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Illinois officials have added two new qualifying conditions for the state’s medical marijuana program. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced on Tuesday that patients with sickle cell disease and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) with chronic pain can now qualify for legal access to medical cannabis, with a doctor’s recommendation. IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra approved the conditions following a review by the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board. “Medical cannabis can provide relief for people living with certain debilitating conditions,” he said. “IDPH reviews petitions carefully using expert opinion and the most up to date evidence to make decisions that best serve Illinois residents. We look forward to working with our medical providers to ensure safe, appropriate access for individuals struggling with these newly approved conditions.” With the two new additions, Illinois now has 58 medical cannabis qualifying conditions. The move comes about two weeks after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) posted a new form that recreational marijuana dispensaries can file in order to get permission to begin selling medical cannabis, which is taxed at a much lower rate than adult-use products. The expanded opportunity for marijuana businesses comes as part of omnibus cannabis legislation that was passed by lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker (D) this session. The law also doubles the amount of marijuana that adults can legally possess, allows drive-thrus and curbside pickups at dispensaries and lets them stay open for longer hours of operation, among other changes. “Any adult use dispensary holding an active license in good standing may opt-in for a medical dispensary license,” IDFPR said in previously issued guidance about changes made by the new cannabis omnibus legislation. “This medical dispensary license will allow the dispensary to sell cannabis to medical cannabis patients at the medical tax rate up to the medical patient’s allotment.” The medical cannabis sales option for adult-use businesses is part of SB 3222, which was approved by the legislature and signed by Pritzker in June. As enacted into law, the measure also allows residents of the state who are over 21 years of age to possess up to 60 grams of marijuana flower—double the amount in prior law. They are also able to have up to 10 grams of cannabis concentrates and infused products with up to 1,000 mg of THC—also double the earlier limit. Possession amounts for adult non-residents are also doubled under the bill and are generally set at half of what residents can carry. Additionally, people with past convictions for possession of up to 60 grams of marijuana are now able to have those records expunged—double the previous cutoff allowing only those with convictions for up to 30 grams to be eligible. The legislation also recriminalizes hemp THC products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container, in line with a federal ban that is set to take effect in November. The state’s list of medical marijuana qualifying conditions is also being expanded to add female orgasmic disorder, endometriosis, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids. The governor held a signing ceremony for the legislation at a marijuana dispensary, saying he is “proud that Illinois continues to lead the nation in showing what thoughtful, balanced cannabis policy can achieve.” In 2019, Pritzker signed the state’s initial marijuana legalization policy into law. The post Illinois Adds Two New Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

More than 200,000 people were arrested for possessing marijuana in the U.S. last year, according to the FBI’s latest annual crime report, and another 17,000 were booked for allegedly selling or growing cannabis. Those figures likely understate the true number of people busted for marijuana, however, given inconsistencies in the federal data and questions about the agency’s changing methodology from recent years, as well as the fact that about 13 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies did not contribute data for 2025. The full 2025 data set is based on more than 13 million criminal offenses reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which is used to document and analyze national crime trends. The report covers 96,2 percent of the U.S. population, FBI said. This latest data shows that cannabis-related offenses increased year over year, jumping to 200,960 marijuana possession busts in 2025 from 187,792 in the year prior, and to 17,192 sales or manufacturing arrests from 16,244 in 2024. All told, marijuana busts accounted for a quarter of all drug arrests in 2025—more than for any other specifically listed substance—with 92 percent of cannabis incidents stemming from possession alone. Despite the uptick in marijuana arrests from 2024 to 2025, advocates note that busts have been trending overall downward in recent years, which they attribute largely to the success of the expanding state-level legalization movement. “While the number of marijuana-related arrests has trended downward for the better part of the past decade, in large part due to 24 states legalizing and regulating cannabis for adults, it is clear that marijuana-related prosecutions still remain a primary driver of drug war enforcement in the United States,” Paul Armentano, deputy director for NORML, said. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to be arrested annually for low-level cannabis-related violations even though a majority of voters no longer believe that the responsible use of marijuana by adults should be a crime.” “The criminalization of cannabis and the prosecution of those who possess it and consume it is a terribly destructive policy that disrupts lives and has lasting consequences,” he said. “Low-level marijuana offenders, many of them younger, poor and people of color, should not be saddled with an arrest, a criminal record and with the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it for engaging in behavior that is legally regulated in nearly half the states in this country.” Because not all agencies provide complete data for the reporting periods, FBI has explained that the bureau calculates estimated crime numbers, essentially extrapolating “by following a standard estimation procedure using the data provided.” In terms of total reported arrests for a category labelled “drug/narcotic,” for example, FBI said there were 858,852 arrests. At the same time, frustrations over FBI’s inconsistent data reporting on cannabis and other drug arrest trends have persisted. Various sections of the report provide different numbers for seemingly similar categories of offenses. One FBI table says that there were 1,492,005 “Drug/Narcotic Offenses” in 2025. Another uses the figure for 1,656,774 under the same heading. A third puts the total at 1,958,377. Another section says there were 845,031 arrests for drug abuse violations in 2025, accounting for about 11 percent of the approximately 7.5 million estimated arrests nationwide. Other FBI tables say, inconsistently, that there were 754,497 or 768,170 drug abuse violations in 2025. The FBI data also attempts to show trends over time, indicating that there were 1,157,129 drug offenses charged in 2016 and 645,512 drug offenses charged in 2025—a reduction of about 44 percent, though it’s not clear how much of the change is due to the agency’s shifting methodology for reporting arrests and how much is due to actual changes in enforcement practices and state drug laws over the past decade. In terms of controlled substances seized in 2024, the agency said were 408,688 marijuana seizures and 5,378 hashish seizures out of 1,122,990 total drug seizures, representing about 37 percent of enforcement actions. FBI’s arrest data is widely relied on by lawmakers, researchers and media to understand and contextualize law enforcement trends. Any inconsistencies influence not just the public’s understanding of crime and law enforcement, but also potentially how policy is crafted and implemented. Apparent errors in FBI marijuana were pointed out to the bureau in May 2022, when a longtime drug reformer and former congressional staffer, Eric Sterling, claimed to have discovered that a Maryland police department was reporting cannabis possession citations issued under the state’s decriminalization law at the time as arrests as part of a data-sharing partnership with FBI. Since other state and local law enforcement agencies appear to not be reporting cannabis citations as arrests, Sterling reasoned, the inconsistent practice could significantly alter FBI’s annual reports—making it harder to draw reasonable policy conclusions from the data. In 2023—about 14 months after Sterling sent the inquiry—the office finally replied. Rather than address the apparent problem, however, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General’s investigations division said it had “determined that the matters that you raised are more appropriate for review by another office within the DOJ” and referred the inquiry to FBI’s own inspection division. FBI’s cannabis enforcement reporting is also compromised by the fact that local and state police are not required to share data to inform the agency’s annual report, meaning it offers an incomplete overview of national law enforcement activities. The agency itself says that certain data may not be comparable to previous years because of different levels of participation over time. — 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. — The new FBI arrest data comes at the Trump administration is moving forward with the process of federally rescheduling marijuana. Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. Under a separate order the acting attorney general signed, a hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is charged with defending the proposed rescheduling move, said in its final brief filed last week that “marijuana no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I because it has a currently accepted medical use within the United States and it has an accepted safety for its use under medical supervision.” The agency noted that under the law it must give “significant deference” to an “extensive ten-month study on the scientific and medical properties” of cannabis conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recommended rescheduling. “Currently there are over 30,000 practitioners treating more than six million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions,” DEA said. “Such practices demonstrate that there is no longer a lack of accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision, and as such, marijuana does not fulfill the requirements of being a Schedule I substance.” It also said that there is “substantial evidence sufficient to show that marijuana’s abuse and dependency profiles better align with Schedule III substances than Schedule II” or Schedule I. “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.” In conclusion, DEA asked the judge overseeing the hearing to “expeditiously recommend” that marijuana be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule III. The post More Than 200,000 People Were Arrested For Marijuana Possession In The U.S. Last Year, FBI Data Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The full official transcript of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on the Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal has now been made available to the public. The release of the day-by-day record of the cannabis rescheduling proceedings comes after DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius ordered that dozens of mostly small and technical changes be made to an initial draft. The full transcript runs 2,533 pages for the full 11 days of the proceedings and reveals DEA’s effort to advocate on behalf of the move to reschedule marijuana as well as opponents’ attempts to undermine it. “The Government is not putting forth any evidence to suggest that marijuana is not dangerous. All controlled substances by definition are dangerous,” James Schwartz, a DEA attorney, said on the opening day of the hearing, according to the transcript. “That is why they are scheduled in the first place. However, controlled substances must be evaluated by the risks they pose balanced with the medical use they provide.” “The proposed rule, the supporting documents, and the Government witnesses will establish that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use,” he said. “With that determination, marijuana can no longer remain in Schedule I.” Julius, the DEA judge, said at the closing of the last day of the proceedings that the tribunal “understands the strong views held by many on all sides of the issues involved in this matter and is very grateful for the professionalism demonstrated by counsel and the parties throughout this hearing.” “In making a recommended decision on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana, I give my solemn promise to counsel, the designated parties, and the public that I will thoroughly consider and evaluate all the evidence presented at this hearing,” the judge said. Meanwhile, DEA and parties that participated in the marijuana rescheduling hearing filed their final briefs of the proceedings last week. The federal agency, which is charged with defending the proposed move of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, said in its brief that “marijuana no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I because it has a currently accepted medical use within the United States and it has an accepted safety for its use under medical supervision.” The agency noted that under the law it must give “significant deference” to an “extensive ten-month study on the scientific and medical properties” of cannabis conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recommended rescheduling. “Currently there are over 30,000 practitioners treating more than six million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions,” DEA said. “Such practices demonstrate that there is no longer a lack of accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision, and as such, marijuana does not fulfill the requirements of being a Schedule I substance.” It also said that there is “substantial evidence sufficient to show that marijuana’s abuse and dependency profiles better align with Schedule III substances than Schedule II” or Schedule I. “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.” In conclusion, DEA asked the judge overseeing the hearing to “expeditiously recommend” that marijuana be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule III. Opponents of cannabis reform—including the SAM; the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska; TBI; National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) and others—also filed briefs. The anti-rescheduling entities argued that a new two-part test federal officials used to analyze cannabis improperly departs from a former five-part test, that marijuana does not have accepted medical value and that the reform would undermine drug testing of safety-sensitive workers, among other things. In 2024, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) said the prior five-part test was “impermissibly narrow” and said the two-part review “is sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU even if the drug has not been approved by FDA and would not satisfy DEA’s five-part test.” DEA has since embraced the new approach to evaluating cannabis for CAMU and it has been used to subsequently evaluate other substances. Julius, the DEA judge, will now consider the final briefs and testimony delivered during the hearing and issue a recommendation on cannabis’s scheduling status. The final decision will ultimately be up to the DEA administrator, however. During the hearing, DEA officials charged with defending the cannabis rescheduling proposal highlighted testimony on marijuana’s medical benefits and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids. That included appearances from a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and a medical doctor from New Hampshire who detailed how medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids. Meanwhile, lawyers and witnesses for parties who are oppose marijuana rescheduling and participated in the hearing put significant focus on the alleged harms of cannabis use as well as criticism of recently adopted changes to an analysis used to determine whether drugs have accepted medical value. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole invited only organizations and people who oppose marijuana reform to join the hearing as designated participants—telling supporters that they do not meet the definition of an “interested person” to participate because they are not “adversely affected or aggrieved by any rule or proposed rule issuable.” Opposition parties that participated include Smart Approaches to Marijuana, National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn, Phillip A. Drum and the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska. Ahead of the hearing’s start, marijuana reform activists held a press conference outside DEA headquarters to highlight how they feel the have been “shut out” of the process—criticizing the fact that no supporters of reform were invited to participate and that the proceedings were not livestreamed despite officials’ vows of “transparency.” Marijuana Moment sent requests to Julius, the DEA judge, and to Cole, the DEA administrator, requesting they reverse a decision to prohibit the public from tuning into the cannabis hearing via livestream. A congressman and other journalists later joined in that request. — Marijuana Moment’s journalism is made possible by readers like you who value this work enough to support us with monthly pledges on Patreon. If you rely on our reporting to stay informed about key cannabis developments, please help us keep doing this by becoming a sustaining subscriber today. Backing us at the $25/month level also gets you access to our Bill Tracker so you won’t miss any important marijuana legislation in your state. — Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. Under a separate order the acting attorney general signed, the hearing is being held to consider more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. A prior hearing process on the marijuana rescheduling process that was initiated by the Biden administration stalled last year amid litigation over alleged improper communications and witness selection. The current marijuana rescheduling process is being challenged with several lawsuits that have been consolidated by a federal appeals court. Those pieces of litigation against the cannabis reform have been filed by state attorneys general, marijuana legalization opponents and a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical corporation. Meanwhile, the already-enacted rescheduling of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having broad impacts. The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current cannabis rescheduling move explaining that certified patients who possess medical marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries now have certain protections under Schedule III. “The order appears to authorize end users to possess marijuana for medical use without a CSA-compliant prescription,” it says. