By Alison Siegler and Grant Delaune

Although the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s drug guidelines were intended to align punishment with culpability, decades of sentencing practice reveal a different reality. Outcomes are primarily driven by drug type and quantity, which have proved to be poor proxies for assessing culpability. We put forward a new approach to drug sentencing that instead focuses on a person’s function in a drug enterprise. We also propose anchoring base offense levels to pre-Guidelines sentencing data. To illustrate this model, we present a rewritten version of Guideline § 2D1.1 incorporating our proposed framework. Focusing on function rather than drug type and quantity will ensure that sentences are calibrated based on culpability and better fulfill the core purposes of punishment.

University of Chicago Law School, Public Law & Legal Theory Research Paper No. 25-38,  2025,

By Emmert Roberts, Sharmila Parmanand, Caroline Copeland

Individuals engaged in sex work are an understudied population recognised to be at differential risk of experiencing drug-related harms. We aimed to determine the case characteristics, circumstances of death and type of implicated drugs among sex workers dying due to drug-related causes.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study in the United Kingdom using coronial records from the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality, 1997–2023. Information was available on decedent sociodemographics, characteristics of death and implicated drugs.

Results

Nineteen decedents were reported to be sex workers at the time of their death. Overall, decedents were predominantly female (n = 17, 90%) with a mean age of 36.4 years (SD 8.0; range 26–58). Poisoning was the only disease or condition that was certified as a direct, antecedent or contributory cause of death. The mean number of drugs detected at post-mortem was 5.4 (SD 2.5; range 1–10) with multiple drug toxicity implicated in the majority of cases (n = 18, 95%). The most commonly implicated drug groups were opioids (n = 17, 90%) and benzodiazepines (n = 9, 47%). All decedents had a history of substance dependence (n = 19, 100%), with almost a third injecting (n = 6, 32%).

Discussion and Conclusions

There have been low but consistent numbers of drug-related deaths each year where individuals were reported to be sex workers, results likely representing significantly conservative estimates. Polysubstance, opioid and benzodiazepine use are overrepresented within a largely female population with a significant burden of substance dependence. Non-judgmental facilitation of access to evidence-based addiction treatment, in particular for opioid use disorder, should be a priority.

Summary

• International research consistently reports an increased risk of drug-related harm among individuals who are engaged in sex work.

• Over the last two decades in the UK, there have been 19 drug-related deaths where individuals were reported to be sex workers.

• Overall decedents were predominantly female and all had a history of substance dependence. Opioids were implicated in death in the majority of cases.

• Non-judgmental facilitation of access to evidence-based addiction treatment, in particular for opioid use disorder, should be a priority.

• There are likely a substantial number of individuals engaged in sex work where this had either not been established by those submitting coronial evidence, or their sex work status was not deemed pertinent to report. As such, numbers reported are likely to represent significantly conservative estimates.

Drug and Alcohol Review, July 2025

By C4ADS Staff

On August 28, 2025, Brazil launched Operation Carbono Oculto, reportedly the largest police operation targeting organized crime in its history. As part of Operation Carbono Oculto, at least 1,400 law enforcement agents executed 200 search and arrest warrants against 350 individuals and companies across 10 Brazilian states. The ongoing operation seeks to dismantle a network of individuals and companies accused of laundering money for the TCO Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). In São Paulo’s Faria Lima financial district—known as the Brazilian Wall Street—alone, the police served warrants at 42 fintech, real estate, and asset management firms. PCC’s infiltration of financial systems is not restricted to Brazil. Publicly available information exposes how the criminal group has extended its malign presence internationally, including in the United States. Founded in 1993 by eight inmates at the Taubaté Penitentiary in São Paulo, PCC has since expanded to a network of an estimated 40,000 members4 operating across five continents in at least 29 countries. While the PCC’s expansion was predominantly fueled by drug trafficking, which it likely continues to prioritize, it is now a “multinational of crime,” infiltrating multiple sectors in Brazil and worldwide.6When the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the PCC in December 2021, it described the group as “the most powerful organized crime group in Brazil and among the most powerful in the world.”7 In January 2024, the Brookings Institution called the PCC “a transnational criminal ‘leviathan’,”8 and in February 2025, The Washington Post described it as “South America’s most powerful drug-trafficking gang.”9 Despite its notoriety within law enforcement and policy circles, the PCC—and its access to the U.S. financial system—remain virtually unknown to the U.S. public. By leveraging publicly available corporate, judicial, and police records in the United States and Brazil, C4ADS identified an active Florida company, Bozhanaj Group Corporation, that may be servicing two alleged PCC members: Marinel Bozhanaj and Sebastião Cazula. C4ADS also uncovered alleged PCC money launderer João Gabriel de Mello Yamawaki’s Florida-registered companies from 2017.

