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“The evidence from other states is unambiguous: over-taxation kills cannabis markets’ ability to displace illicit sales and generate sustainable revenue.” By Max Jackson, Cannabis Wise Guys Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) 2026/27 budget proposal to legalize marijuana projects $729 million in first-year cannabis revenue to address Pennsylvania’s $4.8 billion structural deficit. It’s a politically appealing pitch: legalize cannabis, capture tax dollars currently flowing to neighboring states and fund education and infrastructure without raising income taxes. But Shapiro himself acknowledged the central challenge in his budget proposal: approximately 60 percent of customers at New Jersey and Maryland border dispensaries are Pennsylvania residents. Nearly half of Pennsylvania’s population lives in a county bordering a state with legal cannabis. Pennsylvania residents are already cannabis consumers—they’re just funding other states’ tax programs instead of Pennsylvania’s. The $729 million projection assumes those customers will shift to Pennsylvania dispensaries once adult-use sales begin. But that only happens if Pennsylvania’s legal market can compete on price, quality and access with the options consumers already use: border-state dispensaries, illicit dealers and THCA hemp shops. And the fastest way to guarantee they don’t is to design a tax structure that treats cannabis as a captive revenue source while expecting it to compete in an open market. The Tax Stacking Problem When states layer multiple taxes on cannabis to maximize short-term revenue extraction, they create a predictable failure pattern. A state excise tax of 10-15 percent, combined with local municipal taxes of 3-5 percent, plus standard sales tax of 6-7 percent, creates cumulative tax rates in the 20-25 percent range or higher. That pricing premium makes legal cannabis uncompetitive with illicit alternatives—and consumers making purchasing decisions don’t distinguish between “fair” and “unfair” taxes. They see the final out-the-door price and decide whether it’s worth paying. Pennsylvania’s challenge is even more acute because of the border dynamics Shapiro acknowledged. A Pennsylvania resident living in a border county isn’t just choosing between legal and illicit options—they’re choosing between Pennsylvania’s dispensary and the one thirty minutes away in Ohio, Maryland or New Jersey. If Pennsylvania’s tax structure makes its legal cannabis 20-30 percent more expensive than neighboring states, consumers will keep doing what they’re already doing: buying elsewhere. Michigan’s Live Experiment: What Happens When You Kill a Working Market Michigan built one of the country’s most successful legal cannabis programs by allowing competitive licensing and tax rates low enough to let legal operators undercut illicit pricing. The result was robust illicit-market displacement and growing tax revenue. Then, facing budget pressures, Michigan legislators imposed an additional 24 percent wholesale tax on cannabis beginning January 1, 2026 to fund road repairs. The state is now conducting a live experiment in whether you can retroactively over-tax a working market without driving consumers back to illicit options or across state lines. Early indicators suggest the answer is no—operators are warning of closures, and consumer advocates are predicting a resurgence of illicit market activity as legal prices become uncompetitive. Pennsylvania legislators should watch carefully. Michigan had the advantage of an established legal market with consumer habits already formed. Pennsylvania could be launching directly into a high-tax environment, asking consumers who currently have multiple options to choose the most expensive one. The Wholesale Tax Mistake California Already Made California initially imposed a per-ounce wholesale cultivation tax, treating cannabis as a commodity that could absorb taxation at every supply chain stage. The result was predictable: cultivators couldn’t survive the economics, wholesale prices collapsed and the illicit market thrived because legal operators couldn’t compete on price while carrying a tax burden their illicit competitors didn’t face. California repealed its wholesale cultivation tax in 2022 after recognizing it was actively undermining the legal market. If Pennsylvania imposes wholesale cultivation taxes in addition to retail-level taxation, the state will replicate California’s mistake—cultivators will face impossible economics, and the tax revenue Pennsylvania projects will never materialize because the businesses expected to generate it won’t survive. The Industry Infrastructure Problem Shapiro’s budget allocates $25 million for social equity programs. But the deeper problem is what happens when states extract maximum tax revenue from cannabis to plug general budget deficits: the industry can’t fund the regulatory infrastructure, technical assistance programs and support systems it needs to function. Cannabis regulation is expensive. State regulators need funding for inspections, compliance monitoring, laboratory oversight and enforcement. Social equity programs require technical assistance, business development support and access to expertise to help new operators survive the critical first years, when most cannabis businesses operate at a loss. If Pennsylvania siphons all cannabis tax revenue out of the industry to address unrelated budget