For the Culture By The Culture
Singapore still executes people for cannabis under its decades-old Misuse of Drugs Act. Officials call it deterrence. Critics call it fear. With public approval topping 90 percent, reformers face a government that equates mercy with weakness. This is a nation that kills for control and calls it safety.
Michigan’s new 24 percent wholesale cannabis tax is being sold as a road repair plan but looks more like a cash grab. Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s law faces a constitutional challenge from the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, while NORML’s Paul Armentano warns that greedy taxation drives consumers back underground and destroys legal markets that voters fought to build. The weed war is back this time in a budget.
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.
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.
