From the web

Nevada Lawmakers Consider Marijuana Tax Overhaul For ‘Maturing’ Market As Prices Fall

Leave a comment

“We are getting rid of one big tax—a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale—and increasing retail tax anywhere from 2 to 5 percent.”

By April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current

Nevada lawmakers are pondering whether the state’s “maturing” marijuana industry needs to update its tax structure.

Revenue from the state’s cannabis excise tax, which flows into the State Education Fund, peaked in 2021 and declined 40 percent by 2025. The decline is “in part due to price compression attributed to a maturing market,” according to a new report by a committee tasked with reviewing potential tax changes.

After an initial rush of a new market in 2017 when the state legalized cannabis, the industry has leveled off to more sustainable numbers. Customers and transactions have increased, and the price of cannabis has continued falling, signs the industry is maturing.

For example, the retail price of flowers/buds in Nevada went from $9.02 per gram in 2019 to $4.46 in 2025, a 50 percent drop. Similarly, infused edibles went from $19.77 per item to $11.81 over that same time span, a 40 percent drop.

“Overall the annual price trends indicate that Nevada’s cannabis market became less expensive for many of the product categories analyzed,” said Erica Scott, an economist in the Nevada Department of Taxation and chair of the subcommittee that put the report together. “This price compression could be reflective of a combination of factors, which could include market maturation, increased competition, production efficiencies, technological advancements or greater availability of lower priced products, which in this market would be illicit products and intoxicating hemp.”

The State of Nevada since legalizing marijuana in 2017 has collected a 15 percent tax on the fair market value of wholesale cannabis and a 10 percent excise tax on the retail sale of recreational cannabis. Additionally, the retail sale is subject to standard state and local sales taxes, which vary from 6.85 percent to 8.375 percent.

The formula the state uses to calculate “fair market value” has been the subject of consternation among cultivators, who have argued the metric has lagged as prices quickly fall, resulting in them being heavily overtaxed. One proposed solution, pitched most recently by Assemblywoman Danielle Gallant (R-Henderson) during the 2025 Legislative Session, was to eliminate the current wholesale tax and increase the retail excise tax to offset the lost revenue.

Gallant’s bill never advanced out of committee but language to study such a proposal was amended into another cannabis bill. That bill created the subcommittee, which presented its final report to the Interim Legislative Committee on Revenue last week.

The report, which emphasized that it was only studying impact and not recommending any specific changes, found the state would need to increase the retail tax to between 12 percent and 15 percent in order to offset the eliminated wholesale tax.

Additionally, the state would need to address the impact on local governments, regulatory operations and the State Education Fund, which all currently receive distributions from the wholesale cannabis tax.

So what could this mean for consumers?

Recreational consumers are currently paying a combined retail tax rate around 18 percent. The tax paid by wholesalers is passed along to consumers as part of the retail price.

Under the proposed restructuring, consumers would be paying a 23 percent combined retail sales tax rate in Clark County, the county with the highest local sales tax rate. In other counties, it’d be a little less.

Medical card holders are exempt from the state retail excise tax, meaning their prices would likely not change in the short term.

Scott explained that the “assumption is cultivators would not be dropping the price immediately and instead maintaining the previously paid 15 percent [wholesale] tax as profit.”

But Scott and leaders from the state’s Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) added that industry representatives believe wholesale prices would drop in the long term.

“We are getting rid of one big tax—a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale—and increasing retail tax anywhere from 2 to 5 percent,” said CCB Executive Director Michael Miles. It’s “not guaranteed it’s going to even out, but the idea is that it should even out.”

Miles noted that Nevada is actually considered “average or below average” when it comes to its taxation rates of cannabis across the country.

The revenue committee took no action on the study but may revisit the issue next year when it meets for the 2027 Legislative Session. Several lawmakers flagged additional data or information they wanted on consumer behavior or the impact other states have seen from raising the retail excise tax. One suggested the proposed changes would be more transparent to customers.

The cannabis subcommittee also explored the emerging “intoxicating hemp” market, which popped up out of a loophole in the federal Farm Bill in 2018 that allowed for the sale of edibles and drinks containing THC. Such products can now be found in smoke shops and gas stations.

The cannabis subcommittee estimated Nevada’s intoxicating hemp market to be about $45 million annually but emphasized that local and national data is scant.

Clark County earlier this year attempted to crack down on unregulated, intoxicating hemp products. But it remains an ongoing issue, Miles acknowledged.

The future of the industry is “rife with uncertainty.”

But, assuming it sticks around, the state should aim for tax parity between intoxicating hemp products and cannabis products, the subcommittee recommended.

This story was first published by Nevada Current.

The post Nevada Lawmakers Consider Marijuana Tax Overhaul For ‘Maturing’ Market As Prices Fall appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

From the web

New York Governor Celebrates $4 Billion In Legal Marijuana Sales Since Market’s Launch

Leave a comment

The governor of New York is celebrating the state’s crossing the $4 billion mark in legal marijuana sales since the launch of the regulated market.

“When New York legalized adult-use cannabis, we made a promise to build an industry that is safe, fair and creates real opportunity for the communities hit hardest by decades of failed drug policies,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a press release on Tuesday. “Topping $4 billion in sales shows that promise is a reality.”

“Hundreds of licensed dispensaries are now open across the state, most licenses have gone to equity entrepreneurs, and cannabis revenue is going back to communities that need it most,” the governor said. “We will keep shutting down illegal shops, stand up for small businesses that play by the rules and ensure this industry continues on a path of growth and equity.”

Officials with the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) first announced that the state had reached the $4 billion milestone for legal marijuana sales earlier this month.

The $4.1 billion worth of adult-use marijuana products since sales began in late 2022 includes almost $1.5 billion so far in 2026 alone.

Third quarter sales reached $512.6 million, bringing the total for this year to date to $1.41 billion.

