A man who used Snapchat to sell fake oxycodone pills that actually contained fentanyl—leading to the death of a teenage girl as well as several other overdoses—faces 20 years in prison.

Jeremial Lee Leach, 20, of Evansville, Indiana, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.

Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana released an announcement on May 17 describing the ordeal and the consequences.

Leach sold fentanyl on Snapchat as “Mel,” resulting in at least three overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old woman. “Mel” sold small blue pills marked with M 30 which is supposed to indicate they contain oxycodone hydrochloride—i.e. sold as Oxycontin, Reltebon, Zomestine, etc. Researchers call fake M 30 pills as “Dirty 30s,” and they’re highly dangerous—the slightest miscalculation of fentanyl can easily stop breathing.

“This young woman should be alive today. Mr. Leach pushed deadly poison over social media, ending a teenager’s life far too early, and risking many more,” said U.S. Attorney Myers. “Fentanyl traffickers commit their crimes with utter disregard for the lives of our friends and neighbors or the harm they cause to families in our community. I commend the outstanding work of the DEA, the Evansville Police Department, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, and our federal prosecutors to secure some measure of justice for the victims of this fentanyl dealer. The sentence imposed here should serve as a warning: these poisons kill—and selling them will earn you decades in federal prison.”

On June 25, 2022, in the late hours of the night, officers with the Evansville Police Department (EPD) responded to a call about an overdose from a residence on Wedeking Avenue. The first woman was lucky—and responders were able to revive her with naloxone. 

But within hours, at approximately 10:55 a.m. the next morning, EPD officers responded to the same residence for the overdose of another woman, who was only 19 years old, who subsequently died. The coroner found a fake oxycodone pill containing fentanyl when examining the body. The cause of both overdoses was determined to be fentanyl intoxication.

But “Mel” on Snapchat wasn’t done dealing his fake oxycodone pills.

On Aug. 20, 2022, EPD officers were dispatched to a restaurant located on Hirschland Road concerning an overdose. There, the officers found a woman hunched over, falling out of consciousness. But she was also lucky and was revived with naloxone and the woman regained consciousness. The woman told police that she thought she had simply taken a 30 mg tablet of oxycodone, which would not have caused an overdose. The woman’s companion, identified as “Leach,” supplied the pill at a residence on Shanklin Avenue. It was again traced to “Mel” after officers with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force set up two more drug deals a few months later.

Police then executed a search warrant at Leach’s residence on Shanklin Avenue, where officers found 33 blue pills marked “30,” a digital scale, two 9mm pistols, and approximately $1,843 in cash.

“The sentence imposed on Mr. Leach is righteous and justified. Mr. Leach utilized social media platforms to advertise the sale of fentanyl and continued distributing the poisonous fentanyl even though it had already caused fatal and near fatal overdoses. The DEA would like to extend their deepest condolences to the Duncan family and all families who have lost a loved one to a fentanyl poising,” said DEA ASAC Gannon. “DEA remains committed to working hand in hand with our state, local and federal partners in order to keep our communities safe.  DEA commends the outstanding work by the Evansville Police Department, The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office.”

‘Hit Me Up’ for Weed on Snapchat

A much lesser “threat” on Snapchat is the sale of weed. A woman was busted in 2018 for setting up her weed business on Snapchat (which is admittedly much safer than selling fentanyl.)

The Beatrice Daily Sun reported in 2018 that Nebraska authorities were tipped off about a Snapchat video made by a woman named Madison D. Carlson. In the video, she held a large bag of cannabis, with a corresponding caption reading “Hit me up.”

Following the post, someone snitched, and authorities went to Carlson’s residence around 9:30 p.m. and immediately noticed two cars in a nearby alley with their lights on. In one vehicle, police found Carson with one female minor. According to police documents, the car reeked of weed. In the other, a male juvenile, who, upon further inspection, was carrying a concealed bag of marijuana in his waistband.

The two female accomplices told police they had just gotten rid of the pot until Carlson was removed from the vehicle, and eventually forked over an additional 32 grams and $80 in cash. Since minors were involved, Carlson also faced serious charges, even though cannabis is not capable of causing bodily injury in the same way that fentanyl is.

Plugs can be found on just about any social media platform, but especially when it comes to pills, buyer beware, as deadly counterfeit pills abound.

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It’s an interesting time in the weed world. The federal government is slow-dancing a signal fest that weed is acceptable and welcome to the fold. Nothing has really changed except perceived sentiment, but things will change and things have changed. For one, who we have relationships with in the industry today is not the same as yesterday, and tomorrow we have no idea except a guess. 

There is still a lingering holdover that still looks at the current state of cannabis the same way Kurt Cobain would look at a Nirvana song in a Hyundai commercial. Unfortunately the nostalgia-laden still have to eat and ultimately will take to YouTube or Instagram to sell some product under their brand. Some just bailed and grow for themselves working an impersonal day job to pay the bills. Some already made their money and can kick back and judge the scene from a balcony window. Anybody still playing the game is still fostering new and old relationships.

