August 21 2025,
THE BIG IDEA
Hi all,
Hope everyone’s staying cool and getting some rest.
- Texas revives hemp ban
Read up,
Alex
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PRESS RELEASE
TEXAS' HEMP BAN BILL, BACK FROM THE DEAD
As Texas lawmakers fight over whether to redraw their Congressional map to favor Republicans, the state Senate passed a bill which would ban intoxicating hemp products, hitting the state’s multi-billion dollar industry. Several weeks ago, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vetoed a similar bill. The Senate’s response departs from his directive to regulate the products.
Cannabis Business Times reports: “In Texas, special sessions can last no longer than 30 days. This means the Legislature would need to send Abbott S.B. 6 by Sept. 3—10 days before the sine die adjournment date—to retain its power to override a potential veto. The last time the Texas Legislature overrode a veto was 1979.”
- The Houston Chronicle editorializes that Texas’ reincarnated hemp ban bill won’t make consumers safer. The Texas Tribune has more on the bill’s progress.Â
QUICK HITS
Federal:
- Could the U.S. Supreme Court help weed if Trump doesn’t?
MJBiz - Catholic scholars urged caution on rescheduling.
Catholic News Agency - A federal appeals court in Florida delivered a win for MED patients who want to own guns.
Marijuana Moment
Business:
- Longtime weed scribe Debra Borchardt wrote about how the cannabiz works around its lack of access to Wall Street.
High Times - Lender FundCanna launched a B2B Buy Now Pay Later platform.
- Massachusetts consultant Ezra Parzybrook argues mold in cannabis is not a significant public health threat.
MJBiz - A veteran and U.S. citizen detained during the July Glass House raid in California is suing the feds.
KTLAÂ - Sensitive MED patient data was exposed by an Ohio shop.
Wired - MJBiz profiles Michigan pot shop owner Jerry Millen as he embarks on a new project: reality show Cannabiz Rescue, which he’s pitching to streaming services.
- Benzinga’s cannabis events are splitting into a new company IgniteIt, let by Patrick Lane.
State and local:
- A Michigan lab tied up in a four-year lawsuit over potency inflation is going out of business.
Crain’s Detroit - Ohio lawmakers scrapped the state’s equity program.
Crain’s Cleveland - A New York City shop sued the state over its recent realization that dozens dispensaries are too close to schools.
- New York’s track and trace system will be delayed for months.
Spectrum - Injustice Watch reports on a rogue Illinois lab that got people arrested for driving high.
- In Massachusetts, two potential ballot initiatives would end REC sales.
Boston.com - Minnesota shops have licenses but no product.
KMSP - Massachusetts is one step closer to public cannabis spaces.
State House News Service - A commission heard roadmaps for Virginia’s REC rollout.
Virginia Mercury - A landlord sued a Tampa Surterra shop over unpaid rent.
BizJournals
R.I.P.
- Here’s the NYTimes obituary of Richard Lee, the “Johnny Appleseed of pot” and an Oakland-based force in California’s legalization movement.
Fun and interesting:
- Fat Nugs Mag has a new photo gallery featuring feature, Faces of Cannabis, from the California State Fair and Dead & Co.‘s recent run in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
CALIFORNIA HITS
State:
- The legislature is ready to take up the proposed pot tax hike repeal bill AB 564.
Bloomberg Law - United Cannabis Business Association’s Jonatan Cvetko posted on a “very likely true” rumor that bill AB 8 will be expanded to allow hemp products to be sold at all retailers, not just dispensaries.
Business:
- Metrc introduced a direct to consumer product recall feature in the state.
- Leef Brands closed a C$2.09M oversubscribed public placement.
- The Santa Barbara Co. DA reached a $620,000 settlement in an environmental protection lawsuit against Raw Garden parent Central Coast Agriculture. While the company strives to position itself as a leader in clean weed, the case involved the use of diesel generators, which farmers of other crops are often allowed to use.
Pacific Coast Business Times
Local:
- A San Diego shop is threatening to sue the city over its failure to shut down an unlicensed shop that operates out of a nearby tent.
San Diego Union-Tribune - Santa Barbara Co. supes approved a new acreage cap for grows.
SB Independent - Fresno Co. cut ties with a needle exchange clinic.
SJVSun - The Round Valley Indian Tribes are fighting a Mendocino Co.’s attempt to toss their federal lawsuit claiming illegal raids on their territory. Â
- Could Paso Robles (SLO Co.) get pot shops?
The Tribune - State and local agencies are stepping up enforcement in the Emerald Triangle to address environmental and labor issues at unlicensed farms.
KymKemp
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