Washington DC: C4ADS, 2025. 12p.

By Cerina Dubois , Elizabeth C. Danielson, Tim Schwirtlich, Molly Beestrum, Dean T. Eurich

Pornography consumption is a highly prevalent behavior in developed countries, with studies indicating that up to 70% of men and 40% of women have viewed pornography within the past year. Substance use in individuals with problematic pornography use (PPU) is an area that warrants further investigation due to the potential for its compounded negative effects including risk for addiction and potential negative effects on mental and emotional health. This scoping review examines substance use patterns and associations among individuals with PPU; and to summarize the different operationalizations of PPU. This is one of the first reviews to evaluate the empirical research on this relationship. Four primary databases were used to conduct the search: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, up to December 4, 2024. Included studies investigated the association between substance use and PPU or chronic pornography use. After deduplication, 949 references were retrieved, however, only 8 cross-sectional studies were eligible for this review. Substance use classification varied across studies and included: alcohol, smoking, cocaine, substance use disorder, cannabis use disorder, and general drug use. Alcohol was the most frequently studied substance. Although alcohol, cocaine use, and smoking were positively correlated with PPU, the findings were not significant for other substances or substance use disorders. Studies used a variety of PPU definitions. The Problematic Pornography Use Scale was the most frequently used measure to capture PPU. This review suggests there is a large knowledge gap in understanding the intersection between PPU and substance use in both the volume of literature available and a lack of standardization of measuring PPU. Indeed, PPU is currently not officially recognized as a stand-alone disorder in the DSM-5. Longitudinal studies utilizing a consistent definition and measure for PPU are warranted to fully understand its association with each substance use type. 

PLOS Global Public Health, 2025.

By Colleen Daniels, Naomi Burke‑Shyne. Catherine Cook and Anoushka Beattie

Neo‑colonialism and financing for the war on drugs: a review of current policy and recommendations for countries in the global north Colleen Daniels1*, Naomi Burke‑Shyne1^, Catherine Cook1 and Anoushka Beattie2 Abstract Globally, punitive drug control upholds racist and colonial structures. Marginalised and racialised communities, including Indigenous peoples, are disproportionately targeted and affected by punitive drug policy in law enforcement, judicial and carceral systems, and policy implementation. Power imbalances also exist at the international level, with high income countries exerting influence over drug policy in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines that influence through financial and material aid, technical assistance, capacity building, educa‑ tion and awareness campaigns and the interaction between the vested interests of the private sector and the State, specifically via the Prison Industrial Complex and land and resource grabbing in conflict and post-conflict contexts. The global war on drugs entrenches power imbalances and reproduces mechanisms of racial control and subordina‑ tion. To begin to decolonise drug policy, the financial and material basis of these mechanisms must be illuminated and dismantled and this paper offers recommendations on how to move forward (Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, 1923; Carrier et al., 2020).

By The HIV Legal Network

In Canada, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates criminalizing simple drug possession (i.e. possessing drugs for personal use) and other activities related to drug use (e.g. activities captured by the trafficking prohibition) do not protect public health or public safety. Rather, these prohibitions have been ineffective in reducing the use and availability of criminalized drugs while contributing to profoundly negative health outcomes for people who use drugs. At the same time, criminalizing these activities has legally entrenched stigma, racism, and other forms of discrimination against people who use drugs, particularly those who are Indigenous, Black, unhoused, and poor. Acknowledging the harms of drug prohibition policymakers and other criminal legal system actors in Canada and globally have focused on the potential impacts of decriminalizing simple drug possession. Numerous United Nations bodies, for example, recommend “alternatives to conviction and punishment in appropriate cases, including the decriminalization of drug possession for personal use,” and countries across Europe and the Americas have implemented reforms regarding how simp le possession and/or personal drug use is legally defined and regulated.These changes have been implemented for diverse reasons, including to align laws and policies with public health principles and to alleviate demand on strained criminal legal systems. Yet, there has been little to no corresponding momentum to reform laws and policies when it comes to offences related to the supply and distribution of drugs (e.g. drug “trafficking”). A series of law and policy developments in Canada over the past decade have sought to mitigate some of the harms of the simple drug possession offence while directing focus towards people who supply drugs. This focus has manifested in an increase in sentences for drug trafficking across multiple jurisdictions, an approach that has been affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada. As the Court recently held, drug trafficking should be “understood as an offence of violence, even beyond the ruinous consequences it has for those who abuse drugs and in the process, destroy themselves and others” — thus warranting heavy punishment.6 Yet, research suggests that a narrow focus on decriminalizing simple drug possession and the shift towards pursuing and more severely punishing drug trafficking may exacerbate the structural vulnerability of people who use drugs while actually contributing to health and social harms, such as violence, racism, and poverty, that can push people into conflict with the law in the first place.