Creating Relationships

It’s a bit easier to create new relationships these days and at the same time harder to maintain them. People’s perceptions of you and your story change day to day based on surface level interpretations of who you are and what you are doing online, not necessarily in real life. This plays into how a brand sells and how much attention they can gather for a drop. This type of success can come and go with the wind. The handful of brands that have maintained success regardless of social media image have been tirelessly listening to their customers more so than what people are commenting on. Persevering through the online ups and downs, remaining visibly unaffected by whatever turd is being thrown your way and still getting to the work day with the intention of improving every part of the consumer experience is what defines the success of the less-than-half-a-dozen proprietors that have been continually winning. Winning can be reduced to profitability or in this market just keeping your business alive. 

Another characteristic of the brands that are fostering success is how they collaborate with other smaller brands, elevating their brand by elevating another. This type of move reinforces the roots of where they came from by honoring the draft class of younger, smaller brands that have less visibility. This has worked more times than not and if things go sideways, the winning brands handle the drama offline. Any time the drama between these types of collabs enters the public online space it takes a piece of the larger brand back, regardless of the attention or engagement gathered. As much as the old adage “no press is bad press” is still a thing, a brand’s favor with consumers now more than ever can disappear into a wash of irrelevance if the narrative online paints them unfavorably. At some point the consumer gets tired of the story and that burnout point approaches fast as the world grows smaller the more it becomes interconnected. 

What really stands out are the brands that continue to sit just above the line of obscurity, gathering engagement and conversation when needed, while creating a consistent product. As they grow, their brand name becomes more common and organically becomes a fixture in the space for as along as they can maintain it or until there is some legal duress that throws the trajectory for a loop. There are two brands at the moment that come to mind that are facing this sort of situation. There are also those types of brands that are designed to edge lord the entire business crossing into sub culture conversations that touch cannabis. Selling cannabis along side the open legs of porn stars or other types of lurid hooks. At some point these hooks lose their allure and the brands will either continue to push the limit or rebrand into the mainstream. That didn’t work out too well for Vice media, but that’s another conversation. The extreme marketing can work on creating virality and hype but maintaining that success when the focus is on how you are selling instead of what you are really selling—which is weed, in case we forgot—can go sideways real fast.

Calculating Costs

So with all this in mind, I am trying to do something with my brand that will try and meet a few of these worlds while reaching what matters most, consumer value. Looking at the retail numbers, at least in California, cost seems to be the number one thing consumers value the most. Which is a bit disheartening although understood when ruminating on the egregious taxes bestowed on the consumer shopping in the California retail cannabis market. There are suggested prices for top shelf product that are displayed along with the eternal sale price of $35-$40 for an 1/8th. What we would like to be paid compared to what people will pay for is a rub, especially when looking at the prices of some products in fancy unregulated packaging on telegram. As much as growers market how they grow it matters less to the consumer if there is a close to equivalent product for ten dollars less. Also if you come out with a listed product at $35-40 an 1/8th you’ve screwed yourself into what is called the retail dead zone. You can discount a product to that price but for your sake don’t come in at that price thinking you’ll be able to match the consumer perceived value of a discounted established brand. Consumers like to feel like they are getting a deal on that jar or bag. Also after taxes they end up paying the $55-60 but the delta goes to the state, the silent and suffocating partner of every legal cannabis company. 

Consumers also value a cannabinoid analysis more than the actual product. Which is extremely frustrating and everyone has been yapping about how this is a terrible value metric for good while, and yet it’s barely moved the needle. What has moved the needle is the lack of testing in the black market and how those buyers care more about aroma, look, and packaging more than a test. That is a gift from the black market that is helping the rest of us when it comes to selections made based off THC numbers. I’m going to try and push against this with the selections I’m making but I can’t pretend that I don’t exhale easier when a test comes back over 25%. It still matters, and even more in the smaller market states. A smart approach when you are selling your brand to consumers is to weave in the dialogue how much more value there is in your product than just one number. 

The Consumer Is Your Mirror

So let’s say you’ve got some heat and fresh packaging and you’re ready to start selling to retail locations. If you haven’t started developing relationships ahead of time with retail ownership, good luck. The amount of competition in the market is staggering and it makes sense when you do the math at how much cultivation is being backdoored when you stack up the total volume of metric tons produced to the demand from retailers. This backdooring has also created an undefeated black market where customers can get fresher product faster and at a lower price. Accessing shelf space at a dispensary to sell your flower is a cut-throat game, and if you think that getting on the shelf is the final mountain to climb, think again. Once you have the shelf space, you have to be present as much as possible at the retail and not only develop solid relationships with the staff at the store but also the customers, number 1 the customers. This could be looked at as a chore but really it’s your opportunity to maintain the relationship with the retail location with authentic customer outreach, because if your product struggles to sell that shelf space will evaporate. I tried this approach in a smaller market that was vocally unhappy with the state program and to this day there are still Reddit posts of the drops we did 3 years ago. This was directly due to myself as the grower, not a rep, communicating as much as possible with the retail buyers. I cannot recommend this enough to new brands, your people matter more than anybody else. They are the ones that keep you going and will be there to support your efforts as you grow and face adversity. Your customers must be invested in who you are, your products and your success. It is more like this in cannabis than any other market. The further a brand gets away from their consumer investment into their brand the quicker they fall. The consumer is your mirror, hear them out, listen to what they ask for, what they are happy with and what didn’t land. If something doesn’t land then it’s up to you to make it right and if you have been developing the relationships you will for sure be given the chance to make it right. 

