Massachusetts

The first adult-use market east of the Mississippi, its Commission, and a framework written from nothing.

Sep 21, 2026

🏛️ Five months, no DEA guidance

California's top regulator says DEA has sent no formal Schedule III guidance, and Congress's deadline is September 30th. Plus Alabama lets the change through, North Carolina sketches state-run stores, and the Globe's own teen-use data undercuts its headline.

Sep 18, 2026

🍬 A delta-8 label can get you arrested in Austin

Austin police say the package is probable cause and the lab comes later. Plus New York's $3.89 million in unpaid invoices and a Massachusetts rewrite

Sep 16, 2026

🌴 Florida overrules its judge, keeps its 22

The health department licensed the same 22 treatment centers despite a recommended rescore, and the appeal clock is running. Plus Minnesota's medical program doubled through its first adult-use year, North Dakota lawmakers push back on a fee hike, and Nebraska slides into 2027.

Sep 14, 2026

⚖️ A jury said $31.8 million. The Sixth Circuit says no court can collect it

Hello Farms delivered the harvest, went unpaid, and won $31.8 million from a jury. A federal appeals court now says no court can make Curaleaf's subsidiaries pay a dollar of it. Plus the DEA rule asking a Mississippi owner to fire two good employees, Nebraska's preemption case ending before it starts, 37 new medical dispensaries in Illinois, and Ricky Williams on The Hybrid

Sep 10, 2026

⚖️ Schedule III holds, and the operators stay outside

The D.C. Circuit denied the stay and kept two operators out of the caption. Plus a third of Pennsylvania's inspection files gone, ten billion in Massachusetts, and Virginia's first rulebook.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sep 1, 2026

🏛️ Andy Harris can't amend the hemp delay, so he's voting against the rule

The hemp delay is on suspension tonight, so Andy Harris is voting no on the rule that carries the rest of the week. Plus DEA's 26 questions for Colorado dispensaries, the Sand Springs affidavit, and Perullo on cross.

Aug 28, 2026

🧾 Florida's $10 million against Amendment 3 came from sick kids

A sealed grand jury report traces Medicaid settlement money into the campaign that beat legalization. Plus SAM's appeal calendar, Virginia's hemp hearing request, and Alaska's tax by the pound.

Aug 26, 2026

👮 200,960 cannabis arrests in 2025, and the number went up

The FBI counted more possession arrests last year than the year before, in a country half-legal. Plus the closed rescheduling record, the Tompkins trial, and Massachusetts reopens testing.

Aug 24, 2026

🧾 294 corrections, in red ink

Julius orders 294 corrections to the rescheduling transcript before he recommends. Plus O'Brien sues the treasurer, New Mexico flips its tracking switch, and Minnesota's hemp count falls to 46.

Aug 21, 2026

📊 Massachusetts voters reject repeal 55 to 33, and Kevin Sabet rejects the poll

The first general-electorate number on Question 8 lands the day the repeal's funder makes his case on GBH. Plus Booker and Trump's two federal tracks, Texas hemp's third lawsuit, and Tennessee's $54 million hemp tax hole.

Aug 19, 2026

🏛️ DEA asks its own judge to hurry Schedule III

Justice restores gun rights to cannabis consumers, Connecticut closes a store for good and follows the money, and 79 percent of Massachusetts Democrats say keep the law.

Aug 18, 2026

📮 Georgia asks the mail to carry medical cannabis

The state's medical commission votes September 30th on USPS and FedEx delivery to patients. Plus Yale's $111 billion estimate, DEA's seventeen-hour turnaround, and Virginia's special session push.

Aug 17, 2026

📏 Virginia's hemp cap is law, and the judge explains why he let it land

Judge Robert Ballou lets the two-milligram line land at midnight. Plus the CCC potency audit's harder questions, kratom goes Schedule I, and Stop the Repeal's chair joins The Hybrid.

Aug 14, 2026

⚖️ Union mandates, struck from cannabis licenses

Hawaii's hemp crackdown came with a paper trail, Ohio's customers still drive to Michigan, and the Rogers family bought Levia back. Virginia's shelves wait on a judge in Roanoke.

Aug 13, 2026

🏢 Rent is deductible. Landlords noticed.

Medical operators can deduct rent again, and their landlords aren't volunteering anything. Plus Fall River's $4.6 million fee bill, Ballou rules by Friday, and Budd names his price.

Aug 11, 2026

🥤 Five milligrams, eight cents, three tiers

Van Duyne and Landsman give hemp THC drinks an alcohol-style framework. Plus Houston counts signatures, Texas keeps enforcing, and Michigan's tax closes five stores.

Aug 7, 2026

🐑 Budd's ban finds a Democrat

Gillibrand crosses the aisle as Vance brokers and Thune warns of a wreck. Plus Newton repays $2.4 million in impact fees, the CCC reopens its testing file, and a court tells California to read its own track-and-trace data.

Aug 6, 2026

🏛️ Trump called Budd. It didn't take.

Nine cosponsors on the amendment, Cotton calling it gas-station candy, and a White House liaison promising no more delays. Plus Oklahoma's ghost-licensing case reaches the attorney who drew up the paperwork, Michigan pulls a fourth license in three weeks, and Beacon Hill mostly hasn't answered.

Aug 5, 2026

🧨 One amendment from the cliff

Budd moves to strip the hemp delay, 35 attorneys general back the November date, and marijuana's top trade group amplifies them. Plus North Carolina punts its hemp vote, and 280E goes to Tax Court.

Jul 30, 2026

📊 Daily cannabis use just passed cigarettes and alcohol

The 2025 federal survey counts 21.4 million daily cannabis consumers. Plus Comer's conditional delay, Total Wine's shelf fight, and the Eighth Circuit tests Hemani.

Jul 27, 2026

🔎 Indiana's cannabis money, under oath

Marion County heard testimony on unlawful cannabis lobbying at the Statehouse. Plus Massachusetts clears $1B as a repeal vote looms, and Iowa makes its case at a recovery center.