shortfalls, these systems don’t get built—and the market fails to develop the way revenue projections assume it will. Equity licenses without operational support systems are performative policies that set participants up for failure. But the same principle applies across the entire market: if the industry can’t retain enough revenue to build functional infrastructure, compliant businesses struggle, regulatory oversight weakens and the illicit market wins. The Revenue Only Works If the Market Works Shapiro is correct that Pennsylvania is losing potential tax revenue to neighboring states. He’s correct that cannabis legalization could capture some of that revenue. But the $729 million projection is only realistic if Pennsylvania builds a market that works—for consumers who need competitive pricing and convenient access, and for businesses that need viable economics and clear regulations. The evidence from other states is unambiguous: over-taxation kills cannabis markets’ ability to displace illicit sales and generate sustainable revenue. Michigan is discovering this in real-time. California learned it and reversed course. Pennsylvania has the advantage of learning from these mistakes instead of repeating them. Shapiro stated the core problem: 60 percent of border dispensary customers are Pennsylvania residents. Those consumers have demonstrated they’ll travel for their cannabis. Pennsylvania’s legal market must compete for their business—it can’t assume their compliance. The fastest way to lose that competition is to design a tax structure that makes Pennsylvania’s legal cannabis the most expensive option in a fifty-mile radius. Pennsylvania residents are already cannabis consumers. The question isn’t whether they’ll buy cannabis—it’s whether Pennsylvania will build a market competitive enough to capture their business, or whether they’ll keep funding New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio and the illicit market instead. The $729 million budget projection depends entirely on getting that answer right. Max Jackson is the founder of Cannabis Wise Guys and specializes in translating between cannabis operations, investment and public policy. Photo courtesy of Max Jackson. The post Pennsylvania Must Not Over-Tax Marijuana If Legalization Is Going To Work Well (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The New Hampshire House of Representatives has approved a bipartisan bill to legalize the regulated use of psilocybin for medical purposes. After unanimously passing the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee late last month, the full chamber advanced it in voice vote on the consent calendar on Thursday. It now goes to the House Finance Committee before a final floor vote that could move it to the Senate. The legislation from Rep. Buzz Scherr (D) would create a regulatory pathway for patients with certain conditions to access the psychedelic for therapeutic use through a program overseen by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Rep. Yury Polozov (R) said in a committee report that the bill would provide needed access to psilocybin “under medical supervision for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and other qualifying diagnoses determined by an advisory board and the department.” “This legislation offers a balanced, medically-supervised approach to therapeutic psilocybin use,” he said. “It addresses unmet needs for individuals with severe, treatment-resistant conditions by providing access in a controlled environment, grounded in emerging scientific evidence and harm reduction principles.” Here are the key provisions of HB 1809: DHHS would be responsible for approving licensed medical professional to serve as providers of psilocybin for qualifying patients. In order to qualify for the program, patients would need to be diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder or another condition authorized by an advisory board and DHHS. The legislation specifically stipulates that only natural psilocybin could be administered, excluding synthetic versions of the psychedelic. Providers would also need to be approved by the department to grow and harvest their own psilocybin products. The process for treating qualifying patients with the psychedelic would need to involve a preparation session, administration session and integration session. A Medical Psilocybin Advisory Board would be established, comprised of a representative of DHHS, a qualifying patient, a veterans advocate and eight medical professionals. Those medical experts would need to include a psychedelics researcher, two regulators overseeing existing medical psilocybin programs and specialists in the treatment of addiction, palliative care, veterans’ affairs, naturopathy, nursing and mental health counseling. The board would be tasked with analyzing data on patient outcomes from DHHS, consider adding qualifying conditions for participation in the program and determine whether the law should be expanded. The program would only be implemented if the advisory board, within two years of the bill’s enactment, notifies lawmakers, regulators and the governor that it can be effectively administered. The prospect of the psilocybin legislation advancing to enactment into law this session remain unclear, but lawmakers have been increasingly active in pursuing psychedelics reform in recent years. Last June, the New Hampshire Senate voted to scrap compromise legislation that would have