So you might have slogged through licensing and starting up a business. You might have hired a high end marketing consultant to build you a logo. You might have finally got your grow team up to speed and your harvest batches are hitting the marks. None of that matters unless you have built a loyal customer base that you are in service to. 

It doesn’t matter how good your weed is unless people enjoy buying it as much as they do smoking it. So get out of the warehouse or off the hill and start cultivating the joy that got you growing in the first place with the people that are paying your power bill.

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There’s another attack on the First Amendment for you to worry about, especially if you live in Colorado. The Centennial State’s Senate approved an epically terrifying social media bill that could require social media platforms to prohibit users from saying anything deemed positive about controlled substances online, including psychedelics legal in the state, specific hemp products, and even some over-the-counter cough syrups.

The bill, officially named SB24-158, is a comprehensive measure that addresses internet age verification and content regulations, mandating that social media platforms promptly delete any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.”

Originally, the bill would have also applied to cannabis, which is, of course, legal in Colorado. Adults 21 and older can possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants privately. Thankfully, that got scrapped, thanks to an amendment last month from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D), who made sure it includes language noting that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age” if the content that the user is posting is in line with state cannabis laws. So, while IGing your legal weed should be fine, be careful about posting anything purchased on the black market or potentially grown illicitly. The Senate, with four members excused, voted 30-1 on Wednesday to pass the revised measure during its third reading.

However, there’s still plenty to be angry over. The revised bill would continue to cover a wide range of both legal and illegal substances. Despite the amendment concerning cannabis, the bill could still pose significant threats for users who attempt to share harmless and legal content about substances as available as cough medicine. 

“The updated version would still prevent users from from promoting NyQuil or anti-anxiety medications among many others, even though it exempts marijuana,” R Street Institute Fellow Shoshana Weismann, told Marijuana Moment last month. “And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement. That is asinine.”

Because this isn’t just a rule a private company is creating. It’s the government. 

And as amended, the bill maintains that its reach pertains to certain hemp products, such as those containing over 1.25 milligrams of THC or any with a CBD-to-THC ratio under 20:1. It also includes most other hemp-based products meant for human consumption, so basically anything except for those categorized as dietary supplements, foods, food additives, or herbs.

The state’s psychedelic advocates are concerned. It pits Colorado’s legal drug laws up against government overreach. As Marijuana Moment reports, Kevin Matthews, the director of the campaign in Denver that successfully made the city the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psilocybin, said on Facebook after Wednesday’s vote that the SB24-158 would “make it nearly impossible to even simply talk about plant and fungi medicine on any social media network without state monitoring.” Of course, this not only is worrisome for those who like to post photos of their beautiful fungi, but puts information about safe and responsible usage at risk. Once again, an attempt to regulate and restrict will end up making substances that would usually be very safe and beneficial more dangerous than if people were just let be. 

The measure’s language “severely handicaps the emergent psychedelic ecosystem at all levels to educate the public,” Matthews wrote, “and gives broad powers to a state apparatus to take legal action against individuals for expressing their opinion online.”

Under the proposed legislation, social media companies would need to revise their policies and make them publicly available by July 1, 2025. Any changes to these policies must be posted online within 14 days after they are implemented. The companies would be obligated to annually provide the state attorney general with reports confirming whether their published policies include definitions and provisions related to illicit substances, as per a legislative summary given to a Senate committee. The bill requires companies to keep “all data and metadata related to users’ identities and activities” for one year, which puts users at risk of hackers coming in and stealing such data. 

While the First Amendment is obviously a concern, informed critics warn that the bill infringes on the Fourth Amendment as well, which is meant to protect Americans from unreasonable search and seizures by the government. 

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A 73-year-old American man was arrested in Colombia this week for leading “cannabis tours” in his home.

Per CBS News, citing Colombian law enforcement, the unidentified man “advertised on social media and a website for foreigners to visit his house in Sabaneta, a town south of the city of Medellín in the northwestern part of the country.”

CBS said that the man “distributed flyers advertising ‘Cannabis Farm Tours’ given by ‘Cannabis Jimmy.’” 

“The materials said ‘free samples’ would be distributed during the tours. Approximately 2-8 people were on each tour, and reservations were required. The tours lasted 2-3 hours during which the man taught visitors ‘the process of planting, caring for, harvesting, and maintaining this plant,’ police said. He also sold tour-takers marijuana for $20 a gram,” the outlet reported. 

“Police said they confiscated 1,380 grams of marijuana during the arrest. They did not identify the man, only saying he is an American.”

Medical cannabis and industrial hemp are both legal in Colombia, but the country continues to impose a ban on recreational marijuana. 

But as CBS notes, the country has “long struggled to control the trafficking, manufacturing and/or possession of narcotics within its borders.”

“Late last year, the Colombian Navy intercepted a shipwrecked boat carrying 33 kilograms of cocaine and 744 kilograms of marijuana,” the network said. “The South American nation is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine – almost 90% of the cocaine sold in the United States each year arrives from Colombia.”

Lawmakers in Colombia considered a proposal last year to legalize adult-use marijuana and commercial sales. 

