The United States is intensifying its controversial overseas ‘war on drugs’ even as a prolonged government shutdown paralyses domestic policy, a combination that threatens to reshape the outlook for cannabis reform and regulation.
Growing frustration over the persistent appropriations deadlock in Washington has reignited discussion of the so-called ‘nuclear option’ in the US Senate, a procedural manoeuvre that would allow legislation to pass by a simple majority rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.
Under current Senate rules, ending debate on a bill (known as cloture) requires a three-fifths supermajority. Invoking the ‘nuclear option’ would overturn that precedent by majority vote, setting a new standard that 51 votes are sufficient to move any bill to final passage.
The mechanism was first used in 2013 to expedite executive and judicial nominations, and again in 2017 for Supreme Court appointments, but it has never been applied to legislation.
Analysts have warned that if Senate leadership resorts to this approach to end the ongoing funding stalemate, it would permanently alter how Congress functions, weakening the minority party’s ability to block or amend legislation. Cannabis policy would likely be an early casualty.
According to Deb Tharp, a policy researcher and regular Business of Cannabis contributor, a simple-majority Senate would give the ruling party broad power to advance its legislative agenda without bipartisan support.
She argues that this could accelerate elements of Project 2025 (P25), a conservative policy framework promoted by the Heritage Foundation that favours strict federal enforcement and moral governance priorities.
“If the Senate goes nuclear, P25 rolls through unopposed by the minority,” Tharp said, noting that cannabis liberalisation would likely stall or reverse under such a scenario.
Even if Democratic leadership opts not to trigger the procedural change, Tharp adds, limited protections for state-legal markets, such as appropriations riders preventing the Department of Justice from interfering with state-compliant cannabis businesses, could still survive within existing spending bills.
However, the broader legislative push for reform, including measures such as the SAFER Banking Act and potential rescheduling efforts, would likely lose momentum amid heightened political tension.
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This VIP gathering will bring together investors, operators and policy-makers to explore strategies for driving investment and accelerating retail growth across the New York cannabis market.
Be part of the conversation shaping the future of legal cannabis in New York.
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This morning, news broke that the US military had carried out another series of airstrikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the total confirmed death toll to 57 since early September.
Authorised by President Trump and spearheaded by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, this so-called ‘war’ is now prompting concern among international leaders, and not just because of the flagrant breaches of international law.
Germany’s Federal Drug Commissioner, Hendrik Streeck, told German publication BILD in an interview last week that the US government’s ‘tougher approach’ would likely lead criminal networks to ‘react with alternative routes, new transit countries and also new, usually even more potent substitutes’.
“For Germany, this would mean: There could be shifts in shipping routes, both sea and land, as well as in digital distribution. We already have highly dynamic structures of organised crime, especially on the internet. This could be further exacerbated by the announced ‘War on Drugs’ by the US government.”
Streeck’s comments come as he and his new right-leaning government are pushing for renewed restrictions on cannabis in Germany, and the US’s actions are acting as rocket fuel for his cabinet’s prohibitionist rhetoric, reinforcing arguments that drug enforcement must again take precedence over reform.
The result is a shifting political climate in which cannabis regulation, once framed as a public-health and market-governance issue, risks being recast within a revived security narrative.
Conversely, Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, has urged the United States to replace its prohibitionist drug policy with a regulated cannabis trade, proposing the legalisation and export of cannabis.
In a post on X, Petro said such reform would strengthen Colombia’s rural economy, support crop-substitution efforts and reduce the violence fuelled by the cocaine trade. Citing the UN’s removal of cannabis from its most dangerous-substances list, he argued that legal trade and long-term US agricultural partnerships could offer a more effective alternative to militarised drug enforcement.
The post Senate Brinkmanship and Drug War 2.0 Put Cannabis Reform at Risk appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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Growing frustration over the persistent appropriations deadlock in Washington has reignited discussion of the so-called ‘nuclear option’ in the US Senate, a procedural manoeuvre that would allow legislation to pass by a simple majority rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.
