the White House, Trump declared: “We just, over the last few minutes, shot out a drug-carrying boat … These came out of Venezuela. And there’s more where that came from.”
He added that the action followed a top-level briefing with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and warned of more strikes to come. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the statement, confirming the strike and noting the vessel was operated by a “designated narco-terrorist organization.”
With tensions rising between Washington and Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has deployed at least eight U.S. Navy warships to the region, ramped up military authority via cartel terror designations, and increased the bounty on Maduro to $50 million, citing his government’s alleged ties to drug cartels.
This double blow — military precision by sea and tactical interdictions by the Coast Guard — signals a new era in U.S. drug enforcement policy.
One thing is clear: the Trump administration isn’t just interdicting drugs — it’s sinking the whole ship.

Sir Keir Starmer visit to Washington DC

WATCH: Drug Boat Obliterated In Fiery Blaze As Trump Expands War On Narco-Terror

Coast Guard

narco-terrorism

World

The Justice Department announced Wednesday a “first-of-its-kind” indictment against 22 Chinese nationals and three Americans for allegedly engaging in an international drug trafficking scheme targeting the United States. 
An indictment handed down Wednesday from a federal grand jury in Ohio takes aim at dozens of defendants and four Chinese companies for a plot to ship drug-cutting agents, used to dilute the product and increase its volume to boost profits, from China into America. All the defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally.
“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. 
Prosecutors say that the companies used a number of Chinese nationals “located overseas” to negotiate for payments for illegal cutting agents to drug traffickers in Ohio. Cutting agents are often added to illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. 
The Chinese companies targeted include Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Company, Guangzhou Wanjiang Biotechnology Company, Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology Company, and Hebei Feilaimi Technology Company. 
The Americans charged in the operation include 39-year-old Eric Michael Payne of Ohio and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Auriyon Tresan Rayford. Ciandrea Bryne Davis of Atlanta was also charged for her alleged role in using cryptocurrency to pay Chinese nationals associated with companies for the drug-cutting agents. 
Payne is accused of purchasing several kilogram shipments of cutting agents from Chinese companies posing as legitimate pharmacies. He and the other Americans allegedly purchased at least 10 kilograms of fentanyl agents since 2022 that could be used in up to 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture sold on the streets. 
“Our indictment alleges that Chinese companies and affiliated foreign nationals intentionally and openly marketed, delivered, and exported to the United States controlled substances and other compounds that they knew would be used by domestic drug dealers to increase the yield and potency of fentanyl distributed in this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick Gerace II. “As explained in court documents, these deadly drug mixtures were then sold directly into our communities here in southern Ohio.”
The Chinese defendants were listed as Lihui Zhao, [name unknown], Shanhong Jiang, Yan Yang, Fengdi Zhang, Dehui Xia, Xing Wu Chen, Qing Lin Wang, Xiaojun Huang, Meixiang Yao, Zhanpeng Huang, Yuqing Feng, Dongjing Sun, Chengqi Nong, Tiduo Wei, Zhisong Nie, Jichao Zhu, Zhengzhe Yin, Changgen Du, Hongfei Wang, Huatao Yao, and Xuening Gao.

