California’s 97% Problem: Local Bans Feed the Illicit Market
Ten years after Prop 64, the California cannabis map has a pattern you can see from space: the illegal grows cluster where the legal ones are banned. New Department of Cannabis Control data — obtained and first reported by State Affairs, and covered by Marijuana Moment — shows that 96.6 percent of illicit marijuana seized […]
Michigan Supreme Court: Legal Weed Can’t Be Banned on Probation
Can a judge ban you from using legal weed just because you’re on probation? In Michigan, as of July 6, the answer is no — not if the only reason is federal law. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled unanimously in People v. Hess that trial courts cannot prohibit marijuana use that complies with state law […]
Marijuana Drug Testing Is Dying — Because Workers Keep Failing It
The numbers on marijuana drug testing tell you everything about where American drug policy actually is — not in Congress, but in HR departments. Quest Diagnostics’ 2025 workforce data, drawn from roughly 8 million tests and reported by the Wall Street Journal: urine marijuana positivity hit 4.4 percent, up from 3.9 in 2021. Hair testing […]
Ohio THC Drinks Are Back — For Exactly 10 Companies
Ohio THC drinks are legal again — if they come from the right ten companies. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick issued a preliminary injunction on Monday, July 13, blocking enforcement of Ohio’s intoxicating-hemp restrictions against ten companies that make and distribute hemp-derived THC beverages, extending relief he first granted by temporary restraining order on […]
The IRS Wants Its 280E Refunds Back — TerrAscend Sued for $8.3 Million
The 280E refund gold rush just met the collections department. The Department of Justice is suing multistate operator TerrAscend for $8.3 million plus interest, arguing the refund it collected on amended returns was “erroneous” because the deductions were barred by Section 280E (the docket is here; MJBiz coverage here). TerrAscend received the money in June […]
Pentagon: Rescheduling Doesn’t Change the Military Marijuana Ban
If you serve, you still can’t smoke. That is the entire message of a one-page Department of War memo, dated July 9 and obtained by Marijuana Moment, reminding senior Pentagon leadership that the military marijuana prohibition survives federal rescheduling completely intact. The department “maintains a drug-free workplace to protect national security, public safety, and operational […]
Schumer’s Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act Is Back — With Union Muscle
One day after the DEA closed the record on rescheduling, Congress raised the bid. On July 16, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act — the comprehensive bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act entirely. Not Schedule III. Not a […]
The Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Is Over — Now One Judge Decides
The marijuana rescheduling hearing is over. After two weeks of testimony at DEA headquarters in Arlington, the evidentiary hearing on moving marijuana to Schedule III wrapped up on July 15 — and here is what a searcher actually wants to know: Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius gave participants until August 17 to file post-hearing […]
Legal on the Ground, Illegal in the Air: TSA Yanks a Flyer Over Weed
TSA Marijuana Rules: Flyer Booted at PDX Welcome to federalism’s dumbest layover: TSA marijuana rules just got a Portland traveler pulled off his flight for something he could legally buy a mile away. On the Fourth of July, a passenger at Portland International (PDX) was removed from his flight after TSA screeners found marijuana in […]
A Deadly Dispensary Robbery Is Really a Safe-Banking Story
Dispensary Robbery Turns Deadly in Beaverton A dispensary robbery in Oregon ended with a man dead and three officers on leave — and the root cause traces straight back to a banking policy Congress has refused to fix for a decade. On the night of July 5, a man robbed the Nectar dispensary in Beaverton, […]