But in December, members of the Colombian senate “rejected the proposed legislation aimed to legalize adult-use cannabis in the country,” according to Forbes.

“The proposed legislation faced a setback in the Senate on December 12 during the plenary session in its attempt to regulate the adult use and commercialization of cannabis. During the plenary session, a proposal to archive the bill submitted by Senator Karina Espinosa from the Liberal Party right before the formal debate began received 45 positive votes,” Forbes reported at the time.

“Following the vote, Senator María José Pizarro, who spearheaded the project, spoke before the plenary session. She vehemently criticized the senators who supported archiving the project, attributing blame to the Senate for enabling organized groups to profit and condemning youth and consumers to the influence of illicit traders and drug traffickers.”

A different legalization proposal met the same fate in June, when the Colombian Senate voted down a proposal to allow the sale of weed.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who was elected in 2022, has spoken in favor of legalizing and commercializing marijuana in the country. 

In October, Petro recounted a visit to New York City, where he smelled marijuana burning wherever he went.

“Marijuana is sold today in Times Square,” Petro said, as quoted by Marijuana Moment. “It smelled on all the streets, all the way around the corner, and they sold it…like any other product. I suppose they charge taxes and that New York City or the state of New York lives partially from them.”

Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, went on to criticize the United States for its role in the drug war.

“That’s where the war on drugs began,” Petro said, according to Marijuana Moment. “How many people have been imprisoned? How many people have died? Because undoubtedly illegality brought violence.”

As one of the world’s leading producers of the coca bush, Colombia has long been associated with cocaine trafficking.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, an estimated “63,660 of the country’s households were involved in the cultivation of that illicit crop.”

“This has led the Government and the international community to design an innovative programme that also addresses security issues. In 2012, the area under coca crop cultivation in Colombia fell by a quarter to 48,000 hectares (ha), down from 64,000 ha in 2011,” the UN said. 

“Experience has shown that it is not enough to eradicate illicit drug crops to bring about a lasting solution to the problem. This is why UNODC supports the Government’s efforts to assist farmers who give up cultivating coca bush through alternative development initiatives such as the Forest Warden Families Programme and the Productive Projects Programme. These initiatives ensure that former coca bush farmers have legal and adequate incomes. These rural activities are integrated into broader socio-economic development strategies and benefit rural, indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations.”

The United Nations estimates that “the area under coca bush cultivation in Colombia has declined by 15 per cent from 73,000 hectares in 2009 to 62,000 hectares in 2010.” 

“During the last decade (2000 to 2010), cultivation levels have been reduced significantly by 62 %. These declines signal an advance of sustainable livelihood programmes and are due mainly to a combination of alternative development and law enforcement measures,” the report said.

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Since states across the country first began legalizing cannabis, the ability for cannabis-related businesses to advertise on social media — or even mention or show cannabis products — has remained a contentious issue. 

Many platforms will quickly remove cannabis business accounts once they catch wind of their content, leaving professionals with limited access to their audience and ultimately having to jump through hurdles like self-censorship to maintain their accounts. Some have also questioned if the consistent censorship surrounding cannabis and other drug content may lead to gaps in education or information encouraging harm reduction.

Despite these concerns, there remains a prevailing push to ensure children are not exposed to cannabis marketing and that reform as a whole does not encourage use among people under the legal age.

Colorado is currently caught in the middle of this push and pull, as lawmakers are working to advance legislation that would force social media platforms to ban users for talking positively about, promoting or advertising cannabis and cannabis products online, along with other regulated drugs and substances.

Colorado’s Polarizing Content-Regulation Bill

The bill, SB24-158, is currently facing criticism from multiple angles. 

The legislation was recently amended to include language saying that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age,” so long as the content is in compliance with state cannabis laws, Marijuana Moment reports. 

Members of the Senate Committee on Business, Labor and Technology ultimately approved the amended bill unanimously, advancing it to the Appropriations Committee.

Still, some critics argue that the revised legislation does not adequately address concerns around other substances, like psilocybin — which Colorado voters decriminalized and legalized for therapeutic use in 2022 — alongside hemp-derived products or over-the-counter cough syrups.

As it stands currently, the bill would restrict promotion of hemp-derived products with more than 1.25 mg of THC or a CBD-to-THC ratio of less than 20:1. Most other hemp-containing products meant for human consumption that are not a dietary supplement, food, food additive or herb would also be restricted.

R Street Institute’s Shoshana Weismann called out some of the issues in the bill’s initial language, stating that it has some “potentially disastrous quirks.” Speaking with Marijuana Moment, Weismann referenced that the updated bill would prevent social media users from promoting substances like Nyquil or anti-anxiety medications.

“And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement,” Weismann told the publication via email. “That is asinine.”

Social Media Age Verification, Data Considerations

So what about the cannabis exemption for those over 21? Does allowing companies to advertise specifically to those of legal age act as a proper workaround?

The bill states that social media companies must “use a commercially reasonable process to verify each user’s age” and “retain any information obtained for age verification purposes only for the purpose of compliance and for no other purpose and to dispose of such information securely after age verification is complete.”

In a recent blog post, Weismann notes that this process is not only expensive for businesses but also would require Colorado social media users to upload sensitive information to any given social media site they use. 

