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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Army Raided Four Texas Smoke Shops Selling THC to Soldiers
Army Raids Texas Smoke Shops Over THC Sales When the Army is the one kicking in the door of Texas smoke shops, you know the state’s hemp mess has reached a new level. On July 1, the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Central Texas Field Office executed search warrants on four smoke shops in Killeen and […]
Seniors Are the Fastest-Growing Medical Marijuana Patients
Seniors Medical Marijuana: The Fastest-Growing Group Forget the stoner stereotype: the fastest-growing seniors medical marijuana patient is probably your grandmother, and she’s using it to get off the pills. A physician’s first-person piece in STAT News (July 9) makes the case that older adults are now the fastest-growing group of medical-cannabis users in the country. […]
The Feds Published a Manual on How to Weigh Your Weed
NIST Cannabis Scales Report: What It Means It’s the wonkiest cannabis story of the week, and it matters precisely because it’s boring: the federal government just published a handbook on cannabis scales. On June 29, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released NIST SP 2200-08, “Suitability of Cannabis Scales” (2026 edition) — technical guidance […]
Marijuana Tax Revenue Is Falling in Mature States — Here’s Why
Marijuana Tax Revenue Is Falling in Older States Here is the number every statehouse quietly fears: marijuana tax revenue is now declining in six of the earliest-legalizing states. A widely syndicated analysis (via Arizona Capitol Times; also Dakota Free Press) found collections falling in Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The quick why: supply […]
Hemp Houses Are Keeping Europe Cool in the Heat Wave
Everybody fights about THC. Meanwhile the boring half of the plant is quietly building carbon-negative houses. As a brutal heat wave baked Europe, hempcrete homes made headlines for staying cooler without cranking the air conditioning — proof that hemp’s biggest contribution might have nothing to do with getting high. CNN spotlighted the trend on June […]
A New Bill Would Create Federal Weed Scholarships at HBCUs
Congress wants to put cannabis education money where the first wave of legalization didn’t. A new bill called the EDUCATE Act would create a federal cannabis scholarship program at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions — up to $10,000 a year for students studying the agricultural science behind the plant. Filed June 23 […]
Texas DSHS Hemp Rules 2026: THCA Market Collapses as Smokable Ban Takes Effect
Watch our full breakdown on YouTube: [THCA Market About to COLLAPSE | Texas DSHS New Rules] The Texas DSHS hemp crackdown that the industry feared is no longer coming — it’s here. As of March 31, 2026, new regulations from the Texas Department of State Health Services have effectively ended the retail sale of THCA […]