Policy, Decoded

What changed in cannabis and hemp policy, and what it means before it takes effect. Every weekday morning, free, from the former regulator who built the Massachusetts program.

“It’s an excellent resource and often surfaces perspectives or commentary I would not have considered.”

Hirsh JainCEO, Ananda Strategy

“Learning about problems states are having, traps that North Carolina might hope to avoid. And keeping up with tax policy developments, too.”

Pat OglesbyCenter for New Revenue

“Regulatory updates without a biased angle and, most importantly, coming from people with expertise that I trust.”

Elliot LaneIgniteIt

From a reader survey run in August 2026, published with permission.

🏦 A thousand banks and not one penalty

Sep 9, 2026

🏦 A thousand banks and not one penalty

Washington finally counted who will take cannabis money, and the barrier turned out to be the paperwork. Plus $600 from Massachusetts, and a commissioner who wants to stop regulating by the square foot.

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🧩 Every ally costs a product

Sep 8, 2026

🧩 Every ally costs a product

The December hemp coalition gets assembled product by product, and every ally arrives with a condition. Plus Maryland's rules go final with six days of runway, New Mexico operators itemize the cutover, and Switzerland's pharmacy pilot reports in.

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⚖️ The signatures stand in Nebraska

Sep 7, 2026

⚖️ The signatures stand in Nebraska

Nebraska's high court rejects the last challenge to the 2024 medical cannabis petitions. Plus a federal judge enjoins Ohio's hemp ban, a Colorado liver-injury story that was never about cannabis, and Texas gets an October date.

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🖊️ Signed. The hemp clock now runs to December 11th

Sep 4, 2026

🖊️ Signed. The hemp clock now runs to December 11th

Trump signs the four-week hemp reprieve while synthetics keep their November date. Plus the Eleventh Circuit revives Georgia's licensing fight, a sheriff's transcript that cuts both ways, and Sonoma's drones meet a warrant.

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🥊 Two lobbies, one molecule, and 99 days to December 11th

Sep 3, 2026

🥊 Two lobbies, one molecule, and 99 days to December 11th

Not guilty twice in Boston, in three and a half hours. Plus the two lobbies name their December terms, Aurora's answer to Curaleaf, and New York starts paying for the tags.

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🏛️ 370 votes buy hemp a month, and December sets the terms

Sep 2, 2026

🏛️ 370 votes buy hemp a month, and December sets the terms

The ban moves to December 11th, into a lame duck. Plus the Tompkins defense rests on Cabral, Newsom signs California's packaging bill, and ten states carry 60 percent of cannabis arrests.

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