Press conference at White House

22 Chinese Nationals Charged In International Drug Trafficking Scheme

Department of Justice

Fentanyl

kash patel

Ohio

Chicago&#8217;s mayor leads protests against President Trump&#8217;s potential crime crackdown as judges block the deportation of illegal immigrants. India cozies up to China and Russia at a summit in Beijing, a major foreign policy challenge for the Trump administration as a federal court strikes down his tariffs. The FDA moves to ban a potent, opioid-like substance called 7-OH that is being sold in gas stations and marketed to kids.
It’s Tuesday, September 2, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2>Chicago Mayor Fights Trump Crime Crackdown</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967537" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is leading protests against President Trump&#8217;s potential federal crime crackdown in his city, while Democrat-appointed judges are blocking the administration&#8217;s efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
After President Trump signaled that Chicago would be the next target of a federal crime crackdown similar to the one in Washington, D.C., Mayor Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have threatened non-cooperation and legal action. Pritzker called a potential deployment of the National Guard an &#8220;invasion,&#8221; and Johnson has preemptively ordered Chicago police not to cooperate with any federal law enforcement. The moves have drawn criticism from some local Democrats who argue the city should be coordinating with the federal government to reduce crime.
Meanwhile, the administration&#8217;s deportation efforts are being stalled in the courts. On Sunday, a Biden-appointed judge blocked the deportation of 76 Guatemalan children. Last week, an Obama-appointed judge halted the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a clip of a recent CBS News interview, noting that the network edited out the serious allegations against Abrego Garcia, including that he is a &#8220;known human smuggler&#8221; and a &#8220;wife beater&#8221; who &#8220;solicited nude photos from minors.&#8221;
<h2>India Tilts Toward China, Russia as Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967541" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: In a major foreign policy challenge for the Trump administration, India’s Prime Minister joined the leaders of China and Russia for a summit in Beijing, signaling a potential realignment as a U.S. federal court struck down many of President Trump’s global tariffs.
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting a summit with leaders from across Asia and the Middle East. A rare public display of unity between Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is setting off &#8220;alarm bells in Washington.&#8221; The move is seen as a direct response to Trump&#8217;s 50% tariffs on Indian goods and signals that India is willing to work with U.S. adversaries if its relationship with Washington deteriorates.
The summit comes as a federal appeals court dealt a major blow to Trump&#8217;s signature trade policy. On Friday, the court ruled that the president was not justified in using emergency powers to unilaterally impose his global tariffs. Trump responded over the weekend, warning, &#8220;More than 15 Trillion Dollars will be invested in the USA&#8230; If a Radical Left Court is allowed to terminate these Tariffs, almost all of this investment&#8230; will be immediately cancelled!” The ruling allows the tariffs to remain in effect until at least October, giving the Supreme Court time to potentially hear the case.
<h2>FDA Moves to Ban Opioid-Like ‘Kratom’ Product</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967539" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The FDA is taking emergency action to ban 7-OH, a potent, opioid-like substance derived from the kratom plant that is being sold in gas stations and vape shops and aggressively marketed to children.
The FDA has recommended that 7-OH be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, which would make it illegal to sell or possess. The agency says the compound is an opioid, up to 13 times more potent than morphine, and carries significant health risks, including addiction and overdose. FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary issued a stark warning that the substance &#8220;may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.&#8221;
The products are sold in forms that are appealing to kids, such as fruit-flavored gummies, vapes, and even ice cream cones, often without clear or accurate labeling. There is currently no federal age restriction on the products. The move to ban the substance comes after a number of anecdotal reports of addiction and death, including a Georgia two-year-old who had to be revived with Narcan after accidentally ingesting a 7-OH product marketed as an &#8220;energy pill.&#8221; Several states, led by Florida and Ohio, are also moving to ban or restrict the substance.

MRN 9.02.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Chicago Crime, Beijing Summit, FDA Moves To Ban ‘Kratom’

Brandon Johnson

Chicago

Communist China

Global Politics

Illegal Immigration

Illinois

India

JB Pritzker

Russia

U.S.