lowered the state’s criminal penalty for first-time psilocybin possession while also creating mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl. As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it last March. — 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. — Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday rejected a House-passed bill to legalize marijuana in the state. That proposal is one of several cannabis bills filed for the 2026 session, including legislation from Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D) that seeks to put a constitutional amendment on the state ballot that would let voters decide if they want to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, allowing them to “possess a modest amount of cannabis for their personal use.” Members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee took up that legislation late last month. Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has already threatened to veto any legalization bill that reaches her desk, though the constitutional amendment proposal would not require gubernatorial action. The governor said in August that her position on the reform would not change even if the federal government moved forward with rescheduling the plant. Since then, President Donald Trump has directed the attorney general to finalize the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In the Senate, the Judiciary Committee last month also took up a bill from Sen. Donovan Fenton (D) that would allow adults over the age of 21 to legally possess up to four ounces of cannabis in plant form and 20 grams of concentrated cannabis products, as well as other products containing no more than 2,000 milligrams of THC. Last June, the New Hampshire Senate voted to scrap compromise legislation that would have lowered the state’s criminal penalty for first-time psilocybin possession while also creating mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl. As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However, a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it last March. The post New Hampshire House Approves Bill To Legalize Psilocybin For Therapeutic Use appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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The Justice Department should “take about 20 years” to finish the marijuana rescheduling process, a GOP congressman who staunchly opposes cannabis reform tells Marijuana Moment. With the proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) still pending, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) is in no rush to have DOJ see the process through—despite President Donald Trump’s December executive order directing the attorney general to quickly finalize the rule. “Last I looked, it hasn’t been rescheduled. The president said to look into it,” Harris said in an interview on Thursday, adding that he hasn’t directly communicated with the Justice Department about the issue but that “everybody understands what I want it to look like.” “I don’t think I’ve been subtle about it,” Harris said. “All I know is every day that goes by and it’s not rescheduled is another good day.” The prohibitionist congressman said he isn’t sure if internal disagreements within DOJ are to blame for the delayed rescheduling action, but “the wheels grind a little slowly around here sometimes.” “On this one, they should take about 20 years to grind,” he said. In December, Harris separately said Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged. For what it’s worth, the congressman may be at risk of being unseated in November due to redistricting in his state. The Maryland House of Delegates earlier this month approved a congressional redistricting proposal that would leave anti-cannabis Harris especially vulnerable in the next election, according to analysts, giving Democrats an advantage in the state’s first congressional district for the first time since the last map was drawn in 2011. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will follow the House’s lead to pass the legislation, however. Meanwhile, another GOP lawmaker on the other side of the debate, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), recently told Marijuana Moment that while marijuana rescheduling might not be at the top of the agenda for the Justice Department or White House amid competing interests, he and bipartisan colleagues will be ready when “opportunity does present itself.” Joyce separately said last month that he doesn’t think the attorney general would seek to undermine the president’s executive order to move marijuana to Schedule III despite any personal reservations she may have about the policy change. A DOJ spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last month that it had no “comment or updates” to share on the topic. However, an agency official more recently told Salon that “DOJ is working to identify the most expeditious means of executing the EO.” That phrasing is notable, signaling that the department is uncertain about the administrative pathway to finalize rescheduling. The hope among advocates and industry stakeholders was that the process would be more simple, with a final signature on the existing reform proposal that was released following a scientific review initiated under the prior Biden administration. DOJ has been notably silent on the issue in the weeks since Trump signed the order—even as the White House recently touted the president’s order as an example of a policy achievement during the first year of his second term. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s first pick for attorney general this term who ultimately withdrew his nomination, raised eyebrows last week after posting on X that he’s been told the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is actively drafting a rescheduling rule and intended to issue it “ASAP.” There’s some confusion around that point, however, as a rule is already pending before the Justice Department—and a new rule would presumably be subject to additional administrative review and public comment. Last week, meanwhile, the White House declined to comment on the status of the rescheduling process, deferring Marijuana Moment to the Justice Department. A Democratic senator told Marijuana Moment earlier this month that it’s “too early to tell” what the implications of Trump’s cannabis order would be—saying that while there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very concerned about where the DOJ will land.” “The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of their mouth is staggering,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said. “So I’m just going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.” — 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. — Also last month, two GOP senators filed an amendment to block the Trump administration from rescheduling cannabis, but it was not considered on the floor. Meanwhile, last month, DEA said the cannabis rescheduling appeal process “remains pending” despite Trump’s executive order. A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report discussed how DOJ could, in theory, reject the president’s directive or delay the process by restarting the scientific review into marijuana. Attorney General Pam Bondi separately missed a congressionally mandated deadline last month to issue guidelines for easing barriers to research on Schedule I substances such as marijuana and psychedelics. The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post Justice Department ‘Should Take About 20 Years’ To Reschedule Marijuana, GOP Congressman Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Trump pardons NFL star for marijuana; New Farm Bill hemp provisions; VA cannabis sales legalization; MD psychedelics; CO medical marijuana access Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Get our daily newsletter. Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… BREAKING: Journalism is often consumed for free, but costs money to produce! While this newsletter is proudly sent without cost to you, our ability to send it each day depends on the financial support of readers who can afford to give it. So if you’ve got a few dollars to spare each month and believe in the work we do, please consider joining us on Patreon today. https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a rule to provide federal health insurance coverage for CBD, according to an executive with the hemp product company Charlotte’s Web, which has been collaborating with the agency on the initiative. President Donald Trump pardoned former NFL player Nate Newton over a conviction for trafficking 175 pounds of marijuana, as advocates point out that there are still people in federal prison for lesser amounts of cannabis than that. House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) filed a new Farm Bill that “reduces regulatory burdens” for industrial hemp producers—including by reducing testing and background check requirements and establishing a process to accredit testing labs. The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee amended and approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales, sending it to a floor vote as similar legislation with key differences is also advancing toward passage in the House of Delegates. The Colorado Senate Health & Human Services Committee approved a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities such as hospitals. The Maryland Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on a bill to extend the Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances for another year and require a new report with updated recommendations to ensure “broad, equitable and affordable access to psychedelic substances.” Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe Access argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that the FY2026 federal budget is largely a “letdown” for medical cannabis patients who need “comprehensive federal legislation that creates a national medical cannabis framework to recognize cannabis-based therapies as part of modern healthcare.” A Missouri bill to restrict hemp THC products stalled amid a filibuster on the Senate floor. The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division is considering changing rules that allow cannabis companies to choose their own product samples for testing by instead requiring independent labs or outside vendors to select them. Mike Simpson of Lovewell Farms argues in a new op-ed that Congress should delay the impending recriminalization of hemp THC products and give officials more time to “regulate with evidence rather than panic.” / FEDERAL Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he “used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and 16 cosponsors filed a resolution noting that “the United States-backed drug war, along with economic displacement attributable in part