Policy & Compliance
Josh Turek Calls for Legal, Taxed Cannabis in Iowa’s U.S. Senate Race
His opponent, Ashley Hinson, voted against federal legalization but backed banking reform. As Iowa expands its medical program, the race reveals three different paths for cannabis businesses, and no single promise that delivers them all.
Nebraska Cannabis Wins 7-0 in Court. The Next Bottleneck Is a License
Crista Eggers’s campaign survived the signature challenge to both medical cannabis laws. But proposed fees remain unfinished, current licenses renew every six months, and the September 14 commission meeting is a regulatory milestone, not a promised opening day.
Georgia Wants USPS to Deliver Medical Cannabis. The Postal Service's Rulebook Has a Catch
Regulators say April's Schedule III order lets the state's 18 dispensaries ship to 45,000 patients by certified mail, with a vote set for Sept. 30. But USPS Publication 52 still requires a DEA registrant on both ends of a controlled-substance package, and a 2021 rule bars vapes from the mail entirely.
A $5,000-a-Day Meter and a Federal Judge: New Jersey's Cannabis Union Mandate Falls
Judge Michael Shipp's Aug. 10 final judgment says the NLRA bars New Jersey from forcing licensees like Curaleaf to sign labor peace agreements. The state appealed within three days, Verano is already suing to void its own UFCW deal, and the Ninth Circuit holds the tiebreaker.
Hemp THC Was Banned in a Shutdown Deal. Its $28 Billion Reprieve Is Riding on the Next One.
The Senate's stopgap bill would push the federal hemp ban from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, a 29-day stay shaped by a Kentucky senator's regrets, a White House son-in-law, and 35 attorneys general demanding the law land on time.
Texas Tightens Hemp Restrictions as Trulieve and Green Thumb Get Conditional Medical Licenses
Restrictions on delta-8 and other covered THC products take effect July 31, while qualifying delta-9 hemp products remain permitted. Senator Charles Perry has promised a total-ban bill for January 2027, and Texas has expanded its medical program from three dispensing licenses to fifteen, with the twelve new awards still conditional.
Nine People Weighed In. Then Wyoming Told the Trump Administration No on Cannabis.
Attorney General Keith Kautz, a 72-year-old retired state supreme court justice, used a 30-day trigger statute, one sparsely attended hearing and a final decision to keep marijuana on Wyoming's Schedule I despite federal medical-cannabis rescheduling. A South Carolina senator read a similar alignment law and argued it legalized medical marijuana there.
122 Signatures Stand Between Massachusetts and the First Repeal of a Legal Cannabis Market
The prohibitionists' petition cleared its last threshold on July 9 by the thinnest margin in memory, and a Dorchester cannabis advocate had already filed to disqualify exactly that many names. The state's $1.65 billion adult-use market now rides on a commission ruling and a November 3 vote.
Legal to Grow, Illegal to Buy: Spanberger's Veto Keeps Virginia's $780M Market Dark
Abigail Spanberger campaigned on a promise to sign adult-use legislation. On May 19 she vetoed it instead, siding against sponsors in her own party and pushing legal sales to 2027 at the earliest, leaving five medical operators holding the only legal storefronts and equity applicants back in limbo.
Three Republican AGs Sued Trump's DOJ to Undo Rescheduling. Operators' 280E Relief Is the Collateral.
Indiana, Nebraska, and Louisiana filed a 15-page petition in the D.C. Circuit on May 22 to vacate the Schedule III order their own party's Justice Department signed in April. If they win, the tax relief that just turned medical operators profitable disappears, and the June 29 DEA hearing happens under a cloud.
Nearly 400 Cannabis Operators Have Filed With the DEA. The Window Closes June 26.
Trulieve, Verano, Green Thumb, and Glass House Brands moved fast after the April 23 rescheduling. Operators who miss the 60-day expedited window lose the right to keep selling while the DEA reviews their applications.