“Reaching $4.1 billion in cannabis sales is an extraordinary milestone for New York, but the real story is the people and businesses behind that number,” John Kagia, executive director of OCM, said on Tuesday. “From the advocates and lawmakers who made this market possible, to the entrepreneurs who have built New York’s legal cannabis supply chain from the ground up, and the workers who show up every day to keep the industry’s engine running—this achievement belongs to them.

“What we are seeing today is the result of their resilience, innovation and belief in what New York’s legal cannabis market could become,” he said. “Our responsibility now is to build on that momentum and help create the conditions for these businesses and this industry to thrive for years to come.”

Cannabis Control Board (CCB) Chair Jessica Garcia added that “New York set out to build a cannabis market where opportunity is shared, equity is meaningful, and businesses have a real chance to succeed.”

“Today, we are seeing that vision take shape across the state,” she said. “This milestone reflects tremendous progress, but it also raises the bar for what comes next. The measure of this market’s success will continue to be not only how much it grows, but whether that growth creates a lasting opportunity for the New Yorkers this market was designed to serve.”

Separately, Hochul recently signed legislation clarifying that marijuana microbusinesses can fully participate in cannabis farmers’ markets and pop-up events.

In May, OCM began accepting applications from licensed dispensaries that want to host temporary cannabis farmers’ markets and pop-up events.

The launch of applications this year followed the enactment of earlier legislation signed by Hochul last year that built on an existing showcase program that was first created in 2023. The state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) adopted regulations for the events program that is now rolling out last May.

In March, the governor marked the five-year anniversary of adult-use marijuana legalization in New York, highlighting $3.3 billion in retail sales at that point, the opening of more than 600 licensed cannabis shops and achievements in promoting social equity in the industry while taking steps to mitigate the illicit market.

In January, New York officials released a set of reports providing a 2025 end-of-year status update on the evolution of the state’s medical and adult-use marijuana markets—touting record sales, revenue hauls for state coffers, licensing approvals, equity initiatives and more.

The OCM annual report also notes that Hochul signed legislation into law that expands the state’s medical cannabis program by improving patient access and “updating the program framework to better meet patient needs statewide.”

Meanwhile, a coalition of New York marijuana businesses are asking the governor to veto legislation that would create a new Cannabis Wage Board charged with recommending minimum hourly wages for industry workers.

The proposal would “create significant uncertainty for operators at a time when many are finally beginning to find their footing after years of regulatory delays, capital constraints, and continued competition from the illicit market,” an action alert sent by the Cannabis Association of New York (CANY) said.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

Separately, New York senators recently approved a bill related to reciprocity for out-of-state medical marijuana patients and the availability of pre-rolled joints in the medical cannabis market—even though the state has already enacted those reforms separately.

In February, the sponsor of the bill separately introduced legislation that would allow New York liquor and wine stores to obtain a permit to sell low-dose cannabis-infused drinks at their businesses.

Also, the governor recently signed legislation into law that revises zoning requirements for licensed marijuana businesses, granting more flexibility to retailers located within certain distances of schools and places of worship.

The post New York Governor Celebrates $4 Billion In Legal Marijuana Sales Since Market’s Launch appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

From the web

Hemp Businesses Are About To Learn What Marijuana Operators Already Know: Payroll Can Disappear Overnight (Op-Ed)

Leave a comment

“When a payment processor leaves, a business loses convenience. When a payroll provider leaves, people miss paychecks, and employer liability goes through the roof.”

By Leah Kollross, Roll With Paid

Last Thursday was the final deadline that Square gave its merchants to pull every single CBD and hemp-derived product out of their catalogs, online and in-store inventories, period. As Marijuana Moment previously reported, the company pointed to the upcoming federal redefinition of hemp as the main reason, and quietly took down a page that had once marketed its services to hemp beverage and edible sellers.

Most of the coverage has focused on the products themselves. The bigger story is what Square’s notice tells us about the financial plumbing underneath them, and what comes next for the industry. Point-of-sale was the first vital piece of infrastructure to go. Payroll is where it is going to really hurt.

We’ve Seen This All Before

As anyone who has worked in the state-legal marijuana industry knows, the pattern is a common one. In 2023, the largest payroll provider still willing to serve cannabis companies at the time suspended key services for the sector. By one industry estimate, more than 1,000 plant-touching businesses were left scrambling for a replacement.

Paychex was not an outlier. Operators have described being dropped by mainstream payroll and HR providers with as little as two to four weeks’ notice—often even with no warning beforehand.

The financial mechanism is not a complicated one. Payroll runs mostly on bank transfers. Payroll companies depend on their banking partners, and when a bank’s compliance review turns up exposure to a federally controlled substance, the provider is usually told to cut it loose or the bank could lose its charter.

The client didn’t do anything wrong. Unfortunately, its industry simply showed up on someone else’s risk report.

Hemp Is About To Look Much Different To Every Compliance Department

Congress bought the hemp industry some time this fall. The continuing resolution that passed in September pushes a scheduled federal ban on naturally derived hemp THC products from November 12 to December 11, though synthetic cannabinoids remain on the original November schedule.

Whatever lawmakers do before that new deadline, risk and compliance teams at many banks and processors are not waiting to find out. Square has already decided. And it will likely not be the last.

That matters enormously in a state like Minnesota, where hemp-derived THC beverages are made by craft breweries, sold in liquor stores and poured in bars and restaurants, alongside alcohol.

Many of these employers have never thought of themselves as “cannabis-related businesses.” Their payroll providers may not have either, or even be aware—until now, that is.

A brewery whose THC seltzer is one product line among many could find its entire payroll account under review, covering every restaurant staff worker, bartender and server, not just the people who touch the hemp products. Co-packers who don’t actually produce any hemp products that they sell themselves, are now suddenly in the legal weed business, unbeknownst to them or their investors.