to United States-sponsored free trade agreements, resulted in another major wave of migration from Central America and Mexico during the first two decades of the 2000s.” The House bill to create a pathway for patients to access Schedule I drugs got one new cosponsor for a total of 15. / STATES The Oregon Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health approved a bill to limit cannabis edible to 10 milligrams of THC. The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee deferred a bill to criminalize possession of marijuana products outside the original sealed container in the passenger area of a vehicle until next year. Florida lawmakers are advancing legislation to decriminalize drug checking tools. Washington State House Democrats sent a press release about the passage of a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities. A New York senator explained why he voted against legislation to provide greater zoning flexibility for marijuana businesses. Colorado regulators issued an expanded health and safety advisory about marijuana products with aspergillus, yeast and mold above acceptable limits. Massachusetts regulators published guidance on enrolling in the medical cannabis program. New Jersey regulators took action on alleged marijuana business violations. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office published a report about the budget request for the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday. — 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. — / LOCAL Chicago, Illinois’s mayor vetoed a measure to ban hemp products. A Cincinnati, Ohio City Council member is proposing to use marijuana revenue to fund record expungement, lead abatement, youth employment and workforce development programs in communities impacted by cannabis criminalization. / INTERNATIONAL French regulators are expected to release medical cannabis pricing and reimbursement rules on Wednesday. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that “CBD protects human skin from [airborne particulate matter]-induced molecular damage and supports its potential as a functional bioactive ingredient for anti-pollution applications.” A study found that “prolonged CBD exposure can precondition the tumor microenvironment toward an anti-tumor state, improving disease control and potentially lowering relapse risk,” suggesting “CBD pretreatment as an immune-modulatory strategy with high translational potential for glioblastoma management.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The chair of the Missouri Republican Party discussed the benefits of ibogaine therapy. / BUSINESS Planet 13 Holdings Inc. completed its exit from the California market. Make sure to subscribe to get Marijuana Moment’s daily dispatch in your inbox. Get our daily newsletter. Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post Feds finalize Medicare CBD coverage rule, hemp industry operative says (Newsletter: February 16, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“Republicans, Democrats and independents alike understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time.” By Mike Simpson, Lovewell Farms via Rhode Island Current At a moment when Americans across the political spectrum say they want evidence-based policy, Congress is on the verge of repeating a familiar mistake: banning first and studying later. Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate would delay the impending federal ban on hemp-derived products. This is not to legalize anything new, but instead to give regulators, researchers and farmers time to do what Congress says it wants to do: Gather data, set clear rules and regulate responsibly. I write this as a hemp farmer and small-business owner myself. Having started Lovewell Farms in 2018, I know firsthand the implications a ban on hemp-derived products would have on my farm, Rhode Island’s only USDA-certified organic hemp farm. Here is what legislators may not fully understand: Hemp is not something that can be turned on and off with a vote. Farmers need to know in the next 100 days if the plant they will harvest in October will be legal in November. Seeds are planted in April. Fields are cultivated all summer. Crops are harvested in October. A federal ban that takes effect in November lands after farmers have already committed an entire season’s labor, capital and compliance costs. There is no rewind button for agriculture. That uncertainty is already forcing farms to shut down. A sudden ban would finish the job. The Senate bill (S.3686), introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, and co-sponsors Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, and Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, would delay enforcement of the hemp-derived product ban for two years, allowing Congress to pursue regulatory alternatives rather than defaulting to prohibition. A companion bill in the House (H.7010), led by Rep. Jim Baird, an Indiana Republican, also with bipartisan cosponsors, would do the same. Together, these bills recognize a basic agricultural reality: Farmers need predictability before they plant. Importantly, Congress is not only proposing a delay, it is also debating regulation. The Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act is yet another bipartisan bill introduced in the House (H.7212) that would establish a federal framework for hemp-derived products, including clear safety standards, labeling requirements, enforcement