Good morning.
Jeremy’s back in the saddle and will be attempting to wade through the hundreds of missed emails from traveling last week.
We’re looking forward to seeing many of you in Atlantic City on Wednesday for MJ Unpacked and our breakfast sponsored by our friends at Aquinnah Capital at the Hard Rock Hotel.
If you haven’t already, use Cultivated’s 20% code cultivated20 here to register.
-JB, JR
Today’s newsletter is 1,016 words or about an 8.5-minute read.
THIS NEWSLETTER MADE POSSIBLE BY:
💡What’s the big deal?
FARM BILL
House passes Farm Bill with hemp ban intact. Now it's the Senate's problem.
What happened: The House passed the 2026 Farm Bill on April 30, leaving in place a November deadline that would ban most intoxicating hemp products and rejecting amendments that would have delayed or softened it.
Go deeper: The bill tightens the definition of legal hemp to include a 0.3% total THC threshold, covering THCA, effectively closing the so-called “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed delta-8, HHC, and similar products to proliferate.
Industry groups say the ban as written would eliminate 95% of the hemp market, costing some 300,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in state tax revenue.
But others in state-regulated cannabis markets cheered the move on social media, arguing that the federal government never intended to give wide access to THC via hemp and that it would create a larger market for their products.
What’s next: The action now moves to the Senate, where Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has introduced legislation that would let states opt out of the ban, while Paul’s state counterpart Sen. Mitch McConnell, who helped write the original ban language, remains a key player on the other side.
With farmers already making planting decisions and November approaching fast, the Senate has little runway to act.
The Texas flashpoint: The federal pressure is compounding at the state level too.
Texas's health agency moved in March to ban smokeable hemp products using a total THC standard, but a Travis County judge has blocked enforcement until at least late July while the industry fights the rules in court.
Separately, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state health agency has the authority to classify delta-8 as a Schedule I controlled substance, lifting an injunction that had kept enforcement on ice since 2022.
And more: The DEA this week also moved HHC, a psychoactive cannabinoid derived from hemp, to Schedule I.
-JB
📣 Quotable
“I’m ecstatic that this happened,” Joe Andreae, the chief executive of CULTA, a cannabis company in Maryland that sells both recreational and medical marijuana. “But it creates a challenge. Will they force us to actually delineate?”
Andreae spoke to The New York Times’ Dealbook newsletter on rescheduling and what comes next. Read the full story.
⏪ In case you missed it
It's been just over a week since cannabis rescheduling was announced — and the questions keep multiplying. Jay, Marc, and Ben unpacked the real-world implications for operators, lawyers, accountants, and states navigating this seismic shift on Friday’s This Week in Cannabis Live:
⏩ Quick hits
California streamlines its licensing process so cannabis operators can more easily access federal tax benefits under rescheduling
California's Department of Cannabis Control has made it easier for licensees to switch from adult-use to medical designations, a move designed to help operators qualify for 280E tax relief now that medical cannabis has moved to Schedule III, with a broader DEA hearing on rescheduling recreational products set for this summer.
Trump's surgeon general pick has some thoughts on cannabis, including that it causes "man boobs"
Trump nominated Memorial Sloan Kettering breast imaging director Nicole Saphier as surgeon general, a pick that comes with a track record of skepticism toward cannabis, though she has acknowledged medical use has some legitimate applications.
🧳 People moves
Shaleen Title joins cannabis law firm to help operators navigate DEA registration process
Former Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission member Shaleen Title has joined Rudick Law Group as of counsel, where she will help cannabis companies apply for federal DEA registration following medical cannabis rescheduling. The DEA opened its registration portal on April 29, giving state-licensed medical operators a 60-day window to submit applications on an expedited timeline.
Alan Brochstein shuts down 420 Investor and New Cannabis Ventures
Alan Brochstein, who spent 13 years covering the cannabis industry through 420 Investor and New Cannabis Ventures, announced he is closing both platforms and stepping away from the sector professionally, he said on LinkedIn. We’ll miss the dialogue with Alan!
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Vireo Growth is buying FLUENT in an all-stock deal to bulk up in Florida
Vireo Growth is acquiring FLUENT in an all-stock deal that would give the combined company roughly 74 dispensaries and 144,000 square feet of cultivation and production space in Florida, with the transaction also converting 30 million dollars in FLUENT debt into equity at close. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2026, pending shareholder and regulatory approval. $VREOF ( ▼ 2.27% ) $CNTMF ( ▼ 2.65% )
MM Brands taps StateHouse to manufacture and distribute Mary's Medicinals and DIXIE in California
Mary's Medicinals and DIXIE parent MM Brands tapped StateHouse Holdings to take over manufacturing and distribution of both brands in California, giving the legacy brands access to StateHouse's statewide retail footprint. $STHZ
Hall of Flowers is moving its Northern California show from Santa Rosa to Sacramento
After eight years in Santa Rosa, the cannabis trade show is relocating its NorCal event to Sacramento, with the new show set for November 4 and 5.
📰 What we’re reading
Arkansas marijuana company tied to more than a quarter of Missouri dispensaries | MIssouri Independent
Will Trump’s reclassifying of medical marijuana have any effect on criminal justice reform? | The Los Angeles Times