New York’s top cannabis official abruptly resigned Monday amid the collapse of a major state investigation into alleged marijuana inversion involving millions of dollars’ worth of product.

Felicia Reid, who’d led the Office of Cannabis Management since June 2024, resigned at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s request, according to The Capitol Pressroom.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hochul asked for Reid and the head of a new investigative arm to step down amid the unraveling of a case OCM brought against a licensed processor.

Omnium Health allegedly smuggled illicit product into the state’s $1.8 billion market in a case that also touched major national brands.

New York cannabis shakeup as inversion investigation fails

Reid is now the second New York cannabis czar to be forced out under Hochul.

The post New York marijuana chief ousted as inversion investigation implodes appeared first on GrowCola.com.

A Michigan judge this week denied a request to halt the state’s newly implemented 24% wholesale cannabis tax, scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

The Michigan Court of Claims, led by Judge Sima G. Patel, rejected motions for a preliminary injunction filed by Holistic Research Group, the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (MCIA) and PF Manufacturing, according to ClickOnDetroit.

ADVERTISEMENT

The court said the plaintiffs had not that the harm to their businesses outweighed the public benefit of funding critical to infrastructure projects.

A scheduling conference is set for Jan. 13 to determine the next steps in the case, which is expected to be appealed to Michigan’s high courts no matter what the outcome.

Michigan marijuana industry says tax would harm tumbling sales

The post Massive new Michigan cannabis tax to take effect Jan. 1 after court hearing appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Maine officials have cleared prohibitionist activists to begin collecting signatures for a proposed ballot initiative that would roll back the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law. The measure, if approved, would also revise the regulatory structure of the medical cannabis program by imposing product testing requirements.

The proposal—titled “An Act to Amend the Cannabis Legalization Act and the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act”—is a revised version of a marijuana initiative filed in September that was backed by a Republican state senator and a former top staffer to then-Gov. Paul LePage (R), a staunch prohibitionist.

The latest proposal, petitions for which were approved by the secretary of state’s office on Monday, would remove and amend multiple sections of current state statute—aimed at effectively repealing the legalization of recreational marijuana sales that voters approved in 2016.

Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis by adults 21 and older would remain legal under the proposal, but a section of the law permitting home cultivation would be repealed. Medical marijuana sales and home cultivation would remain legal.

Madison Carey, who was listed as the chief petitioner of the original version of the repeal initiative and remains involved in the current campaign, told Marijuana

The post Maine Officials Approve 2026 Ballot Initiative To Largely Repeal Marijuana Legalization Law For Signature Collection appeared first on GrowCola.com.

The Ohio Senate has voted to concur with a House-amended bill to scale back the state’s voter-approved marijuana law and ban the sale of hemp products that fall outside of a recently revised federal definition for the crop unless they’re sold at licensed cannabis dispensaries.

The measure from Sen. Stephen Huffman (R) was substantively revised in the House last month, but the originating chamber voted 22-7 on Tuesday to accept those changes and send the legislation to Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) desk.

The legislation now pending the governor’s signature would recriminalize certain marijuana activity that was legalized under a ballot initiative that passed in 2023  as well as remove anti-discrimination protections for cannabis consumers that were enacted under that law.

After the House revised the initial Senate-passed legislation, removing certain controversial provisions, the Senate quickly rejected those changes in October. That led to the appointment of a bicameral conference committee to resolve outstanding differences between the chambers. That panel then approved a negotiated form of the bill, which passed the House last month and has now cleared the Senate.

To advocates’ disappointment, the final version of the measure now heading to the governor’s desk would eliminate language in current statute

The post Ohio Lawmakers Pass Bill To Roll Back Voter-Approved Marijuana Law And Impose Hemp Restrictions, Sending It To Governor appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Pennsylvania is losing out on critical revenue by not legalizing marijuana, a key Democratic lawmaker says, but it’s up to the GOP-controlled Senate to make the next move. And one top Republican senator says there are “some significant concerns” to address before that happens—including the current federal classification of cannabis that’s under review by the Trump administration.

In interviews with PoliticsPA last week, the bicameral and bipartisan legislators were each asked about the prospects of adult-use legalization in the Commonwealth.

Rep. Jordan Harris (D), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, pointed out that his chamber has previously passed a version of the reform, consistent with what the governor has proposed as part of his recent budget requests.

“For me, I think we should have done it a while ago. I think most Pennsylvanians agree—most Americans agree that we should legalize cannabis—and many of the states around us have already done so,” he said, adding that he has friends in neighboring New Jersey who are “very happy that Pennsylvania has not legalized adult-use cannabis because they get to literally reap the benefits.”