authority and defined potency limits by product type. The proposal sets per-serving and per-package caps for non-intoxicating oral hemp products, inhalables, topicals and THC-containing items, demonstrating that consumer protection and responsible oversight are achievable without resorting to prohibition. Taken together, these bills show that Congress has viable, bipartisan alternatives to an outright ban, if it chooses to use them. At this point, this is not a debate about intoxicating THC limits. It is about whether hemp policy will be guided by science or by fear. That distinction matters, because federal science is finally catching up. In 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to expand cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) research, including the use of large federal health datasets such as Medicare records to study safety, efficacy and outcomes. The order did not legalize CBD or add it as a Medicare benefit, but it explicitly acknowledged that cannabinoids require rigorous study before sweeping policy decisions are made. Congress is now hurtling toward prohibition at the exact moment the federal government is building the science-based research infrastructure needed to answer the hard questions. Even the concerns raised by opponents of hemp-derived products argue for regulation, not bans. If products require clearer labeling, age restrictions, potency standards or enforcement tools, like those already in place in Rhode Island, those are state-by-state regulatory challenges. Rhode Island already regulates hemp products. Farmers and businesses here should not be penalized because other states have dragged their feet to create a regulated market. Prohibition does not solve these issues; it simply pushes them out of sight, into unregulated markets that are less safe for consumers. A hemp ban would also push production overseas. If hemp farming in the United States collapses, demand will not disappear. It will just shift to imported cannabinoids from countries like Canada or China, where American regulators have far less visibility or control. That outcome harms local farmers, consumers, and public safety alike. Rhode Island’s Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner previously voted against a federal hemp ban embedded in a larger spending bill. That was the right call. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, however, explicitly voted to keep the hemp ban language in that same bill. Rhode Island’s senators now have an opportunity to support local farmers and small businesses by cosponsoring this bipartisan delay bill (S.3686). Rhode Island’s representatives can do the same with the corresponding companion bill in the House (H.7010). This is one of the few issues in Congress that remains genuinely bipartisan. Republicans, Democrats and independents alike understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time. Congress should not dismantle a domestic $30 billion agricultural industry with over 300,000 jobs just as meaningful research is beginning. A temporary delay protects farmers, supports small businesses, keeps hemp farming rooted here in the United States and allows policymakers to regulate with evidence rather than panic. Prohibition without evidence is not policymaking. Rhode Island’s delegation should stand with farmers, small businesses and science by cosponsoring the bipartisan bills that delay this ban and allow regulation to catch up with reality. Mike Simpson is the co-founder of Lovewell Farms, Rhode Island’s only U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic hemp farm. He is also a historian, educator and longtime advocate for policy reform. He was previously deputy director for Regulate Rhode Island and an initiative coordinator for Marijuana Policy Project in Maine. He now lives in Providence and farms in the village of Hope Valley in Hopkinton. This story was first published by Rhode Island Current. Photo courtesy of Max Jackson. The post Congress Should Delay The Federal Hemp Ban And Instead Enact Regulations For THC And CBD Products (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“We have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent A push for Missouri to immediately adopt planned federal limits on intoxicating hemp products ran into a filibuster in the state Senate Wednesday, with critics demanding any changes wait until national regulations go into effect in November. Democratic state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis led the two-hour filibuster of a bill that would immediately ban hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles as soon as the legislation was passed and signed into law. May argued during a Senate debate Wednesday that the federal limits will likely change before they’re enacted later this year. Congress passed the provision to ban these products as part of the federal spending package last year. She offered an amendment that would align the Senate bill with a proposal sponsored in the House by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman of O’Fallon to allow Missouri to sell the products if Congress permits them nationwide. Hinman’s bill has cleared a House committee and is ready to be debated by the full chamber. “When Congress voted on this whole thing, this was just literally to reopen the government,” May said. “I mean, this wasn’t even a thoughtful conversation.” The bill debated Wednesday evening, sponsored by