“Although the bill requires platforms to dispose of this information once a user’s age is verified, the rule does not apply to third-party verifiers — rendering enforcement against them nearly impossible. Further, it doesn’t stop nefarious actors who would seek to hack such valuable information,” Weismann writes. 

The bill mandates companies to retain “any data and metadata concerning users’ identities and activities” for one year, and Weismann argues that this only makes data more enticing and accessible for hackers. 

Noting the potential First Amendment and free speech violations of the bill, Weismann also references the bill’s language prohibiting social media companies from alerting users “to the fact that a law enforcement agency is investigating the user’s activity and account,” arguing that this violates Fourth Amendment principles.

“This means that if someone is unaware the government is investigating them due to what is, in effect, a legislatively mandated gag order, they cannot fight government actions or exercise their rights,” Weismann states. “While these orders may be necessary in certain cases, it shouldn’t be an across-the-board call.”

Unanswered Questions and Uncertain Outcomes

There are a number of other potential scenarios the legislation could affect that lawmakers must still answer to. 

For example, it’s still unclear as to whether a medical patient posting about their cannabis use to social media would be banned under the legislation. Even someone posting that an over-the-counter cough syrup helped them to feel better, or Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) recent touting of the state’s emerging psychedelic industry as a positive and beneficial move, could potentially be banned under the language of the bill. 

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D) told Marijuana Moment last month that he was “working on answers” to these questions.

Should the legislation pass, social media companies would need to update their policies and publicly post them on or before July 1, 2025. Companies would also need to submit annual reports to the state attorney general to confirm “whether the current version of the published policies contain definitions and provisions relating to illicit substances.”

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Elon Musk says that he benefits from the use of ketamine –– and investors should be pleased that he takes it –– but when he posts late at night on the social media platform he owns, he insists that he is rarely under the influence.

The Tesla CEO made all of those comments during a well-publicized interview with the journalist Don Lemon.

“There are times when I have sort of a … negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind,” Musk told Lemon, as quoted by CNN.com. 

Per CNN, “Musk added that he has a prescription for the drug from ‘an actual, real doctor’ and uses ‘a small amount once every other week or something like that.’”

Musk’s drug use has been the subject of intense speculation and media coverage for years. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Musk is known to use ketamine.

“Routine drug use has moved from an after-hours activity squarely into corporate culture, leaving boards and business leaders to wrestle with their responsibilities for a workforce that frequently uses. At the vanguard are tech executives and employees who see psychedelics and similar substances, among them psilocybin, ketamine and LSD, as gateways to business breakthroughs,” the Journal reported, noting that the “account of Musk’s drug use comes from people who witnessed him use ketamine and others with direct knowledge of his use.”

Following the publication of that story, Musk posted an endorsement of ketamine’s benefits.

“Depression is overdiagnosed in the US, but for some people it really is a brain chemistry issue,” Musk said at the time. “But zombifying people with SSRIs for sure happens way too much. From what I’ve seen with friends, ketamine taken occasionally is a better option.”

The Wall Street Journal also reported earlier this year on Musk’s drug use, noting that it apparently spooked some executives at his SpaceX.

That prompted NASA to issue a statement clearing the company of any illicit activity.

“The agency does not have evidence of non-compliance from SpaceX on how the company addresses the drug- and alcohol-free workforce regulations,” NASA said in a statement at the time. “We expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of those missions and the services they provide the American people.”

In his interview with Lemon, Musk said that his use of ketamine should not concern investors.

“From a standpoint of Wall Street, what matters is execution,” Musk said, as quoted by CNN. “Are you building value for investors? Tesla is worth about as much as the rest of the car industry combined … so from an investor standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, I should keep taking it.”

More from CNN’s report on the interview:

“While Musk said he doesn’t drink and doesn’t ‘know how to smoke pot,’ he didn’t specify whether he was talking about ketamine or another substance when he said he is ‘almost always’ sober while posting late at night…Musk also discussed the state of the core advertising business on X, which has suffered since the billionaire acquired the company formerly known as Twitter because of a rise in hateful and controversial content on the platform. Musk previously said advertisers who left X over concerns about antisemitic content could ‘go f**k yourself’ and accused them of killing the company.”

Musk’s interview with Lemon has drawn considerable attention this week for its contentious exchanges. The tension spilled over and apparently prompted Musk to cancel a planned deal with Lemon, the former CNN host, to host a new show on the social media platform X.

“Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement last week.

He added that Musk’s “commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me.”

At one point in the interview, Lemon asked Musk about the uptick in hate speech on the platform, formerly known as Twitter, since Musk took it over a year ago.

“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk said in response, as quoted by CNN. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”

In a statement of its own, X said, “The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities. However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”

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It’s open season for flagrant ads to sell illegal drugs like psilocybin, LSD, and other drugs, as Meta works to improve its algorithms to filter illegal content. Because content is being filtered by algorithms, not human beings, sometimes the wrong content—i.e. educational cannabis material—gets taken down while brazen ads to sell drugs remain up.

Some journalists are fed up with the double standard. A Canadian reporter said he was able to get an ad for LSD approved on Facebook, leading a Meta employee to finally remove the ad after the reporter reached out for comment. The National Post reports that Facebook’s automated moderation system approved an ad selling LSD, saying the ad doesn’t violate Meta’s advertising standards. The ad was eventually removed after the reporter contacted Facebook for comment.