Toronto: HIV Legal Network, 2025. 

By Mirko Nazzari, Marco Calaresu, Moris Triventi

Business curfews are emerging as regulatory policy instruments to reduce crime in high-risk areas, yet rigorous evaluations remain limited. This study examines San Francisco’s Tenderloin Retail Hours Restriction Pilot, which required select businesses to close from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. starting July 2024. Using a customized Bayesian Structural Time Series model, we estimate a 56% reduction (95% credible interval: −72% to −27%) in drug-related incidents during curfew hours over nine months, with no evidence of spatial displacement to nearby areas or temporal displacement within the Tenderloin Public Safety Area. Results hold under CausalARIMA sensitivity tests. Findings suggest curfews may reduce opportunities for street-level drug activity, but potential economic costs and questions about longterm sustainability underscore the need for careful policy design.

By Lisa N. Sacco, Zachary T. Neuhofer, Hassan Z. Sheikh

Change to Federal Definition of Hemp and Implications for Federal Enforcement

December 3, 2025 (IN12620)

On November 12, 2025, Congress and President Trump enacted a full-year FY2026 Agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 119-37, Division B), which contained a provision that reimposes federal controls over certain hemp products.

Both marijuana and hemp are varieties of the cannabis plant, and until 2018, hemp was considered to be marijuana as defined under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). From 1970 until 2018, the federal government's definition of marijuana included hemp and its derivatives, and widespread hemp production was generally prohibited. Under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334), Congress amended the CSA definition of marijuana to reflect the differences in the chemical and psychoactive properties between hemp and marijuana, but it referred only to the level of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to distinguish between them and not the other cannabinoids found within the cannabis plant. Some interpreted this definition of marijuana and the new federal definition of hemp to mean that products containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC in addition to other psychoactive compounds would not be considered marijuana and would legally be considered hemp—the so-called farm bill loophole

Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2025. 3p.

By Darren Churchward, Peter Smolej, Gurmukh Panesar, Maika Terashima, Jo Voisey, Hala Elsayed, Lucy Cuppleditch 

Substance Misuse in Prisons and Incentivised Substance Free Living Wings Substance misuse in prisons has been a long-standing issue. Traditional approaches to combat substance misuse in prisons have focussed on deterring prisoners and emphasised the use of punitive sanctions. Incentivised Substance Free Living wings (ISFLs) are prison wings where prisoners agree to abide by a set of requirements, including regular drug tests. Incentives (e.g. additional time out of cell, gym equipment, entertainment equipment) are offered for those residing on the wing. ISFLs aim to create a stable prison environment, which allows for the development of a supportive community in which prisoners live drug-free, and can better engage with treatment programmes and recovery. This study does not represent all ISFLs, but only those considered operationally effective. It focuses on safety and stability outcomes, not substance misuse, as these were viewed as essential foundations for ISFL success.

London: Ministry of Justice, 2025. 53p.

By Emily Grisé; Alexander Cooke; David Cooper; Zane Oueja; Willem Klumpenhouwer; Amy HobbsOn transit systems across the United States, rising rates of drug use along with deteriorating safety conditions for customers and staff have become increasingly pressing and complex issues for transit agencies to solve. Many challenges surround agencies’ responses to drug use on transit, such as inconsistent data collection and the low uptake of support services.

