In New Mexico, Black Market Marijuana Still a Problem

Marijuana

Despite legalization, New Mexico’s Regulation and Licensing Department’s Enforcement Bureau’s reportedly has more than two dozen active criminal investigations into illicit marijuana. KRQE news reports that authorities found more than 21,000 pounds of marijuana inside 21 greenhouses at a single, illicit grow site.

Nationwide, many states have legalized marijuana to varying degrees, and federal regulators have eased restrictions on the drug. But instead of reducing crime, legalization has actually emboldened drug cartels to sell illicit marijuana on the black market.

The black market marijuana operations that came to New Mexico in the wake of legalization have been tied to labor trafficking and other crimes. States like Maine and California have encountered the same problem — which is why some commentators say these operations contribute to “modern day slavery on American soil.”

Besides labor trafficking, these grow sites often use illegal pesticides that poison users and pollute the local environment. Innocent people who live near an illicit grow sites may be harmed by the toxins these grow sites put in the soil or water.

Marijuana’s supporters in Arkansas have argued that legalization could decrease Arkansas’ crime problems, but experience shows that has not been the case in other states.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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FDA Says It Won’t Finish Abortion Pill Safety Review Until March of Next Year

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is still reviewing the safety of abortion pills along with possible changes to the federal rules that govern the drug. The FDA included that information in a status report that it filed in a federal court in Louisiana last week.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As a result, abortion is prohibited in states like Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, and it is against the law to mail abortion drugs into many states. But under President Biden, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration adopted rules that let abortionists send abortion drugs like mifepristone through the mail. Pro-abortion lawmakers in other states have also enacted “shield laws” to prevent abortionists from being held accountable when they mail abortion drugs into states like Arkansas. All of this has created a dangerous industry of abortion-by-mail both in Arkansas and across the nation.

But the FDA has been pressured into conducting a safety review of the abortion drug mifepristone. Now the FDA says that review won’t be finished until next year.

In a report filed in federal court last Thursday, the FDA said, “FDA is on track to obtain study results by mid-December 2026. FDA will then need to review and evaluate/interpret the results and draft a report. FDA expects to complete that process not later than March 2027.”

The FDA says it is also reviewing the protocols that govern the abortion drug mifepristone. Once these reviews are finished, the FDA says it could change its abortion drug rules.

Abortion drugs like mifepristone are dangerous. These drugs hurt women, and they kill unborn children.

Research from the Ethics and Public Policy Center shows 11% of women experience serious health complications from abortion pills — including sepsis, infection, and life-threatening hemorrhage.

These drugs should not be available at all — much less through the mail without an in-person visit with a doctor.

Our federal government needs to recognize how serious this issue is and protect Americans from these abortion drugs. That is why we hope all pro-lifers will contact their leaders today in Washington today and ask them to reverse the FDA’s mail-order abortion policy. Click or tap here to contact Congress right now.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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A Shield of Faith Against Unhappiness and Isolation?

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A new report confirms young people who are religious are happier, healthier, and more successful than those who are not.

Research from the Institute for Family Studies shows that since 2000, unhappiness among young adults has more than doubled. Socializing is down more than 50%, and two-thirds of young people are not in any serious relationship.

IFS writes, “Anxiety, depression and anti-social behavior are way up, especially among young people. An increasing number of them hold catastrophic views of the world and report a lack of agency over their own lives.”

But researchers identified two groups of young people who are thriving.

Married and religious young adults are five times more likely to say they are “very happy” compared to their secular, unmarried peers.

Religious young men finish college and trade school at far higher rates than non-religious men and are almost twice as likely to report a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

As the Institute for Family Studies put it, “faith and family remain two of the strongest bulwarks against loneliness and despair.”

We have written before about how marriage is broadly connected with better health and wellbeing — and how churches and religious charities provide billions of dollars in services to communities every year.

All of this underscores what many of us have said for years: Strong faith and strong marriages are the keys to building strong communities.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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