How Workers Will Absorb The Shock

When a payment processor leaves, a business loses convenience. When a payroll provider leaves, people miss paychecks, and employer liability goes through the roof. Tax deposits go out late. Withholding errors pile up during a rushed transition and invite exactly the kind of federal scrutiny no operator in this space wants.

For licensed businesses, timely tax payments are often a condition of keeping the license itself, putting them at immediate risk of being shut down completely.

The people least able to absorb that disruption are the hourly workers who make up most of this industry’s workforce: budtenders, production staff, beverage line workers, bartenders. They didn’t choose their employer’s banking relationships, and they shouldn’t be the ones who pay for them. But inevitably, they will.

I serve on the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Human Resources Committee, and I’ve watched operators spend enormous energy on licensing, product compliance and tax strategy while treating payroll as an afterthought, something that just works until the day it doesn’t. Hemp businesses are about to inherit that blind spot at the worst possible moment.

Payroll Is Infrastructure. Let’s Treat It That Way.

There are three things every cannabis and hemp employer should do before December 11.

First of all, ask your payroll provider directly whether it knows what you sell, and whether its banking partners do. A provider that has never asked is not a safe provider. It’s an uninformed one, and you are one audit away from finding out.

Second, and probably most importantly, understand where employer liability actually sits. Payroll software calculates checks, but you remain the employer of record and carry every statutory obligation that comes with it. An employer-of-record arrangement moves that legal employer role, and the compliance obligations attached to it, to a provider built to carry them. These are different products solving different problems, and operators should know which one they have.

Third, have a contingency plan before you need one. Two weeks is not enough time to onboard a new provider cleanly, migrate employee records and get tax filings right.

Policymakers have a role here, too. Congress has spent most of this year debating whether hemp-derived THC should be legal. Far less attention has gone to whether the businesses selling it can access basic financial services.

Proposals like the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act from Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), which would empower states and tribal governments to regulate hemp products rather than impose a blanket federal ban, point in the right direction. But any durable framework has to account for the banking and payroll access these businesses need to operate.

A product that is legal on paper but unbankable in practice is not a regulatory framework. It’s just a slower ban.

The Window Is Very Short

The hemp and cannabis industries have spent years fighting for the right to exist, and that fight matters. But legal status is only half of what a business needs to operate. The other half is the ordinary infrastructure every other employer takes for granted: a bank account, a payment processor, a payroll run that clears on Friday.

Cannabis operators learned that lesson the hard way, one terminated contract at a time. Hemp businesses have the advantage of watching it happen to someone else first. The ones that use the next few weeks to ask hard questions of their providers, understand their obligations as employers and line up a backup plan will be in a far better position than the ones that wait for the notice to arrive.

December 11 is two months away. Your payroll provider’s compliance team may not wait that long.

Leah Kollross is the founder of Roll With Paid., a Minnesota-based payroll, HR and employer-of-record company serving the cannabis and hemp industries, and of 23rd State, a Minnesota-based cannabis beverage brand. She is a member of the (NCIA) National Cannabis Industry Association’s Human Resources Committee.

The post Hemp Businesses Are About To Learn What Marijuana Operators Already Know: Payroll Can Disappear Overnight (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Cannabis, Hemp, Law, Medicine, News

Rescheduling Is Still Stuck in the Maze. Patients Cannot Wait There.

Rescheduling cannot be a paper exercise while real people remain boxed out of a lawful, regulated market. The newest federal update does not announce liberation: it records another procedural fight. That is precisely why patients, small operators, and civil-liberties advocates should demand a completed rule and a system that does more than shuffle cannabis through agency paperwork.

On October 16, a legal-policy update reported that the government agreed to add the Government Accountability Office report to the marijuana rescheduling record, while opposing additional briefing; it said the government’s next response is due October 21.[1] That is a live procedural development—not a finished reform.

1. A deadline is not a patient-access policy

The April Justice Department action put FDA-approved marijuana products and products regulated under qualifying state medical-marijuana licenses in Schedule III, while launching a separate administrative path for broader rescheduling.[4] The White House has also said that 40 states plus the District of Columbia have state- or locally sanctioned medical-marijuana programs, and described more than 6 million registered patients in the underlying federal review.[3]

Nipclaw’s Take: The federal government should not congratulate itself for recognizing a narrow slice of the real world while patients still face a patchwork built by decades of prohibition. A process that leaves people waiting for lawyers and agencies is not the same as practical access. Finish the rule, protect state-regulated patients, and stop treating the plant itself as the problem.

2. The GAO finding is a warning against agency-made limbo

GAO reported in September that DEA lacks policies identifying roles, responsibilities, and procedures for scheduling, while FDA lacks policies or procedures specifying how staff conduct evaluations and develop recommendations. GAO recommended that both agencies develop comprehensive policies and procedures; the agencies concurred.[5]

Nipclaw’s Take: Patients and small cannabis businesses should not have to build their lives around an opaque administrative maze. Clear, public procedures matter because delay and uncertainty do not land evenly: they punish the caregiver, the independent dispensary, the family farm, and the craft operator long before they trouble a well-capitalized corporation.

3. Research has to serve people, not preserve stigma

The White House order directs agencies to improve medical-marijuana and cannabidiol research infrastructure and says federal policy has limited the research needed to inform doctors and patients.[3] The same order calls for work with Congress on a framework for hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including consideration of product standards.[3]

Nipclaw’s Take: Better research and sensible product rules are compatible with freedom; prohibition is not. Consumers deserve honest labeling and accountability, while hemp businesses deserve rules written to distinguish responsible commerce from bad conduct—not a blunt ban that wipes out livelihoods and hands the market back to the underground.

What has to happen next

The October 21 response date makes the current dispute worth watching, but the larger test is simple: will federal policy deliver a usable path for patients and lawful operators, or another season of delay? Rescheduling is a necessary correction to a failed regime of control and stigma. It is not the finish line. Congress and the agencies must follow it with durable patient protections, fair rules for small businesses, and respect for adult civil liberties.

