Good morning!

I count five dispensaries within a couple miles of the Trumpet’s offices in semirural north Edmond, Oklahoma. Five. This is not a highly populated area. How do they all stay in business?

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In 2018, legalization made Oklahoma one of the country’s most permissive states for “medical” marijuana. Officials promised voters this would help patients and stimulate economic growth. Instead, it made the state a magnet for large-scale criminal networks, including sophisticated Chinese organized crime groups. The Trumpet wrote about this a couple years ago. A recent Epoch Times report recalled it to memory.

The state is a cautionary tale of the dangerous unintended consequences of bad decisions. The question is, will we learn?

Besides having the embarrassing distinction of being the dispensary capital of the U.S., “Toklahoma” has attracted criminals who supply black market drug sales across the country, as well as human trafficking, violence and other problems law enforcement can’t keep up with.

When the law was first passed, Oklahoma imposed few barriers to entering the marijuana market. Criminal groups exploited this environment to establish industrial-scale operations, and Chinese organized crime networks, some operating through shell companies and proxy owners, dominated.

Federal court cases reveal the scale of the activity. In one prosecution, Chinese nationals were convicted of trafficking tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana grown under Oklahoma medical licenses and shipped across state lines. They used concealed transportation methods, false business fronts and coordinated logistics typical of transnational criminal groups.

Law enforcement officials also report widespread violence tied to the marijuana trade: armed robberies, kidnappings and homicides, including execution-style killings tied to disputes over drugs, money or territory. Rural counties, often unprepared for organized crime, became hotspots for these operations, as the 2022 quadruple murder in Kingfisher County tragically showed.

Authorities also point to evidence of human trafficking and forced labor. Workers, many of them undocumented immigrants, were and likely are housed in poor conditions, worked long hours, and isolated at grow sites. Some have been threatened or coerced to prevent them from leaving or contacting authorities.

By 2022 and 2023, Oklahoma began tightening regulations, canceling licenses and increasing inspections. But enforcement has struggled to keep pace with the sheer number of illegal operations established during the program’s early years. The state is struggling to get this horse back into the barn.

There was plenty of evidence in 2018 that legalizing marijuana is a bad idea—even that “medical” marijuana had serious downsides. State officials ignored it and prioritized the money they could make over the lives they would ruin. Shortsighted voters welcomed the trouble. Bad actors pounced.

Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 pose a crucial challenge: Will you heed evidence of dangers in your life, foresee the evil, and avoid it? Or walk right into it and be punished?

Is brics becoming a security alliance? Several nations of the brics grouping held joint naval drills off South Africa’s coast from January 9-16, raising questions about whether the bloc could be edging toward a military alliance.

• In recent years, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates have joined brics (named after its first five member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
• The drills included naval forces from China, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the U.A.E.

Since its founding in 2009, brics has struggled to build unity and failed to produce any workable economic mechanism, much less a defense pact. “Will for Peace 2026” could be an important step toward cohesion and military significance.

“It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together,” South Africa’s joint task force commander, Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, said at the opening ceremony. “In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation such as this is not an option, it is essential.”

South China Morning Post’s Maria Siow said the maneuvers may be a “gradual effort to normalize military cooperation within the brics framework, testing whether the bloc can expand its influence into the security realm without officially formalizing itself as an alliance.”

Strategic affairs analyst Shruti Pandalai said China sees the drills as a method of “normalizing military cooperation” within the brics framework.

Biblical prophecy says a gargantuan economic alliance will soon emerge and block America and some of its allies out of global trade. brics’s apparent ambition to transition into a military bloc is one of many developments today showing the eagerness of many nations to work against American power, and it could help lay the groundwork for this prophesied alliance. Read “Building Toward a World Catastrophe,” by Gerald Flurry.

Anti-ICE mob disrupts Minnesota church: On Sunday, protesters stormed a Baptist church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where one of the pastors is the acting field director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in St. Paul. The alarming incident is one of several recent signals of how tension over immigration in America is reaching a breaking point.

• Video posted online by Black Lives Matter Minnesota shows protesters entering Cities Church. The pastor the protesters were looking for, David Easterwood, was not there, so the protesters confronted another pastor, saying, “How dare you claim to be a pastor of God, and you are involved in evil in our community.”
• The Department of Justice announced an investigation, calling the protesters’ actions “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers.”

The 2024 Republican Party platform promised to “seal the border,” “stop the migrant invasion,” and “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.” After the Biden administration allowed 10 million additional illegal immigrants to cross into the United States, carrying out this deportation promise is a herculean task, especially as many leftists actively oppose it.

• President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, and the U.S. Army has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers from its 11th Airborne Division in Alaska to prepare for possible deployment to Minnesota.