“They get to reap the benefits of us not passing adult-use cannabis when so many people from

The post Marijuana’s Federally Banned Status Is One Reason Pennsylvania Hasn’t Legalized It, Top GOP Senator Says appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Oregon-based marijuana companies are asking a federal court to uphold a lower judge’s ruling that struck down a voter-approved law to require licensed cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with workers and mandate that employers remain neutral in discussions around unionization.

In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday, attorneys for two marijuana businesses—Bubble’s Hash and Ascend Dispensary—said the prior district court ruling was accurately decided, as the labor peace agreement requirement unconstitutionally infringed upon their freedom of speech.

This comes about two months after the defendants—Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) and Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC) Dennis Doherty and Craig Prins—urged the appeals court to review the constitutional challenge to the state law following their lower court defeat.

The plaintiffs initially filed a lawsuit in the district court challenging the implementation of Measure 119, and a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs, finding that the law unconstitutionally restricts free speech and violates the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

“Although Defendants and Plaintiffs do not dispute that the NLRA applies to the cannabis industry, and do not dispute the Lower Court’s opinion regarding

The post Oregon Marijuana Businesses Urge Federal Court To Uphold Ruling Blocking Industry Labor Law Approved By Voters appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Texas officials have released a revised proposed rule to ban the sale of hemp THC products to people under 21.

After the governor issued an emergency order barring such sales, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) put forward temporary emergency rules to codify the policy change—and now it’s planning to adopt an amended regulation on the issue permanently after receiving public and stakeholder input.

“If ultimately adopted, the rules proposed now will replace the emergency rules,” TABC said in a notice published in the Texas Register on Friday. “The proposed rules are intended to prevent minors from accessing and using consumable hemp products (CHPs) that will negatively impact the health, general welfare, and public safety of minors in Texas.”

The main components of the proposal would largely align with what they initially implemented following Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) emergency order, with “some key changes,” the agency said. For example, TABC would be permitted to suspend licenses, rather than outright cancel them, for violations of the rule. That was among several contentions from stakeholders who felt the temporary rules were excessively punitive.

The proposed rule also provides “a licensee or permittee a defense to an enforcement action for failure to inspect

The post Texas Officials File Revised Rule Banning Hemp THC Sales To People Under 21 As State Expands Medical Marijuana Program appeared first on GrowCola.com.

As Virginia lawmakers prepare to resume efforts to legalize adult-use marijuana sales in next year’s legislative session, state officials have released guidance on a recently enacted law that provides employment protections for workers who use cannabis while off duty.

Virginia has a medical cannabis program—and recreational use and personal cultivation were legalized in 2021, but there’s not currently a system of regulated sales for recreational use. While legislators have already taken steps to enact further reforms to allow marijuana sales from licensed retailers, with a legislative commission putting forward a framework last week in hopes of advancing the issue in 2026, the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) published a new document outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.

The guidance states that employers “should not take employment actions, including discipline or termination of employment, against an employee based upon the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the individual’s bodily fluids in an employer-required or requested drug test without additional factors indicating impairment…unless the employer has established a drug free workplace based on its reasonable workplace drug policy.”

For medical cannabis patients specifically, the guidance from DOLI’s Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program stipulates that no employers may “discharge, discipline, or discriminate

The post Virginia Officials Publish Guidance On Marijuana Consumers’ Workplace Rights appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Shut out from most advertising channels, cannabis operators – and their marketing partners – are rethinking how to reach consumers in a highly competitive environment.

Instead of billboards and media buys, they’re turning to sharp search strategy, culture-rich content hubs and storytelling shaped by tracked and measured audience behavior to drive growth.

ADVERTISEMENT

Agency leaders and digital strategists tell MJBizDaily that successful advertising and marketing strategies depend on authenticity, owned assets and hyperlocal relevance rather than broad ad reach.

And instead of relying on fickle earned media or risking bans on social-media platforms, the shift also allows cannabis operators and brands to lean into channels they truly own.

These deliver the clearest return because they’re compliant, measurable and built on customer intent.

The rules

The post How cannabis brands win at advertising and marketing appeared first on GrowCola.com.

FL medical marijuana homegrow bill; NH proposal to put cannabis on ballot; Hemp farmers & carbon credits’ MI marijuana tax ruling; NM psilocybin

Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day.

Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible…

Before you dig into today’s cannabis news, I wanted you to know you can keep this resource free and published daily by subscribing to Marijuana Moment on Patreon. We’re a small independent publication diving deep into the cannabis world and rely on readers like you to keep going.

Join us at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment

/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

A Florida senator introduced a bill to legalize home cultivation of medical cannabis, allowing patients to grow up to six plants for themselves and to purchase marijuana seeds and clones from dispensaries.