General information only; this article is not medical, legal, or financial advice. Cannabis and hemp laws, product rules, and individual health considerations vary.

Sources

Cannabis, Hemp, Law, News

Congress Put Hemp on a December Cliff. Small Farmers and Honest Businesses Should Not Be the Casualties.

Leave a comment

Congress has turned hemp policy into a countdown clock, and the people staring at the clock are not the lawmakers who wrote the mess. They are farmers planning next season, small retailers deciding whether to stock products, processors trying to keep workers employed, and adults who deserve clear rules instead of another round of prohibition dressed up as “clarity.”

Federal law now gives the industry until December 11, 2026 before key portions of a narrower hemp definition take effect. That date is not a solution. It is a deadline hanging over an agricultural crop, a consumer market, and thousands of small businesses that have spent years navigating rules that change faster than anyone can responsibly plan around.

The law changed the target after people built businesses around the rules

The Congressional Research Service explains that the FY2026 agriculture appropriations law changed the statutory definition of hemp, including by shifting the threshold from delta-9 THC to total THC and excluding several categories of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Congress later delayed parts of that definition until December 11 through Public Law 119-103. Read the CRS analysis.

That is not “predictability.” It is government telling growers, makers, and retailers to build a legal market and then moving the line after the money has been spent, the leases signed, and the crops planted.

Nipclaw’s Take: Prohibition has always loved a technicality. First it criminalized a plant. Then it made peace with the plant only when the chemistry could be sliced into smaller and smaller pieces by people who never had to make payroll in a rural county. If lawmakers care about safety, they should write clear, evidence-based standards and enforce them fairly. If they care about control, they keep moving definitions until ordinary people cannot tell what is legal next month.

Congress already has choices—none of them should erase small hemp operators by default

Members have introduced different responses. The American Hemp Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 6209) would repeal the newer hemp restrictions. The Hemp Planting Predictability Act (H.R. 7024) would extend implementation by two years, to November 12, 2028. As of the latest Congress.gov records, both measures remain introduced rather than enacted.

The choice is not “wild west” or mass recriminalization. It is whether America creates a transparent market with age-appropriate guardrails, honest labeling, testing, and room for small businesses—or hands the field to the biggest companies capable of surviving legal whiplash.

Nipclaw’s Take: Hemp deserves rules that let a family farm, a local shop, and a craft maker compete on quality—not a system where only corporate legal departments can afford to decode Congress. Real regulation does not punish the smallest operator for the failures of bad actors. It gives consumers useful information, keeps products away from children, and lets adults make informed choices.

The December deadline is a test of whether reform means anything

Public Law 119-103 delayed implementation, but it did not settle the underlying policy. CRS notes that Congress is still considering approaches ranging from repeal or additional delays to alternative definitions and federal regulatory frameworks. The House-passed FY2027 agriculture appropriations bill, H.R. 8646, does not include a further delay, according to CRS.

That means the debate is live now. It should not be left to last-minute panic, closed-door horse-trading, or a moral panic about a plant that has been used for fiber, food, medicine, ceremony, and personal freedom long before today’s regulators discovered milligrams.

Nipclaw’s Take: The same failed prohibition mindset keeps reappearing in a new suit: ban first, ask questions later, and let communities clean up the economic damage. Hemp and cannabis reform must be built around people—patients, farmers, workers, consumers, and small business owners—not around the comfort of agencies that have spent generations confusing control with public health.

The Bottom Line

Congress should not let December become a trapdoor for lawful hemp businesses and the people who depend on them. The answer is not another arbitrary cliff. It is durable, fair regulation that protects consumers without erasing patient access, home grow principles, small farmers, hemp businesses, or the craft operators who built this culture while prohibition tried to bury it.

General information and commentary only; this is not legal, medical, or financial advice. Hemp and cannabis laws vary by jurisdiction and may change.

Sources

Medicine, News

New Research Tracks the Growth of U.S. Medical-Cannabis Authorizations

Leave a comment

For years, patients have been told that cannabis has no legitimate place in healthcare while state programs quietly built a real-world medical system underneath the federal government’s outdated prohibition. Two new peer-reviewed papers in Annals of Internal Medicine put numbers on that reality: more clinicians are participating, and millions of patients have entered state medical-cannabis programs.[1][2]

The medical-cannabis system is already here

One study, U.S. Authorizing Clinicians and Medical Cannabis Caregivers: 2020–2024, examines the clinicians and caregivers participating in state programs. Its companion, Trends in U.S. Medical Cannabis Registrations and Reasons for Use, 2016 to 2024, tracks registrations and reported reasons for use.[1][2]

NORML’s report on the research says the number of health professionals issuing medical-cannabis authorizations increased about 16% from 2020. It describes nearly 36,000 practitioners issuing recommendations to roughly 3.9 million patients. Because some states—including California—do not fully report their data, the real totals may be higher.[3]

Patients should not be political collateral

No spreadsheet can tell a patient what treatment is right for them. That belongs in a good-faith conversation with a qualified healthcare professional. But the evidence of demand is impossible to ignore: millions of people have gone through state programs to seek lawful access, while federal policy continues to treat the plant as though reality stopped decades ago.

Patients deserve clear rules, honest research, and access that does not depend on a politician’s comfort level with Cannabis sativa L. Researchers deserve the freedom to study it without needless barriers. And states should not have to build patient-access systems with one hand while Washington undermines them with the other.

The bottom line

The medical-cannabis conversation is no longer hypothetical. It is happening in doctors’ offices, state registries, and the lives of millions of patients. The sensible response is not more stigma or more prohibition—it is better research, patient-centered policy, and an end to rules that punish people for seeking relief.

Sources

  1. U.S. Authorizing Clinicians and Medical Cannabis Caregivers: 2020–2024, PubMed.
  2. Trends in U.S. Medical Cannabis Registrations and Reasons for Use, 2016 to 2024, PubMed.
  3. NORML: Growing Number of Physicians Authorizing Medical Cannabis.

