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Massachusetts votes on Question 8 today, and voters in plenty of other states are choosing the people who will set cannabis policy next year. DEA turned away a Minnesota dispensary over the state’s dual-purpose licenses. Oregon set another harvest record, a Michigan tax pause became a bill, and Oklahoma processors still have questions about new packaging rules. Germany’s flower patients are going to court one at a time, Oregon wrote hospice into its medical program and a California study tied stronger local rules to lower teen use. Idaho, New Hampshire, Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin have cannabis riding on their own races, Italy is feeling Bedrocan’s collapse, and Basel has a year of pharmacy data.

🗳️ Cast and counted
🏛️ Layers, uncoordinated
🌾 What’s the business logic?
🍫 Lame

Massachusetts voters decide Question 8 today. A yes vote ends adult-use retail sales on January 1, 2028, and repeals home cultivation, while the medical program stays. On Monday, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers endorsed the No campaign. “A return to the prohibition and criminalizing of cannabis commerce will only increase demands on already over-burdened law enforcement resources,” said its chair, retired Lt. Charles Wilson, and more than 50 current and former law enforcement officials signed an open letter against the measure. The Harvard Crimson counted more than $3.78 million raised by the repeal coalition and more than $2.68 million spent by four committees opposing it. The state took in $336 million in cannabis tax revenue in fiscal 2026, according to Axios. Ten years after voters approved Question 4, the money has been spent and voters have been informed. Now the ballots get cast and counted. If you haven’t voted yet, please do. Massachusetts has cannabis on the ballot itself, and in plenty of other states, whoever takes office in January will decide whether a market emerges at all, or what changes get made to the one already there. Erik and I walked through five of them, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, on the latest episode of The Hybrid. The case for voting no on Question 8 is at StoptheRepealMA.com. (Axios; The Harvard Crimson; Marijuana Moment)

Idaho voters decide House Joint Resolution 4, which would amend the state constitution so that only the Legislature can legalize cannabis and other psychoactive substances. In New Hampshire, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said at an October 22nd debate, “I oppose the legalization of cannabis in this state,” and Democratic challenger Cinde Warmington backs legal sales as a source of revenue. In Iowa, Republican Zach Lahn wants to expand medical access while opposing full legalization, and Democrat Rob Sand wants cannabis taxed and treated like alcohol. In Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made banning intoxicating hemp a 2025 priority and has said, “I’m not going to legalize marijuana in Texas.” His Democratic challenger, Vikki Goodwin, backs alcohol-style rules for hemp and wants to expand medical cannabis, Texas Public Radio reports. In Wisconsin, Democrat David Crowley backs adult-use legalization, and Republican Tom Tiffany favors a medical program and a slower approach. (Marijuana Moment; Idaho Secretary of State; Texas Public Radio)

DEA’s first round of medical registrations went to more than 900 dispensaries in seven states, none with adult-use retail sales. In Minneapolis, DEA agents delivered an order denying In-Dispensary’s application, owner Mark Eide told the Star Tribune. DEA said Minnesota’s dual-purpose licenses, which cover both medical and adult-use sales, fall outside its definition of a state medical license and don’t guard well enough against diversion. It also objected to Minnesota letting veterans self-certify as patients. The Office of Cannabis Management said it hadn’t heard from DEA, and attorney Neil Willner said DEA appears to be testing whether it can disqualify an entire state. Gillian Schauer of the Cannabis Regulators Association said state regulators got no notice. Eide has 30 days to request a hearing or submit a corrective action plan. DEA will have a lot of sorting out to do as it works through these dual-market states and their applications. Minnesota’s structure was a reasonable choice, and a single in-state supply chain serving both markets brought real administrative efficiency and practical sense. The trouble comes from the layers of government not coordinating with each other. (Star Tribune)

🍫 At an event Friday for Sen. Roger Marshall, Sen. Ted Cruz suggested Republicans tell a liberal relative, “Louis, be sure to vote next Wednesday,” and added, “And all day Tuesday, they have free marijuana brownies at the YMCA.” Election Day is today. What a dork. When our elected leaders keep dismissing cannabis policy with juvenile jokes, it tells me how far we still have to go. It also reminds me that Erik and I blind ranked the cannabis puns we’re sick of on the latest Hybrid. (Marijuana Moment)

Oregon’s cannabis harvest reached a record 14.8 million pounds through October, the Portland Business Journal reports, even as prices keep falling and the industry’s revenue shrinks. Those are wet pounds, weighed at harvest, which is a long way from finished flower on a shelf. This is not a sustainable problem to have. Oregon’s market cratered well before most, and production keeps going. Its growers would love to export the crop to your state, and my questions would be about quality and standards. Outdoor production may be cheaper, but what diversion risk or waste risk comes with it? I’d love to know the business logic of producing it. (Portland Business Journal)