New Hampshire lawmakers prefiled several marijuana and hemp bills for the 2026 session—including legislation to put legalization on the ballot, protect gun rights of medical cannabis patients and allow dispensaries to convert to for-profit businesses.

A new federally funded study published by the American Medical

The post Medical cannabis reduces opioid prescriptions, study shows (Newsletter: December 9, 2025) appeared first on GrowCola.com.

The growth of medical marijuana patients in Florida, still the country’s biggest medical-only market, is showing signs of slowing.

Recent data from the state Office of Medical Marijuana Use reveals a modest increase in the number of qualified patients year-over-year, but the pace of growth appears to have decelerated, according to New Cannabis Ventures.

However, both overall medical marijuana sales as well as the number of licensed dispensaries continues to grow.

ADVERTISEMENT

In January, Florida reported 895,469 active MMJ patients with ID cards. By December, the number had risen to 930,643, reflecting an increase of 35,174 patients over 11 months.

This translates to an average monthly growth of about 3,200 patients.

While the growth is positive, it’s slower compared to earlier years with the

The post Florida medical marijuana patient growth slowed in 2025 appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Legal cannabis sales in California, the country’s biggest market, dipped to a five-year low after a since-repealed excise tax hike went into effect July 1, recent state data shows.

The predictable – and predicted – effect of increased taxes in an already lagging mature market spells potential trouble for other states where officials are raising taxes such as Michigan, where lawmakers recently approved a new 24% wholesale tax.

ADVERTISEMENT

California cannabis retailers reported just shy of $940 million in cannabis sales in the third quarter of 2025, according to California Department of Tax and Fee Administration data.

That’s down from $993 billion in the second quarter of 2025 and represents the lowest quarterly haul since early 2020, before sales spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post California cannabis sales tumbled after tax hike, data shows appeared first on GrowCola.com.

A Florida senator has introduced a new bill for the 2026 session that would legalize home cultivation of marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients in the state.

Sen. Carlos Smith (D) filed the legislation on Friday—one of the latest attempts to give patients a home grow option that’s allowed under most medical marijuana programs in other states across the country.

This latest measure would permit qualified patients who are at least 21 years old to cultivate up to six flowering plants for personal, therapeutic use. Those patients could also buy seeds and clones from licensed dispensaries.

“A qualified patient who cultivates cannabis shall ensure that the plants are secured in a manner to prevent access by unauthorized persons,” the bill text says. “The sale of patient-cultivated cannabis plants and products and cultivation of cannabis by patients beyond the limits specified in this section is subject to the penalties outlined” under existing law.

If enacted into law, the bill would become law on July 1, 2026. A similar proposal was introduced at the beginning of this year by Sen. Joe Gruters (R), who is now chairman of the Republican National Committee, but it did not advance.

Gruters and Kim Rivers—the CEO

The post Medical Marijuana Home Cultivation Would Be Legalized In Florida Under Senator’s New Bill appeared first on GrowCola.com.

For many operators, investors and ancillary businesses in the cannabis industry, major changes have been just around the corner for years.

The difference for attendees at MJBizCon 2025 was that a significant, potentially game-changing shift just happened – and with President Donald Trump still weighing marijuana rescheduling after signing a ban on hemp THC into law, more appear on the way.

But as MJBizCon attendees heard in Las Vegas, there are still fundamental rules that successful operators will follow that are reform-proof.

ADVERTISEMENT

Here are five major takeaways our editorial team heard on the ground that will portend success in 2026 and beyond.

More major federal cannabis policy reform is coming

Partisan politics – and a significant dip in support for cannabis legalization among

The post The power of flower and how to prepare for reform – MJBizCon takeaways appeared first on GrowCola.com.

DOJ memo on guns & marijuana users; Senator blocks Trump’s drug czar pick; KY gov: Medical cannabis sales “very close”; OH marijuana recriminalization

Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day.

Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible…

Hold on, just one second before you read today’s news. Have you thought about giving some financial support to Marijuana Moment? If so, today would be a great day to contribute. We’re planning our reporting for the coming months and it would really help to know what kind of support we can count on.

Check us out on Patreon and sign up to give $25/month today:
https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment

/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

A newly disclosed Department of Justice guidance memo obtained by Marijuana Moment shows that officials knew the federal law denying gun rights to cannabis consumers is vulnerable to “potential litigation risk”—a revelation that comes as the Supreme Court is taking up a case on the issue.

The Congressional Research Service published a report on a newly approved federal ban on hemp THC products—saying

The post Can the feds actually enforce the new hemp THC product ban? (Newsletter: December 8, 2025) appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Hemp THC products will become illegal under federal law in November 2026 thanks to the spending bill President Donald Trump signed last month.

