For the Culture By The Culture
Texas lawmakers failed for the third time to ban hemp THC, leaving a ten billion dollar industry and fifty thousand jobs intact. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pushed hard, but the House refused to play executioner. Abbott stuck with the regulation, and Texans mocked Patrick online as obsessed, out of touch, and defeated.
The MORE Act is back in Congress, aiming to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, expunge federal convictions, and create a fair federal framework. With public support at record highs and billions wasted on prohibition, this bill could finally align federal law with reality and set the stage for true reform across all 50 states.
This week’s Reefer Report Card breaks down media fearmongering, small-town sabotage, and corruption in Boston. From The Guardian’s paranoia push to Southampton’s zoning war against legal weed, plus the ongoing federal court win for patients, it’s a reminder that reform is still a fight on every front.
A billionaire’s media empire, a prohibitionist Congressman, and an op-ed full of fear. The Washington Examiner’s latest anti-cannabis rant exposes how profits and propaganda keep prohibition alive. With alcohol use falling and support for cannabis reform rising, fearmongering is their last defense and it is crumbling fast.
Five plus years after legalization, Canada has pulled most consumers into the legal cannabis market. A new Waterloo study shows 78% of users buy legally, with prices converging and Ontario leading sales past $2.1B. With over 3,000 stores nationwide, Canada’s retail footprint is crushing the illicit trade while the U.S. still lags.
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.