Christopher McGrath, a senior manager at Deloitte Canada, said he began seeing ads for drugs on Facebook that he believes were triggered by algorithms while he was researching a recent report  on Canada’s black market cannabis trade.

Deloitte Canada’s report, “Clearing the Smoke: Insights to Canada’s Illicit Cannabis Market,” was supposed to provide data on illegal cannabis sales, but McGrath’s research for it only triggered an onslaught of various cannabis ads on Facebook. So on one hand, Meta wants to filter that content, but on the other, also market ads to users looking for items like cannabis.

University of Toronto media economics professor Brett Caraway, is due to the reliance social media platforms place in machine learning and automated algorithms to police their content.

“When these platforms started, they had departments full of people—actual humans—to sift through the most toxic and horrible parts of the internet,” he said.

“With the amount of content that goes up every minute, there’s just no way humans can put eyes on everything, so they rely increasingly on algorithms and AI for the first round of filtration.”

Facebook responded to The National Post’s inquiries with the following, explaining that when those ads are found they are taken down: “We prohibit content—both in ads and in organic content—that promotes the buying and selling of pharmaceutical and non-medical drugs, and remove it whenever we find it,” the statement reads. “We’ll continue to improve in this area in our ongoing efforts to keep our platforms safe.”

Experts wonder if the decline in online advertising is playing a role and if Meta can’t spend enough on moderation. 

“We’ve seen a lot of major players cut back in the money they’re spending,” Caraway said.

“But Facebook needs that [money]—so if Chrysler or BMW leave, then they have no choice but to take on Jimmy-Bob’s Cannabis Store. Their business model is literally 98-per-cent advertising funded, so they don’t have any wiggle room.”

A History of Censorship

Facebook and Instagram are known for targeting cannabis-related accounts in various waves, taking steps to cut back on illegal drug content. In October of 2018, Facebook placed a pause on cannabis searches. The site justified the ban saying users were selling marijuana products through the social network. Soon, the ban would be lifted

The platforms Facebook and Instagram will close an advertising loophole, joining other tech companies amid the “great vape scare” that took place in 2019. In 2019, an Instagram spokesperson said that Facebook and Instagram will start removing posts that promote vaping, tobacco, or weapons.

Companies that make totally harmless products—such as organic soap and care products manufacturer Dr. Bronner’s—reported posts and ads getting taken down. Dr. Bronner’s experienced similar issues with its boosted posts back in June 2017. 

The company received this response from Facebook after some of its ads were inexplicitly taken down: “This ad isn’t running because it doesn’t follow our Advertising Policies. We don’t allow ads that promote prescription or recreational drugs. Ads like these are sensitive in nature and are usually contrary to local laws, rules or regulations. Please keep in mind that advocacy or awareness ads are allowed…”

Eight Tulsa, Oklahoma-based medical cannabis businesses said that the platform was subjectively censoring their Facebook pages.

A group of cannabis businesses said they have been negatively affected by social media bans, and they are no longer taking the alleged discrimination lying down. Led by the Ye Olde Apothecary Shoppe, eight dispensaries have announced that they are suing Facebook executives over what they call “a pattern of targeting the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry.”

Efforts are being made to control drug ads on social media, particularly in Canada. In Canada, a new online harms bill includes content guidelines for social media platforms and enforcement frameworks meant to hold the tech companies accountable. In newer legislation,  Meta itself would be penalized if it let illegal drug ads stay up.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called on social media companies and popular websites including Google and Yelp to stop running listings for unlicensed cannabis retailers. At a press conference, the governor appeared with licensed dispensary owners, who face stiff competition from the multitude of unlicensed weed retailers in New York City, to call attention to the situation.

“If you type in ‘cannabis dispensaries’ in Google Maps or Yelp, you’ll get a long list of unlicensed illegal vendors,” Hochul said at the press conference on Wednesday.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, with the state’s first licensed adult-use cannabis retailer opening in the waning days of 2022. But the pace of opening licensed pot retailers in New York has been slow, with regulators citing the complexity of the application and approval process and difficulties securing and renovating appropriate storefronts as some of the causes for the delay. To date, less than 70 licensed weed shops have opened statewide.

The pace of opening newly licensed shops was also hindered by several court cases challenging the state’s process for awarding the first licenses for pot retailers, which were reserved for individuals with prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses. Several injunctions have stalled the awarding of new licenses, although recent settlements have resulted in the opening of 50 additional licensed weed retailers since December, including at least 30 new shops this week.

Efforts To Shutter Unlicensed Weed Shops Unsuccessful

Meanwhile, the number of unlicensed retailers in New York, particularly the Big Apple, has exploded. Estimates by city officials place the number of unlicensed pot shops in New York City at at least 1,300, perhaps as many as 2,000. There are more than 400 such retailers in Manhattan alone, according to a report from The New York Times.

At the press conference on Wednesday, Hochul said that unlicensed shops are a public health risk and a threat to the state’s efforts to create opportunities in the regulated cannabis industry for those harmed by decades of marijuana prohibition. The governor also acknowledged that efforts to close down the unlicensed shops with raids and fines have been too limited and so far have been unsuccessful.

