Hey everyone, week is now in the books. Welcome into our latest TDR weekly recap. I am your host Shad Dales. A lot moved this week across federal policy, state markets, and the business side of the cannabis. So, a lot to uncover. So, without further ado, let’s get into our latest weekly recap. All right, let’s begin with some interesting news from Washington this week. Just days after President Donald Trump signed the government funding bill that quietly included a sweeping federal ban on hemp derived THC products, Representative Nancy Mace is stepping back into the spotlight with a bill of her own. I don’t think this is going anywhere, but regardless, we got to report it. So, what does her proposal include? Well, the American Hemp Protection Act of 2025 would strike the section of the spending bill that bans any hemp product with quantifiable amount of THC. In plain English, 90 to 95% of today’s hemp derived market would be illegal next year unless something indeed changes. So, Maize hasn’t held back in this case. She called the ban an attack on American farmers and a gift to the black market. and she even criticized Congress for forcing a vote that tied hemp to military funding. So, you can understand how this story is grabbing a lot of attention. But her bill is facing push back indeed because it only repeals the ban. It doesn’t replace it with a regulatory framework. And many hemp leaders worry that simply undoing the prohibition would return the industry to the same gray zone that created these problems in the first place, which makes sense. So behind the scenes, a bipartisan group is working on a broader bill with age limits, standardized labeling, childproof packaging, potency caps, and mandatory testing. So essentially an adult use playbook tailored to the hemp industry. But still, Mace is the first Republican to plant a flag against the ban. And with Trump publicly supporting CBD while also signing the crackdown, the GOP is now split on how to handle the hemp sector moving forward. Again, I don’t think there’s going to be any revisions, especially with this administration. It’s all about law and order and it appears the clock has struck 12 on the hemp industry. Now, let’s move to New York where guess what, the legal market, it just hit a major milestone this week. So, what do I mean by that? Well, the state has officially opened its 500th licensed adult use dispensary. Okay, onwards. So, really, when you look back, this is a market that spent nearly a year stuck in lawsuits and delays. So, this number, it really carries some weight here. Since late 2022, New Yorkers have spent $2.3 billion dollars on regulated cannabis, and right now, it supports around 25,000 jobs statewide. Regulars say the industry is finally stabilizing. Thank you. The Office of Cannabis Management has approved 1,949 total adult use licenses, and 56% of them have gone to Social Equity applicants, one of the highest ratios in the country. Yes, it is. Tax revenue, it’s already moving. $5 billion to community reinvestment, $5 million in grants for conditional licenses, and $2.6 million for technical assistance. The only hitch in all this though, more than 100 provisional licences are stuck in a zoning issue involving locations that are too close to schools or houses of worship. Right now, Governor Kathy Hokll, she says a fix is coming and renewal deadlines have been extended to the end of 2026. So, even with those big hiccups, let’s face it, hitting 500 dispensaries, it marks real undeniable progress. Let’s go, New York. This looks like we’re finally getting the ship turned around. All right, let’s now shift our attention to Minnesota, where lawmakers are now examining ways to blunt the impact of the same federal hemp ban. Republican Ilhan Omar says the state’s delegation is gouging interest in seeking state-based exemptions that would allow Minnesota to keep its own hemp derived THC rules, including protections for its booming THC beverage sector. But Representative Andy Harris, one of the bans’s authors, he dismissed the push, calling industry objections desperate mistruths. Adding pressure was Attorney General Keith Ellison, where he surprised many by signing a multi-state letter supporting the ban, citing concerns about outofstate products entering Minnesota’s legal market. So, when you factor all this in, the backlash, it’s real. It has been swift. Parents of cannabis patients, veterinarians, and even influencers like Joe Rogan. They say the ban sweeps far too broadly and will wipe out access to non- intoxicating CBD products used by millions. And yeah, and Joe Rogan created a lot of tension towards that this week. And then you add in Nancy Mesa’s repeal bill and it’s circulating, but critics warn it doesn’t include the regulatory guardrails needed to stabilize the sector right now. So, what we do know is that there’s a one-year window before the ban actually fully takes effect, and Congress now has to choose between replacement or simply letting the clampdown stand. All right, next on our list is Virginia, where after 4 years of deadlock under Governor Glenn Ynan, guess what? Things are changing. The state is finally positioned to launch a regulated adult use market. Let’s go already. Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s election, it really opened up the political door. So on December 2nd, the Joint Commission on the Future of Cannabis Sales, it meets to finalize a retail framework for the 2026 legislative session. So if all goes to plan, and we hope it does, legal sales could begin in the fall of 2026. Yes. So the upcoming bill, it’s expected to strengthen equity rules and ensure shelf space for micro farmers inside medical dispensaries. Lawmakers are also considering canopy caps so large operators can’t dominate the market before small businesses get a fair shot. Meanwhile, Virginia’s cannabis control authority quietly modernized its medical program with the new online certification system. It’ll improve patient access and reduce fraud. Lawmakers say the new federal hemp crackdown, it won’t disrupt Virginia’s plans. Their message in all this, this is not a hemp bill. So, after years