NASHVILLE — Banana Taffy, Dragon Drink, Hawaiian Fruit Punch. Those aren’t smoothies or soft drinks. Those are a sampling of the variety of vapes that continue to enter the United States illegally from China in 2025.
Cases of the brightly-colored devices lined the booths at this year’s Alternative Products Expo in Nashville, Tennessee. Some vape devices featured LED screens. Some were stackable, allowing up to three flavors, enabling the user to concoct their own mixture of candy-like vape flavors. Other vapes were stylized as designer purses. One wholesaler employee pitched a pastel vape device that doubled as a fidget toy.
And as of 2020, all of them were illegal.
<div id="attachment_966933" style="width: 453px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-966933" class="wp-image-966933 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6-443x576.jpg" alt="" width="443" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6-443x576.jpg 443w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6-231x300.jpg 231w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6-768x999.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6-1181x1536.jpg 1181w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_6.jpg 1516w" sizes=" (max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px" />A promotional flyer for the Alternative Products Expo in Nashville, Tennessee.</div>
While American manufacturers like JUUL only sell vapes in menthol and tobacco flavors — the only legal flavors in the United States — wholesalers skirt Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations by importing vape products from China. These unregulated Chinese vapes are flooding the United States, despite warning letters and threats of seizure by the FDA. At the Alternative Products Expo, wholesalers promoted their illegal, Chinese vape products completely out in the open.
The Chinese company <a href="https://www.kangvapecig.com/">Kangvape</a> prominently displayed its TC8000 vape. The booth stocked the flavors Cool Mint, Miami Mint, Pineapple Coconut, Vintage, Virginia Tobacco, and Watermelon Ice. A flyer advertised an additional 23 flavors, including Rainbow Paradise.
Kangvape also sold its Speedy Beast vape in 20 flavors — none of which included tobacco or menthol. Instead, the Speedy Beast boasted the exotic-sounding Blue Laffi Taffi, Ruby Delight, and Tropical Starburst.
These are being openly hawked with no concern for past threats of action. The FDA <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/nfv-llc-dba-nfdvapes-and-nic-fix-doctor-673307-12122023">cited</a> the Rainbow Paradise flavor of the TC8000 in a warning letter from December 2023. Another FDA warning letter from April 2024 <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/highfi-vape-682420-04302024">noted</a> the illegal Kangvape Onee Stick. 
<div id="attachment_966947" style="width: 429px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-966947" class="wp-image-966947 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-419x576.jpg" alt="" width="419" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-419x576.jpg 419w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-218x300.jpg 218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-768x1055.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-1118x1536.jpg 1118w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4-1490x2048.jpg 1490w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_4.jpg 1496w" sizes=" (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" />ZColors by ZLAB is another Chinese vape company that sells its products in the United States.</div>
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said cracking down on illegal vapes is a “top priority” for the agency, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-priority-fda-to-crack-down-on-illegal-chinese-vapes">reported</a>.
“Eighty-five percent of the vaping products sold in the vape stores are illegal according to the FDA’s list,” Makary said. “We don’t even know what’s in some of these vaping products.”
There are only 39 vape products that have been authorized by the FDA.
An FDA spokesman says a federal task force is facilitating actions against illegal products.
“FDA has taken numerous actions against unauthorized new tobacco products from international firms, including e-cigarettes that are most popular with youth,” the spokesman told The Daily Wire.
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The FDA reports that it has seized millions of dollars’ worth of illegal products. In January, the agency seized $7 million worth of vape products, including the brand Geek Bar, which an FDA press release <a href="https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/ctp-newsroom/more-7-million-worth-illegal-e-cigarettes-seized-federal-operation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> “may appeal to youth.”
The seizures haven’t scared Kangvape. The company sold dozens of boxes of Geek Bar vapes at the Expo, featuring flavors ranging from Banana Taffy Freeze to Blue Razz Ice.
Federal action appears to have had little impact on Chinese vapes in general. The Expo featured wholesalers that have received FDA warning letters and seemingly ignored them.
One such wholesaler, Safa Goods, was a sponsor of the Expo. Its name appeared on Expo nametags, as did advertisements for two other illegal vape brands, Beri Crush and Raz LTX.