“More and more cash keeps going in their doors and not the doors of our legitimate operators — and that’s what needs to change,” Hochul said.

Hochul has a proposal pending before state lawmakers that would make it easier for the state Office of Cannabis Management to obtain orders to padlock unlicensed cannabis businesses. The orders would also be enforceable by local agencies with more personnel available to execute them. 

While the proliferation of unlicensed pot retailers in New York continues, Hochul on Wednesday asked social media and tech companies “to not be posting the sites that are illegal and ensure that they’re posting the legal shops.”

The sheer number of unlicensed cannabis shops appearing on websites and social media makes reaching new customers difficult for licensed operators, who face restrictions on how they can promote their businesses. Osbert Orduña has two licensed cannabis shops, one in the New York City borough of Queens and the other in New Jersey. 

Orduña said that Google Maps has repeatedly removed listings for his shops. He has not run into any trouble with Yelp, although he said he agrees with Hochul and would like to see the website delist unlicensed retailers.

“Four times, Google has taken us down off of their platform for ‘violating their terms of service.’ We’ve done nothing other than have our store hours and our basic business information listed,” he said.

Tech Companies React

In a statement, consumer reviews website Yelp said that “consumers have a First Amendment right to read and write about all businesses, even if unlicensed,” according to a report from the Associated Press.

“Allowing users to contribute and see information … about unlicensed businesses serves the public interest and provides a resource for regulators to determine whether any particular business has appropriate licenses,” the statement read.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has previously said in a statement that its social media sites “prohibit content in both ads and organic pages that promotes the buying and selling of drugs including marijuana,” ABC 7 New York reported on Wednesday.

Google also responded to Hochul’s call to eliminate listings for unlicensed cannabis retailers, saying the company bans weed ads in New York and would remove listings for unlicensed shops once they have been closed by regulators.

“If we can confirm that a business has closed for any reason – including license issues – we’ll reflect that it’s closed in the listing,” the statement reads. “We also prohibit cannabis ads in New York and remove them upon detection, often before they ever run.”

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Snoop Dogg is once again stirring up a grand debate due to his unapologetic and unwavering love of the herb—no matter who’s around. There’s absolutely nothing atypical of Snoop smoking a blunt in the studio, but people are concerned that his grandkids were in the room. 

Snoop Dogg posted an Instagram video on Wednesday, Feb. 21 smoking a blunt in a recording studio, but it outraged some commenters because two of his granddaughters were in the room as he smoked.

HipHopDX first reported the incident that led to the comments section going wild. It sparked up a huge debate: Should parents—and grandparents, for that matter—be allowed to smoke in the presence of a child? And how close is too close?

“The West Coast rap legend posted a clip on Instagram on Wednesday of himself in a recording studio surrounded by his granddaughters as he smoked a blunt,” HipHopDX reports. “The video was widely condemned in the comments section, with Snoop being criticized for smoking the drug around infant children.”

The video was widely condemned in the comments section, with Snoop being criticized for smoking the drug around infant children. Parenting and cannabis is always a controversial topic.

“Nobody and I do mean NOBODY smoking around my babies,” one commenter wrote. Another wrote, “Like Seriously … Is there a blunt in his hand in front of the grand babies? Come man, damn.”

“Burning with the kids????” another commenter asked.

But other commenters said it’s better than smoking tobacco in front of kids, or in a car. “Y’all talkin bout smokin weed around kids??” one commenter posted in response. “Half of u smokin Marlboro with the soccer kids in the back of the minivan.”

Snoop Dogg and Controversy Over Smoking

Last November, Snoop Dogg announced that he’s quitting “smoking” in a post that went viral, but it turned out to be a hugely successful stunt.

But after all that, some X users pointed out some unusual details, and it turns out that the “smoke” Snoop was actually giving up was smoke stoves, and he’s behind the Solo Stove, the “world’s most popular smokeless fire pit.” Solo Stove shareholders were not amused, for not producing revenue, however, and it allegedly led to a CEO change.

Snoop pissed off Piers Morgan and drew the wrath of English soccer fans over a pro-weed meme in 2019. He faced online backlash for a social media post designed to highlight the disparate dangers between cannabis and alcohol. Pot advocates have long touted that cannabis is safer than booze and other drugs, of course, but Snoop ran afoul by using a legendary but troubled former English soccer player to illustrate that comparison.

The meme he posted showed four photos: two of Snoop and two of Paul Gascogine, a decorated soccer player who starred for the England national team and clubs like Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur in the 1980s and 1990s. 

The two photos of Gascogine, placed under a caption that read “Alcohol Abuse,” show him at age 20 and 47 with clear signs of physical deterioration evident. Under the caption “Marijuana Abuse,” the pair of photos of Snoop at the same two ages with no major differences in his appearance. 

Gascoigne’s life has been equally turbulent off the field. He entered therapy in the late 1990s, while still a player, to treat his alcoholism—the first of several stints in treatment. He has struggled to maintain his sobriety since then. 

Wiz Khalifa Agrees That Kids Know

Wiz Khalifa, a frequent collaborator with Snoop, isn’t exactly hiding the fact that he’s smoking weed, in a similar fashion.

