Filed Under: Weekly Burn
The week dragged reform through red tape and new taxes. Michigan mugged its own market. New York held a line in court. Massachusetts tried to get its act together. Pennsylvania remembered compassion. Germany rewound progress.
STATEHOUSE HEADLINER
Michigan slaps a 24 percent wholesale tax on weed
Governor Gretchen Whitmer called it a “fix for the roads.” Growers called it a stickup. Michigan’s new wholesale tax piles 24 percent on top of the state’s 10 percent excise and 6 percent sales taxes, making legal cannabis one of the most over-taxed products in America. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association fired back with a lawsuit, arguing the tax violates the state’s voter-approved legalization law. Small dispensaries warn they will close before the asphalt gets a dime.
Grade: F
GOVERNMENT CLOWN CAR AWARD
New York buffer-zone blunder ends up in court
After state regulators mis-measured school distances, more than 150 licensed dispensaries faced forced relocation. A state judge granted an injunction letting them stay open while Albany cleans up its mess. The regulators who could not use a map now get homework from the court.
Grade: C
REGULATOR ROULETTE
Massachusetts brings its watchdog back from limbo
The Cannabis Control Commission chair returned after a year of courtroom drama. Lawmakers are pushing a modernization bill to simplify testing, licensing, and agency structure. If they deliver, the market finally gets adult supervision. If not, it stays the same clown show.
Grade: C+
PATIENT RIGHTS WATCH
Pennsylvania moves to allow medical cannabis in hospitals
A bipartisan group of state senators advanced a bill to let terminal patients use their prescribed cannabis in hospital care. For once, politics got out of the way of compassion. Real people will feel this one.
Grade: B
INTERNATIONAL HEAT CHECK
Germany tightens the leash on online cannabis sales
The German cabinet approved new rules banning mail-order cannabis and requiring in-person doctor visits after a surge in imports and prescriptions. The move aims to curb abuse, but it slams patients who rely on telehealth. Progress slows, bureaucracy wins.
Grade: D+
FINAL GRADE: C-
The Midwest taxed progress into retreat. The East Coast stumbled into court. The Northeast tried reform by committee. The Mid-Atlantic showed a little heart. Europe reminded everyone how to complicate a good idea. It was a week of motion without momentum.
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Cannabis Lies Vol. 16: The Local Control Lie
Cannabis Lies Vol. 16: The Local Control Lie exposes how legal cannabis can still be blocked after legalization passes. From California’s retail-access map to New York and New Jersey opt-outs, the article shows how local control can turn a legal market into a permission slip with no storefront.
Cannabis Alone Is Not Enough
The Supreme Court cannabis gun ban ruling in United States v. Hemani narrowed federal power under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). Marijuana use alone was not enough to sustain this prosecution, but the decision does not erase every firearms restriction tied to drug use.
Spanberger’s Weed Spin
Spanberger’s cannabis retail in Virginia is now a political memory test. Gov. Abigail Spanberger campaigned on retail cannabis, vetoed the stand-alone path, and now backs a budget compromise that still delays Virginia cannabis retail sales until July 1, 2027. The market may move forward, but the spin deserves scrutiny.
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