The warning letter to Safa, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/safa-goods-llc-665079-10052023">sent</a> in October 2023, cited the illegal vape product EB Design BC5000 Blue Razz Ice. Safa’s booth didn’t advertise the EB vapes. But it did sell the illegal vape Raz LTX 25K, which was <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/vapejuicecom-709722-05302025">cited</a> in an FDA warning letter from May 2025.
The Raz LTX 25K is a <a href="https://mipod.com/blogs/mipodblog/what-happened-to-raz-dc25000-vapes?srsltid=AfmBOor8Y9qvgdp0D6RivbJ6vGd7lvXcRpp2AeXAOV_R7DvF28cbEUfl">rebrand</a> of the Raz DC25000, which has also been cited in multiple FDA warning letters. Safa’s Expo booth sold the flavor Mango Loco, which was <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/thesmokeplugcom-709720-05302025">named</a> in an FDA warning letter from May 2025.
<div id="attachment_967009" style="width: 452px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967009" class="wp-image-967009 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-442x576.jpg" alt="" width="442" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-442x576.jpg 442w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-230x300.jpg 230w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-768x1000.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-1179x1536.jpg 1179w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7-1572x2048.jpg 1572w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Vape-Flyers_7.jpg 1612w" sizes=" (max-width: 442px) 100vw, 442px" />Safa Goods, a U.S. company that distributes Chinese vape products, was a sponsor of the Alternative Products Expo in Nashville.</div>
Safa also sold dozens of flavors aside from menthol and tobacco in additional brands.
The company is the subject of a New York lawsuit <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-sues-nations-largest-vape-distributors-fueling-youth">suing</a> multiple vape distributors “for illegally distributing, marketing, and selling flavored disposable vapes.”
A primary concern with these vapes, with flavors more fit for a candy store than a tobacco shop, is that they appeal to children. Illegal e-cigarettes often attract children and teens through bright colors and fruit- and candy-based flavors, according to Makary.
The FDA spokesman said the agency works with “federal partners to combat these attempted illegal imports and enhance enforcement activities,” especially against vape products “that may be appealing to youth.”
An FDA seizure in 2023 included the illegal brand Lost Mary. Expo wholesaler Strictly E-Cig’s 2025 product catalog advertised 30 flavors of Lost Mary vapes, with names such as Dragon Drink, Rocket Popsicle, and Scary Berry. The Lost Mary products are available for purchase online.
Another wholesaler, Sol Trading, leaned into pastel colors and “cutie, fruity flavors” to market its UT Bar vape, which one employee pitched as both a vape and a fidget toy.
The UT Bar combines two flavors into one vape. The flavor combinations included B-Pop and Watermelon, Citrus Ice and Sour Fab, Cool Mint and Icy Mint, and Raspberry and White Peach.
Multiple sellers advertised flavor combinations at the Expo. Chinese-based company Ziip Lab sold its Z-Land vape, which allows the user to stack up to three vape pods for more than 125,000 flavor combinations, according to a handout from the booth.
The flyer advertised stacking flavors such as Berry Mix and Guava, as well as Blueberry, Green Apple, and Orange. Z-Land comes in a total of 51 flavors, including Milk, Rainbow Rain, and Skittle Ice Fruits.
Another wholesaler, Unishow, sold GeakNexx vapes at the Expo. Unishow <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/128992/download?attachment">received</a> an FDA warning letter in 2019 for selling illegal products. The GeakNexx vapes came in about a dozen illicit flavors, including Blue Oat Donut, Frozen Fcuking Fab, and Strawberry Banana.
The Alternative Products Expo, Kangvape, Safa Goods, Strictly E-Cig, Unishow, and Ziip Lab did not respond to requests for comment.
The illegal vapes didn’t stop with the wholesalers. The Alternative Products Expo itself advertised a giveaway of $50,000 worth of illegal vape products, including the disposable Geek Bar Pulse and the Raz DC25000, and the Raz TN9000. The <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/denverelectroniccigarettescom-708988-05162025">Geek Bar Pulse</a>, Raz DC25000, and <a href="https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/nepa-wholesale-inc-710957-06262025">Raz TN9000</a> have been cited in FDA warning letters.
The Expo promoted the illegal vapes giveaway with a large sign and a locked case of vapes just inside the entrance to the convention center. It also marketed the giveaway online and in the official show book.
The advertised flavors included Blue Razz Ice, Fire and Ice, and Miami Mint. An additional flavor, Strawberry Burst, did not contain nicotine.
The Expo was not only for vapes, but also “the full spectrum of alternative products,” including CBD-based products, mushrooms, and Kratom, another drug that’s become dangerously popular with America’s teenagers.
Many of these vapes are smuggled into the United States. A previous Daily Wire investigation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-is-flooding-america-with-illegal-vapes-and-more-than-90-fly-under-the-radar">found</a> that over 90% of imported Chinese vape products in 2024 were not included in U.S. import data. The companies often disguise their products by labeling them as battery chargers and flashlights.
“[What] we have been doing is laughable,” Makary said. “We’re going to start confiscating and seizing. We’re going to take this seriously.”