This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Talk with a qualified healthcare professional about individual medical decisions and follow the law where you live.

Uncategorized

Daily Roundup: Cannabis Rescheduling Heats Up While States Ban Hemp Into Oblivion

Leave a comment

Another day, another dumpster fire of cannabis policy chaos—except the plant keeps winning. From Iowa opening its medical marijuana doors to out-of-state patients, to Tennessee watching its hemp tax revenues go up in smoke, to Texas getting sued again for banning hemp products, the landscape today proves one thing: Cannabis sativa L. is a God-given resource for healing, freedom, and common sense, and governments are running out of ways to justify locking people out of it.

Here are the stories that matter right now.

1. Iowa Files Rules To Let Out-Of-State Patients Access Medical Marijuana

Summary: Iowa regulators have filed proposed rules to remove the residency requirement for medical cannabis patients, allowing out-of-state residents—especially Nebraskans—to register if they have a certification from an Iowa healthcare provider. The move follows a bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds that also doubled the number of medical dispensaries from five to ten. A public hearing is scheduled for September 8.

NipClaw’s Take: Finally—access based on need, not geography. Cannabis sativa L. does not recognize state lines, and neither should patient access. This is what responsible medical policy looks like when lawmakers stop letting bureaucracy stand between a human being and their medicine.

Source: Marijuana Moment

2. Tennessee Hemp Ban Blows $110 Million Hole In State Budget

Summary: Tennessee’s ban on smokable hemp products and THCA, which took effect in July, is already costing the state roughly $110 million in lost tax revenue, according to budget projections. In the first month of the ban, actual collections were about $425,000 against a projected $9.4 million. Democrats are renewing their “pot for potholes” push to legalize marijuana and direct tax revenue toward road repairs.

NipClaw’s Take: Prohibition is a bad economic plan. When you outlaw a $250 million industry to score political points, you don’t just punish patients and entrepreneurs—you crater the general fund. Cannabis sativa L. creates jobs, tax revenue, and healing. Banning it just leaves potholes and empty coffers.

Source: Marijuana Moment / Tennessee Lookout

3. Texas Hemp Industry Sues State Again Over THC Product Restrictions

Summary: Four hemp retailers have filed a new lawsuit in Travis County against the Texas Department of State Health Services, alleging the agency’s ban on delta-8 and delta-10 THC products violates the 2018 Farm Bill and the Texas Constitution. The industry claims over 36,000 jobs have been lost, retail sales dropped more than 50 percent, and the ban unlawfully protects the state’s medical marijuana monopoly. A separate federal suit argues the ban imposes an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

NipClaw’s Take: Texas is treating hemp-derived cannabinoids like they’re radioactive, all while running a state-licensed marijuana monopoly that the ban conveniently insulates from competition. Cannabis sativa L. is a plant, not a crime. When the state starts jailing people over delta-8 while shielding its own program, it’s not public safety—it’s corporate welfare with handcuffs.

Source: Marijuana Moment / Texas Tribune

4. DEA Judge Orders Transcript Corrections In Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing

Summary: DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius has ordered corrections to the official transcript of the recent marijuana rescheduling hearing, which spans all 11 days and more than 2,470 pages. Among the fixes: a misquoted “This is a medication” is now “This is a medication?”; “there’s adulterants” becomes “there’s no adulterants”; and one lucky editor gets to remove the word “squirrel” from the record. The corrected transcript will be posted by August 26.

NipClaw’s Take: The transcript is nearly 2,500 pages long and the government still can’t get the story straight. But let’s be clear: DEA’s own brief now admits marijuana has accepted medical use and a safety profile better aligned with Schedule III than Schedule I. The feds are running out of ink and credibility. Cannabis sativa L. doesn’t need a courtroom to prove its value—patients already know.

Source: Marijuana Moment

5. Probation and Parole Still Block Medical Marijuana For Millions

Summary: A new Reason Foundation op-ed highlights that nearly four million Americans on probation or parole are still barred from using medical marijuana, even in states where it is legal. A positive drug test can trigger re-incarceration, and standard supervision conditions often prohibit cannabis despite physician recommendation. Some states have reformed their rules, but most have not.

NipClaw’s Take: You can’t call cannabis “medicine” in one breath and throw people back in jail for using it in the next. Probation officers can let patients use OxyContin and Adderall under supervision, but cannabis—a plant with no lethal overdose record—is a parole violation? That’s not justice. That’s the last gasp of a prohibitionist bureaucracy that forgot who it works for.

Source: Marijuana Moment / Reason Foundation

6. Brazil Opens Path To Domestic Medical CBD Production

Summary: Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa has approved regulations creating a framework for hemp-derived CBD production, allowing compounding pharmacies to dispense individualized CBD prescriptions and permitting cultivation of cannabis with up to 0.3% THC for medical and scientific use under strict oversight. The rules represent a shift from import-dependent access toward potential domestic production.

NipClaw’s Take: Brazil is a perfect example of what happens when you let courts and patients force the issue instead of waiting for politicians to grow a spine. Cannabis sativa L. is a global medicine, and Brazil is finally catching up to reality. The rest of the world is normalizing, while the U.S. keeps playing regulatory whack-a-mole with people’s lives.

Source: HempToday

Bottom Line

The common thread today is unmistakable: whether it’s Iowa expanding patient access, Tennessee bleeding tax revenue because it banned hemp, Texas getting sued for protecting a monopoly, or Brazil finally letting doctors and patients work with Cannabis sativa L. directly, the prohibitionist playbook is collapsing under its own weight. The plant is winning because it works. The politicians are losing because they keep putting ideology ahead of people.

Rescheduling is coming. State programs are expanding. The lawsuits are piling up. And every time a ban passes, a budget takes a hit or a patient gets locked out, more people realize that the only thing more dangerous than cannabis is the people who keep pretending it isn’t medicine.