Republican state Sen. David Gregory of Chesterfield, would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and more than a total THC concentration of .3 percent on a dry weight basis, rather than only delta-9 THC. These mirror the federal limits. Intoxicating hemp products with as much as 1,000mg of THC are being sold in smoke shops—outside of Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries — and they aren’t regulated by any government agency. Missouri lawmakers have failed to pass legislation regulating these products since 2023. Gregory argues his bill and the federal provision close loopholes that were opened when Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill. “My bill continues with Congress’s intent from three months ago, and of course, our great folks of Missouri’s intent,” Gregory said, “which is: if it is intoxicating from the cannabis plant, it is marijuana and must be highly regulated under these specific rules.” May has been a consistent critic of attempts to put a complete ban on intoxicating hemp products, arguing that they just need to be regulated. May said the amendment she offered Wednesday to Gregory’s bill was a “good compromise” because it would still align state and federal rules if Congress rewrites the federal limits. “It’s not getting rid of your language,” May told Gregory. “And if [Congress does] nothing, your language will be the law of the land for Missouri.” Gregory said her amendment went a “little too far” for him because Missouri would just be doing “whatever the feds tell us.” He said these products must be regulated urgently to protect children. After more than two hours of discussion, the Senate was forced to adjourn when it couldn’t get enough lawmakers in the chamber to achieve a quorum. State officials estimated in 2024 that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers were selling products that would be banned under the proposed federal regulations. It includes low-dose THC seltzers, such as Mighty Kind and Triple, that have increased in popularity at liquor stores and bars. May said lawmakers need to consider these businesses when making decisions. “It’s a complicated situation,” May said. “And I think that we have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.” Hinman told The Independent Thursday that he spent about 20 hours working on his bill this week so it hopefully wouldn’t run into as many roadblocks as Gregory experienced in a full-chamber debate. “There’s so many ifs involved in this,” Hinman said, “and trying to legislate that is really difficult.” There are three potential scenarios, he said, that could happen before November, when the federal limits are set to go into effect. The feds could stay the course with the current limits, he said, which “puts all of the hemp businesses out of business.” Congress could redefine what hemp is, and change the .4 milligram of THC per container limit to permit low-dose THC beverages and edibles. “So in that case, we’re looking to see what would happen if they just modify that piece of the puzzle,” he said. The third option is if Congress approves a two-year extension, he said, and “kick it down the can.” That would mean Missouri would need to put some kind of regulation in the meantime, he said. “We’re trying to write legislation that effectively would cover all three of those things,” he said, “So that’s what these tough negotiations are all about is trying to accomplish the goal of letting everyone succeed in this marketplace, if it’s possible by federal law.” This story was first published by Missouri Independent. The post Missouri Bill To Restrict Hemp THC Products Stalls Amid Senate Filibuster appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“I think that sample fraud should be a death sentence for a licensee. Right now, it’s a $15,000 slap on the wrist.” By Christopher Osher, ProPublica and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette This story was originally published by ProPublica. Colorado marijuana manufacturers would no longer be allowed to choose which product samples they send for mandatory lab testing under a new regulatory proposal discussed at a policy forum on Friday. Instead, the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division may require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for the testing that’s required before companies can sell their products to ensure they’re free of contaminants. The change would address a long-standing complaint from some marijuana manufacturers that bad actors are cheating the system. They say some companies are selecting samples that can pass tests while sending products to dispensaries that might be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungus or pesticides. A Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation last month showed that the system for testing marijuana products relies on an honor code that’s open to manipulation. In 2024 alone, Colorado officials found two dozen cases in which companies had violated testing rules, often by submitting samples that were different from what the companies sold in stores or by using unauthorized chemical treatments, according to a review of enforcement actions by the news outlets. The state’s rules on selecting samples require what gets turned over to a lab to be representative of what marijuana companies actually deliver to dispensaries for sale to consumers. “Sample adulteration is a common violation,” Kyle Lambert, deputy