Canada's main cannabis lobby goes dark 💰

“It’s very expensive, it’s very regulated, and so it’s challenging. I want to make sure people have a clear understanding beforehand, so that they can make a good decision about whether or not they want to apply to this program," Lesley Turek, Chief Equity Officer for the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, told the Missouri Independent. 

Missouri's DCR will open its window for 77 new microbusiness licenses on July 13. This will be the third round of microbusiness license awards, and the first since the state updated its licensing rules to allow the state to vet applicants prior to the lottery, rather than have to rescind licenses from ineligible applicants like it had to do in the previous two rounds.

Canada's main cannabis lobby goes dark 💰

The Cannabis Council of Canada, the country's national lobby group for licensed producers and processors, suspended operations citing member financial pressure, complex regulations, and a "highly active" illicit market that has left most of its members unable to fund national advocacy. The group's last act was calling on Ottawa to do the enforcement job that was supposed to make legalization work, which is a fairly damning indictment of eight years of federal cannabis policy delivered on the way out the door.

Nebraska's first legal cannabis plants are going in the ground, sort of ⚖️

Nebraska's Medical Cannabis Commission unanimously cleared its first cultivator to plant after a successful inspection, and voted 3-1 to open product manufacturer applications starting Wednesday, even though final regulations still sit unsigned on AG Mike Hilgers' desk. The catch: a second licensed cultivator is locked out of its property by a county zoning reversal linked to a sheriff who opposed the ballot measure, which is a preview of the local interference operators will face in a state where the AG has made his hostility to the program structurally inconvenient.

Virginia passes recreational sales again, after the Governor’s veto last month  🗳️

The General Assembly passed a compromise budget provision that would open recreational cannabis retail July 1, 2027, with up to 350 stores, a 6% excise tax rising to 8% in 2029, and a $10 million conversion fee for existing medical operators to enter the recreational market. Gov. Abigail Spanberger already vetoed a standalone version of this earlier in the year that would have moved legal sales up to Jan. 1, 2027.

California's GOP governor candidate says cannabis taxes are too high 🗳️

Trump-endorsed Republican Steve Hilton told Marijuana Moment the state's tax and regulatory burden is pushing consumers toward the illicit market, and said he's in "conversations with the industry" on what to change. Both major candidates to replace Gavin Newsom now support the core aims of cannabis reform — though at least one GOP state senator wants to put repeal back on the ballot.

Cannabis shed jobs for the second straight year 📉

The industry employed about 412,500 people in early 2026, down 2.7% from a year prior, per Vangst and Whitney Economics. As we've reported, it's actually the second year with declines. New York's 129% workforce surge softened the national drop, but mature markets like California and Michigan are cutting headcount as price compression and oversupply drag on margins.

A big takeaway from the recent International Cannabis Bar Association Conference? State regulators are getting little guidance from the DEA about what rescheduling actually means.

“We've been really transparent about the questions we have, and our lack of certainty on anything right now,” Amy Moore, the director of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' Division of Cannabis Regulation told Law360’s Sam Reisman. 

Read Sam’s full story » ($).

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The total U.S. market for CBN, a cannabinoid thought to help with sleep, is about $1 billion, according to the CBN market report from FloraWorks. You can view the whole report »

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