The Bible prophesies that violence and insurrection in America will get worse as the remaining moral constraints loosen and trade wars intensify. In “The Real Agenda Behind Black Lives Matter,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

Even those who see there is a real problem in America today don’t recognize its full extent. There is an evil spiritual force that seeks to destroy America. That spirit is working in these young people to fulfill that goal. A great evil spirit is leading these young people to destruction and leading them to accelerate this nation’s death! People are surrendering to this hateful, evil thinking. It is terribly racist—but it is even worse: It is aligned with satanic will. That is what is truly happening here!

IN OTHER NEWS

Japan calls snap election: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced yesterday that she will dissolve parliament on Friday, clearing the way for a snap election on February 8 that will likely convert her strong public approval into gains for her Liberal Democratic Party. Takaichi’s government has sustained popularity ratings of around 70 percent ever since she became Japan’s first female prime minister in October. If her election bid is successful, the ldp’s single-party majority that was lost under her predecessor will be restored. With a reclaimed majority, Takaichi would have the leverage needed to hasten Japan’s already-brisk remilitarization. “I am putting my future as prime minister on the line,” she told reporters. “I want the people to decide directly whether they can entrust the management of the country to me.”

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev resigned today, highlighting the nation’s political deadlock. The legislature, which is constitutionally scheduled for one election every four years, is now heading for its fifth snap election in less than four years. Radev’s announcement fuels speculation that he will run in the coming election, perhaps by forming a new political party. “A battle for the future of the fatherland lies ahead,” Radev said. “We are ready; we can and we will succeed.” Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 and adopted the euro on January 1 of this year. The country is located on the Balkan Peninsula, an area of great strategic importance to Germany. While Bulgaria’s political future remains uncertain, watch Germany’s efforts to intervene in its politics and expand its geopolitical control in this crucial strategic area.

German military largest in 12 years: At the end of 2025, 184,200 military personnel were serving in the active ranks of the German Armed Forces, an increase of about 3,000 soldiers. The Defense Ministry reported this week that the number of volunteer military service members also rose last year to 12,200, up from 10,300 in 2024. Germany plans to increase its active-duty force to 260,000 by the mid-2030s; however, current recruitment numbers are far too small to achieve this goal. As demands on the military increase, the government is considering more aggressive recruitment measures. Bible prophecy reveals that these will dramatically transform Germany.

German military might buy civilian airport: The German Air Force is considering acquiring the Rostock-Laage airport for its Tactical Air Force Wing 73 “Steinhoff” air base. Over the last year, Germany has repurposed much civilian industry for military production. This is part of a bigger trend, as Mr. Flurry explained in “Germany is Arming for World War III.”

Guatemala is under siege: On Sunday, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo declared a state of siege because of gang-related violence. On Saturday, inmates held 46 prison guards hostage, likely to secure better accommodations for the imprisoned leaders of the Barrio 18 gang. The guards were freed using force, but then seven police officers were murdered throughout the nation’s capital. The state of siege, similar to martial law, gives the government increased powers to abridge certain rights temporarily. Guatemala is the latest South American country to crack down on gangs. Last week, Costa Rica built a new prison for gang members, and the government of El Salvador has taken drastic actions to try to combat the power of the gangs and cartels. But the only solution to out-of-control violent crime is to address the root causes.

Last British warship leaves the Middle East: Iran is engulfed in protests that could finally overturn the Iranian Revolution. President Trump’s Board of Peace promises to rewrite the rules for the entire Middle East. And Britain’s Royal Navy is nowhere to be seen. The minesweeper hms Middleton, Britain’s only vessel in the region, is now set to return home. Former First Sea Lord Adm. Lord Alan West warned that Britain’s absence from the Persian Gulf “is a terrible error.” It is the latest in a series of humiliations for the Royal Navy. Britain’s poor decision-making, lack of will and the curses hitting the nation are leaving it vulnerable.

Britain approves construction of a new Chinese “super-embassy”: This comes despite warnings from the Trump administration and others about the obvious problems with China building its largest diplomatic complex in Europe, including extensive underground construction, directly above and near fiber-optic cables that carry much of London’s sensitive financial information. White House sources said the administration is “deeply concerned” about the plans. This morning, President Trump also condemned Britain’s decision to hand the Diego Garcia military base to China’s ally, Mauritius, as “an act of great stupidity” and an “act of total weakness.” Britain, like Canada, is drawing dangerously close to China, even at the expense of its relationship with the U.S. and the obvious dangers to its own security. It is high time the West woke up to the threat from China.

Israel destroys UN Palestinian agency HQ in Jerusalem: Israel began demolishing the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (unrwa) in Jerusalem. Israel banned the organization’s activities within Israel in 2024 due to its well-documented complicity in helping Hamas attack Israel and evicted all employees of its Jerusalem headquarters earlier this month. Yet the world still frames unrwa’s work in the Holy Land as kind-hearted humanitarianism facing an evil Israeli occupation. Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner general, called this “an unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises.” This bluster surrounding the demolition is the latest example of the UN’s thorough hypocrisy.