Under current Senate rules, ending debate on a bill (known as cloture) requires a three-fifths supermajority. Invoking the ‘nuclear option’ would overturn that precedent by majority vote, setting a new standard that 51 votes are sufficient to move any bill to final passage.
BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Governor Walz shreds Republicans in a fiery takedown of their shutdown. “People are gonna be lined up to get food, and we’re talking about a damn ballroom. Don’t lose the plot.”
Share widely.pic.twitter.com/tmySPCVaBo
— Really American(@ReallyAmerican1) October 27, 2025
The mechanism was first used in 2013 to expedite executive and judicial nominations, and again in 2017 for Supreme Court appointments, but it has never been applied to legislation.
Analysts have warned that if Senate leadership resorts to this approach to end the ongoing funding stalemate, it would permanently alter how Congress functions, weakening the minority party’s ability to block or amend legislation. Cannabis policy would likely be an early casualty.
According to Deb Tharp, a policy researcher and regular Business of Cannabis contributor, a simple-majority Senate would give the ruling party broad power to advance its legislative agenda without bipartisan support.
She argues that this could accelerate elements of Project 2025 (P25), a conservative policy framework promoted by the Heritage Foundation that favours strict federal enforcement and moral governance priorities.
“If the Senate goes nuclear, P25 rolls through unopposed by the minority,” Tharp said, noting that cannabis liberalisation would likely stall or reverse under such a scenario.
Even if Democratic leadership opts not to trigger the procedural change, Tharp adds, limited protections for state-legal markets, such as appropriations riders preventing the Department of Justice from interfering with state-compliant cannabis businesses, could still survive within existing spending bills.
However, the broader legislative push for reform, including measures such as the SAFER Banking Act and potential rescheduling efforts, would likely lose momentum amid heightened political tension.
Join 300+ industry leaders at Business of Cannabis: New York — an exclusive one-day event presented by Prohibition Partners at The Wythe Hotel, Williamsburg, on November 6, 2025.
This VIP gathering will bring together investors, operators and policy-makers to explore strategies for driving investment and accelerating retail growth across the New York cannabis market.
Be part of the conversation shaping the future of legal cannabis in New York.
Secure your place now ‘War on Drugs’ 2.0
This morning, news broke that the US military had carried out another series of airstrikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the total confirmed death toll to 57 since early September.
Authorised by President Trump and spearheaded by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, this so-called ‘war’ is now prompting concern among international leaders, and not just because of the flagrant breaches of international law.
Germany’s Federal Drug Commissioner, Hendrik Streeck, told German publication BILD in an interview last week that the US government’s ‘tougher approach’ would likely lead criminal networks to ‘react with alternative routes, new transit countries and also new, usually even more potent substitutes’.
“For Germany, this would mean: There could be shifts in shipping routes, both sea and land, as well as in digital distribution. We already have highly dynamic structures of organised crime, especially on the internet. This could be further exacerbated by the announced ‘War on Drugs’ by the US government.”
Streeck’s comments come as he and his new right-leaning government are pushing for renewed restrictions on cannabis in Germany, and the US’s actions are acting as rocket fuel for his cabinet’s prohibitionist rhetoric, reinforcing arguments that drug enforcement must again take precedence over reform.
The result is a shifting political climate in which cannabis regulation, once framed as a public-health and market-governance issue, risks being recast within a revived security narrative.
Conversely, Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, has urged the United States to replace its prohibitionist drug policy with a regulated cannabis trade, proposing the legalisation and export of cannabis.
In a post on X, Petro said such reform would strengthen Colombia’s rural economy, support crop-substitution efforts and reduce the violence fuelled by the cocaine trade. Citing the UN’s removal of cannabis from its most dangerous-substances list, he argued that legal trade and long-term US agricultural partnerships could offer a more effective alternative to militarised drug enforcement.
The post Senate Brinkmanship and Drug War 2.0 Put Cannabis Reform at Risk appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