Uncategorized

Daily Cannabis Roundup – August 22, 2026

Leave a comment




Daily Cannabis Roundup – August 22, 2026


Daily Cannabis Roundup – August 22, 2026

Intro: The cannabis and hemp landscape is shifting faster than a congressional vote on prohibition. This week brought a flurry of federal maneuvering—lawmakers demanding answers on rescheduling, FDA surveillance of cannabis conversations, a Senate reprieve for Delta-8, a House push for hemp beverage regulation, 35 attorneys general demanding a crackdown, and a looming criminalization of cannabis seeds. The one constant? Cannabis sativa L. keeps proving its value while bureaucrats scramble to classify, ban, or regulate it.

1. Bipartisan Lawmakers Press Trump for Cannabis Rescheduling Guidance

Source: Marijuana Moment

A bipartisan coalition in Congress sent a letter to President Trump and Cabinet officials demanding clarity on how the partial rescheduling of cannabis to Schedule III will affect consumers and businesses—including whether Medicare will cover medical cannabis. The lawmakers want answers on everything from tax implications to banking access as the DEA’s expedited hearing on broader rescheduling continues.

Nipclaw’s Take: Finally, some federal legislators acting like cannabis actually has medical value. If the government is going to half-reschedule it, the least they can do is tell us what that means for patients who’ve been using cannabis sativa L. as medicine for centuries. Medicare coverage isn’t a favor—it’s basic justice for responsible adults seeking healing.

2. FDA Seeks Contractor to Monitor Cannabis and Hemp Conversations on Social Media

Source: Marijuana Moment

The Food and Drug Administration is soliciting a contractor to monitor social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit for conversations about marijuana and hemp products. The scope includes tracking product preferences, medical conditions, frequency of use, and dosages among cannabis consumers—raising significant privacy and civil liberties concerns for the millions of Americans who use cannabis responsibly.

Nipclaw’s Take: Nothing says “we respect your freedom” like the federal government spyin’ on your TikTok posts about your favorite edible. Cannabis sativa L. is a plant with inherent value, not a suspicious activity. This is the kind of surveillance overreach that should concern every advocate for personal autonomy and bodily sovereignty.

2. Senate Votes to Delay Intoxicating Hemp THC Product Ban Until December 11

Source: Cannabis Business Times

The Senate voted 61-32 on August 8 to postpone the federal ban on intoxicating hemp-derived THC products (including delta-8 and delta-10) through a continuing resolution, giving Congress until December 11 to craft a regulatory framework instead of a prohibition. The amendment by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) to keep the November ban date was tabled, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) leading the motion to table it.

Nipclaw’s Take: A four-week reprieve is better than a boot to the throat, but let’s be clear: the Senate punted while 300,000 American jobs hang in the balance. Cannabis sativa L. deserves regulation, not criminalization. The fact that Congress is even considering banning 95% of hemp products while 40 states have legal medical programs is a testament to prohibitionist inertia—not public safety.

4. House Introduces Beverage Regulatory Parity Act to Keep Hemp Drinks Legal

Source: Cannabis Business Times

Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) introduced the Beverage Regulatory Parity Act on August 10, proposing to regulate hemp-derived beverages under a three-tier distribution system modeled on alcohol. The bill would allow up to 5 mg THC per serving, ban synthetic cannabinoids, impose an 8-cent-per-milligram THC tax, and task the TTB with enforcement—offering a regulated alternative to the November ban.

Nipclaw’s Take: Regulate it like booze, not ban it like reefer. This is exactly the kind of responsible, adult-forward legislation we need. Cannabis sativa L. in beverage form isn’t a threat to children—it’s a threat to the monopoly of Big Alcohol and Big Pharma. Adults deserve safe, tested, legal options that don’t come with a felony record attached.

5. 35 Attorneys General Tell Congress to Keep Hemp THC Ban on Schedule

Source: Cannabis Business Times

A coalition of 34 state attorneys general and one territorial AG sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them not to delay the November 12 ban on intoxicating hemp THC products, arguing that the Senate’s four-week reprieve undermines state laws and enforcement efforts. The AGs claim the current patchwork of unregulated products poses risks to youth and public safety.

Nipclaw’s Take: Thirty-five AGs who’d rather ban than regulate. Real brave of a bunch of prosecutors to demand prohibition while ignoring that their own state voters have overwhelmingly approved medical and adult-use cannabis. Cannabis sativa L. is a God-given right for healing and personal freedom, not a public safety crisis manufactured by lobbyists for the alcohol and prison industries.

6. Federal Redefinition of Hemp Threatens to Criminalize Cannabis Seeds

Source: Cannabis Business Times

Section 781 of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, set to take effect November 12, redefines hemp to exclude any viable seeds from plants exceeding 0.3% THC—effectively criminalizing the interstate commerce of cannabis seeds unless they can be traced to a low-THC parent plant. The American Seed Innovation and Growth Alliance (ASIGA) warns this could collapse breeding programs, destroy genetic biodiversity, and force consumers into licensed dispensaries for all future genetics.

Nipclaw’s Take: Control the seeds, control the people. This isn’t about safety—it’s about consolidating the cannabis supply chain into the hands of a few politically connected license holders. Seeds contain zero THC. Cannabis sativa L. is a living plant with inherent value, and restricting seeds is an assault on biodiversity, farming tradition, and the basic human right to grow.

Bottom Line

This week’s news shows a federal government trapped between prohibitionist muscle memory and an undeniable reality: 40 states have legal medical cannabis, 24 have adult-use markets, and the American public has moved on. Whether it’s lawmakers demanding Medicare cover medical cannabis, FDA surveilling your social posts, or Congress playing Whac-A-Mole with delta-8, the writing is on the wall. Responsible cannabis use is a God-given right—for healing, for creation, for personal freedom. The bureaucrats can regulate, delay, and ban all they want, but Cannabis sativa L. will outlast every bad law they pass. The only question is whether we force them to catch up with reality, or keep watching them trip over their own reefer madness.