IMG_6982

From Banana Taffy To Dragon Drink: The Illegal Chinese Vapes Flooding The U.S. Market

Investigation

Nashville

News

Vape

A week ago, President Donald Trump <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dariosabaghi/2025/08/11/trump-says-marijuana-rescheduling-will-be-decided-within-weeks/">said</a> that he would soon decide whether to move cannabis from Schedule I to III for purposes of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA), which would take marijuana out of the category of drugs that cannot be used for any purpose. Doing so would be a huge mistake. Huge.
Congress placed cannabis in Schedule I — the category for drugs that have no legitimate medical use, that are potentially addictive, and have no safe use even under a physician’s supervision — when it passed the CSA 55 years ago. While Congress empowered the U.S. Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to reschedule cannabis, in the ensuing half-century, no Republican or Democratic attorney general has done so, and no court has ruled that they must do so.
In 2023, however, cannabis advocates finally found a friend. Admiral Rachel L. Levine, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health under President Biden, <a href="http://www.jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2834954">recommended</a> that Attorney General Merrick Garland transfer cannabis into Schedule III. To justify that conclusion, Levine invented a newfangled test that relied heavily on the fact that multiple states have adopted medical cannabis programs. As a matter of law, that rationale is wrong for multiple reasons.
First, Congress could not have been clearer that it is the exclusive responsibility of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), not the states, to decide whether a drug is safe, effective, and uniform. Levine’s rationale effectively and unlawfully transfers decision-making authority from the FDA to the states.
Second, the FDA has never approved the botanical form of cannabis as a safe, effective, and uniformly made drug. The FDA has approved the synthesis of compounds found in the plant by legitimate pharmaceutical companies, but has not approved the interstate distribution of the cannabis plant enjoyed by Cheech and Chong and Harold and Kumar fans.
Third, the FDA could not find that the cannabis plant is safe, effective, and uniformly made.
Start with its safety. The cannabis sold today is <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110381/witnesses/HHRG-116-IF14-Wstate-VolkowN-20200115.pdf">far more powerful</a> than the version smoked at Woodstock. At that time, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content — the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — was 3-6%. Now, some concentrated cannabis products can have a 90% THC content. That difference is like comparing near beer to grain alcohol.
Growing evidence also links cannabis use to a host of <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110381/witnesses/HHRG-116-IF14-Wstate-VolkowN-20200115.pdf">adverse physical outcomes</a>, such as oral, head, and neck cancers; cardiovascular disorders; pulmonary disease; and numerous adverse psychological effects, such earlier onset of psychosis; reduced IQ; childhood poisonings; amotivational syndrome; increased school absenteeism; and a reduced likelihood of graduating high school, enrolling in a university, or completing higher degree requirements. Heavy cannabis users and people who begin its use as minors and continue into adulthood are particularly <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110381/witnesses/HHRG-116-IF14-Wstate-VolkowN-20200115.pdf">susceptible</a> to these harms.
Plus, botanical cannabis can be adulterated with a host of dangerous, unhealthy, or downright disgusting contaminants. Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told Congress in 2020 that “individuals across the country are using cannabis strains and extracts that have not undergone the rigorous clinical trials required to show that they are safe and effective for medical use, and are not regulated for consistency or quality.”
As I explained in an <a href="https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">earlier article</a>, among the “hodgepodge” of dangerous contaminants found in the cannabis sold today are E. coli, fungi, mold, toxins, hazardous chemical solvents such as butane and propane, pesticides, heavy metals (such as arsenic, lead, and mercury), and other harmful and disgusting substances such as formaldehyde and insects. The FDA would never allow such contaminants to be present in any drug sold to the public.
