Filed under: Weekly Burn
Legalization looks great on paper. But on the ground, it is a tangle of vetoes, raids, zoning nightmares, and political theater. Let’s grade the week in weed before the next rule gets rewritten.
FEDERAL FUMBLE
Congress Pretends to Back Cannabis for Vets
In what feels like déjà vu, Congress passed another amendment to expand medical cannabis access for veterans through the VA. But just like every year, it is buried in a giant appropriations bill that is likely to be gutted before final passage.
Lawmakers call it a “symbolic win.” Vets call it bullshit. The clock keeps ticking, but no prescriptions, no protection, no peace.
DUMBEST MOVE
New York’s Zoning Chaos Still Screws Weed Shops
New York regulators admitted this week that dozens of licensed dispensaries were approved for storefronts that are now out of compliance because of flawed zoning guidance.
Applicants followed OCM instructions. Then the state changed the rules. Now licenses are at risk.
Pot Culture Magazine covered this disaster in full. It is a textbook example of bureaucracy kneecapping equity.
MOST UNHINGED STORY
Michigan State Raids $10 Million Illegal Grow
Two days ago, Michigan State Police raided an unlicensed cannabis operation in Lake County, Baldwin, seizing over 13,400 plants and hundreds of pounds of dried marijuana from a 17,000-square-foot facility on 19 acres. The haul’s street value is estimated at over $10 million. Multiple arrests were made.
The site had no valid Cannabis Regulatory Agency license, and authorities claimed illegal grows often carry contamination risks like pesticides and heavy metals.
CULTURE AND CHAOS
DEA Still Raiding While Rescheduling Stalls
The DEA hit licensed dispensaries in Nevada and Wisconsin this week for “compliance violations,” despite no formal movement on rescheduling cannabis.
Products were seized, businesses closed, and no charges were filed.
The feds keep flipping the light switch while pretending the bulb is broken.
FINAL GRADE: F
One state stops raiding farms. Another keeps suing hemp. Congress hits rewind. The DEA never left. The only thing moving fast in weed this week is confusion. Until the system stops eating its own tail, we’re stuck in circles.
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F O R T H E C U L T U R E B Y T H E C U L T U R E
Reefer Report Card Vol. 28: The Rescheduling That Wasn’t
This week’s Reefer Report Card cuts through the hype around cannabis “rescheduling,” exposing how a label change left federal prohibition fully intact. Arrest authority, workplace punishment, and immigration penalties remain untouched. Headlines claimed progress. Reality delivered none. A week defined by performance over policy, and reform that never arrived.
THE SCHEDULE III SCAM
Federal officials claim cannabis is moving forward, but Schedule III changes nothing that matters. This investigation breaks down what rescheduling actually does, what it deliberately avoids, and why prohibition logic remains intact. Arrests continue. Markets remain conflicted. Reform language replaces reform action. The system shifts labels while preserving control.
LEGAL WEED, OLD RULES
Legalization promised freedom but preserved prohibition logic. This investigation examines how cannabis reform left arrests, racial disparities, job punishment, medical blame, and equity barriers intact. By tracing enforcement, employment law, healthcare practice, and licensing rules, it shows how legalization changed the label without dismantling the system.
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