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has posted a draft update to a gun purchase form to acknowledge the federally legal status of medical marijuana under rescheduling. The revised section in question notably says that only “use or possession of marijuana for recreational purposes” is federally prohibited, leaving out the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issue new tax guidance for the marijuana industry following rescheduling. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions they’re currently barred from under an IRS code known as 280E that doesn’t apply to Schedule III substances. Even DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and was accused of stalling the rescheduling process initiative by the Biden administration, has launched a registration process for state-legal marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal benefits that come with the reform. The Department of Transportation, on the other hand, issued guidance saying that use of state-legal medical cannabis is still no excuse for a positive drug test by truck drivers, pilots and other safety-sensitive workers. The Department of War issued a memo making clear that marijuana use by military service members and civilian employees of the department remains prohibited, even under federal cannabis rescheduling. A congressional committee recently voted to block federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling, though bipartisan lawmakers told Marijuana Moment they don’t believe that provision will be enacted into law. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post DEA Releases Full Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Transcript As Judge Prepares To Issue His Recommendation appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“A free society should be capable of learning to live with potentially risky substances without the government banning them.” By Jeffrey A. Singer, Cato Institute As a physician, I don’t dismiss recent reports of increases in problematic cannabis use. But we should avoid letting them trigger another drug-war moral panic. Cannabis use has increased as more states have legalized it for adults. That should surprise no one. When a widely used substance moves from an illicit market to a legal one, some who previously abstained will try it, some occasional users will use it more often and people will be more willing to admit they use it. Yet these recent patterns don’t tell us what cannabis use will look like going forward. History should make us cautious about extrapolating from the early years of legalization. When Americans repealed Prohibition in 1933, alcohol consumption did not immediately settle into the pattern we recognize today. Consumption rose substantially over the following decades, eventually peaked around 1981 and then declined for more than a decade. Today, the share of Americans who report drinking alcohol is at its lowest level since Gallup began tracking it in 1939. Along the way, Americans learned to live with legal alcohol. Knowledge, customs, and social norms evolved around its responsible use. We learned to distinguish drinking from drunkenness. We came to strongly disapprove of drinking and driving and of drinking on the job. People learned to recognize their own limits, and friends and families learned to recognize when someone’s drinking was becoming a problem. None of those norms required us to conclude that, because alcohol can cause addiction, disease, accidents and death, we should prohibit adults from drinking it. Cannabis may be undergoing a similar period of adjustment. As cannabis use becomes normalized, consumers can learn more about dosing, potency, frequency, impairment and their individual responses to the drug. Social norms around responsible use can develop as people gain experience with a substance that, for most of the past century, public policy treated simply as something no one should use. There is already some evidence supporting that possibility. Canada legalized cannabis nationwide in 2018, providing researchers with an unusually useful natural experiment. A prospective study followed 1,428 Ontario adults from immediately before legalization through five years afterward. Overall, cannabis use frequency increased slightly, yet measures of cannabis misuse decreased slightly. Even more interesting, people who used cannabis frequently before legalization showed the largest decreases in both cannabis use and misuse. That doesn’t prove legalization caused those reductions. The researchers themselves caution that factors such as people aging out of problematic patterns of use may partly explain the findings. But the Canadian experience should at least caution us against assuming that an initial increase in use inevitably leads to ever-increasing problematic use. Cannabis is not harmless. Frequent use can be problematic for some people. High-potency products warrant particular attention, as do the risks to adolescents and to people predisposed to psychotic disorders. We should educate people honestly about those risks and discourage them from driving or operating dangerous machinery while impaired by cannabis. But acknowledging those risks does not justify banning adults from using cannabis. Prohibition carries risks of its own. It pushes consumers toward illicit markets, where products may have uncertain potency and contents. It exposes otherwise peaceful people to arrest and criminal penalties. And by reducing an enormously complicated subject to “don’t use drugs,” prohibition can impede the development of the knowledge and social norms that help people make safer choices. We should judge legalization against the real-world alternative of prohibition, with its illicit markets, criminal penalties and unreliable product information. The latest findings about cannabis use should inform consumers, physicians and policymakers. Researchers should continue monitoring cannabis use patterns and identify which patterns of use and which products carry the greatest risks. Public health officials can provide adults with accurate information without exaggerating risks in hopes of frightening them away from using cannabis. Laws should prohibit sales to minors and driving while impaired. Adults routinely make choices that involve risk. Some drink alcohol, some smoke tobacco and some participate in dangerous sports. Respecting their autonomy doesn’t require pretending those choices are harmless. It requires providing them with good information and allowing them to weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. We should treat cannabis the same way. A free society should be capable of learning to live with potentially risky substances without the government banning them. Jeffrey A. Singer, MD practices surgery in Phoenix, Arizona and is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. His latest book is Your Body, Your Health Care (Cato Institute, 2025). The post Reports Of Increases In Problematic Cannabis Use Don’t Mean We Should Return To Prohibition (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Texas Democrats are calling out a key Republican official for allegedly working to ban hemp THC products in order to benefit alcohol companies, which happen to be among his substantial campaign contributors. During the last legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who oversees the Senate, championed legislation to recriminalize many hemp products. While the bill was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), the governor then issued an executive order on the issue and regulators have since enacted significant restrictions on derivatives from the crop. Now, a key county Democratic Party and Patrick’s opponent for reelection this year are calling attention to the the lieutenant governor’s support from the alcohol industry amid his push to hemp ben products. “We’ve seen the lieutenant governor take hundreds of thousands of dollars from the alcohol industry, and that’s what drove the policy around the ban on THC,” Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee and current state representative, said last week, according to The Beaumont Enterprise. “I am in favor of treating THC like alcohol,” she said. “A part of my healthcare plan is taxing THC like we do alcohol and cigarettes and use that for healthcare.” Similarly, the Bexar County Democratic Party said in a post on Facebook this weekend that hemp represents a “multi-billion dollar industry with over 14K small business owners and more than 50K employees.” “And the Texas Republicans just wiped them out,” it said. “Why? Could it be because Dan Patrick received $275K in donations from beer distributors and alcohol PACs?” In June Patrick’s campaign committee, Texans for Dan Patrick, reported receiving $275,000 from the alcohol distributor company Silver Eagle Distributors, according to a Texas Ethics Commission filing. Texas Democrats are increasingly using the cannabis issue to bash Republicans as the November elections approach—and are highlighting their opponents’ support from the alcohol industry. