Month: September 2026

Democrat state lawmakers in Pennsylvania said that if their party can flip three Senate seats this November, the state will be on the short path to legalizing adult-use cannabis, WHYY reports.

The Democrat-controlled House approved an adult-use cannabis legalization proposal last year, but the bill died in a Republican-controlled Senate committee. But if Democrats can capture control of both legislative bodies, they would move quickly to legalize adult-use cannabis, expunge past cannabis-related convictions, and build a new industry with equitable opportunities for Black communities and others, House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) said last week during a cannabis policy panel discussion.

McClinton was joined by state Sen. Sharif Street (D) and Rep. Jordan Harris (D) for the discussion, which took place at a policy summit

“Pennsylvanians, in 39 days, could put us in a position where we can have that. There is just a sea-change difference in what the House majority leadership is willing to do on this issue versus what the Senate majority leadership is willing to do on this issue.” — State Sen. Sharif Street (D), during the panel discussion

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) supports adult-use legalization and has included cannabis-derived tax revenue in his budget proposals

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The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) this week revoked 20 medical cannabis cultivation licenses from GP Holdings LLC, dba Millie Montana Industries, after finding “extensive violations” at the company’s location in Clare. The agency also issued the company a $2 million fine.

Among the main concerns, an investigation determined the company had shipped packages of dirt and mulch to a licensed processor with documentation claiming the shipment was cannabis flower.

CRA Executive Director Brian Hanna called the act “egregious conduct that strikes at the integrity of Michigan’s regulated marijuana market.”

“The statewide monitoring system depends on licensees accurately reporting what they grow, possess, and transfer. When a licensee misrepresents its product, disregards tracking requirements, and fails to maintain basic safeguards, the consequences must reflect the seriousness of that conduct.” — Hanna, in a press release

Investigators also flagged other violations involving the company’s inventory, operations, security, and recordkeeping, including untagged cannabis plants, inadequate surveillance coverage, and other concerns.

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Ohio hemp businesses say that the enforcement of the state’s adult-use cannabis rules unfairly targets their industry and favors “Big Marijuana” companies, which are allowed to operate under different rules despite dealing with the same plant, Statehouse News Bureau reports. Wesley Bryant, owner of a craft beverages distribution and hemp manufacturing company, told Statehouse News that an investigation by Ohio hemp businesses found the state is using rules created in legalization law to target their businesses, but that cannabis dispensaries are allowed to sell products with higher THC concentrations, as permitted by the law.

“Ohio has created two different standards – one standard for big marijuana and the other standard for Ohio’s hemp industry and its consumers. I don’t accept the idea that one group of businesses gets the full weight of the government brought down on them, while the other group gets a different standard. I don’t accept that, and neither should any small business owner in Ohio.” — Bryant to Statehouse News

In a statement to Statehouse News, a spokesperson for the state Department of Commerce, which oversees the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC), said that the voter-approved cannabis legalization law didn’t legalize intoxicating hemp and

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The Missouri Supreme Court last week heard arguments challenging a March appeals court decision that directed the state to award a cannabis company 13 facility licenses after determining the state’s 2019 application process was inconsistent, the Missouri Independent reports. Five years ago, the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission denied the appeal over the licenses by Hippos LLC after the company argued identical applications had received different scores from the same grader.

Hippos is challenging whether the commission acted properly when it rescored the company’s application or whether the approach was “completely flawed,” as ruled by the appeals court, because the grader left no notes elaborating on its scoring.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) argued before the Supreme Court that it acted correctly and thoroughly investigated the application scores. The agency also urged the court to focus on the commission’s decision and not to rehash the state’s cannabis application grading process.

An audit by State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, which took nearly three years, alleged “perceived and actual deficiencies” in the application scoring process, according to a report from the Independent. The Division of Cannabis Regulation called the audit “baseless” and “flawed.” 

The Missouri Court of Appeals found that

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Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Massachusetts voters said in a recent survey that they oppose the ballot initiative seeking to repeal the state’s adult-use cannabis market.

The survey, released by The University of New Hampshire last week, involved 564 likely state voters and was conducted from September 17-21.

The survey also found that opposition to the measure is bipartisan, with 68% of registered Democrats and 62% of registered Republicans opposed. Additionally, the initiative is well-understood by voters, with 78% of respondents saying that they feel they understand the cannabis repeal proposal “Very well” or “Somewhat well.”

The State Ballot Law Commission approved the cannabis repeal proposal for the ballot in January despite multiple allegations that signature gathers for the campaign used illegal bait-and-switch tactics and lied to signatories about the petition’s purpose.

Cannabis industry representatives have filed lawsuits to block the initiative from reaching the ballot, but their challenges have so far been rejected by the courts.

Meanwhile, 10 years after the adult-use reforms took effect, Massachusetts recently crossed $10 billion in total sales. The market has also continued to grow, with retailers setting a new monthly sales record in June.

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Colorado health officials and the state Department of Revenue last week issued a health and safety advisory announcing the recall of certain cannabis vaporizer products produced by Staycon LLC, doing business as Craft.

Officials said the 49 affected products were made using ingredients contaminated with methylene chloride, a carcinogenic industrial solvent. The products were sold at 405 dispensaries between March 27 and September 25, 2026.

The agency said that consumers who purchased and still possess one of the contaminated items should either destroy the product or return it to the retailer where it was purchased for disposal.