On the podcast Call Her Daddy last January, Wiz Khalifa explained that he’s chill with going to the parent-teacher conference stoned. Since smoking weed is an all-day, every day activity for the rapper, the host asked Wiz specifically if he is stoned during parent-teacher conferences.

“Hell yeah, I’m pulling up stoned. They expect it,” Wiz told Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper. “They know what’s up. It’s not like back in the day, where you’re considered a bad parent if you smell like weed.”

Wiz explained that he’d rather have his son see his true self, and that he’s not pretending to be anyone else. “They’re not going to get a fake version of me or this made-up parent that society makes you think that you’re supposed to be. I am who I am, and it’s not because I’m a celebrity or anything.”

But hiding who he really is, just to adhere to what others expect a parent is supposed to be like? “That’s not how I’m going to be living my life ever. Hell no,” Wiz said.

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Meta Platforms Inc., aka Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant behind social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, has chosen to ignore advice from its ethics watchdog regarding how the platform manages posts connected to psychedelics.

The drama dates back to a 2022 “paid partner” post that promoted a ketamine treatment as a “medicine” and a “magical entry into another dimension,” Bloomberg reports. The post yo-yoed on the platform, like a law implemented, then overturned, then reinstated, depending on which party is in the White House. 

Ketamine, discovered in 1956 and approved in 1970, is a dissociative anesthetic with psychedelic traits. It first became famous in battlefield settings like Vietnam for its ability to maintain stable blood flow, gaining a reputation as a safer anesthetic than opioids and being listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. Besides being an alternative to opiates, recent studies highlight its potential for treating depression, PTSD, and other mental health conditions, making it the only legal psychedelic medicine at the federal level. While it can certainly help transform someone’s life, the drama boils down to whether it’s a good idea to promote it as a medicine that could provide a magical entry into another dimension. Is that just a nice way to describe a medically induced k-hole, or is it irresponsible for IG to allow it to be posted?

Fast forward to August of 2023, and Meta’s Oversight Board didn’t just overturn Meta’s decision to keep the post alive, but also used it as a jumping off point for more sweeping recommendations. The board expressed concerns over what they termed “inconsistently enforced” guidelines about the selling or promoting of substances that sit in the gray areas of legal medicine and recreational fun, such as ketamine, which doctors prescribe off-label for depression and other mental health conditions.  

However, despite members of the psychedelics community believing that Meta is far too strict, censoring content, they responded to the board’s recommendation with resistance. While they agreed to the board’s suggestions regarding clarifying “paid partnerships,” they chose to ignore the stricter guidance on users posting about ketamine and other psychedelic medicines.

Regarding the audit that the board’s been championing, Meta used the tried-and-tried technique of procrastination. They responded that they would “assess the feasibility” in 2024, responding that their current “machine-learning automation” already does a good job at flagging potentially dangerous content in violation with their boundaries.

Meta’s surprising but welcome (for the psychedelics community) decision came after input from about 15 different parties, including Mindbloom, the telehealth company that prescribes ketamine at-home. Mindbloom has been lobbying for Meta to chill and allow posts containing psychedelic content. But the board isn’t happy.

“The board is concerned about inconsistent enforcement of Meta’s policies with regards to pharmaceutical and non-medical drugs,” Dan Chaison, an Oversight Board spokesperson, said in an email, writes Bloomberg. “It stands by its recommendation that Meta should clarify the policy language around content that admits to using or promoting pharmaceutical drugs. The board will closely monitor Meta’s progress toward the recommendations from this case.”

The standing policy permits content that “admits to using or promotes the use of pharmaceutical drugs,” even if it might induce a “high,” provided it’s framed within a “supervised medical setting.” The board emphasized the need for Meta to be clearer about what this setting entails.

In the past, the Oversight Board, funded by Meta, has tackled topics such as COVID-19 misinformation. But Meta isn’t bound to follow its recommendations, and perhaps felt that sharing information, even magical, about ketamine, is different than allowing people to promote faux remedies for a potentially fatal illness such as COVID-19. Companies such as Mindbloom would have lost out on opportunities to promote their mail-order ketamine services. Michael Petegorsky, Mindbloom’s General Counsel, expressed, “This decision is a big win for people who use ketamine therapy and other psychedelic medicines.” He believes it paves the way for individuals to “speak freely about these emerging mental-health treatments using their own words, and without revealing private health information.

However, playing devil’s advocate, as the research behind ketamine’s use for depression is still rolling in, there are those who would make the case that posts calling ketamine magical for depression, which is also a deadly disease, is also irresponsible. Ketamine’s side effects vary based on factors like dosage and how it’s taken. Generally speaking, users might experience feelings of being out of their body, dizziness, altered perceptions, and euphoria (which is usually welcome). Nausea and vomiting are among the most reported negative side effects. While overdosing on ketamine is rare, people must be careful to avoid activities like driving post-intake. Notable, excessive consumption can lead to bladder, urinary, and kidney issues. Responsible providers will share all of this information with patients before they begin treatment, but as it exists in a legal gray area, and considering that not all medical providers have their patient’s best interest at heart, deciding how and where ketamine should be promoted as a treatment for depression and other mental health conditions is sure to be a continued hot topic not just for Meta, but for the psychedelic community. 

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