director of the division, said during the policy forum. “This is something that we have an interest in more comprehensively addressing based on what we see out there.” Colorado officials have long prided themselves on creating the nation’s first regulated recreational marijuana market, but the news outlets found that the state has fallen behind as other states have adopted more robust regulations. The Denver Gazette and ProPublica highlighted how a popular brand of vapes contaminated with a toxic chemical ended up at marijuana dispensaries. In that case and others, manufacturers were found by regulators to be swapping marijuana distillate, the liquid that goes in vapes, for products chemically converted from much cheaper hemp, which is prohibited in Colorado. The company, Ware Hause, surrendered its marijuana manufacturing license. Its owner declined to comment on Tuesday. The Marijuana Enforcement Division first disclosed it is considering a new sampling system in January. The state’s move marks a shift: Last year, the state fought a lawsuit by a marijuana cultivator aimed at forcing the division to overhaul its testing rules. The suit, brought by Mammoth Farms, also pushed for the division to bar manufacturers from selecting product samples for testing. The division’s lawyers said in a court filing that such a revision would be “impracticable.” A Denver judge dismissed the lawsuit on technical grounds in May, stating that the company should have first petitioned regulators for rule changes. After the dismissal, Mammoth Farms sought rule changes with the Marijuana Enforcement Division. The division agreed to begin requiring more chemical testing this summer but did not adopt a proposal to overhaul how samples are collected. Dominique Mendiola, the senior director of the division, said in a statement that the move to consider changes stemmed from concerns raised by marijuana companies last year. “The division has committed to further researching this topic and leading the facilitation of this dialogue with stakeholders in order to analyze the details and operability of what it would take to implement recommendations to shift to third-party test batch collection requirements,” she said. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia require lab personnel to collect samples to ensure manufacturers don’t cherry-pick products for testing while holding back contaminated products. Over the next few months, the state will hold discussions with testing labs, marijuana cultivators and manufacturers and industry experts to fashion a formal proposal, Lambert said. He added that he expects the division will take up specific policy recommendations this summer. State officials want to gauge the cost, Lambert said, and make sure they develop effective regulations. The state is also considering who would collect the samples—licensed lab personnel or third-party samplers the state would credential. Kareem Kassem, a director at SC Labs, which has a testing lab in Colorado, said during the forum that all sampling should be done under video surveillance and that vehicles that transport samples should be equipped with GPS monitoring. Other industry representatives noted that changing testing regulations could be expensive and that those costs would be passed on to consumers. They also stressed that other states had marijuana testing scandals even when lab personnel collected samples. Stephen Cobb, co-owner of the marijuana manufacturer Concentrate Brands, pointed to sample collection scandals in California and said the problem was only fixed after regulators stepped in. “We can solve sample fraud,” Cobb said, “but only if there is a massive investment in regulatory oversight on that. Otherwise, it just kind of passes the buck.” The Marijuana Enforcement Division said costs and budgeting issues would be part of the discussions. Still, Justin Singer, the CEO of Denver-based cannabis firm Ripple, applauded the division’s move. “I think that sample fraud should be a death sentence for a licensee,” Singer said during the policy forum. “Right now, it’s a $15,000 slap on the wrist.” He has tracked the division’s enforcement actions and provided The Denver Gazette and ProPublica a spreadsheet and links to those cases. Ripple’s analysis shows that, from the start of 2023 until now, half of the state’s 135 final enforcement actions against marijuana companies involved issues with self-sampling and testing. Singer is also pushing a legislative overhaul to the state’s marijuana testing regimen that would transfer testing oversight to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and create a program where state regulators would randomly test products from dispensaries to ensure they aren’t contaminated. “I hope we all can agree that if we’re not giving consumers as an industry what they think they are buying, then we’re destroying our own industry from within,” Singer said. “Sample fraud and testing fraud is a cancer on our industry. It is a cancer on the businesses that are trying to do good work. It is a cancer on the labs that are trying to be honest.” This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Denver Gazette. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories in your inbox every week. The post Colorado Officials Weigh Changes To How Marijuana Is Sampled For Testing To Help Avoid Fraud appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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