Cannabis can also lead to physical dependence in users. Heavy or long-term use can lead a person to develop a tolerance to THC, requiring ever greater quantities of the chemical to experience the same euphoria. As drug policy experts Wayne Hall and Rosalie Pacula have explained, there is a 10% risk of addiction for people who have ever used cannabis, a 20-33% for people who use it more frequently, and a 50% risk — &#8220;<a href="https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">a coin flip</a>” — for people who use it daily. Driving while stoned can, of course, lead to motor vehicle accidents that maim or kill pedestrians or other drivers and their passengers.
Keep in mind that the FDA has <a href="http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">never</a> given approval for a drug to be smoked. Why? There is no uniform depth or length of any one inhalation, and no uniform number of inhalations that users follow. Moreover, the nation concluded over 60 years ago that smoking burnt carbon products damages a smoker’s health, which explains why major medical institutions such as the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the Royal College of Physicians have <a href="http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">not</a> recommended smoking as a legitimate drug delivery system.
The raw cannabis plant also is not “effective” for purposes of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Only a handful of controlled studies have examined whether pot can be used as a legitimate treatment for disease or injury; the results are <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/public-policy-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/09/17-2-Larkin-Madras.pdf">inadequate</a> to draw any scientific conclusion.
The most common justification offered is that its psychoactive calming effect makes it a legitimate analgesic alternative for pain. But that argument is medically <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/public-policy-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/09/17-2-Larkin-Madras.pdf">unsound</a>. Cannabis is too weak to substitute for opioids as a treatment for severe pain — indeed, it hinders cessation of opioid use by anyone trying to kick an opioid <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4127123/pdf/nihms609765.pdf">dependency</a> — and scientific proof that THC is a valid treatment for lower levels of pain is also lacking.
To be sure, smoking a joint can get you “high,” but that is not the test for a medicine’s effectiveness. As Dr. Peter Bach, Director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-weed-is-medicine-so-is-budweiser-11547770981?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAh7LaDEYv_vcqs-izvRtTLHvE4_TMMU_qu3NyDxy9OXughPlX3zaBL-&amp;gaa_ts=689c8e99&amp;gaa_sig=tzI2Ti78lH5zRhqIjd3w0ZVcT308pAa8r1GA3Re1URauoN8dYXnoBs5EqZYAmoitDwKaFsuYPpeZooGzKZ9AwA%3D%3D">explained</a>, “[E]very intoxicant would pass that sort of test because you don’t experience pain as acutely when you are high. If weed is a pain reliever, so is Budweiser.”
Finally, the cannabis plant is not a <a href="http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">uniformly made product</a>. As Brian Thomas and Mahmoud ElSohly <a href="http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">explained</a> in their book The Analytical Chemistry of Cannabis, “The number of parameters on which cannabis can vary is enormous,” and differs according to “strain, growing conditions, harvesting methods and handling,” to “storage and processing of the raw material to combining them with a wide variety of foods and other excipients in manufacturing, and to “methods of administration (eating, smoking, ‘vaping,’ applying to mucous membranes)” and so forth.
Botanical cannabis also varies according to potency and the presence of cannabinoids (i.e., biochemically active compounds), which tends to <a href="http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/SR275.pdf">offset or moderate</a> the potential adverse effects of high THC consumption, such as anxiety, cognitive impairment, amotivational syndrome, dependence or addiction, and psychosis.
In sum, the Levine recommendation from 2023 is wrong as a matter of law and medically unsound, indeed dangerous. If the President truly wants to Make America Healthy Again, he should reject that recommendation.
* * *
Paul J. Larkin is the John, Barbara &amp; Victoria Rumpel Senior Legal Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Trump Administration Considers Reclassifying Marijuana As A Less Dangerous Drug