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, for example, wants to legalize marijuana and suggested in a recent interview that that his opponent for the seat, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) supports banning cannabis in order to aid his political donors in the alcohol and tobacco industries. “It doesn’t make any sense until you follow the money and realize that it is big beer and big tobacco that are funding the politicians, like Ken Paxton, who turned around and banned these safe THC products in order to enrich the big beer and a big tobacco lobby,” Talarico, who currently serves as a state representative, said. In a separate interview, the Democratic candidate said that keeping marijuana illegal while also moving to restrict hemp THC products is an “insane” form of “corruption.” “Think about what industries are most worried about THC products being readily available: Big Beer, Big Tobacco, right? And so they were the ones pushing this THC ban because it hurts their bottom line,” he said. “And a lot of research shows that THC—cannabis—these products are safer and less addictive than than beer or tobacco.” “And so to me, this is a prime example of what corruption looks like when you’ve got big industries buying politicians and pushing bills that harm people, but benefit them financially,” Talarico said. The Texas Democratic Party recently called out Paxton for refusing to answer a question about cannabis policy after he was recently shown in a video posted to X being asked what his thoughts are on the “state’s THC ban.” “I don’t know the details of it, but let’s talk later,” he replied before quickly stepping away. Paxton, in fact, has sued to overturn local voter-approved marijuana decriminalization laws in several cities across Texas. His office has also defended hemp product restrictions in court against lawsuits from the industry. That includes a recently enacted ban on certain hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC. Now classified as Schedule I drugs under state law, possession is treated as a felony, carrying a punishment of 180 days to two years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. A judge this month declined hemp companies’ request to impose a temporary restraining order on the THC crackdown while the overall litigation is considered. The Texas Democratic Party pounced on Paxton’s inability to answer the cannabis question, saying in a press release that he appeared to be “in a panic” when being pressed about the “incredibly unpopular” THC ban before proceeding to “run away” from the questioner. “Ken Paxton is a coward who runs from questions because he has no answers for his wildly unpopular positions,” Texas Democratic Party Spokesperson Ryan Martin said. “Paxton knows Texans hate this THC ban he has pushed onto people with his nanny-state agenda.” The party’s press release also noted that podcaster Joe Rogan, who lives in and operates a comedy club in Austin, discussed the issue on an episode of his podcast that was posted on Thursday. “They’ve done the THC thing,” he said. “Here’s what Texas doesn’t understand. You will fuck this place up and you will turn the whole thing blue.” “Kids will turn on you if you tell them they can’t smoke weed,” Rogan said. “They know weed’s not killing anybody.” Voters in Houston will decide on an initiative to make misdemeanor marijuana possession the “lowest possible enforcement priority” for local police on the November ballot. Image element courtesy of AnonMoos. The post Texas Democrats Say GOP Lieutenant Governor Pushed For Hemp THC Product Ban To Benefit His Alcohol Industry Donors appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Congressional researchers call out FDA hemp delay; CA marijuana packaging bill to gov; Cannabis workers unionize; OR lawmaker plans edibles rollback 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… Before you dig into today’s cannabis news, I wanted you to know you can keep this resource free and published daily by subscribing to Marijuana Moment on Patreon. We’re a small independent publication diving deep into the cannabis world and rely on readers like you to keep going. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW The Congressional Research Service is calling out the Food and Drug Administration for being more than six months late to publish lists of hemp-derived cannabinoids and to issue guidance on the term “container” with respect to THC product serving sizes. California lawmakers sent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) a bill to more clearly define the types of marijuana packaging and labeling that is prohibited for appealing to children. A new Gallup poll shows that more American adults are now smoking marijuana than ever before as tobacco cigarette smoking has hit an all-time low. Cannabis smoking by U.S. adults has more than doubled since 2013. An Oregon senator announced a renewed push to ban marijuana edibles with more than 10 milligrams of THC for 2027 after her bill on the issue fell short of passage this year. Workers at Key Cannabis Dispensary in Springfield, Missouri ratified a collective bargaining agreement—becoming the second cannabis business in the state to secure a union contract. / FEDERAL The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declined to revisit its decision to uphold a man’s conviction for possessing a gun while being a marijuana consumer. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) discussed his support for creating a federal framework for hemp products. / STATES Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidate Gentner Drummond, currently the state’s attorney general, reacted to criticism of a bank he owns providing services to state-legal medical cannabis businesses. Louisiana regulators filed changes to rules on medical cannabis use by people under parole supervision. Colorado regulators posted guidance about a new cannabis inventory tracking system contract. New Mexico regulators began accepting applications for medical psilocybin production permits. Arizona officials awarded a $5 million grant to support ibogaine research. Oregon regulators sent a newsletter with various marijuana and psilocybin updates. Massachusetts regulators will host a virtual cannabis social equity program application clinic on Wednesday. — 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 Los Angeles, California officials sent a newsletter with various cannabis updates. / INTERNATIONAL Botswana’s Parliament approved an amendment to an industrial development law to facilitate the legal cannabis industry’s implementation. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that “marijuana can be helpful for symptom control, reducing reliance on opioid pharmaceuticals, and may improve quality of life in patients with” inflammatory bowel disease. A study found that “lifetime and recent psychedelic use were associated with better executive functioning.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The Dallas Morning News editorial board called out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), currently a candidate for U.S. Senate, for dodging a question about cannabis laws. / BUSINESS Aurora Cannabis Inc. pushed back on what it called “inaccurate statements” by Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. in support of that company’s unsolicited bid to acquire it, though Curaleaf said that “Aurora’s hollow protests and completely misleading statistics change nothing about reality.” NCS Analytics and CRB Monitor launched a strategic partnership. / CULTURE Halloween: The Game will not be available in Australia due to gameplay involving “illicit drug use that is linked to an incentive or reward.” 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 Cannabis smoking outpaces cigarettes in US, Gallup poll shows (Newsletter: August 25, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

This is such an encouraging milestone for women founders in this industry. Programs like The Initiative give early-stage teams the structure and investor-readiness that most founders never get access to, and closing that gap has held too many great businesses back. Seeing a cohort built around skill building and funding preparation is exactly the kind of ecosystem support that lifts the whole community. Wishing the first cohort real momentum this year. And on a lighter note, when the workday is over I keep coming back to Orbit Kick as a fun way to reset my head between pitch decks and paperwork.

