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A federal grand jury indicted Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas over a Portsmouth cannabis shop, and the attorney general said the case isn’t about state cannabis laws. DEA’s judge closed the federal rescheduling record and set briefs to run two days past Election Day. Massachusetts voters gave legalization good marks on taxes, the economy and their communities. New Jersey’s Senate voted 37-0 to tie hemp drink sales to the federal date, Rhode Island now lets hemp sellers quarantine what they can’t sell, and Texas hemp businesses sued over how the state counts THCA.
🚨 Pro tem, indicted
🏛️ Briefs past Election Day
🗳️ Ten years, good marks
🧾 Quarantine by December 4th
Enough is as good as a feast.
A federal grand jury indicted Sen. L. Louise Lucas, 82, president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and chair of Senate Finance and Appropriations, along with six others in an eight-count case unsealed Thursday. Prosecutors charge her with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, money laundering conspiracy, honest services fraud conspiracy and maintaining drug-involved premises. They allege at least 100 kilograms and about $4.5 million over five years, much of it through The Cannabis Outlet, which Lucas and her daughter opened in Portsmouth in 2021, before Virginia had any adult-use retail. The indictment also alleges she paid $750,000 in 2022 for a shell company holding a co-conspirator’s expected license, left it off her disclosure forms, and discussed that license with other legislators while seeking a bribe. “This isn’t about us trying to micromanage states’ decisions about the marijuana laws,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. Lucas said she “will not be intimidated.” Every allegation is unproven. Lawmakers passed a framework this year for adult-use retail set to launch next summer. By all means, DOJ should pursue public corruption. This administration has also proven its ability to target prosecution selectively. Regardless, this is news for a Virginia market still to be established, and now it’s under even more scrutiny. We’ll keep an eye on this trial, but also separate it from the work of the bureaucracy still building. Curious to see how this one plays out. (Virginia Mercury; U.S. Department of Justice; The Marijuana Herald)
Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius on Thursday denied rescheduling opponents’ bid for new testimony and discovery, admitted September’s GAO report, and invited optional briefs on what weight it deserves, due October 29th with replies November 5th. He wrote that DEA and the opponents “appear closer aligned in their understanding of the GAO Report than their postures may indicate,” and called any further briefing requests “disfavored.” The stay lifts on its own when briefing closes. The date isn’t lost on me. November 5th falls two days after Election Day. I’m sure DEA was working under a different timeline given the implications for the midterms, but now it likely spills beyond. If you look at rescheduling as a political football, this is a blow. If you care only about the policy and its surviving judicial scrutiny, more process is defensible. The consolidated D.C. Circuit challenge has a proposed briefing schedule running to February 19th. (Marijuana Moment)
👨👧 Frequent cannabis use among U.S. parents rose between 2012 and 2024, according to a UC San Diego analysis of federal survey data on about 482,000 people. In 2024, 8 percent of parents used on most days, 5.2 percent used daily and 6.7 percent met the criteria for cannabis use disorder. The researchers estimate at least 5.9 million children lived with a parent using most days. Dr. Jarid Pachter of Stony Brook Medicine, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Fox News, “That doesn’t necessarily mean the parent’s marijuana use is causing the child to use, but there’s clearly an association.” (Fox News)
The UMass Amherst and WCVB poll that put Question 8 at 31 percent also asked its 800 registered voters, surveyed October 5th through 12th, how legalization has gone. Majorities called it positive for tax revenue at 70 percent, the economy at 65, local communities at 56 and the criminal justice system at 52. On young people, 39 percent said positive and 31 percent negative, which poll director Tatishe Nteta called “less rosy.” I take this as a success, largely. We worked hard to build a sustainable program, and ten years in, residents seem to support the approach we took. On young people, I’d argue there was more opportunity for public engagement and awareness. It bodes well for the outcome of Question 8, too. I also want to acknowledge the industry and the staff I worked alongside at the Commission. This sort of review is an endorsement of their work, despite the attempts of others, including former commissioners, to undermine that success. The case for voting no is at StoptheRepealMA.com. (Marijuana Moment; UMass Amherst Poll)
The Senate passed Senate President Nick Scutari’s S4635 on Thursday without a dissenting vote. It replaces the state’s November 13th cutoff for hemp drinks sold by liquor and cannabis licensees with a “federal compliance date” no earlier than December 11th, and it follows any further federal delay without another bill. The Assembly companion, A5604, sits in Appropriations with three weeks left before the current cutoff. This is consistent with New Jersey’s approach to beverages historically, and 37-0 is an impressive show of the Senate President’s ability to whip votes. (The Marijuana Herald; New Jersey Legislature)
🚒 Utica firefighter Ryan Quinn, a certified medical cannabis patient, writes in Marijuana Moment that a random urine test on July 27th led to a 60-day unpaid suspension, though no one accused him of being impaired on duty. He, a second firefighter and their union president are suing the city. First responders deserve access to medicine. A positive metabolite is not impairment, and there can be sound rules in place, much like there are for other professions. Pilots live by a rule with alcohol of eight hours, bottle to throttle. (Marijuana Moment)
The Cannabis Control Commission amended Bulletin 2026-7 on October 8th, and the change runs the other way from what it told licensees in September. The original order said over-limit hemp product had to be out of licensed facilities before December 11th. Licensees may now keep product made or bought in compliance before that date in a designated quarantine area, logged on a form due December 4th, where it can’t be processed, moved or sold unless federal or state regulators allow it. Destruction still happens under Commission supervision. This is evidence of the regulator taking feedback and being responsive. It also shows the need to engage industry before putting bulletins like that out in the first place. (Hoodline; Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission)
The Texas Hemp Constitutional Alliance and Green Nation, a Tyler hemp manufacturer and retailer, sued in Travis County on Monday over DSHS rules in effect since March 31st. The rules fold THCA into “total delta-9 THC” and add testing before manufacturing and before retail sale. The suit names interim HHSC officials Stephanie Muth and Imelda Garcia, alleges fee increases of 4,000 percent for manufacturers and 3,333 percent for retailers, and seeks an injunction. “DSHS has unilaterally deigned to do what Texas lawmakers refused to do,” the complaint says. I don’t know where my sympathies lie beyond wishing a resolution were possible, since litigation is uncertain, expensive and time consuming. Clearly, though, there are politics afoot. (KXAN via MMJDaily)
🗺️ Around the map: New York’s Office of Cannabis Management opens its first nursery license window November 5th, and it closes once 50 applications reach the portal, under Cannabis Control Board Resolution 2026-76. Missouri’s hemp limits arrive November 12th, when products over 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container become marijuana, firm for synthetics, THCA flower and edibles with added delta-9, while drinks follow the federal date. At Wednesday’s Wisconsin gubernatorial debate, Democrat David Crowley backed adult-use legalization, and Republican Tom Tiffany stuck with a medical program and a slower approach. (MJBizDaily; The Marijuana Herald; Marijuana Moment)
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