What’s still not known is which authorities will enforce the ban – or whether they’ll enforce the hemp ban at all, a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report notes.

In fact, both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Food and Drug Administration “may lack the resources” to police banned hemp, according to the CRS.

ADVERTISEMENT

Congress moved to close the so-called “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill by redefining hemp under federal law.

Starting November 2026, hemp products can have no more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. And both THCA flower as well as synthetically derived delta-8 and

The post Report: Hemp THC ban may be unenforceable appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Ten marijuana brands won trophies in the inaugural MJBowl, a bi-coastal cannabis competition presented by MJBizCon and social review platform Budist.

The competition, designed to spotlight the Most Valuable Products across five major product categories in two major markets, brought together licensed producers from California and New York for a cross-market showcase of craft innovation and product excellence.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We wanted to bring a level of rigor and shared language to how we assess and celebrate cannabis products,” said Jocelyn Sheltran, co-founder and CEO of cannabis product review platform Budist.

“This competition is about recognizing the hard work of producers and creatin ga platform that translates quality to consumers.”

First cannabis product competition at MJBizCon

For participating brands, MJBowl is more than a trophy.

The post From rosin gummies to hash holes: Meet the winners of MJBowl appeared first on GrowCola.com.

A Democratic senator is holding up nearly 90 of President Donald Trump’s administrative nominees—including the president’s pick for White House drug czar who he says is among many “unqualified” candidates who threaten to “undermine the rule of law and our national security.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee in October advanced the nomination of Sara Carter Bailey to join the administration as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). But when she was included in a en bloc confirmation package of 88 nominees for floor consideration, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) raised a procedural inquiry that led Republicans to stop the vote.

“I just blocked 88 Trump nominees from confirmation—including Sara Carter Bailey, a former Fox News contributor nominated to be our country’s drug czar,” Bennet said on the floor on Thursday. “Bailey was nominated by Trump, who just pardoned the former president of Honduras, as he served 45 years in prison for conspiring to distribute over 400 tons of cocaine.”

“I will not allow unqualified nominees, this White House, or the president to undermine the rule of law and our national security,” he said.

The procedural complaint Bennet raised has to do with the fact that ONDCP

The post Senator Blocks Confirmation Of Trump’s ‘Unqualified’ White House Drug Czar Pick Who Has Voiced Medical Marijuana Support appeared first on GrowCola.com.

Kentucky’s governor says the state is “very, very close” to launching its medical marijuana program, which he expects to happen “within the next couple of weeks”—a move he says will help thousands of patients find an alternative to opioids for pain management.

During a press briefing on Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) was asked by a reporter to provide a status update on the medical cannabis law. He said the first dispensary, based in Ohio County, is set have “product on its shelf” in weeks.

“But we believe it’s going to scale up very quickly from that first moment,” the governor said.

Beshear went through more granular details about the program’s progress, touting the fact that 23,757 patients have received their e-certifications to access cannabis, including 1,756 who qualified to treat symptoms of cancer and 15,412 with chronic pain who would have “otherwise been taking opioids, which is one of the reasons that we’ve pushed this program so hard.”

With respect to marijuana business licensing, the state has so far approved 16 cultivators, 48 dispensaries and six safety compliance facilities. Officials have additionally certified 506 doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations.

“Our Office of Medical Cannabis had staff in three

The post Kentucky’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Open In ‘Next Couple Of Weeks,’ Governor Says, Touting Cannabis As Opioid Alternative appeared first on GrowCola.com.

The Biden administration was evidently concerned about potential legal liability in federal cases for people convicted of violating gun laws simply by being a cannabis consumer who possessed a firearm, documents obtained by Marijuana Moment show.

The previously unpublished 2024 guidance from former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department generally cautioned U.S. attorneys to use discretion in prosecuting federal cannabis cases, particularly for offenses that qualified people for pardons during his term. But one section seems especially relevant as the U.S. Supreme Court takes on a case challenging the constitutionality of the current federal gun statute.

Justices in that case recently granted a request from the Trump administration to extend the deadline to submit initial briefs until December 12.

The newly disclosed guidance from the Biden administration that was rescinded in September under Trump states that prosecutors “may pursue charges under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) or 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(3) based on the unlawful use of, or addiction to, marijuana because the proclamation does not change the fact that marijuana use violates federal law,” referring to the statutes that make it a federal crime to possess a gun while being a cannabis consumer.

However, in order to “mitigate potential litigation risk,”

The post DOJ Knew Gun Ban For Marijuana Users Is Vulnerable To ‘Litigation Risk,’ Newly Revealed Memo Shows As Supreme Court Takes Up Issue appeared first on GrowCola.com.