Dude, Rescheduling Cannabis Downwards Would Be A Huge Mistake. Huge.

addiction

Congress

Federal Government

Nearly 50 organizations signed a letter sent to President Donald Trump on Monday, urging Trump to keep Marijuana labeled as a Schedule I drug after the administration sparked fierce debate when it announced it was considering downgrading weed&#8217;s classification.
The groups — which include faith-based, law enforcement, public policy, and health care organizations — argue that downgrading marijuana&#8217;s classification would &#8220;result in serious harm to public health and safety,&#8221; according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Wire. Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sparks-debate-with-comments-on-reclassifying-weed">raised eyebrows</a> earlier this month when he said during a White House press briefing that his administration would “make a determination over the next few weeks” on whether to reclassify marijuana.
During his comments on the drug, Trump acknowledged that marijuana can have negative effects on people, especially children. The organizations behind Monday&#8217;s letter to Trump hope that the president will continue to consider the health of American children when his administration reviews weed&#8217;s classification.
&#8220;You have an opportunity to make a stand for the safety of children across America by opposing the flawed proposal to reschedule marijuana,&#8221; the letter states.
&#8220;Arguments like &#8216;marijuana should not be in the same category as heroin&#8217; are politically salient and easy to understand, but they fundamentally misunderstand how drug scheduling works,&#8221; the letter continues. &#8220;Contrary to popular belief, drug scheduling is not a harm index. Rather, it balances the accepted medical use of a substance with its potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs have no accepted, safe medical use and a high potential for abuse. Marijuana fits squarely within this definition, a fact acknowledged in every scheduling review prior to 2023 (the Obama Administration recommended against rescheduling in 2016).&#8221;
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Discussions within the Trump administration have focused on classifying the drug as Schedule III, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-marijuana-federal-drug-classification-01a73b8c?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAgpZ8UL7Mw6HKwBVKPjsmn_wP6A2h8SNZiG41aF9hPed4QVwq2_gG6R&amp;gaa_ts=6897fc20&amp;gaa_sig=Nm9TnTCPjVnNlMv_P1PaH_NVhN3Nn8RbA8H9lDEnLY0FBfl1b_Sd78D-SH_icaL7fTnMQ1iwaisKOLJA0cNS5g%3D%3D">reported</a>. Reclassifying marijuana as <a href="https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling">Schedule III</a> would put the drug in the same category as drugs that have “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”
The issue has divided Americans, including those who are among Trump&#8217;s base. The president told reporters on August 11 that marijuana is &#8220;a very complicated subject.&#8221;
&#8220;I’ve heard great things having to do with medical [marijuana], and I’ve [heard] bad things having to do with just about everything else,&#8221; he said.
Among the groups pushing Trump to keep marijuana drug classification the same are the National Narcotic Officers&#8217; Associations&#8217; Coalition and the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents (DEAFNA). Conservative groups such as CatholicVote and the Family Research Council also signed the letter.
The letter points out that findings from the Centers for Disease Control <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/cannabis/health-effects/cannabis-use-disorder.html">show</a> that 30% of cannabis users meet the clinical definition of having cannabis use disorder, and cannabis users have a 30% chance of getting addicted. Marijuana is also getting stronger.
&#8220;The amount of THC in cannabis has increased over the past few decades. Products with high concentrations of THC can have greater intoxicating effects and increase the risk of overconsumption,&#8221; the CDC stated. The government agency added that there is some evidence &#8220;that high THC concentration cannabis use by adolescents and young adults is associated with continued use and development of future mental health symptoms and disorders.&#8221;
Eric Brown, president of the National Narcotic Officers&#8217; Association Coalition said that narcotics officers witness the &#8220;far-reaching consequences&#8221; of marijuana abuse &#8220;every day.&#8221;
&#8220;Efforts to reschedule marijuana risk sending the wrong message — that the substance is safe — while ignoring the science and significant dangers associated with its use,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Rescheduling would only accelerate marijuana consumption, driving higher rates of substance abuse and increasing demands on already strained public safety resources and budgets. We strongly urge the Administration to reject any effort to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.&#8221;
The groups also argued that &#8220;Marijuana has not been approved for any medical use by the FDA, and it likely never will.&#8221; While it&#8217;s true that the FDA has not approved marijuana itself to be prescribed for any medical condition, the agency has <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-and-cannabis-research-and-drug-approval-process#:~:text=To%20date%2C%20the%20FDA%20has,currently%20available%20on%20the%20market.">approved</a> purified forms of the drug, such as Epidiolex, which treats seizures.