All cannabis products sold in the state must display the manufacturer’s license number and the product’s Production Batch identifier. The marijuana manufacturer licenses related to the recalled items are 404R-00170 and 404-00489, and officials listed the following vape product batches as contaminated:

“Green Skunk” or “Hawaiian Sour”: RW.CRFD060226.2.GSK RW.CRFD072726.4.GSK RW.CRFD061526.1.GSK RW.CRFD040726.4.GSK RW.CRFD061026.4.GSK RW.CRFD042726.1.GSK RW.CRFD031626.1.GSK “Grand Daddy Purps” or “Purple Skunk”: RW.CRFD060226.2.GDP RW.CRFD060226.1.GDP RW.CRFD033026.2.GDP RW.CRFD052526.4.GDP RT.GOLD041526.GDP RW.CRFD041626.1.GDP RW.CRFD040926.4.GDP RW.CRFD031326.1.GDP RW.CRFD031326.4.GDP RW.CRFD080426.4.GDP “Mango Kush” or “Tropical Punch”: RW.CRFD051926.1.MK RW.CRFD060226.2.MK RW.CRFD061126.4.MK RW.CRFD060126.4.MK RW.CRFD041726.1.MK RW.CRFD040726.4.MK RW.CRFD031626.1.MK RW.CRFD031326.4.MK RW.R.CRFD081926.2.MK “Super Lemon Haze” or “Hazy Citrus”: RW.CRFD051126.1.SLH RW.CRFD060226.2.SLH

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Atlantic City Director of Constituent Services Kashawn McKinley is facing federal charges over an alleged bribery scheme involving a cannabis retailer in the city, according to a DOJ announcement.

McKinley, 42, is a member of Atlantic City’s Cannabis Review Board and the self-proclaimed “cannabis czar” of Atlantic City, frequently going by the nickname “Cannabis Kash” according to coverage by BreakingAC. He also serves on the Atlantic City Board of Education.

McKinley faces one count of honest services fraud and two counts of soliciting bribes, with prosecutors accusing McKinley of soliciting $20,000 in bribes from 2022 to 2023, and another $9,000 from 2025 to 2026.

The complaint does not name the other individual, but says the bribes were to cover help with launching a cannabis dispensary in the city and resolving certain local fees. The complaint also alleges that McKinley directed the individual to physically assault another business owner, and that he expressed satisfaction after seeing photo evidence of the injured victim. Prosecutors said that as payment for the assault, McKinley reclassified the dispensary as a cannabis microbusiness to reduce its annual city fees from $25,000 to $2,500.

The honest services fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 20

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) filed a budget proposal Wednesday that includes language allowing veterans to register for the state’s medical cannabis program without a doctor’s recommendation.

The provision addressing veterans and medical cannabis, first reported by Marijuana Moment, specifies that the state “may issue a medical registration card to a veteran receiving their health care at a federal Veterans Administration facility who provides official documentation from the Veterans Administration indicating a diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition, without the need for a written or electronic certification from a healthcare professional.”

The governor said the supplemental budget proposal contains critical health care and public safety investments.

Cannabis is already available for adults aged 21 and older in Massachusetts. Under the current rules, patients in the medical cannabis program must have a doctor’s recommendation in order to qualify.

“While President Trump is driving up costs with his war and tariffs, in Massachusetts, we’re doing everything we can to make life more affordable for people and businesses. This budget will lower costs at the gas pump, when buying concert and sports tickets, and on energy bills, while also making sure families can continue to access the health care, food assistance and services

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The average price per gram of flower in Connecticut fell to $6.61 in August, about 13% lower than in January, according to state data outlined by CT Insider. From January to August, Connecticut cannabis retailers sold 27.5% more products than the same period in 2025, but adult-use sales dollars increased by just 6.8%. 

Adult-use cannabis sales in the state have totaled $713 million since the launch of the market in 2023, while medical cannabis sales totaled $339 million during the same period. Flower has been the leading product category for both markets – $326 million and $169 million respectively. Vape products were the second most popular in both the adult-use ($248 million in sales) and medical markets ($91 million), followed by edibles ($112 million in adult-use sales and $32 million in medical sales). Extract sales were nearly even among the markets, with $25 million in adult-use sales and $24 million in medical sales. The medical cannabis market saw another $24 million spent on “other” products, which include pills, capsules, and other non-smokable products; just $2 million were spent on such products in the adult-use market. 

Last month, there were 705,865 products sold via the state’s adult-use market, compared to 174,928 in

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A former Grafton, Massachusetts, selectman has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges related to allegations he defrauded investors in his cannabis company, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Bruce W. Spinney III pleaded guilty September 9 in U.S. District Court in Worcester to two counts of wire fraud and one count of making an unlawful monetary transaction.  

Spinney was arrested in June 2024 following allegations that he defrauded investors in a cannabis company during the permitting process in Grafton and Mendon between 2019 and 2021. Prosecutors claimed that Spinney took hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors but used the cash to pay down debts from his linen and rental businesses, for personal purchases, including electronics and pizza, and to pay off $10,435 in real estate taxes.

In a statement released Tuesday, William H. Connolly, an attorney for Spinney, said his client made a “mistake” and took responsibility for it by pleading guilty. 

“It’s important to note that the investors in this matter were paid back prior to the initiation of any criminal charges. Their investments were for a valuable asset held by Mr. Spinney, and ultimately through the sale of that asset, the investors either received their

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