TCRP Synthesis 179: The Impacts of and Response to Drug Use on Transit, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, documents and synthesizes the current practices of transit agencies in addressing the consumption and distribution of illegal drugs on their systems, as well as the resulting effects on customer and staff safety and security.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program. 2025. p91.

by Marina Duane, Jennifer Yahner, Erica Henderson, Malore Dusenbery, and Natalie Gilbert

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a community with high rates of opioid addiction, a jail in one county in rural Massachusetts showed that treating addiction for people cycling in and out of incarceration can be done better (Partners for a Healthier Community Inc. 2015). In 2020, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) capitalized on its previously built infrastructure and system partners to offer all three federally approved medications for opioid use disorders (MOUDs) and provide therapeutic counseling remotely to incarcerated people as a critical component of treatment. While the majority of jails in the United States do not offer MOUDs as an option to start or continue treatment during incarceration, the FCSO was able to continue offering all three medications (buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone) during the pandemic and to meet diverse clinical needs of people coming into their jail. The FCSO also continued offering individual and group counseling via telehealth throughout the pandemic and shifted to a mix of telehealth and in-person services in 2022. understand what facilitated or hindered its successful application and how clients (that is, incarcerated people) and the professionals supporting them perceived the effects. Our findings fill a critical gap in knowledge about whether counseling can be effectively delivered via telehealth in correctional settings. We hope this brief provides useful knowledge to other jails across the country on how to shift to a treatment philosophy. In addition, we hope it gives other localities some ideas on how to create an infrastructure that is conducive to treating opioid use disorders (OUDs) with the dignity and prowess required to address the complexities of the unaddressed mental health needs that often accompany addiction. The results of this study are promising, as illustrated in the following highlights:  Over a decade ago, FCSO leadership set a vision and a strategy to become a nationally recognized facility that prioritizes high-quality behavioral health treatment rather than simply “warehousing” people. Such transformation took time, but our findings suggest that at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most FCSO staff recognized their important role in curbing high rates of opioid addiction in Franklin County. Staff made significant strides in expanding behavioral health treatment and therapeutic counseling as its critical component.  By 2020, the FCSO was offering all three modalities of federally approved medications to treat opioid use disorders as continuation and induction options. While most jails in the United States still do not offer any MOUD treatment, FCSO provides a range of options to meet the complex needs of people with OUD diagnoses wherever they are in the recovery stage.  Our evaluation demonstrates ways in which the FCSO was able to provide high-quality one-onone counseling remotely at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, out of 31 surveyed clients, 90 percent reported a strong bond with their counselor, also known as therapeutic alliance, and 84 percent rated the quality of telehealth counseling as “good” or “excellent.” Furthermore, 87 percent of respondents said that counseling via telehealth helped them more effectively deal with problems in their lives, including addiction.  Although some FCSO behavioral health staff we interviewed reported it was challenging to do trauma work in jail with people struggling with addiction and who often get released quickly, overall, staff praised the FCSO’s decision to offer high-quality counseling and maximize clients’ time in therapy to address important mental health needs.

Washington, DC: The Urban Institute 2023. 17p.

By Brian Elderbroom, Leah Sakala, and Ammar Khalid

Utah adopted criminal justice reform legislation (H.B. 348) in 2015 to curb prison population growth and invest in behavioral health treatment, including reclassifying first and second drug possession convictions from felonies to misdemeanors. Our analysis finds that Utah successfully reduced the number of felony drug possession convictions, with a 71 percent drop between 2014 and 2018. Additionally, people spent a combined 105,011 fewer days in prison for drug possession in the two years following reform than in the two years before. Furthermore, reconviction and imprisonment rates for people with drug possession convictions were low prior to the policy reform and remained unchanged afterwards. However, Utah’s prison population is again growing, arrests for drug possession are rising despite declining arrests overall, and prison admissions for possession with intent to distribute offenses are increasing. This brief offers recommendations that Utah policymakers can consider to build on prior reforms, address additional prison population growth, and continue to invest in more effective public safety solutions.

Washington DC: The Urban Institute, 2020. 19p.

By Erik Luna and Weldon Angelos

Marijuana laws in the United States vary by state, with some states allowing recreational use and others only allowing medical use. At the federal level, marijuana is still illegal, however, banned as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substance Act. The disconnect between state laws and federal laws is growing. As of December 2024, 39 states allow for medical use of marijuana and 24 states allow for recreational use, while a proposed change in federal rules would reschedule marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. With the laws constantly evolving, and calls for legalization at the federal level growing louder and louder, what happens to the people still affected by the federal war on marijuana at the twilight of national prohibition? This white paper proposes clemency criteria for non-violent, federal marijuana convictions. It concludes by offering next steps for both executive and legislative action. With the President’s leadership, this Administration and Congress can assure that individuals haunted by marijuana arrests and convictions will finally have the clean slate they deserve.

Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Paper No. 5199528, 43p.