Shawn Collins | THC Group | Policy, Decoded

Shawn Collins | THC Group

Shawn Collins was the inaugural Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. Before that: the State Senate and the Treasurer's office. Now he advises operators, investors, and regulators on cannabis, alcohol, health care, and AI policy. He writes Policy, Decoded, weekday mornings.

Nov 6, 2026

🏛️ “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

Democrats have the Senate seats, the votes are short of 60, and a descheduling bill with no social equity has to explain why. Plus hemp dates, Texas fees, Wisconsin, and a military court.

Nov 5, 2026

🏛️ “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.”

Lawmakers return Monday and the hemp cap takes effect December 11th, with the Senate math, Pennsylvania, four states, Missouri’s initiative amendment and Illinois on November 12th.

Nov 4, 2026

🏛️ “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”

AP called Question 8 for No, so licensed adult-use sales continue in Massachusetts. Plus, Aurora's board backs Organigram's $401 million offer.

Nov 3, 2026

🗳️ “Ballots are the rightful, and peaceful, successors of bullets.”

Massachusetts votes on Question 8 today, and the people who set cannabis policy next year are on ballots everywhere. Plus: DEA’s dual-license states, Oregon’s record crop, Michigan’s tax pause.

Nov 2, 2026

🗳️ “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

DEA registered its first 900-plus medical dispensaries, all in seven states without adult-use sales. Plus: Question 8 and Idaho vote, New York’s equity fund, beer lobbyists and the hemp date.

Oct 30, 2026

🎃 “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

Rep. Steve Cohen filed a bill to take cannabis out of the CSA on his way out of Congress. Plus: Georgia’s mail fight, New York’s wage board, Ohio’s hemp ban at the register.

Oct 29, 2026

📊 “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

DEA briefly posted the page where it will name who applied for federal registration, then pulled it. Plus state hemp raids, Minogue on Question 8, Pennsylvania’s six chains and Halloween.

Oct 28, 2026

🏛️ “Politics is the art of the possible.”

Griffith wants the hemp fix in a lame-duck reconciliation bill. Plus Question 8’s price tag, Boston’s new cannabis chair, Nevada’s tax study and Jeffries’ cannabis donors.

Oct 27, 2026

Deadlines, Decoded: October 28th to December 11th

The next six weeks of state and federal cannabis policy dates, each linked to its source.

Oct 27, 2026

🍗 “A chicken for every pot.”

Alberta turned down Curaleaf’s bid to halt Aurora’s share sales. Plus Spanberger on Lucas, a path for out-of-state patients, Michigan’s tax pledge and Georgia’s dispensing window.

Oct 26, 2026

🍳 “Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”

Forty-six days out, the hemp fight is bigger than its famous faces. Plus North Carolina’s state-run store idea, Booker and DEA, a Massachusetts testing draft and Rhode Island delivery.

Oct 23, 2026

🍽️ “Enough is as good as a feast.”

Virginia’s Senate president pro tem is indicted over a Portsmouth cannabis shop. Plus DEA briefs past Election Day, a UMass report card, New Jersey’s 37-0 and Rhode Island’s hemp quarantine.

Oct 22, 2026

🕰️ “Delay is preferable to error.”

DEA calls the bid to reopen rescheduling a fishing expedition. Plus Adria Berry steps down, a VA path for Massachusetts veterans, Worcester’s abstainers and Medicare’s CBD clock.

Oct 21, 2026

🗳️ “A week is a long time in politics.”

Delaware opens its THC drink market today, seven weeks before the federal hemp line. Plus a 71-21 Question 8 poll, SAM’s lobbying, UPS’s hemp terms and Missouri’s ownership gap.

Oct 20, 2026

⌛ “Lost time is never found again.”

Colorado’s auditor finds a quarter of 2025 harvest batches never tested for contaminants. Plus Nebraska’s two-year wait, a 16% Question 8 poll, Alabama’s disputed retirement and Illinois infusers.

Oct 19, 2026

🔍 “Trust, but verify.”

Seven Nevada labs say an unmixed 20 grams can’t speak for a 15-pound lot. Plus 63 legislators on Question 8, Colorado’s audit, Total Wine’s $510,000 and expiring FDA agreements.

Oct 16, 2026

⏰ “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

Illinois enforces its 0.4 mg hemp line November 12th, a month before Washington. Plus New Jersey’s two bills, Colorado’s pesticide vapes and a dark-money ad against Sheehy.

Oct 15, 2026

🔨 “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”

Nebraska’s first crop is coming in before the rest of the program. Plus Wu against Question 8, DEA’s Wednesday deadline and ATACH cheering the hemp cliff.

Oct 14, 2026

⚖️ “The one great principle of the English law is, to make business for itself.”

DEA will take the GAO report and nothing that comes with it. Plus Oklahoma’s lab doubts, a $146 million price on hemp drinks, and Minnesota’s medical shelf list.

Oct 13, 2026

💵 “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.”

Question 8 has raised $3.5 million, and $1,625 came from Massachusetts residents. Plus North Carolina’s hemp shelves, Katyal for Hello Farms, Crowley and Minnesota’s farmers.

Oct 12, 2026

⏳ “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

DOJ and rescheduling’s challengers want briefing to run into February 2027. Plus NCL and MPP split on hemp, Illinois’ Metrc numbers, a Jersey City TRO and the CCC’s cultivation pause.

Oct 9, 2026

📜 "But certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man."

Washington will write a medical certificate its own staff doubts DEA will honor. Plus Ohio's package limits, California's Prop 64 talk, Georgia's registry and the CCC's year.

Oct 8, 2026

📊 "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."

Question 8's first TV ads cite a 42% crash figure that matches one Ohio county. Plus DEA's silence with state regulators, Rhode Island hemp, a California destruction order and Maryland.

Oct 7, 2026

🗂️ "Tell me what company thou keepest, and I'll tell thee what thou art."

DEA denied a Colorado manufacturer over its sister company's adult-use sales, calling it diversion. Plus SAM's Medicare appeal, Germany's Exilby rule, Oklahoma grow cleanups and a labor peace suit.

Oct 6, 2026

🥩 "Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

DEA's new registration form asks medical licensees whether they also handle adult-use product, a question Treasury hasn't answered. Plus Healey's no on Question 8, a New Jersey grower's untagged plants, and Georgia's October 28th delivery date.