For the Culture By The Culture
This week’s Reefer Report Card exposes a system under strain as federal hemp policy whiplashes, New York’s cannabis regulator unravels, and Massachusetts stirs panic over THC potency. Patients and workers absorb the fallout while international reform stalls under bureaucratic drag. Cannabis holds steady. Governance does not.
Massachusetts faces a new THC accuracy fight after a law enforcement group claims dispensary labels inflate potency. Testing limits, natural variance, and oversight failures collide as the state struggles to rebuild trust in a system built on imperfect numbers. This feature exposes how the market turned THC into gospel and why the truth was never that simple.
Every year, millions of pounds of perfectly good cannabis are destroyed under “safety” rules that do little but feed landfills. From testing failures to expiration laws, the system burns medicine while patients go without. Dead Flowers: The Waste of American Weed follows the regulators, the waste, and the absurd logic behind America’s most profitable destruction ritual.
Massachusetts health officials report a surge in pediatric cannabis ER visits, but the real culprit is the unregulated hemp gray market. Candy-lookalike edibles and weak enforcement fuel fear while licensed operators take the blame. Pot Culture Magazine cuts through the panic to expose how prohibitionist loopholes and corporate spin create the danger.
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.
Legal cannabis has generated nearly $25 billion in tax revenue, with $4.4 billion collected in 2024 alone. States benefit significantly, funding various community programs. However, equity issues remain, as many who contributed to legalization are still marginalized. The promise of justice is overshadowed by bureaucracy and economic barriers for legacy growers.
