Month: October 2025

The Pennsylvania Senate Law and Justice Committee last week approved a measure to create a cannabis control board in the state that would create uniform safety standards for hemp-derived THC products in the state, which are currently unregulated. The legislation would also transfer regulatory control of the state’s medical cannabis program to the newly created board. 

In a statement, state Sen. Dan Laughlin (R) said that the state has seen “an explosion of unregulated hemp products being sold openly at gas stations, vape shops and convenience stores statewide.”

“The main priority of this board is to ensure accountability, consistency and public safety. While the Department of Health has worked hard within its authority, it was never designed to manage a rapidly growing industry, resulting in a program bogged down by slow responses, inconsistent oversight and a lack of clarity – frustrating patients and legitimate businesses.” — Laughlin in a press release  

Laughlin added that the proposal “is not about legalizing adult-use cannabis,” rather “cleaning up the system” already in place in the commonwealth, and giving officials “the structure and expertise to manage what’s already occurring” within Pennsylvania borders. 

The bill moves next to the full Senate for consideration. 

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Monday signed a cannabis compact with the Prairie Island Indian Community that allows cannabis products produced by the Tribe to be sold at state-licensed dispensaries.  

In a statement, Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Executive Director Eric Taubel said the “compact provides state-licensed cannabis businesses the opportunity to partner with Prairie Island Indian Community and boost supply of product while maintaining the Tribe’s inherent sovereignty and right to self-govern.”  

Prairie Island Indian Community Tribal Council President Grant Johnson, in a statement, added that the Tribe is “grateful” to have the compact completed, and that the Tribe is “excited to continue meeting demand in Minnesota’s growing recreational cannabis market with the exceptional cannabis products” it is producing. 

“We’re very proud of the disciplined systems and processes we have created to ensure the safe, secure operation of our cannabis business on and off our reservation land. Those systems are modeled upon our more than 40 years of successful Tribal regulation of our gaming enterprise, and we are eager to continue applying that expertise to our cannabis operations.” — Johnson in a press release 

The agreement marks the third such cannabis compact between the state and Tribal Nations that share its territory. In May, the state finalized a cannabis compact with

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The U.S. Supreme Court next year will consider whether Americans who consume cannabis can legally possess firearms, the Associated Press reports.

The justices will hear an appeal by Trump Administration prosecutors challenging an appeals court decision to throw out felony charges against a Texas man for allegedly possessing a firearm and admitting to regular cannabis use. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had dismissed the charges as a violation of defendant Ali Daniel Hemani’s 2nd Amendment rights, citing a landmark 2022 Supreme Court ruling that broadly expanded citizens’ gun rights.

Hemani’s attorneys argued that with adult-use legalization in effect in about half the states — and with at least 20% of Americans having tried cannabis — the federal ban on cannabis consumers owning guns violates the spirit of the 2nd Amendment.

Arguments are expected in early 2026, according to the report. The court is likely to make a ruling by early summer.

While prosecutors in the case ultimately decided only to pursue the firearm-based charges, they said Hemani’s firearm violation was discovered because the FBI was investigating him for potential ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a State Department-designated terrorist group. Hemani’s attorneys said the allegations are irrelevant

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A Connecticut hemp farmer has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the state’s cannabis industry’s licensing rules are discriminatory and unconstitutional, CT Insider reports.

The lawsuit takes particular aim at provisions that prioritize social equity applicants for the state’s cannabis industry licenses. The plaintiff, Brant Smith, who owns and operates an 80,000-square-foot greenhouse in Cheshire that he dedicated to hemp cultivation after the crop was federally legalized in 2018, claims in the suit that federal law prohibits the state from excluding cannabis applicants based on their location or residence.

Attorney Genevieve Park Taylor, who represents Smith, suggested that Connecticut’s restrictions on cannabis licensing is “unequal and a little unbalanced.”

“Everybody gets a chance or nobody gets a chance, whether it’s cantaloupes, cannabis or cabbage,” Taylor said in the report.

“By favoring in-state social equity individual applicants and discriminating against all others, including out-of-state applicants, Connecticut’s marijuana licensing program amounts to economic protectionism, and improperly serves to benefit only in-state economic interests in general and social equity individuals specifically.” — Excerpt from the lawsuit

The suit references a federal appeals court ruling from August that found part of New York’s cannabis social equity rules to be unconstitutional. Specifically, the

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A cannabis industry trade association in Michigan is suing the state over the newly approved wholesale cannabis tax, Michigan Advance reports. In the complaint, the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association argues that the tax violates the voter-approved adult cannabis use legalization law and that the 2018 law – which only imposed a 10% excise tax on retail sales – can only be modified by voters or a supermajority vote by lawmakers. 

