From Our Writers

Federal officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week released the unredacted, 250-page document recommending the rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

California’s Department of Cannabis Control recently issued mandatory and voluntary recalls for specific cannabis products from Urban Therapies Distribution, LLC and Echsen Industries, LLC, due to health concerns related to mold and pesticide contamination

Many of California’s cannabis testing labs are currently not allowed to test the potency of flower products due to a rule change designed to combat so-called “lab shopping” in the state.

In the latest development from an ongoing legal battle involving the Navajo Nation, two tribal members have been formally charged with illegal marijuana cultivation. A lawyer for one of the defendants said that the facility was growing hemp, not marijuana.

Canadian cannabis operators destroyed a record amount of legal cannabis in 2022 and 2023. Since the market’s 2018 launch, licensees have now destroyed about 3.7 million pounds of product, largely due to the products being too old or low-quality.

A cannabis-friendly payment processor that used PIN debit transactions recently announced that it is shutting down. The company is also suing a financial services vendor for $500M in damages, alleging that they misrepresented their ability to deliver access to a payment gateway.

Is the DEA planning to change the scheduling status of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act? In a leaked letter to Congress, the agency has asserted their control over any decision about rescheduling or descheduling the plant.

Starting this year, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority will be utilizing “secret shoppers” in its effort to regulate the industry. Under the new law, regulators will anonymously purchase products and have them tested by a lab.

New Mexico cannabis regulators this week revoked the licenses of two adult-use cannabis cultivators for allegedly exceeding the legal plant count limits and failing to properly utilize the state’s mandatory track-and-trace system.

An Oakland police officer was recently killed while responding to a burglary at a cannabis business, highlighting how federal inaction on cannabis policy has put workers, the general public, and law enforcement in greater danger.

The adult-use cannabis industry in New York generated more than $150 million in revenue during its first year of licensed operations despite a lawsuit that sparked a months-long injunction against licensees opening their businesses.

Researchers with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with the support of a $10 million federal grant, are set to track 10,000 U.S. cannabis patients from the start of their medical cannabis journey through at least a year to better understand the efficacy and effects of cannabis medicine.

Earlier this month, Alabama announced the winners of the state’s integrated medical cannabis licenses, making national headlines via their decision to award Trulieve — a publicly-traded company founded in Florida — the sole license reserved for “minority-owned” businesses. Other applicants are now suing the state, citing irregularities with the application scoring process.

While cannabis regulators in Vermont have advocated for the removal of a potency cap on concentrates, a recent report from the Vermont Department of Health has recommended keeping the cap in place.