of political roadblocks, it looks like Virginia is finally appearing to be ready to move from possession to actually retail. We need more markets, as we said, and Trent Wavec has been very vocal on what Virginia could do for companies like Juicy and the overall industry. Let’s now shift our attention out west where San Francisco is once again delaying its local cannabis business tax. This time, it’s pushing it to December 31st, 2025. City leaders say the legal market is simply too fragile. Adding another 5% tax on top of state excise taxes, fees, compliance costs, and let’s face it, the federal 280 penalty, it would push many operators over the edge. So yeah, what else is new in California? So a city analysis, it proves the point. A 5% tax on an $11 pre-roll, it pushes the total tax load to 29%. Legal operators, let’s face it, they can’t compete with elicit market. Remain 60% cheaper in all this. So this delay again aligns with California’s broader efforts including eliminating the cultivation tax in 2022 to save what’s left of this regulated industry. Really what is left? So moving forward for now San Francisco’s legal operators, they get another 2-year window to stabilize all this. But there needs to be a comprehensive plan in place and lower the taxes in California. That’s not happening though anytime soon. All right, let’s now turn our attention to the legal front where the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, they filed a major amicus brief urging the US Supreme Court to reign in federal power under the Control Substances Act. So, what does this all mean? Well, first up, they argue that fully intrastate, statelicicensed cannabis businesses in Massachusetts should fall under state authority, not federal, and that the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in Gonzalez versus Reich goes too far in allowing federal prohibition to override state law. The group is asking the court to take the case and overturn Reich entirely, which would be a move that could reshape federal cannabis enforcement for years to come. So, keep your eye on this one, baby. And in addition to that, the Justice Department, it declined to weigh in, leaving the decision to the courts. So again, we’ll see how this all unfolds, but the future, hopefully it’s a bright one. And finally, now to the Buckeye State, where Ohio lawmakers say they’re close to finalizing a plan to regulate both adult use cannabis and hemp derived THC products. You see the common theme here with a few states creating their own rules and laws. So the compromise, it’ll include the following. a ban on all intoxicating hemp, including THC beverages, full protection of homegrow rights, cannabis tax revenue sharing with local municipalities, and clarified THC limits and retail rules to protect voterapproved adult use measures. So, when you factor all this in, some lawmakers, they argue that THC beverages haven’t caused safety issues and should remain legal. Others then worry new enforcement rules it could create civil liberty concerns around who gets searched and why. So a final vote is expected soon. So we’ll keep you updated when that invote indeed does happen. All right, let’s now focus on the business side where Fluent launched what’s called Bago preg groundown flour. It’s a new 7 g preggroundown flour in Florida. Again called Bago featuring strain specific whole flour that’s gently preggroundown not shaped. So for cannabis connoisseurs, it’s designed for patients who want quality without prep work and strains will rotate as harvest cycles allow. So very innovative. Next up, earnings front. Decible. It posted 32.9 million in Q3 revenue. It was up 37% year-over-year with international sales soaring $8.4 million thanks to its Amedica acquisition. Margins, they tightened, but profitability remains strong and the company is guiding for $115 million in 2025 revenue. So nice job by decibel. Next up, Vexed. They delivered 12.7 million in Q3 revenue, up 41% driven by Ohio’s growth and steady performance in Arizona. Operating cash flow, it hit 1.3 million, and the company is positioned to reach Ohio’s eight store cap by 2026. So, some interesting information for all of you VEX investors out there. All right, everyone. That’s it for this week’s weekly recap. We had a lot of stuff that we covered off including our trip to Washington where again we saw a lot of urgency and panic in the hemp industry and rightfully so right now and the key thing that we learned from there is about rescheduling. That rescheduling isn’t necessarily being debated. The timeline is and that is the almighty question that we continue to ask. When will we get some feedback and direction from President Trump, his administration on federal reform? Hopefully that is indeed the case where yes indeed we do see it happen. But as far as timing, that’s anyone’s guess right now, and that’s where we sit. And as a result, you can understand why stocks continue to drip down right now. So, as I said, that’s it for now. Leave your comments below. As usual, always love to get your feedback. What was the highlight for you this week? What stood out to you? Let’s keep this conversation going. So, again, leave those comments below. One last thing, if you haven’t done so, make sure to scan this QR code and become a daily bakedin newsletter subscriber. It’s our newsletter that’s delivered to your inbox weekdays, Monday through Friday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, which gives you all the latest news information on every angle you can think of from the cannabis industry. And like I always say as well, make sure to like, subscribe, and smash on that bell for all notifications and stay connected with us here at TDR. Over 66,000 subscribers now to this channel. So again, thank you to everybody that continues to support us. We want to continue to grow this community and this channel, and we wouldn’t do it without you. So that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed this. This is our latest TDR weekly recap. I’m your host, Shad Dales, and I’ll see you next week. Take care, everyone.
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