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“I’m hoping that the cannabis industry will take the lead, and they’ll decide they don’t want to be like the tobacco industry.” By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle Karma Clarke, a Douglas County mother, thought marijuana was harmless in 2014 when she voted in favor of the ballot measure legalizing recreational cannabis in Oregon. She believed that until six years later, when her then-20-year-old son began smoking marijuana regularly. He had played sports and maintained good grades in college, but when he returned home after completing his associate degree, Clarke said her son began acting strangely. He stopped leaving his room, and he lost the ability to perform everyday tasks such as reading a tape measure or answering questions. After several doctor visits, her son was admitted in two different psychiatric hospitalizations. Although his drug tests came back clean, something had switched in his brain, she said. Clarke shared her story of witnessing her son develop a psychotic disorder at a virtual meeting Wednesday, where state Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, invited her and public health experts to speak about policy proposals aimed at preventing youth access to cannabis. “I’m hoping that the cannabis industry will take the lead, and they’ll decide they don’t want to be like the tobacco industry and they don’t want to keep denying that there’s a link between their products and people’s lives being ruined,” Clarke said. Reynolds looks to THC caps again, and more warning labels Recreational cannabis has been legal in Oregon for adults 21 and older for more than a decade, but it remains illegal for minors. Still, an estimated 13,000 youth between ages 12 and 18 use cannabis in Oregon, according to Dr. Julia Dilley, a Multnomah County epidemiologist who led a 10-year study looking at cannabis legalization and public health impact in Oregon and Washington. Reynolds, a pediatrician who has served in the Legislature for five years, is seeking to improve cannabis prevention education in schools, cap individual edibles at 10 milligrams of THC and require manufacturers provide more warning labels on their products. Reynolds’s efforts are inspired by her work as a pediatrician, and because she believes her brother’s habitual marijuana use in the ’70s contributed to his severe mental health problems as an adult. Teens using cannabis are at 11 times higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder compared to teens not using cannabis, studies show. “When we talk about the risk of psychosis, this isn’t just what we would call a bad experience while you are actually intoxicated by cannabis,” Reynolds said. “This is a long-term disability.” Additionally, more children are turning up in hospitals after consuming edibles resembling desserts such as brownies or cookies. She spearheaded legislation earlier this year to cap individual edibles at 10 milligrams of THC. Her bill made it past the Oregon Senate, but it died in the committee process on the House side as members received intense pushback from marijuana industry groups. Reynolds said she’ll propose the legislation again, but this time with the help of a lobbyist. The Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon did not immediately respond to the Capital Chronicle’s request for comment. Oregon is one of the most loosely regulated marijuana states More than 800 calls since 2025 to the Oregon Poison Center were related to cannabis, said Dilley, the Multnomah County epidemiologist. One-third of those calls were for children younger than 5. Cannabis use among youth is higher in Oregon than it is in Washington because it doesn’t have the same protective measures, she said. Unlike Washington which requires that cannabis manufacturers individually wrap all edibles with a 10 milligram THC cap, Oregon cannabis manufacturers can sell individual edibles with more than 10 milligrams of THC, such as sodas or cookies containing 100 milligrams of THC that are meant to be split into several portions. Both states require an edible package contain no more than 100 milligrams of THC. Unlike Oregon, it’s illegal to grow nonmedical marijuana at home in Washington. Washington also caps the number of retail cannabis outlets and applies a 37 percent sales tax. Oregon’s cannabis sales tax ranges from 17 percent to 20 percent, depending on where it’s bought. Both states require cannabis businesses to be located at least 1,000 feet away from public schools. Washington requires this buffer also apply to private schools, playgrounds, childcare facilities, libraries and other locations, though Oregon localities can establish additional buffers under state law. Oregon does require warning labels on cannabis products related to pregnancy. These labels are working and preventing people from using cannabis during pregnancy, Dilley said, adding that Oregon could go a step further at providing more warning labels about cannabis use contributing to worse mental health outcomes. “These products should not be designed or marketed to appeal to children,” pediatrician Dr. Jill Pearson said. “Yet, time and time again, we are just rep This story was first published by Oregon Capital Chronicle. The post Oregon Lawmaker Announces Push To Ban Marijuana Edibles With More Than 10 Milligrams Of THC appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“We already got our raises. Our [personal time off] is taking effect. Bonuses have been handed out…and job security is in place.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent It’s been nearly a month since Key Cannabis Dispensary employees in Springfield ratified their first collective bargaining agreement that includes wage increases, bonuses and additional time off to workers. And employees are feeling pretty high. “Now that the contract has been ratified, we’re rocking and rolling already,” said Sally Powell, a retail associate at Key Cannabis Dispensary. “We already got our raises. Our [personal time off] is taking effect. Bonuses have been handed out…and job security is in place.” Powell was among the employees who in 2022 voted 6-3 to unionize, under the representation of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 2. The agreement is a milestone in Missouri’s still-young marijuana industry, where dispensaries have proliferated since recreational sales began in 2023 but organized labor has made only limited inroads. The Springfield workers are just the second group of cannabis employees in the state to secure a union contract, and their four-year path to one offers a glimpse at how difficult it can be to turn a successful organizing vote into tangible workplace protections. The delay was partly because the previous owners, Bloom Medicinal, sold the dispensary in January 2024 to Elevate Cannabis. Nico Pento, chief legal officer for Elevate Cannabis, said it was a unique situation because the company was “thrown into the middle” of the unionization process, as part of its acquisition of a few facilities from Bloom. “A lot of what we settled on is not much different than what we do as an organization,” Pento said. “But, I respect the right of everybody to want to be represented by a union if they so choose. I’m happy we could come to an amicable agreement.” While the company has a merit increase system in wages, Pento said this store’s employees were on a hiring freeze during the lengthy collective bargaining process. “We needed to get through the entire [collective bargaining agreement] negotiations before we could make any adjustments to compensation,” Pento said, “so the increases that we gave them were really more of a true-up to get them to where we felt they would have been had they not chosen to unionize.” The ratification bonus was similarly something the company decided was the “right thing to do,” he said. “They had gone over two years without getting a wage increase,” he said, “so we wanted to find a way to properly compensate them for that kind of two-year delay.” Powell said the contract creates more stable scheduling and clearer disciplinary guidelines. One of the most important provisions for Powell were the non-discrimination, anti-harassment and inclusion protections. “With the cannabis industry just being a super inclusive industry as is,” she said, “it’s nice to just have some extra language to protect that. Being gay myself, we have quite a few gender-fluid people in our facility. It’s just been great to be able to be your true self and not have to worry about who you are.” Elevate Cannabis is owned by a group of family and friends based out of the Kansas city area, he said, and the company has 14 dispensaries and two manufacturing and cultivation facilities. It is among the largest cannabis companies in Missouri. Another reason it took so a long time to get a union contract ratified, Pento said, is because the labor negotiation process “is definitely a little old school.” “Everything is in person,” he said. “You’re trading drafts back and forth in person. It’s not like a typical, you know, sale or acquisition where you’re exchanging red lines and can bang it out in a couple weeks.” However, Pento commended the union representative, Saul Guerrero, for being reasonable and easy to communicate with. Chad Price, UFCW Local 2 director of collective bargaining and retail servicing, praised the workers for their hard work and dedication. “We want to welcome them to our union family,” Price said. “Together, we will continue building contracts that improve lives and strengthen our workplaces for years to come.” This story was first published by Missouri Independent. The post Workers At Another Missouri Marijuana Business Secure A Union Contract appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

