Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we have updates on two stories from last week: the hemp loophole in the Farm Bill and the legalization legislation in New Hampshire. We also see Delaware making changes to its medical marijuana rules. There are a couple of interesting pieces of analysis we’ll point out: a look at some of the comments on cannabis rescheduling, and an interview with Natalie Fertig of Politico. And finally, we note that Willie Nelson has a cookbook – no points for guessing the main ingredient in ..read more

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we see the official publication of the DEA’s rescheduling rule. If you’d like to offer your thoughts to the regulators, you can do that. Congress is busy dealing with the farm bill, which includes some hemp provisions. A legalization bill is progressing in the New Hampshire legislature. And finally, what exactly is growing amongst the tulips at the Wisconsin state capitol? PROPOSED RULE ON RESCHEDULING This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officially published ..read more

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, there’s been a lot of activity in New York as regards cannabis regulation. New Hampshire’s Senate has taken up a cannabis legalization bill. Minnesota’s Legal Marijuana Now party is no longer a major party in the state. Ohio could start adult-use sales this summer. And finally, Steven Van Zandt has launched a marijuana brand. NEW YORK When New York legalized adult-use cannabis, many in the industry thought the state would become a major market, with many dispensaries and lots ..read more

Employees at a Cresco Labs cannabis cultivation facility in Massachusetts recently made an unexpected and significant decision: they chose to say goodbye to their union membership just shy of their first contract’s expiration in June 2024. Back in November 2020, the gardeners, shift leads, and other agricultural workers at Cresco’s Fall River facility joined the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328. But fast forward to April 2024, and the tables have turned. Out of twenty unionized employees, eighteen decided they were better off without the union and chose decertification inste ..read more

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we see Senate Democrats introduce a bill to legalize cannabis at the federal level. Florida Republicans, on the other hand, are opposing the state legalization initiative on the November ballot. Speaking of ballots, South Dakota legalization advocates are trying (yet again) to put an initiative on their ballot. As we predicted, there’s already talk of a lawsuit to prevent cannabis re-scheduling. And finally, Minnesota’s first “cannabakery” is open in Minneapolis. FEDERAL LEGA ..read more

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. In what’s probably the biggest news in cannabis since Canada legalized, the Drug Enforcement Administration has decided to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. But that’s not all! Kansas will not be legalizing medical marijuana. New Mexico’s governor is less than delighted with the federal government. A North Dakota ballot initiative has been cleared for signature gathering. And finally, there’s a display of bongs in a San Francisco art museum. DEA RESCHEDULING As you’ve doubt ..read more

Cannabis would move to Schedule III from Schedule I under this reclassification. In a move long awaited by the cannabis industry, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has decided to re-schedule cannabis. Currently classified under Schedule I, along with heroin, cannabis would now move to Schedule III, along with ketamine and anabolic steroids. This would not legalize cannabis for adult-use; rules and regulations would still apply, and there would be criminal prosecution of those who deal in cannabis without a license. Re-scheduling, although much closer than it was yesterday, is still a w ..read more

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we check in on the New York dispensary situation. We see that Kentucky has set up a lottery to distribute medical marijuana licenses. We note Rep. Blumenauer’s prediction about cannabis re-scheduling. And finally, you know a holiday has hit the big time when it’s been commercialized by big business. NEW YORK As regular readers know, New York’s cannabis rollout has been a bit bumpy. There are very few licensed dispensaries and innumerable unlicensed ones. This has been frustra ..read more

As many states continue to ease regulations and the Food and Drug Administration considers moving cannabis to Schedule III, commercial real estate is increasingly buzzed with interest in properties for use by cannabis businesses, from agricultural land and warehouses to retail spaces. Despite this seemingly abundant opportunity, investors currently find themselves navigating the still murky waters of federal illegality. The Blunt Truth’s Stan Jutkowitz joins James O’Brien and Eric Greenberg on The Property LineTM Podcast to discuss the cannabis industry landscape, hurdles faced when securing a ..read more

In a recent legal development that underscores the intricate interplay between federal bankruptcy law and the cannabis industry, a court case has emerged involving a bankruptcy filing by an employee of a cannabis company. It’s well established that, because cannabis is generally considered a controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), certain cannabis related companies are precluded from obtaining debt relief through bankruptcy. Now individuals employed by cannabis companies might find themselves in the same boat. In Blumsack v. Harrington, 2024 Bankr. LEXIS 560* (M ..read more