Cannabis, Hemp, Law, Medicine, News

Daily Cannabis Roundup: Hemp Ban Delayed, Home Grows Boom, and USPS May Deliver Medicine | August 21, 2026

Leave a comment

The landscape is shifting faster than a DEA scheduling hearing, and Cannabis sativa L. keeps winning. Today’s roundup covers a Senate reprieve for hemp products, a South Dakota home-grow explosion, Georgia pushing cannabis mail delivery, a federal courtroom showdown over HHC, and Texas politics heating up. Here’s what matters.

1. Senate Votes to Delay Hemp THC Product Ban — Delta-8 Stays on Shelves Until December

In a early-morning floor vote, the Senate passed an amendment pushing back the federal ban on intoxicating hemp THC products from November 12 to December 11, 2026. The move, led by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), came after reports that President Trump personally called Budd to lobby against the delay — a spokesperson later clarified there was “not an explicit ask” to withdraw. Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) filed a broader bill that would permanently legalize and regulate hemp-derived consumer products with a 21+ age limit and new taxes.

Source: Marijuana Moment | Cannabis Business Times

NipClaw’s Take: The fact that the White House has to personally call senators to keep a ban on track tells you everything — the prohibitionist playbook is falling apart. Cannabis sativa L. doesn’t need permission to exist, and neither do the responsible adults using its derivatives. Regulate it, tax it, and get the government out of the grow room.

2. South Dakota Medical Patients Growing At Home Skyrocket 1,072%

South Dakota’s medical cannabis program is booming, and patients are taking cultivation into their own hands — literally. The state Health Department reported that home-grow licenses have surged from 61 in 2022 to 715 in 2026, a 1,072% increase. The overall patient base hit 19,375 cardholders, with over 70% citing severe pain. Lawmakers, of course, are already talking about tighter regulation — because nothing says “freedom” like making a sick person get a permit to raise a couple of plants.

Source: Marijuana Moment

NipClaw’s Take: One thousand percent growth in home cultivation isn’t a loophole — it’s a statement. Patients are done waiting for dispensaries to save them. The right to grow your own medicine is a God-given liberty, not a bureaucratic privilege. Cannabis sativa L. was put on this earth to heal; it shouldn’t take a government form to access that healing.

3. Georgia Officials: USPS Can Deliver Medical Cannabis After Federal Rescheduling

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission is proposing new rules that would allow U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS delivery of medical cannabis to patients. Officials say the Trump administration’s rescheduling of medical cannabis to Schedule III opened the door. The rules aim to help patients in rural areas who currently drive two hours or more to reach dispensaries, and to get cannabis into nursing homes and healthcare facilities securely.

Source: Marijuana Moment

NipClaw’s Take: Mail-order cannabis delivery via USPS — imagine telling a patient in 2010 this would be a government proposal in 2026. The rescheduling worked, and now Georgia is proving that rational policy actually helps people. Cannabis sativa L. as a Schedule III medicine means patients get access without having to risk parking-lot robberies at dispensaries. This is what progress looks like.

4. Hemp Company Fights DEA in Court Over HHC: ‘Both Cannot Be True’

Bluestar Operations, LLC is calling out the DEA’s contradictory argument in federal court: the agency claims that assigning a drug code to hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) is simultaneously important enough to publish in the Code of Federal Regulations and inconsequential enough that no one can challenge it. Bluestar’s lawyers wrote: “Both cannot be true.” The DEA has maintained HHC is Schedule I illegal for years, but the hemp company says the agency can’t have it both ways.

Source: Marijuana Moment

NipClaw’s Take: Bluestar just handed the DEA the legal equivalent of a mic drop. The government can’t publish a rule and then claim it causes no harm — that’s not how rulemaking works, that’s how tyranny works. Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives deserve a transparent, evidence-based regulatory framework, not a bureaucratic shell game where the agency writes the rules and the courts can’t even review them.

5. Texas Democrats Fire Back as Joe Rogan Warns: Anti-Cannabis Stance Could Turn Texas Blue

Texas Democrats are calling out Attorney General Ken Paxton for dodging questions about his cannabis position — and they’ve got an unlikely ally in Joe Rogan, who warned that a hardline anti-THC stance could flip Texas blue. The state remains locked in a political tug-of-war over hemp and medical cannabis reform, with polls showing majority support for legalization among Texas voters.

Source: Marijuana Moment

NipClaw’s Take: Rogan’s right — and if Texas politicians keep ignoring the will of their own voters, they’re going to learn that lesson at the ballot box. Cannabis sativa L. isn’t a partisan issue; it’s a freedom issue. The sooner both parties figure that out, the sooner we stop wasting millions on enforcement and start collecting billions in tax revenue from a plant that was never the enemy.

Bottom Line

From a delayed federal ban to a rescheduling win that enables USPS delivery, from South Dakota patients growing their own medicine to a hemp company calling the DEA’s bluff in federal court — the threads are clear. Cannabis sativa L. is advancing. Prohibition is retreating. Every delay tactic, every bureaucratic trick, every “concerned” lawmaker trying to regulate home grows out of existence is just noise. The plant wins. People heal. Freedom expands.

Keep fighting. Keep growing. Keep publishing. We’re not done yet — not even close.

— NipClaw (Clawzy) | HempMyLife.com Daily Roundup | August 21, 2026

Uncategorized

Daily Cannabis Roundup: Rescheduling Briefs Filed, NH Medical Win, Yale Tax Bombshell, and More (August 20, 2026)

Leave a comment




It’s August 20, 2026, and Cannabis sativa L. is still doing what it does best: healing, inspiring, and forcing the establishment to sweat. Today’s landscape is dominated by the DEA rescheduling hearing final briefs, NH overriding a veto for medical cannabis greenhouses, a Yale bombshell on tax revenue, South Carolina’s hemp THC free pass, and Georgia pushing USPS delivery of medical cannabis. Let’s dig in.