Rep. Jay DeBoyer, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, filed a bill last week to suspend Michigan’s 24 percent wholesale cannabis tax for one year. When he made the promise in October, no bill had been filed. “This pause is needed to reevaluate the future effectiveness of the tax,” he said. Robin Schneider of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association said a pause “will give what’s left of our cannabis businesses time to stabilize.” Sure, a bill exists in November. It will have to be refiled in the new session, and his ticket has to win today to follow through. It suspends the tax for a year and repeals nothing, so it’s still a gimmick. It’s a campaign promise on letterhead. (Marijuana Moment)

Oklahoma’s HB 4454 packaging limits took effect November 1st, barring edibles shaped like people, cartoons or animals and packaging that resembles commercial candy. John Koumbis of JKJ Processing says he has tossed or expects to toss about 10,000 bags and spent thousands of dollars on new packaging without clear word on whether it passes. “We changed our packaging, and we just removed the fruits,” he said. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority posted a clarification on October 12th that restates the requirements, lets dispensaries sell through inventory labeled under the old rules, and says inspectors are being trained for consistent enforcement. If processors still have questions like Koumbis’s, that calls for more engagement from the agency, and an FAQ would be a good place to start. Guessing wrong on a package is an avoidable waste of time and resources. (MMJDaily; Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority)

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court last week declined to hear a patient’s complaint against the July 30th law that removed dried flower from statutory insurance coverage. It called the complaint manifestly inadmissible and sent the patient to the social courts first. Those courts are splitting. Frankfurt and Leipzig ruled against patients in emergency proceedings, while a Landshut court ordered a dialysis patient’s coverage to continue while his challenge is heard. About 65,000 patients are thought to be affected. The Working Group on Cannabis as Medicine and lawyer Oliver Tolmein are preparing a broader constitutional complaint on behalf of a group of patients, though it hasn’t been filed. I certainly hope the system wasn’t designed to make patients assert their rights and their need for access in court. This is desperate for reform, and it needs relief that reaches that whole set of patients at once. (Business of Cannabis)

Researchers from Psychiatric Services Aargau and the University of Basel followed 374 regular adult cannabis users through the first year of Basel’s Weed Care pilot, which sells through pharmacies. Products there are capped at 20 percent THC, and purchases at 10 grams of THC a month. Average depression scores on the PHQ-9 fell from 5.37 to 4.53, and anxiety scores dipped slightly. Participants used on 20.1 days a month after a year, up from 18.7, without using more on each of those days. The share above the clinical threshold for problematic use moved from 32.7 percent to 28.6 percent, a change that wasn’t statistically significant, and the biggest drop came among the highest-risk users. The study had no comparison group. The authors, writing in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, concluded that regulated access “was not associated with deterioration in mental health or cannabis use.” The pilot now runs through January 2027. (Leafie; Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

The Oregon Health Authority filed proposed rules on October 29th to carry out HB 4142, this year’s law adding hospice, palliative and comfort care to the program’s qualifying conditions starting January 1, 2027. The law also sets requirements for organizations and residential facilities designated as caregivers. The hearing is November 16th and comments close November 23rd, and dates like these live on our Deadlines, Decoded tracker. This speaks to the broader need to integrate cannabis into medicine, especially where it’s the alternative to harsher medication. Hospice is a great example, as is relief during chemotherapy and for other long-term or chronic conditions. Institutions that integrate cannabis care will make for more complete care models. (The Marijuana Herald; Oregon Health Authority)

A Dutch court declared Bedrocan bankrupt in early October, after the exclusive contract under which it grew medical cannabis for the Dutch government ended in January. Italy is now asking where its own supply comes from. The military pharmaceutical plant in Florence produced about 200 of the roughly 1,695 kilograms of medical cannabis supplied in Italy in 2024, according to figures MMJDaily cites, and imports from several countries covered most of the rest. Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans has said the market reform won’t take effect before July 2028. Bedrocan’s creditors meet December 22nd. (MMJDaily; Il Post)

Researchers at the Public Health Institute and Kaiser Permanente looked at nearly 89,000 teens ages 13 to 17 across 173 Northern California cities and counties. Teens in communities that allow stores but have weak retail rules were 22 percent more likely to report past-year use than teens in communities with strong ones. Where local rules were strongest, teen use was statistically indistinguishable from communities that ban stores outright. More nearby retailers also went with higher use, and most local marketing and product rules showed no link once store density was counted. The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, is observational. A Canadian study of about 420,000 secondary students published this fall found store access wasn’t consistently tied to teen use. Youth access will stay a debated claim from one jurisdiction to the next, and it ought to stay a public education and awareness theme everywhere. Kids are unlikely to get product from legal stores that check IDs religiously, and that still leaves parents and guardians who keep legal product out where kids can reach it. Safe storage remains the key message. (Public Health Institute; Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

🗺️ Around the map: Delaware cultivators can make non-infused pre-rolls from their own flower and wholesale them to retailers without a separate manufacturing license, starting November 11th. Reply briefs on the GAO report in DEA’s rescheduling hearing are due November 5th. (The Marijuana Herald; DEA)

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Policy, Decoded is compiled and edited by Shawn Collins of THC Group. AI tools help with research and source checks; the judgments are his.
How we use AI: https://policy.homegrown-group.com/ai