Legal cannabis promised legitimacy. Instead, many of the people who carried the culture through prohibition are being priced, regulated, and pushed out of the industry they helped build. I am beyond angry. A lot of us are. People who have lived this industry are not slightly disappointed. Many of us are livid because cannabis is… Keep Reading
As legal cannabis drifts toward corporate sameness, Scarlet Reserve Room is holding onto something harder to manufacture: culture, authenticity, and the people who survived prohibition long before investors showed up. Legal weed has gotten very good at looking expensive. Walk into enough dispensaries today and they start blurring together: white walls, glowing menus, polished branding,… Keep Reading
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed the bill that would have launched legal adult-use cannabis sales, five years after the state legalized possession. She campaigned on supporting a retail market. The veto likely pushes any legal sales to 2028 or later. Virginians still can’t legally buy the weed they’ve been allowed to possess since 2021. Gov.… Keep Reading
In Indiana, the drugs that nearly destroyed my life were perfectly legal. Doctors administered them through IV lines while I lay in hospital beds: morphine, fentanyl, Dilaudid. I wasn’t chasing a high. I was a patient, and I trusted the system. Between 2014 and 2019, my life became a revolving door of hospital admissions. I… Keep Reading
Legal on paper, restricted in practice. Inside Germany’s cannabis system, where cultivation is allowed but culture is kept at arm’s length. Last summer, I visited a legal German social club for the first time, somewhere in southwestern Germany. With camera batteries charged and microphones double-checked, my intern and I set out to film a mini-documentary… Keep Reading
Oakland built the cannabis culture before there was a legal market. Now the city has a certification mark to prove it. The City of Oakland launched the nation’s first cannabis equity certification mark on April 20, giving consumers a way to identify businesses owned by operators who were most impacted by the War on Drugs… Keep Reading
By Stephanie Shepard, Executive Director, Last Prisoner Project As legal cannabis becomes a multibillion-dollar industry, people are still serving decades, even life, in prison for the same plant. That is not progress. It is unfinished business. Every year on 4/20, millions of people celebrate cannabis culture. Legalization expands, new markets open, and the industry keeps… Keep Reading
Legal cannabis operators paid $2.24 billion in excess federal taxes in 2025. The illicit market paid zero. That is not a coincidence. That is policy. If you run a legal cannabis business and you feel like the system is working against you, the numbers back you up. A refreshed analysis from Whitney Economics, released this… Keep Reading
Whitney Economics projects legal cannabis sales will resume growing in 2026 after a rough 2025. But falling prices, weaker state performance and a more mature market raise a harder question for consumers and small operators alike: what kind of industry is this growth actually building? A new forecast says legal weed is expected to start… Keep Reading
New York’s legal cannabis market is still writing its origin story. Licenses are rolling out, retailers are finding their footing, and brands are fighting to stand out in one of the most scrutinized adult-use markets in the country. On March 13, the New York Cannabis Retail Association (NYCRA) is betting that progress won’t come from… Keep Reading