California lawmakers have passed a bill to more clearly define the types of marijuana packaging and labeling that is prohibited due to appealing to children, sending the legislation to the governor’s desk. The measure, sponsored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D), passed by the Assembly in a vote of 69-1 on Thursday after having cleared the Senate 38-0 a day earlier. The proposal now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who can sign or veto the bill or allow it to become law without his signature. As passed by lawmakers, AB 2249 would define “attractive to children” to mean designed or likely to appeal to people under the age of 21. Indications for that youth appeal would include the use of cartoons, depictions of individuals who appear to be under 21, use of mythological creatures like unicorns or dragons or references to celebrities or characters who are primarily associated with children’s entertainment. It would also include images of consumable goods that are primarily marketed to children—such as candies, cereals, sweets and desserts—as well as the use of lettering styles resembling “overinflated bubbles or balloons” that are typical in products marketed to kids. “Cannabis and cannabis product packaging and labeling shall not imitate, mimic, or closely resemble the packaging, labeling, trade dress, or overall appearance of a non-cannabis product that is primarily marketed to children,” the legislation says. While the bill says that “edible cannabis product or vape cartridge labeling shall not include cartoon or overly stylized depictions of fruit,” one provision clarifies that “realistic depictions of fruit used to identify or accurately depict the product ingredients or production region are not prohibited.” The packaging and labeling restrictions would take effect on January 1, 2028 if the measure is enacted into law. — 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. — Under the legislation, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) would be directed to adopt regulations to “address additional packaging and labeling design elements or product characteristics that pose heightened risk to children.” DCC would also be required to develop “compliance assessment resources” to help cannabis businesses self-evaluate whether their packaging and labeling at attractive to children. In June, the department rolled out a new AI tool to help businesses identify marijuana product packaging may appeal to kids in violation of existing state rules, which already ban cartoons on cannabis labels. Irwin, the bill’s sponsor, previously requested the California State Auditor to conduct an assessment of DCC’s enforcement of existing laws against marketing cannabis products to children. That audit “confirmed what many have long recognized: California’s cannabis industry continues to package and market products in ways which are overtly attractive to children,” the lawmaker said. “Since the passage of Proposition 64, child cannabis poisonings have increased dramatically. These exposures are often driven by cannabis product packaging that uses features which are explicitly attractive to children, leading children to consume the products unintentionally,” Irwin said. “Young children who accidentally consumer cannabis require poison control treatment consistently, and in many cases they can also expose their fellow elementary and middle school peers to cannabis.” The California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), for its part, opposes the bill. “AB 2249 would impose significant costs on the licensed businesses that already keep cannabis away from children, undermine the state’s efforts to bring consumers into the regulated market, and does not address safe at-home storage practices,” the trade association said. The measure was amended by the Senate after initially clearing the Assembly, including by delaying its effective date, narrowing the definition of “attractive to children” and removing some requirements for regulators. Meanwhile, lawmakers this session have also advanced legislation to allow marijuana retailers to offer drive-thru windows to serve customers. Last month, California’s treasurer said the marijuana legalization law that voters approved a decade ago has been a “complete failure” and should be replaced with a new ballot initiative that prioritizes consumers and small businesses. The vice chair of the state Senate Budget Committee has floated the idea of putting a new initiative on the state ballot to “reverse” Proposition 64, for example, arguing that voters were misled and voicing concerns about the health impacts of marijuana use. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, recently told Marijuana Moment that taxes and regulations on cannabis are “too high.” DCC recently released data showing how 97 percent of state cannabis enforcement actions in unincorporated cities have happened in counties that have locally banned licensed growers from operating. California regulators also recently adopted emergency rules changes for the state’s marijuana licensing process that are intended to make it easier for businesses to qualify for benefits in line with the Trump administration’s recent move to federally reschedule medical cannabis. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently took credit for helping to lead the push for the state to legalize marijuana and discussed his own limited experience with using cannabis. In October, however, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed certain marijuana microbusinesses to ship medical cannabis products directly to patients via common carriers like FedEx and UPS, stating that the proposal “would be burdensome and overly complex to administer.” Newsom did sign a bill earlier that month aimed at streamlining research on marijuana and psychedelics. In September, the governor also signed a measure into law to put a pause on a recently enacted tax hike on marijuana products. Separately, the state attorney general says Indian tribes cannot independently engage in marijuana commerce with licensed cannabis businesses without first obtaining their own commercial license from state officials. California officials recently awarded nearly $30 million in grants for marijuana-focused academic research projects. The post California Lawmakers Approve Bill Restricting Marijuana Packaging That’s ‘Attractive To Children’ appeared first on Marijuana Moment. 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Congressional researchers are again noting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has missed a legal deadline to publish a list of known cannabinoids and guidance on hemp product containers as federal laws for the crop and its derivatives are set to change later this year in a way that stakeholders argue will upend the existing market. The agency’s failure to follow through on what lawmakers directed will make it harder to comply with the law, hemp industry operatives say. As part of appropriations legislation that President Donald Trump signed last year, many hemp products that were legalized during his first term in office under the 2018 Farm Bill will be prohibited once again starting in November. The spending also measure included separate provisions directing FDA and other relevant agencies to study the cannabinoid marketplace and develop lists of cannabis components as well as issue guidance on hemp product containers for serving sizes. Specifically, after the bill was signed, FDA was given 90 days to publish 1) a list of “all cannabinoids known to FDA to be capable of being naturally produced” by cannabis 2) a list of “all tetrahydrocannabinol class cannabinoids known to the agency to be naturally occurring in the plant” and 3) a list of “all other know cannabinoids with similar effects to, or marketed to have similar effects to, tetrahyrocannabinol class cannabinoids.” Further, the agency was tasked with providing “additional information and specificity about the term ‘container’” with respect to hemp product THC serving sizes on the same 90-day timeline. In the bill, the term is defined as “the innermost wrapping, packaging, or vessel in direct contact with a final hemp-derived cannabinoid product in which the final hemp-derived cannabinoid product is enclosed for retail sale to consumers, such as a jar, bottle, bag, box, packet, can, carton, or cartridge.” The lists and information was due more than six months ago, on February 10, but FDA did not follow through by the deadline—and still hasn’t published the required information. Now, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is noting in an updated report published last week that the law “requires FDA to consult with relevant federal agencies and publish [the guidance] within 90 days of enactment (which, as of August 2026, has not been published).” Marijuana Moment sent requests to FDA for an update on its plans to publish the required guidance and any reaction to CRS’s report, but representatives did not reply. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which FDA is a component, told Marijuana Moment earlier this year that it was the agency’s intention to provide the lists in time and that they would be published in the Federal Register. However, that’s yet to materialize—and officials did not provide clarification when asked for an update. That causes complications for the hemp product industry. “It is difficult to comply with the law while key definitions are still in question,” Jim Higdon, cofounder and chief communications officer of Cornbread Hemp, told Marijuana Moment on Friday. “Without knowing the definition of container or exact list of cannabinoids that are covered by the ban, how does one comply?” The new report isn’t the first time that CRS has called out FDA for missing the hemp-related deadline, as researchers noted the issue in an earlier analysis published back in May. Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, the president signed new spending legislation containing provisions that will redefine hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal after November 12. That said, Senate recently approved a funding bill that includes a provision to delay the effective date of most parts of the hemp product ban until December 11—a move that was supported by the White House. While that change has not yet been approved by the House of Representatives or enacted into law, industry supports believe it could give them more time to convince Congress to enact a regulatory structure for hemp products as an alternative to broad prohibition. Lawmakers from both parties have filed several bills to create regulations for hemp THC products, but none of those proposals have gained traction with congressional leadership. The new CRS report, meanwhile, noted that “some stakeholders, including attorneys general in several states, have opposed delaying the effective date of the hemp definition, stating general support for the new definition and that states have altered or aligned their laws and regulations with the new definition.” “Conversely, some hemp industry groups have expressed opposition to the definitional changes and prefer regulation of hemp-derived consumer products through agencies like FDA,” it said. “These stakeholders have generally supported delaying the effective date for the new hemp definition to extend the time for Congress to potentially pass a different regulatory framework for hemp products.” The congressional research concluded by providing a brief overview of several pending bills that would further alter federal rules for hemp, saying that lawmakers “may consider whether to further amend the statutory definition or implement regulatory frameworks for certain hemp products.” The White House in June asked Congress to take action to prevent the broad federal recriminalization of hemp in order to “ensure the fair treatment of hemp products.” In April, the president himself urged congressional lawmakers to again redefine hemp to avoid recriminalization of full-spectrum CBD products. “I am calling on Congress to update the Law to ensure that Americans can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD products they have come to rely on, and that help them, while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose Health risks,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on the same day his administration announced it is moving forward with rescheduling marijuana. “We must get this done RIGHT and FAST, especially for those who saw that CBD helps them,” he said. “Plus, I am told it will also help our GREAT FARMERS, who we love, and will always be there for.” The post Congressional Researchers Call Out FDA For Not Publishing Hemp Cannabinoid Lists And Guidance On Product Containers That’s Six Months Overdue appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A record-high number of U.S. adults now smoke marijuana, while cigarette smoking is at an all-time low, according to a new Gallup poll. The survey, published on Monday, shows that 17 percent of Americans over the age of 18 now smoke cannabis—more than double the 7 percent who said they smoke marijuana when Gallup first asked about the issue in 2013. Separately, 15 percent of American adults consume marijuana edibles, the poll found. In contrast, just 11 percent of U.S. adults said they smoked tobacco cigarettes within the past week. Nine percent said they vaped nicotine within the past seven days, while 4 percent used nicotine pouches. When it comes to cannabis, Gallup said the poll found that “Americans are about evenly split on marijuana’s effect on most users”—with 47 percent saying it has an either very of somewhat positive effect and 46 percent saying its impact is very or somewhat negative. Adults between the ages of 30 and 49 are the most likely to smoke marijuana, with a quarter (25 percent) saying they do so. Among those between the ages of 18 and 29, 23 percent smoke cannabis. While men are more likely than women to smoke marijuana, the reverse is true when it comes to consuming cannabis edibles. Last year, a separate Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans remain in favor of legalizing marijuana but that support saw a slight dip from 2024—a trend that’s been “driven by Republicans” who are turning against the reform. Overall, 64 percent of Americans back ending cannabis prohibition, the survey showed—4 percentage points lower than Gallup’s prior year results. Republican support for legalization fell 13 percentage points—down to 40 percent—which is “the lowest level of support for legalization among this group in a decade,” Gallup said. Meanwhile, the most recent Gallup survey is the latest indication that more American adultss are taking up marijuana as an alternative to cigarettes and, in some case, alcohol. An analysis of federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data published last year showed that more Americans now use marijuana than smoke cigarettes amid shifting perceptions of harm of the two substances. Last month, new NSDUH data showed Americans are now more likely to use marijuana nearly every day than they are to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol on a daily basis. Gallup, for its part, has also previously published results in the finding that American adults are more likely to smoke marijuana than tobacco cigarettes. A study released this month found that people who consume cannabis-infused THC beverages end up drinking less alcohol. Despite the overall rise in marijuana use among adults, teen use of cannabis is now lower than before states started legalizing it—despite the fears of opponents of the reform. The 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), released last month, shows that 8.7 percent of people between the ages of 12 and 17 used marijuana within the past year. That’s down from 14.2 percent in 2011, the year before the first U.S. states legalized recreational cannabis. The post More Americans Are Now Smoking Marijuana Than Ever Before As Cigarettes Hit All-Time Low, Gallup Poll Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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MI GOP gov nominee wants marijuana tax cut; IA medical cannabis rules for out-of-state patients; Marijuana on probation & parole; TX hemp lawsuit 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… Hold on, just one second before you read today’s news. Have you thought about giving some financial support to Marijuana Moment? If so, today would be a great day to contribute. We’re planning our reporting for the coming months and it would really help to know what kind of support we can count on. Check us out on Patreon and sign up to give $25/month today: https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW A Drug Enforcement Administration judge issued an order on corrections to the transcript for the hearing on the Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal—with the final version due to be publicly posted by Wednesday, and the list of changes showing that the draft is at least 2,470 pages long. Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate John James is pledging to eliminate or scale back a new marijuana wholesale tax while also cracking down on hemp THC products. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services filed proposed rules changes to remove the residency requirement for patients in the state’s medical cannabis program while also ensuring that military veterans qualify for reduced registration fees. The Reason Foundation’s Sephria Reynolds-Tanner points out in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that many people who are on probation or parole are still barred from using doctor-recommended medical cannabis even in light of state legalization and federal rescheduling. Texas officials are facing another lawsuit over recently enacted hemp THC product restrictions—with businesses arguing the move has led to “catastrophic” harm, including the loss of more than 36,000 jobs and a more than 50 percent drop in retail sales. The administrator of South Dakota’s medical cannabis program said that federal officials aren’t providing answers to states’ questions about the implications of the Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling move. Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration projections show that the state’s move to ban certain hemp products will lead to a $110 million tax shortfall. The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation received nearly 900 applications for the state’s final marijuana microbusiness licensing round ahead of a lottery scheduled for next month. / FEDERAL Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) said marijuana rescheduling “opens the door to responsible regulation, evidence-based medicine, and a safer, more transparent cannabis market.” The House marijuana banking bill got two new cosponsors for a total of nine. The House bill to regulate hemp THC products got two new cosponsors for a total of five. The House bill to regulate hemp THC drinks got two new cosponsors for a total of three. / STATES Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (D) and Democratic opponent Fred Love, currently a state senator, discussed their opposition to legalizing marijuana. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) tweeted photos of himself attending a ribbon-cutting at a medical cannabis business. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that local officials in Suffield cannot block a hemp processor’s operations based solely on state rules for marijuana. Massachusetts’s former top marijuana regulator is suing the state’s treasurer over how she was forced out of the job. New Mexico regulators are being sued over a decision to switch to a new cannabis tracking system. California regulators announced a recall of marijuana products due to incomplete and incorrect regulatory compliance testing. Colorado regulators issued an updated health and safety bulletin about cannabis vaporizer devices with pesticides. Separately, they will consider draft changes to marijuana rules on Wednesday. Montana regulators adopted changes to rules on marijuana packaging and labeling and tracking. Members of the U.S. Virgin Islands Cannabis Advisory Board received an update from the territory’s top marijuana regulator. — 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 The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota City Council approved a market-feasibility study on a municipal-run marijuana dispensary. / INTERNATIONAL Nepal’s finance minister said the government supports allowing commercial production and medical use of cannabis. The Australian Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee published a report on hemp issues. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that a “group of patients prescribed orally administered [medical cannabis] oil in Australia reported many benefits of MC, but faced ongoing barriers to MC access.” / BUSINESS Grown Rogue International Inc. took initial steps toward its planned acquisition of PharmaCann Inc.’s New York license and assets through the formation of Grown Rogue New York, LLC. Google Photos is reportedly blocking users from searching for their own cannabis photos. / CULTURE Gillian Anderson said she had a “really bad trip” while smoking marijuana for the first time and watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a young teen. 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: The post DEA judge orders cannabis rescheduling transcript corrections (Newsletter: August 24, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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The program is “designed to expand opportunities for marginalized or under-represented individuals to participate in the state’s regulated marijuana industry.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Missouri received nearly 900 applications for its final round of marijuana microbusiness licenses, with the Missouri Lottery scheduled to draw applicants on September 9 for 77 available licenses. But unlike the entrepreneurs selected in the program’s first two rounds, this year’s applicants will enter a system reshaped by two years of growing pains and dozens of license revocations. Jimi Poe, owner of 816 Dispensary in Platte City, was among the first microbusiness licensees selected in 2023. Two years later, he opened Missouri’s first operating microbusiness dispensary. “It was definitely a long journey,” Poe said during the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation’s latest podcast episode. “It was a journey that round three people are not going to have to go.” The microbusiness program was established through the 2022 constitutional amendment voters approved to legalize recreational marijuana. It was “designed to expand opportunities for marginalized or under-represented individuals to participate in the state’s regulated marijuana industry,” according to the state’s website. As part of the DCR Out Loud episode, Poe spoke with Lesley Turek, the division’s chief equity officer, about the evolution of the program since its inception in 2023. This is the third and final lottery for microbusinesses, where the state will issue at least 29 wholesale and at least 34 dispensary licenses to meet the constitutional requirement of 144 total micro licenses. Poe was one of the “pioneers” of the microbusiness industry, Turek said, and as of August 18, there are 21 operational microbusiness licenses—five dispensaries and 16 wholesale. These companies heavily relied on each other to learn and grow their businesses, Poe said, so it’s important for new owners to build relationships right away. “That’s one of the great benefits of the microbusiness program,” Turek said, “is that it really is a community.” Turek, who oversees the microbusiness program, also stressed that the winners should also develop a relationship with their compliance officers so they understand the new rules put in place in May. They’re rules cannabis regulators proposed in 2024 after they revoked numerous licenses due to unconstitutional ownership deals. “I think it’s really important too for licensees,” she said, “both current and future applicants, to understand—any sort of arrangement or agreements that you are trying to get into, include DCR with those so that we can make sure that you’re remaining compliant.” The new rules governing the microbusiness program provide a deeper explanation of what it means to “majority own and operate” a license, which was a requirement in the 2022 constitutional amendment. They allow regulators to complete an extensive review of potential ownership arrangements before the licenses are issued, rather than afterwards. And they mandate that regulators communicate directly with majority owners, not consultants, and that applicants take a course on compliance before applying and after receiving the license. Poe’s journey When Poe was 20, he said he got slapped with a nonviolent marijuana charge. “I had a so-called friend get in trouble,” Poe told Turek, “and he wanted to get out of that trouble, so he hooked me up with an undercover cop and told me it was his uncle.” He ended up selling 12 pounds to the undercover cop and did 14 months in prison. “I was dating my wife at the time, and I remember telling her that, ‘Hey, do this bit with me, and I promise I’ll never sell marijuana again,’” Poe said. “And I never did until here we are, selling marijuana together in the dispensary under a state license.” August 4 was the 20th anniversary of the day he got busted. Now his charge is an important part of his business’ story, and it also made him eligible to apply for a microbusiness. “I remember when I first won the license, I was like, ‘I’m gonna be the first to open,’” he said. “That was my goal from the time I won the license, and I also wanted to make my mark within the industry. So I felt like I achieved those goals.” While it took two years instead of the six months he anticipated to open, Poe stressed that it won’t be as hard for these new winners. “There’s a lot more people that are coming online,” he said, “and there’s a lot more stuff out there than when I first started. There were a lot of gray areas, and people were still trying to figure it out.” When he opened his doors, “people thought I was crazy,” he said. He only had nine different strands of what the industry calls “flower,” or dry weed in containers. Now he has 32 different strains of flower, disposable distillate carts, multiple different dabs and 12 different pre-rolled joints. His menu started as one page and now it’s eight pages long, so “things have grown tremendously,” in a year, he said. “We’re still lacking on the manufacturer side,” Poe said of the microbusiness community. “The manufacturing and equipment and the know-how, people are still trying to figure that out.” Turek said before the Missouri Lottery draws the winners, cannabis regulators will vet the applications for basic things, like making sure no one has applied twice and application fees have been paid. “It does take a little bit of time,” she said, “because if, for example, an application fee doesn’t come through, we give that person a chance to make that payment so that they can go to the lottery.” Then after the draw, Turek said they’ll be in “full processing mode.” They will be conducting a full review of the top-drawn applications, making sure that all the business arrangements are compliant with state law and background checks show no disqualifying felonies. “We’ll start by making a phone call to reach out to the owners and say, ‘Hey, it’s us, DCR. Here’s your specialist with this team,’” Turek said. “Give you specific names to contact and tell you what’s going to happen in the process.” If that application doesn’t meet state requirements, then the next top-drawn applicant will be processed. This is part of the new rules to prevent numerous license revocations. Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department for Health and Senior Services that oversees the cannabis division, said the division plans to award microbusiness licenses from Round 3 before the end of 2026. Currently, there are 46 microbusiness licenses from the Round 1 and 2 that are active but not yet approved to operate. Poe said that’s partly because owners were nervous to open and unsure if the microbusiness program was going to thrive. “I’ve been operational for over a year,” he said, “and I’ve proven that we’re going to make it.” This story was first published by Missouri Independent. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post Missouri Officials Got Almost 900 Applications For Final Marijuana Microbusiness Licensing Round appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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