For the Culture By The Culture
Hemp may have been ripped from the Controlled Substances Act in 2018, but freedom was only on paper. Farmers are still shackled by THC math, the DEA’s shadow rules, and FDA’s silence on CBD. The loopholes gave rise to delta-8 and other lab-born cannabinoids, sparking a new prohibition panic. The truth is simple: hemp didn’t escape the drug war, it just exposed the absurdity of it all.
Colorado regulators just banned Midnight Drops after reports linked the cannabis sleep aid to liver injuries. Nuka Enterprises and affiliates were fined $400,000 and booted from the state, but loopholes may allow their return. This is not about the plant. It is about corporate shortcuts, weak oversight, and the way scandals weaponize prohibitionist narratives against cannabis culture.
California lawmakers finally moved to ease the crushing cannabis excise tax, but after years of bleeding growers dry, is it reform or just window dressing? Pot Culture Magazine digs into the numbers, the damage, and the politics behind the belated rollback.
Hawaii sells itself as paradise, but when it comes to cannabis, the islands are locked in prohibition. Lawmakers have teased legalization for decades, only to betray voters and bow to cops, lobbyists, and fear. With over 70% of Hawaiians supporting legalization, the hypocrisy is glaring. Paradise is freedom, yet a joint in Waikīkī can still mean court.
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.
