What comes after the DEA hearings – Newsletter 7/17/26

Hi all,

In today’s newsletter, we’ve got Emily Dufton’s last dispatch from the DEA hearings. Don’t forget to sign up for next week’s webinar when she’ll discuss what happened and what comes next.

Stay cool,

Alex

Send tips, press releases, concerns, feedback and criticism to hello@weedweek.com. Sensitive material to share? Contact Alex on Signal.

FROM WEEDWEEK

DEA’s rescheduling hearings wrap up. What’s next?

The latest witnesses included a Yale psychiatrist and Humboldt County Sheriff William F. Honsal. Now DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius will assess the testimony and issue a recommendation. But the final decision isn’t up to him.

Read the story…

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Also in WeedWeek:

• Stiiizy wins ruling in PAX vape row
• BREAKING Cookies retail partner TRP stuck partners with $1.9M tax bill: Lawsuit
• Newsbrief: California’s top regulator says local business bans support the unlicensed market

QUICK HITS

Federal:

• MJBiz reports that the industry was “encouraged” by the rescheduling hearings. But Harris Sliwoski lawyer Jason Adelstone called it, “The quietest fight of DEA’s life.”
• Following MED rescheduling, the IRS is pushing back on some MSOs’ interpretations of whether industry-hated tax rule 280E applies to them.
  CRBMonitor
• MED rescheduling doesn’t mean service members can consume, the Pentagon warned.
  Marijuana Moment

Business:

• California operator Glass House Brands, which is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange, says the age of interstate commerce is here.
  MJBiz
• The family of Jaime Alanís Garcia who fell to his death during the July 2025 raid on Glass House’s massive greenhouse facility in Ventura County Calif. has filed a wrongful death suit against Glass House and the federal government. Glass House didn’t respond to the Ventura County Star’s update on the case. 
• Ascend Wellness Holdings is the latest MSO preparing to uplist.
• Supermarket Albertsons is testing hemp drinks in Chicago stores.
  BevNet
• Employers are growing less concerned about workers using cannabis, WSJ reports.
• With the federal ban looming, Hemp drink sales grew 133% year-over-year according to the Hemp Beverage Alliance. 
• In a third favorable federal ruling, U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled Stiiizy’s all-in-one (disposable) vape does not infringe on IP owned by rival PAX.
• TIME magazine named leading MSOs Trulieve and Green Thumb Industries to its list of 1000 best American companies.
• The New York Times profiled berry company Driscoll’s, which some cannabis companies compare themselves to. 

State and local:

• The Pennsylvania legislature once again declined to legalize REC, a priority for Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
  FOX (Local) 
• Nebraska’s AG discussed state MED regulations.
  WOWT
• A Jersey City, N.J. shop sued the city alleging it wasn’t possible to follow the rules and survive.
  Cultivated
• After some confusion, Virginia clarified when its new REC law takes effect.
  Virginia Scope
• Legalization is an issue in the Kansas governor’s race. MED remains illegal in the state.
  KWCH
• Missouri hemp companies sued to stop a new hemp law from taking effect.
  Cannabis Equipment News
• In a blow for labor, New York lawmakers passed a bill to scrap the state’s labor peace agreement requirement.
• Cannabis Business Times profiles a New York nursery which branched into weed.
• Two employees of a licensed Oklahoma MED farm were indicted on charges related to smuggling illegal pesticides from Hong Kong.
• Idaho said the MED ballot initiative failed to qualify for the ballot. Activists were surprised and said they’re exploring their options.
  States Newsroom

Health and science:

• A former nurse who smoked for 20 years shares what she wished she knew about cannabis.
  Washington Post
• New York state wants families talking about legalization.
  WGRZ, WROC

International:

• MSO Curaleaf was first to secure registration for standard cannabis preparations in Spain.
• “It feels like 2016 again:” High Times has a dispatch from Mary Jane Berlin.

Fun and interesting:

• VICE weighs in on the best dab pens.
• In the U.K. a labrador retriever accidentally ingested weed and had to be saved by a mountain rescue team.
  AP

CALIFORNIA HITS

State:

• The WSJ Editorial Board argued that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s(D) crackdown on unlicensed weed isn’t hurting the illegal market. 
• The state fair, which begins tomorrow, will honor the activists who helped pass 1996’s Proposition 215 making California the first state to legalize MED.
  Adam Tschorn
• The Legacy Cannabis Genetics research team hosted an event in Sacramento. 

Business:

• Distributor Nabis announced the launch of a new full-service tier, meaning it will handle sales, not just logistics.
• Santa Barbara County leads the state in production.
  Santa Barbara News Press
• Retailer Catalyst agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by workers.
  Law360
• San Joaquin County is one of a dozen in California where sales are up from 2021.
  Manteca Bulletin
• Jeeter made a deal to enter the Ohio market.

Local:

• SF supes gave final approval for cannabis cafes.
  CBS
• Carpinteria (Santa Barbara Co.) commemorated the one year anniversary of the Glass House raids.
  Santa Barbara Independent
• Former cannabis consultant Devon Wardlow is running for a supervisor seat in Santa Barbara County.
  Santa Barbara Independent

Crime:

• A woman was found fatally shot at an unlicensed grow in Mendocino County.
  The Mercury News
• Attorneys for Carlos Reales Dominguez, who is on trial for second degree murder in Yolo County, argue he was suffering from a cannabis-induced psychotic episode.
  CourtHouse News

Upcoming:

• Dab rig maker Puffco is hosting its latest PuffCon festival October 3 and 4 in LA.
  High Times