The law was approved earlier this month by a 78-21 vote in the House, with 11 members not voting, and a 19-17 vote in the Senate.  

The group also contends that the tax violates the state Constitution’s contracts clause. 

The law imposes a 24% wholesale tax on cannabis products, which is expected to generate $420 million annually for the state, and be used primarily for road construction and repairs. In the complaint, the trade association contends that lawmakers “jammed” the proposal through both chambers “without a single committee hearing to discuss the substance of the bill” by disguising its provisions behind an original title that only mentioned creating a fund for road funding and revenue replacement, not establishing a new tax.

Following the passage of the bill, Al Williams, president of the Detroit Cannabis Industry Association, called the tax “a gut punch to the

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According to a new study by the American beer, wine, and spirits giant Constellation Brands, beer and liquor sales are expected to decline significantly next year, with the normalization of cannabis playing a major role, Rochester First reports.

Constellation estimated that alcohol sales will continue their years-long decline in 2026, with beer sales projected to drop by $185 million and wine and spirits anticipated to drop by $253 million, the report said.

The report suggested the decline is largely due to more people choosing to forgo alcohol consumption and the continued normalization of cannabis in society, which many people use in place of alcohol. Additionally, more people are convinced that even moderate alcohol consumption is bad for their health.

Constellation has invested billions in the cannabis space and owns a nearly 40% minority stake in Canopy Growth Corp, a publicly traded cannabis firm based in Canada.

Meanwhile, a recent survey of 1,066 consumers by the THC beverage company Crescent Canna found that 77% of respondents said they’ve reduced their alcohol consumption since starting to use infused beverages, Marijuana Moment reports. Another 21% said they have quit drinking alcohol altogether.

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The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is partnering with Torch Drinks LLC to put the company’s hemp-derived THC beverages in VFW Posts where cannabis is legal for adult use. The licensing agreement will also see VFW-branded, Torch-produced THC beverages, the proceeds of which will directly support VFW initiatives such as the National Veterans Service program, which provides no-cost assistance to veterans navigating the Veterans Administration (VA) claims process, and Veterans & Military Support Programs, which deliver financial assistance to military families. 

In a statement, VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore said the partnership will help the VFW “raise funds for those vital programs” while also allowing the organization “to explore better ways to meet the needs of an evolving veterans’ community.”  

“The VFW’s top priority is ensuring that veterans and their families receive the care, benefits and support they have earned through their service. — Whitmore in a press release    

Collin Kerrigan, co-founder of Torch Beverage Company, said in a statement the partnership is part of the company’s “mission to support the men and women who serve the United States in uniform while promoting ongoing research and discussions about innovative health solutions.” 

“Torch Drinks is proud to work with the VFW to provide veterans with a

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A recent study found that dimethyltryptamine, the naturally occurring psychedelic commonly known as DMT, protects against stroke damage in animal and cell models, Neuroscience News reports.

For the study, published in Science Advances, researchers at the HUN Biological Research Centre in Hungary tested the effects of DMT in rat stroke models and cell cultures.

DMT is a psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in a variety of plants and animals — including the human brain — and it is the primary ingredient in ayahuasca, a psychedelic used in religious ceremonies by some Indigenous cultures in South America. It is also being studied in clinical trials as a potential treatment for stroke damage, according to the report.

The study authors said their “findings prove that DMT mitigates a poststroke effect by stabilizing the blood-brain barrier and reducing neuroinflammation.”

Strokes are caused when a blood clot blocks or reduces blood flow to the brain. Current treatment options involve physically breaking up and removing the clots using medication or surgery.

“The therapeutic options currently available for stroke are very limited. The dual action of DMT, protecting the blood-brain barrier while reducing brain inflammation, offers a novel, complex approach that could complement existing treatments.”

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Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh (D) last week submitted a formal complaint to the state Medical Cannabis Commission over the emergency regulations adopted by the commission and signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) last month. The complaint contends that the regulations run afoul of what voters approved and that the commission and governor “have chosen to override the clearly expressed will” of the public.  

“The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission has exceeded its statutory authority in adopting emergency regulations which conflict with both the voters’ intent and the plain language of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act and the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act, while failing to meet statutory deadlines…” — Cavanaugh in the complaint 

In the complaint, Cavanaugh argues that the voter-approved proposal legalized “all forms of cannabis” for medical use and that the regulations offer patients only a narrow selection of products, namely oral tablets, capsules, tinctures, topicals, suppositories, patches, and liquids or oils for use with an inhaler or nebulizer.  

“The regulatory authority given to the commission over registered cannabis establishments was never intended to restrict delivery of forms clearly allowed by statute,” Cavanaugh wrote. “The Commission is not free to adopt its own definition of cannabis that is more restrictive than

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