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.
A group of licensed dispensaries is suing New York State after regulators admitted they approved stores using the wrong buffer zone measurements. Over 150 cannabis businesses, most of them social equity operators, now face relocation or shutdown. The Office of Cannabis Management’s zoning blunder has triggered legal chaos, broken trust, and exposed the fragility of New York’s so called cannabis reform.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is under fire after a scathing state audit uncovered over $1.7 million in uncollected fees, weak enforcement, and systemic mismanagement. From missing millions to delayed oversight and a major mold contamination scare, the findings expose a cannabis regulator in chaos as Massachusetts lawmakers weigh sweeping structural reforms to restore trust and accountability.