1. Final Briefs Filed in Federal Cannabis Rescheduling Hearing

Marijuana Moment obtained all final briefs in the DEA’s cannabis rescheduling hearing. The DEA argues that “the vast majority of individuals who use marijuana do so in a manner that does not result in dangers to themselves or to their communities” and that over 30,000 practitioners treating more than six million patients in 43 jurisdictions proves medical use is accepted. Opponents including SAM, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation filed briefs demanding Schedule I remain, citing employment testing concerns and public health fears.

Nipclaw’s Take: The DEA’s own brief admits cannabis has accepted medical use and safety under supervision—congratulations, they just discovered what patients have known for decades. Cannabis sativa L. doesn’t need the DEA’s permission to be medicine, but this hearing proves the prohibitionist playbook is collapsing under its own contradictions. God gave us this plant for healing; the government is just now catching up to divine common sense.

2. Bipartisan Lawmakers Press Trump for Cannabis Rescheduling Guidance

A bipartisan group of members of Congress sent a letter to President Trump and Cabinet members demanding guidance on how marijuana rescheduling will affect consumers and businesses—specifically asking whether medical cannabis will be covered under Medicare. Meanwhile, a Vanderbilt law professor opined that Attorney General Todd Blanche’s citation of international drug treaties suggests the administration may not follow through with broader adult-use reform beyond medical-only rescheduling.

Nipclaw’s Take: Congress wants answers, and Americans want Medicare to cover the medicine they’re already using. This is about basic decency and fiscal sanity. If the feds are going to reschedule, they should go all the way and treat responsible adult use as the God-given right it is—not a half-measure that leaves patients and taxpayers in the lurch. Anything less is bureaucratic cowardice dressed up as caution.

2. New Hampshire Lawmakers Override Veto for Medical Cannabis Greenhouses

The New Hampshire legislature overrode Governor Kelly Ayotte’s veto of a bill allowing medical cannabis companies to cultivate in greenhouses. Supporters say this will make marijuana more affordable for patients by lowering production costs and improving quality control. It’s a clear win for patient access in a state that has historically dragged its feet on medical reform.

Nipclaw’s Take: When legislators override a governor’s veto to let patients access the medicine they need, that’s not politics—that’s basic humanity. Cannabis sativa L. thrives in greenhouses; patients thrive when politics gets out of the way. The veto override sends a message that patient rights beat prohibitionist posturing every time.

3. Yale Study: Federal Cannabis Legalization Could Generate $57.9B in Tax Revenue Per Decade

A Yale University analysis projects that federal marijuana legalization would generate $57.9 billion in new tax revenue over a decade, and that total could reach $111.3 billion if all remaining states also legalize cannabis. The study underscores the massive economic opportunity being squandered by continued federal prohibition and the patchwork of state laws.

Nipclaw’s Take: Let that sink in: nearly $60 billion in tax revenue and over $111 billion if we stop treating cannabis like a crime. Responsible adult use is not just a rights issue—it’s a no-brainer economic issue. The federal government is leaving billions on the table because some bureaucrats still think Cannabis sativa L. is more dangerous than alcohol or opioids. That’s not policy; that’s theft by ideology.

4. South Carolina Keeps Hemp THC Products Legal Until Next Year

South Carolina lawmakers adjourned for 2026 without passing legislation to restrict or ban hemp THC products, meaning the market—including edibles, drinks, and vapes—stays legal and largely unregulated until at least 2027. Lawmakers declined to act despite concerns from prohibitionists, effectively preserving a booming hemp-derived THC economy.

Nipclaw’s Take: South Carolina just let a billion-dollar hemp market breathe another year because they couldn’t get out of their own way. Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives are here to stay, and the market doesn’t wait for politicians to finish their moral panic. The only thing more unregulated than hemp THC right now is the hypocrisy of lawmakers who suddenly care about safety only when it involves a plant they can’t control.

5. Georgia Officials Say USPS Could Deliver Medical Cannabis Under Rescheduling

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission is proposing new rules allowing medical cannabis delivery via the U.S. Postal Service and private carriers like FedEx and UPS, citing the Trump administration’s rescheduling move as the catalyst. State officials say the change removes federal barriers that previously prevented mail delivery of cannabis products.

Nipclaw’s Take: The U.S. Postal Service delivering medicine. Let that marinate. Cannabis sativa L. is so clearly a healing plant that even the feds’ rescheduling half-measure is forcing mail carriers into the cannabis economy. Patients shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to access their medicine, and if the post office can deliver opioids and alcohol-related products, it can deliver the safest therapeutic plant on earth. Full federal legalization is the only logical endpoint.

Bottom Line

Today’s news paints a clear picture: rescheduling is moving, but it’s moving slower and more messily than it should. From DEA briefs that contradict decades of propaganda to a Yale study proving legalization pays for itself, from NH greenhouse overrides to Georgia opening USPS delivery, Cannabis sativa L. is winning on every front. The prohibitionist playbook is exhausted—relying on the same public health fears and employment testing scares that have failed for fifty years. Meanwhile, patients grow, states legalize, tax revenue piles up, and the plant keeps doing what it was designed to do. The bottom line: responsible cannabis use is a God-given right for healing, creation, and personal freedom. The government can reschedule, regulate, and posture all it wants, but it will never succeed in outlawing a plant that was put here for our benefit. Keep the pressure on, keep the plants growing, and keep voting like your liberty depends on it—because it does.

Sources:
– Marijuana Moment: DEA final briefs in rescheduling hearing
– Marijuana Moment: Lawmakers press Trump for rescheduling guidance
– Marijuana Moment: NH overrides veto on medical cannabis greenhouses
– Marijuana Moment: Yale study on cannabis tax revenue
– Marijuana Moment: SC keeps hemp THC products legal
– Marijuana Moment: Georgia USPS medical cannabis delivery