&#8220;The agency also has approved Marinol and Syndros for therapeutic uses in the United States, including for nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy and for the treatment of anorexia associated with weight loss in AIDS patients,&#8221; the FDA stated.
Proponents of downgrading marijuana&#8217;s classification point out that moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III wouldn&#8217;t legalize the drug at the federal level, but would only reduce the scale of marijuana-related offenses. Some states have passed laws legalizing recreational and medical marijuana use, and legalization has become a hot topic in recent years, as pro-cannabis groups have pushed politicians, including Trump, to join their side on the issue.
The pro-weed coalition is moving the needle in their direction on public opinion — and not just on reclassifying weed, but also legalizing it at the federal level. A Pew Research <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/03/26/most-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana-for-medical-recreational-use/">poll</a> conducted last year showed that a majority of Americans (57%) believe that both medical and recreational marijuana should be legal, and 32% said it should be legal for medical use only. Just 11% of respondents said marijuana should be illegal.
Trump addressed the issue at the White House earlier this month after he floated the idea of reclassifying marijuana during a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club earlier this month, according to the WSJ. Among the guests at the golf club when Trump hinted at the move was Kim Rivers, the CEO of Trulieve, one of the largest marijuana companies in the United States.
Trump also sided with the pro-marijuana crowd last year in Florida, when he voted to legalize recreational use of the drug in his home state. The marijuana amendment push in Florida received 56%, falling just short of the 60% needed to pass it into law. Legalization efforts also failed in North Dakota and South Dakota last year.
A White House official told the WSJ earlier this month that Trump wants to take on issues like marijuana that are viewed as “80-20 cultural issues.” If the president were to take the side of weed proponents, it could also help him and Republicans among independent and young voters in the 2026 midterms.
But according to the group of organizations pushing Trump to say no to downgrading the drug, the risks of reclassifying marijuana far outweigh any potential electoral advantage such a move would give Republicans. The letter highlights how a reclassification of marijuana to Schedule III would end marijuana test requirements for people with numerous important jobs.
In 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/Documents/DEA-Schedules-of-Controlled-Substances-Rescheduling-of-Marijuana.pdf">said</a> that &#8220;HHS-certified laboratories used for such testing are not authorized to test for Schedule III controlled substances. This would mean that airline pilots, airline maintenance workers, bus and truck drivers, locomotive engineers, subway train operators, ship captains, pipeline operators, personnel transporting hazardous materials, and other safety-sensitive transportation employees would be prevented from being tested for marijuana use.&#8221;
Downgrading marijuana to Schedule III would also give dispensaries massive tax breaks, the group points out, arguing that &#8220;street dealers and dispensaries alike would be able to receive reductions for promoting or marketing the sale of addictive drugs.&#8221; In the letter, the group also states that international drug cartels and Chinese money launderers that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/marijuana-mexican-cartels-stunning-rise-chinese-money-launderers-rcna158030">operate</a> marijuana farms in the United States could also benefit from a major tax break if weed is rescheduled.
According to the group urging Trump to keep marijuana a Schedule III drug, America&#8217;s drug problem would only get worse if the federal government takes a more lenient stance on weed. Travis Weber, the vice president for Policy and Government Affairs at the Family Research Council, said, “The deep pain and crisis of meaning that many in our nation are facing will not be made better by encouraging even more drug use, which is what rescheduling would do. Taking substances to temporarily “treat” our mind and body alone can never solve what is really a spiritual problem. Drugs won’t fill the void inside and heal our pain. Only Jesus can do that.”
Read the full letter below:
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-964653 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_1-445x576.jpg" alt="" width="445" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_1-445x576.jpg 445w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_1-232x300.jpg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_1-768x994.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_1.jpg 791w" sizes=" (max-width: 445px) 100vw, 445px" /></div>
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-964663 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_6-445x576.jpg" alt="" width="445" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_6-445x576.jpg 445w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_6-232x300.jpg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_6-768x994.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/1756121115680-f2c6c7ba-fd70-437b-97f3-e95c1e1fe8b9_6.jpg 791w" sizes=" (max-width: 445px) 100vw, 445px" /></div>

Marijuana, Donald Trump

Doobie Debate Blazes: Groups Urge Trump To Reject ‘Flawed’ Weed Reclassification Push

Law Enforcement

Trump Administration

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