For the Culture By The Culture
California just bragged about hauling in over half a billion dollars in cannabis tax revenue this year. Behind the headlines, growers are bleeding out under crushing taxes, defaults, and broken promises. The state pockets the cash while farms fold and the underground market thrives. Outlaw cannabis journalism tells the story others won’t.
Reefer Report Card Vol. 14 grades the week in weed. Texas killed its hemp ban but raised the age gate, New York’s equity rules collapsed in court, Ohio towns stalled legalization, Nebraska strangled patients before launch, and Thailand’s new PM carries a cannabis legacy without clear promises.
House GOP’s Rescheduling Block is the Last Gasp of a Dying Drug War. On Sept. 11, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill blocking DOJ funds from rescheduling cannabis. It is a prohibition theater dressed as governance, protecting alcohol, pharma, and law enforcement donors while ignoring science and public opinion. Two-thirds of Americans back legalization, yet Congress clings to 1971. This is the last gasp of a dying drug war.
Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA 56 hands Texas alcohol regulators control over hemp THC, framing it as “protection” while consolidating power. The $5 billion hemp market now faces child-resistant packaging rules, ID checks, and compliance costs that favor big players. This is not about kids or health; it is about control, consolidation, and outlaw culture under fire.
Thailand has lived a century of cannabis politics in less than a decade. From medical legalization in 2018 to decriminalization in 2022, a crackdown in 2025, and now the Cannabis King himself taking power as Prime Minister, the story is wild, contradictory, and global. Outlaw culture has found its throne in Southeast Asia.
This week’s Reefer Report Card tracks chaos in Texas, Ohio, and Nebraska, plus international heat checks. Texas failed to ban hemp but criminalized vapes, Ohio towns blocked shops despite legalization, and Nebraska strangled access before patients got medicine. Switzerland moves toward retail while Thailand’s new prime minister brings cannabis reform back into focus.
